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Rating:  -
This book looks pretty good. My first impression was that the author, Grams, was aiming for self-promotion more than anything else. But after reading the book, that definitely changed. Having done "Twilight Zone"
stuff (paying projects, nonpaying projects, agenting for TZ actors, and whatnot) for about 8 years now, and having watched it for 15, I kinda thought I 'knew it all' when it came to TZ. Kudos to Grams for unearthing
an enormous amount of information that I never thought existed, except perhaps deep inside the CBS vault. It's unlikely that Grams had access to this "vault", however. Although it is unstated in the book, the author undoubtedly was in touch with a person or organization (not CBS, because I know for a fact that they would never let this information out unless they were doing the book themselves) who had a great deal of Rod Serling's records, or the records of TZ's production company, Cayuga Productions. Instead, the author says only that the information in the book came mostly from items purchased from eBay and private parties, as well as consultation with actors and others who were involved in the production of the original series.
Now, this book is, in fact, for diehard - and only diehard - TZ fans. Casual TZ fans probably wouldn't find it very accessible.
There is perhaps an unspoken debate about whether this book will ultimately dethrone M. Zicree's immortal Companion. To give my own educated and humble opinion - I doubt that will happen. This book (Grams) focuses more on factoids and interesting trivia and the finer details that fans who have been watching the show forever, will immediately relish. Zicree's book is broader, but the splendid writing and the mere fact that it's been around for going on 30 years will probably always place it at the very front of the line. While Zicree's book is sometimes incomplete with its quick dismissals of fine episodes, it remains the unsupplantable standard for TZ books. And it also set the standard (and, I believe, the genre) of television 'companion' books.
What I'm not really quite sure of is why a bigger publishing house did not pick up Grams' book. It should've been, but it looks like it was independently published by Grams. Apparently no medium to large-scale publishing houses are releasing new TZ books nowadays because they feel that TZ is "far overpublished." Which of course is untrue. The (quite bad) "Rod Serling & Twilight Zone - The Official 50th Anniversary Tribute" by Doug Brode somehow slipped through the cracks and made it into bookstores. It shouldn't have happened, and exactly why it happened is anybody's good guess.
Anyhow - if Grams' book isn't going to replace Zicree's, the two books should probably sit together on the coffee tables of diehard TZ fans.
Rating:  -
I would love to read this book and I will when it's $9.99. It's shameful to charge this much. Amazon is selling the upcoming 1000+ page, hardcover Stephen King book for $9. There is no way to justify this ridiculously high price tag.
Rating: -
"You are travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"
Now let us make no mistakes here: this is a must-have book. If you like The Twilight Zone, that is. No question. It's a book you will want sitting beside you the next late-night, half-drunk, weekend-welcoming time you are watching two or three episodes of Rod Serling's classic series run back-to-back. You will never lend it, because you know that if someone lent it to you, you would never give it back.
This all has to be stressed, because if as a result of this review you actually buy the book, on opening your prize you will wonder for a moment whether you have entered an episode of the Twilight Zone itself. An episode where everything is painted grey, where sparkle and wonder have been banished. It looks, at first sight, so very mind-numbingly dull. The opening sentence has all the excitement of low-calorie reduced-fat cardboard. You will flick through page upon page headed "Fourth season production costs". You will, for a moment, wonder how many DVD episodes you could have purchased instead.
Ah, gentle reader, persevere! Trust that gorgeous cover, settle down, and dig a little deeper. Rather than reading from page one, let the book fall open, enjoy the gem uncovered, and repeat. Then use the rather clever index to look up that episode, you know, the one with him from that other TV series. You will soon be hooked; the cat will have to find another place to sit; and the charity shop will be deprived of stock. You won't want to give it up.
Martin Grams, Jr.'s book covers the original five seasons of the show. The first two-hundred pages are a historical narrative that has obviously been thoroughly researched from original sources. That gives it the benefit of being both fascinating and academically appealing. Some observations, such as that No Blade of Grass was never produced as a film (it was, in 1970, but not with Serling's screenplay) may raise eyebrows but do not detract from an excellent account. Particularly interesting is the description of allegations of plagiarism and of Serling's relationships with contemporary writers. This is Grams at his best, with his obvious admiration for Serling not precluding more critical observations. The overall insight into the trials and tribulations of media production is very satisfying.
However, the bulk of the book is devoted to an episode guide, including plot outlines, cast lists, and trivia sections as well as rehearsal dates, music cues, and other minutiae. Perhaps inevitably, episode coverage is uneven, with some titles receiving far more commentary than others, but the accounts are consistently interesting. Serling's opening and closing narrations are set out, as are, perhaps less usefully, the trailers for each episode. Grams' approach is disciplined and organized, which makes for ease of reference. Production costs are included, but are fortunately not as all-consuming as the page headings suggest.
This book could not be described as lavishly illustrated. There are no plates, the bulk of images looking like monochrome thumbnails of library photos. However, what is really lacking is not photographs, but opinions. The level-headed follower of the show knows that episodes ranged from the brilliant to the bad. Grams' commitment is such that he's earned the right to share his views. Maybe he was afraid that would reduce his work in some way, but the book needs (ideally) that kind of entertainment factor.
Overall, though, an excellent work. It will certainly be worth looking for further titles by this author. Possibly Grams will feel able to turn his attention to the Twilight Zone film and remakes, although what would be really nice would be to see a similar work on the underrated Night Gallery.
[Review written by Jon Radlett for GUD Magazine]
Rating:  -
This is a GREAT book. I am a TZ fanatic. I have all the individual DVDs as well as the definitive edition DVDs. This book has been meticulously researched by someone with a great passion for the show. Grams leaves no stone unturned. For anyone who loves this show and longs for the days when Hollywood could put out fine, quality, high class entertainment (instead of the pathetic junk they put out today which is 90% garbage) then this book is for you. Not so many pictures, but literally TONS of information. It's a brick of pure pleasure to read. A HUGE book. Reading this book is like going back in time. In my opinion Twilight Zone was the PINNACLE of quality and achievement in sci-fi/fantasy/suspense. I'm I writer, and was so enthralled with Serling's writing I began to write my own stuff in the same vein. That's how influential the good Mr. Serling was. His insistence on quality and morality and well written scripts is LITERALLY unsurpassed. If you like Twilight Zone and want the Bible to the series...GET THIS BOOK! Also check out Dimension Behind the Twilight Zone by Stewart Stanyard...a great companion piece to this book as it supplements this book in just about the ONLY place it is deficient...the photos. High praise for a work well done!
Rating: -
Sometimes I wonder if author Martin Grams isn't from the Twilight Zone, himself...how else could he have collected all of this information? Some details in this book are the sorts of things that would have only been crumpled carbon-paper copies, tossed in the office wastebaskets of CBS-TV, not-quite-lost but mostly forgotten - until somehow, somebody, some fifty years later manages to assemble them into a monstrously cohesive reference book. I just don't know he managed it, but he did.
Firstly, the book is definitely a reference book, packed full of information. Well-organized, fully indexed, and so on, it's not such a "sit down and read" type book as some other previous Twilight Zone books may have been (and at around 800 pages, you would be sitting down for quite a while!).
This book lists just about everything you could imagine about the series: how many pages scripted for each episode, script revisions, what got censored and why, precise costs incurred for specific items, which actors were chosen or passed over and why, musical cues, alternate opening and closing monologues, and so on and so forth.
I particularly like the numerous quotes from Serling's own letters, whether they be to the studio, defending why the series needed to be filmed rather than videotaped, or to any number of fans (Tom Brown, in the ninth grade in Towson Maryland, wrote to ask permission for the school Drama Club to perform his own adaptation of "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine", admitting that if royalties were involved, he could probably not pay them. Mr Serling granted him permission - cool!).
Quick - how many euphoniums were used in the score for the First season show "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street"? There's the answer, right on page 311, listing all of the instruments for the First season Original music scores! What the heck IS a euphonium? You can look that up in some other reference book, I expect...
Let's say you wanted to build a computer set just like Agnes (from the 1964 Wally Cox TZ episode "From Agnes...With Love") for your groovy basement Twilight Zone screening room. Well, just collect the 60 or 70 items listed on page 670 and 671 of the book, the "recipe" for Agnes. She cost the Cayuga team about 600 dollars back then - though she might cost a bit more to reassemble, now.
By delving into the minutiae of the Twilight Zone, the book actually creates a deeper understanding of the day-to-day workings and personalities of those involved in this series. For instance, by noting *all* authors (from conception to pitch to final teleplay) and their pay, we are presented with the specifics which show us how Serling and several other writers would cover for, and (against Writer's Guild rules) ghost write for Charles Beaumont, whose inestimable writing talents were being cruelly eroded by a mysterious debilitating brain disease. His friends and coworkers made sure that he got full scripting pay, even if he only came up with the bare bones concept.
Not only an account of the past history of this influential show, the book is also peppered with later references: TZ being mentioned in the Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Lucy Show, Gilligan's Island, Laverne And Shirly...was the 1982 movie "Poltergeist" a blatant rip-off of the episode "Little Girl Lost" (probably, so why no legal action? Read the book and find out!)? The 1993 movie "Last Action Hero" copies a scene from this episode, and even plays the TZ theme music in the background! A six-piece band from New Jersey calling themselves "Number Twelve Looks Like You" has released a number of singles and albums since 2003. An animated character named Homer Simpson has been heard to mutter things about that "twilighty show about that zone". The Twilight Zone has been, and continues to be, a powerful, influential show.
The book is not particularly exhaustive in photographs, but there are certainly enough to spark your memory about entire episodes if the titles didn't happen to be enough. And *look* right there, on page 546, is a hand-drawn diagram of a naval destroyer with notes, sketched by Production Manager Ralph Nelson for the 1963 episode "The Thirty Fathom Grave" - never saw *that* before: just one more example of the far-from-trivial Trivia that fills this book.
A great read. A great reference. WELL WORTH OWNING.
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