ABSTRACT

This article re-examines Rod Serling’s career as he transitioned from writing live anthology teleplays to his famous series, The Twilight Zone (1959–1964), in service of investigating the changing definitions of authorship as the television industry changed. It does so in order to show that the techniques many critics agree Serling used to subvert corporate sponsors may have been rooted in pragmatic compromise engendered by the need to remain working within the shifting world of TV. These techniques include using science fiction and fantasy on television and becoming a writer-producer and the face of The Twilight Zone. Serling’s transition to science fiction and fantasy, this article argues, could also be seen as a retreat from early TV’s dominant mode of storytelling: social realism. His becoming the face of The Twilight Zone may have been a way to assuage producers’ fears in supporting another anthology series without a consistent cast. This leads to the conflation of Serling the writer with Serling the salesman. Ultimately, these compromises result in the blurring of the line between commercial and series, as well as between writer and salesman.

摘要

本文重新审视了罗德·瑟林 (Rod Serling) 从撰写现场选集电视剧转向创作著名剧集《暮光之城》( The Twilight Zone，1959-1964) 的职业生涯，旨在调查随着电视行业的变化而发生的作者身份定义的变化。这样做是为了表明，许多批评家认为塞林用来颠覆企业赞助商的技巧可能植根于务实的妥协，而这种妥协是由于在不断变化的电视世界中继续工作的需要而产生的。这些技巧包括在电视上使用科幻小说和奇幻小说，以及成为编剧兼制片人以及暮光之城的代言人。本文认为，瑟林向科幻小说和奇幻小说的转变也可以被视为对早期电视叙事的主导模式：社会现实主义的倒退。他成为《暮光之城》的代言人可能是缓解制片人在支持另一部没有稳定演员阵容的选集系列时的担忧的一种方式。这导致了作家瑟林和推销员瑟林的混为一谈。最终，这些妥协导致商业广告和连续剧之间以及作家和推销员之间的界限变得模糊。