Rod Serling’s Forgotten Twilight Zone Follow-Up Was Cancelled After Just One Season Because It Was Too ‘Rod Serling’ for the Network

In February 1945, World War II had entered its last year, but 20-year-old Rod Serling didn’t cognize that. He, similar the galore soldiers astir him, some state and foe, lone knew the decease and demolition they were facing. And truthful when, during combat successful Manila, a Japanese worker caught Serling unawares and took purpose with his rifle, the young American thought helium was finished.

“That was the infinitesimal helium said, ‘I'm dead,’” Marc Zicree, Serling adept and writer of The Twilight Zone Companion, tells IGN. “He perfectly thought, ‘That's it. This is the extremity of my life.’”

But Serling was saved acknowledgment to different GI who was down him and killed the force combatant earlier helium could occurrence his weapon.

“So Rod had that infinitesimal of perfectly believing his beingness was over,” says Zicree. “Having experiences of that profundity truly is going to signifier you.”

Indeed, adjacent arsenic Serling returned location aft the warfare and went connected to go 1 of the astir palmy writers successful TV history, the alleged "angry young man" of television’s Golden Age, helium ever carried his experiences from the warfare with him. This is evident successful galore episodes of his iconic bid The Twilight Zone, but it would besides beryllium to power his consciousness of justness which informed each of his work, including the small known bid that helium made close aft The Twilight Zone, the all-but-forgotten one-season Western called The Loner.

Rod Serling successful a promo photograph for The Loner. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

The Golden Boy

In the archetypal occurrence of The Loner, “An Echo of Bugles,” which aired connected CBS connected September 18, 1965, we conscionable the rubric character, Lloyd Bridges’ Civil War-vet Captain William Colton. It’s conscionable a period aft the Battle of Appomattox, and the series’ opening credits voiceover further lays retired the premise: “In the aftermath of the bloodletting called the Civil War, thousands of rootless, restless, searching men traveled west…”

Colton of people is 1 of those men, and successful a way, this conception mirrors Serling’s ain travel aft the warfare too, though it would instrumentality him implicit a decennary to determination retired westbound – specifically to Hollywood.

“Each decennary was marked by a precise antithetic vocation for Rod Serling,” says Zicree, who notes that successful the 1950s Serling ascended to go the “golden boy” of television. “He was the highest paid, astir palmy TV writer. In all, helium won six Emmys, which was the astir of immoderate writer astatine that point.”

Serling had made his sanction successful the unrecorded tv anthology dramas of the era, a present all-but extinct signifier of TV programming that was, astatine its best, seen arsenic the theatre of the then-new medium. “He was the Arthur Miller of television,” Zicree says of Serling, who penned classical dramas similar Patterns, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and The Comedian during this time. But battles with censors and web sponsors were a changeless root of vexation for Serling, due to the fact that anytime helium tried to constitute astir authorities oregon contention oregon thing perceived arsenic controversial, it would crook into a battle. Things came to a caput erstwhile helium acceptable retired to constitute a teleplay inspired by the execution of Emmett Till.

“He wanted to find a fictional mode of penning astir this terrible, terrible, brutal murder,” says Zicree, but Serling had deed a wall. “[The web and sponsors] would alteration it truthful overmuch that helium said, ‘At the extremity of the day, it looked similar a country afloat of butchers astatine enactment connected a steer.’ He was conscionable feeling very, precise frustrated. So past helium got the thought that if helium wrote subject fabrication and phantasy and horror, helium could accidental precisely what helium wanted to say, but gaffe it close by the censors.”

“He said, ‘An alien tin accidental what a Democrat oregon a Republican can't,’” remembers Anne Serling, whose publication As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling charts a much idiosyncratic broadside of her father’s beingness than galore fans cognize about.

Hence, The Twilight Zone was born. And it was a hit, marking a caller absorption for Serling’s career. “He became Mr. Twilight Zone, which was, again, precise different,” says Zicree. “But the bully portion was helium had full creator power connected Twilight Zone.”

Serling hosting The Twilight Zone. (Credit: CBS)

Though helium didn’t cognize it astatine the time, that power would soon beryllium to beryllium progressively evasive. The bid lasted for 5 seasons and besides made Serling a household sanction (and face) acknowledgment to his unforgettable on-camera appearances arsenic the show’s host. But arsenic The Twilight Zone neared the extremity of its run, Serling recovered himself successful yet different signifier of his career.

“At the end, helium was precise tired,” says Zicree. “He said helium felt his penning had suffered successful presumption of quality. He said his atrocious scripts sounded similar 2 Rod Serlings talking to each other.”

Enter the Loner

In that archetypal occurrence of The Loner, the Colton quality comes to the defence of a weakened, older Confederate worker (Whit Bissell) aft a bully starts picking connected him and desecrates the Confederate flag. Colton steps in, defending the men who fought and died for that emblem contempt the information that helium was connected the Union broadside during the war, mirroring Serling’s ain humanist outlook connected society. The infinitesimal is not astir the precocious ended warfare oregon what each broadside fought for; rather, it’s Colton taking pity connected the anemic and defenseless, and doing his portion to close the wrongs that helium sees.

Lloyd Bridges arsenic William Colton connected The Loner. The amusement had gunfights -- conscionable not capable for the network's tastes. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

“Above all, helium had this profound consciousness of decency,” says Serling’s girl Jodi Serling of her dad. “In each communicative that helium did, determination was an effort to marque a remark connected the quality condition.”

“Rod wanted it to beryllium a mode to explicit issues helium cared about, racism and anti-immigrant feelings and each of that stuff,” says Zicree of The Loner. “But the occupation was that by the ’60s, retrieve determination were lone 3 networks. If you pissed disconnected 3 guys, you were retired of a career.”

The 3 guys, of course, were the 3 men moving the networks. And portion Serling besides wrote movie scripts, TV was his archetypal and existent love. The occupation with The Loner, arsenic acold arsenic CBS was concerned, was that it was really astir something. The web execs and sponsors were looking for a play shoot-’em-up… This was a Western they were paying for, aft all! So wherefore was Serling giving his characters philosophical and motivation and societal dilemmas to wrestle with?

Or possibly the existent question is, looking backmost astatine Serling’s enactment up until this point, what did the web think they were going to get erstwhile they hired him?

“By [this point], the networks wanted shows that would support nobody,” says Zicree. “They wanted Petticoat Junction and Green Acres and Beverly Hillbillies and I Dream of Jeannie and Bonanza and Mannix. They wanted shows that they wouldn't get letters [from the nationalist about].”

Instead what they did get was – and this is inactive conscionable successful the aviator occurrence of The Loner – flashbacks which amusement america however Colton was forced to termination a teen successful conflict (in self-defense) connected the past time of the war, and however that drove him to discontinue the work contempt the imaginable of promotion. So yes, determination were gunfights, conscionable not the benignant the web expected.

“Rod was nary longer the aureate boy,” says Zicree. “He was treated progressively with disrespect by the powers that beryllium due to the fact that they started to spot TV arsenic not art, but product.”

The War That Never Ends

William Colton is carrying the scars of the Civil War with him successful The Loner – the affectional and intelligence scars. For Rod Serling, it was a antithetic warfare that helium returned location from, but helium was similarly, and forever, affected by the experience. In fact, helium didn’t acceptable retired to beryllium a writer, but had primitively planned connected moving with children aft college.

“When helium got to college, helium was truthful traumatized, similar truthful many, from the war, that helium switched his large to connection and literature,” explains Anne Serling. “His punctuation was helium needed to ‘get it retired of his gut.’ He needed to get it disconnected his chest. And I retrieve him having nightmares, and successful the morning, I would inquire him what happened, and helium told maine that helium had dreamt that the force was coming astatine him.”

“He came from an idyllic childhood, and past helium went close retired of precocious schoolhouse into the war, and it was incredibly traumatic for him,” says Jodi Serling. “For immoderate benignant of pacifying, cathartic way, helium enactment it successful writing. And helium talked astir what happened implicit successful the Philippines, and it changed him for sure. He was not the aforesaid small lad that near astatine 18 years old.”

Certainly the effects of warfare creep into his work, and World War II successful peculiar is simply a recurring constituent successful The Twilight Zone. One peculiarly memorable occurrence is “The Purple Testament,” penned by Serling, which presents a lieutenant successful that warfare (played by William Reynolds) who finds that helium tin spot a unusual glow connected a person’s look conscionable anterior to their death. Of course, by the extremity of the conception the lieutenant catches his reflection successful a mirror, realizing that his ain demise is imminent. It’s an effectual fractional hr of TV, but the main character’s eventual resignation to the inevitability of decease that surrounds him and his comrades indispensable surely person been a feeling Serling had experienced himself during his clip successful the Pacific Theater.

“It's 1 of the champion things ever written astir World War II, the consciousness of exhaustion and fearfulness and conscionable the griminess… it's tactile,” says Zicree. “And you cognize that the feline who wrote that lives that.”

For The Loner, Serling would constitute 15 of the series’ 26 episodes, and Colton’s warfare experiences were ne'er acold from his mind, adjacent if, arsenic it proceeds, the amusement becomes little astir the nonstop aftermath of that struggle and much astir Colton seeking to bash good in the aftermath of each the atrocious helium has managed to survive. In “The Vespers,” Jack Lord guest-stars arsenic Reverend Booker, an ex-Rebel skipper who has promised God he’ll ne'er termination again – adjacent though men are coming to municipality to execution him. “One of the Wounded” sees Colton gathering Agatha Phelps (Anne Baxter), whose hubby Colonel John Phelps is successful a catatonic authorities since returning from the war, seemingly suffering from PTSD. He rouses himself successful the episode’s climax, which leads to the pursuing unforgettable nugget of Serling dialogue:

“I conjecture my dada identified with the main feline successful The Loner, William Colton,” says Jodi Serling. “Colton was a conscionable antheral who conscionable stepped successful and fought for the small radical and anyone who was bullied, dismissed, oregon abused oregon powerless. … And I think, successful a way, erstwhile dada was penning it, helium truly imagined himself arsenic Colton. He wanted Colton to close the wrongs.”

One of the champion episodes of The Loner is “The Homecoming of Lemuel Stove,” which finds Colton befriending the African American worker of the rubric (played by the legendary Brock Peters). A erstwhile enslaved who fought for the Union successful the war, Lemuel’s homecoming proves to beryllium tragic arsenic helium finds that the nighttime earlier his return, his begetter has been hanged by what is fundamentally the KKK. Colton helps his caller person to fend disconnected the murderers and hide his father, but there’s nary blessed ending here. “Lemuel Stove, you’re not alone,” Colton tells the young antheral arsenic the occurrence ends. “It whitethorn look so. But you’re ne'er alone.”

Rod Serling. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

“I'm definite that his ain idiosyncratic experiences indispensable person been contiguous erstwhile helium was penning [The Loner], but that amusement didn't past precise agelong astatine all,” says Anne Serling. “It was canceled due to the fact that they said determination wasn't capable violence, and my dada had tried to constitute astir galore of the themes helium wrote astir successful The Twilight Zone. And they conscionable weren't buying it.”

The “they” was CBS, and they astir surely were not. Serling publically feuded with the web implicit the show, and the past caller occurrence aired connected March 12, 1966, conscionable six months aft The Loner debuted.

Little seen successful the decades since (it didn’t person capable episodes for a modular syndication package), The Loner sat successful comparative obscurity for acold excessively long. Some years back, the bid was yet released connected DVD by Shout! Factory. For immoderate instrumentality of Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone, oregon conscionable good, classical TV, it’s good worthy checking out.

Top representation credit: Photos by CBS via Getty Images and Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images