ROD SERLING IS MONUMENTAL

Binghamton, New York was Rod Serling's hometown and they are honoring his memory with a life-size statue of the influential writer. See links below if you want to support this worthy endeavor.

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They're Building a Monument to Twilight Zone Creator Rod Serling

By Scott Collura | March 29, 2023 | ign.com

When The Twilight Zone debuted almost 64 years ago, creator Rod Serling, his prodigious imagination notwithstanding, couldn't have fathomed the impact the show would have on the medium of television and the bigger pop culture landscape. And yet here we are, living in a world where a Twilight Zone marathon every New Year's holiday is not just expected, but has become our God-given right! The series has influenced an untold number of writers, directors, creators, and fans with its sci-fi/fantasy/horror stories that were often thinly hidden parables about the world we live in.

And now, a Rod Serling monument is being planned for the legend's hometown of Binghamton, New York. A Kickstarter is underway with the goal to "recognize Rod Serling's love for his hometown, and immortalize his impact as a writer, teacher, orator, and humanitarian, by creating and installing a six-foot statue in his beloved Recreation Park."

Fans will recall the episode of The Twilight Zone where a disaffected businessman returns to his hometown -- as well as his own past -- and the carousel in a local park which represents some of his fondest memories.

"The plan is to install the statue in Recreation Park, which is about seven blocks from Rod’s boyhood home, and which has been recognized as one of the main inspirations for the Twilight Zone episode 'Walking Distance,'" says Nicholas Parisi, who is the president of The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation. "The carousel that Rod rode as a boy, and which inspired a pivotal scene in 'Walking Distance' is still in that park. There is no place more appropriate for Rod’s statue to be placed."

Parisi explains that erecting a statue of Serling in Binghamton has been a goal of the Foundation for years. Last summer, a New York State grant was secured to cover most of the cost of the statue, but the Kickstarter is intended to cover additional costs, including creating, shipping, and installing the statue and its base, and prepping the grounds where the statue will stand.

"The Foundation was founded in 1985 by a group of Rod’s friends, including his former teacher and mentor Helen Foley," says Parisi. "She really spearheaded the idea that Rod Serling’s work was worth preserving and promoting."

Serling, who died at the age of 50 in 1975, was an award-winning pioneer of early television writing who also scripted radio shows, plays, and movies. But he'll always be best-remembered for The Twilight Zone, which of course he also hosted for the original show's five seasons. (There have been multiple follow-up series in the decades since.)

"Rod Serling was almost certainly the most prolific writer in television history, with nearly 250 scripts produced, and he is the only writer to win six Emmy awards for best dramatic writing," says Parisi. "Three of his Emmys were awarded prior to the Twilight Zone and one was awarded afterward, which is evidence of just how monumental his career was - he was about much more than just the Twilight Zone."

Indeed, his live television plays like Patterns, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and The Comedian remain hallmarks of TV history, while his contributions to the big screen include the likes of the classic political thriller Seven Days in May (about an attempted coup of the US government) and a little movie called Planet of the Apes.

"Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone are still relevant because the themes that Rod dealt with are timeless, whatever package in which they may have been presented," says Parisi. "Themes like longing for an idyllic past, the importance of recognizing human dignity, the need to oppose racism and prejudice, these are themes that (sometimes sadly) do not go out of style."

If you'd like to help out with the campaign, head over to rodserlingmonument.com or rodserling.com.