MIKE WALLACE INTERVIEW, THE: ROD SERLING (TV)
Summary
One in this series of interview programs hosted by Mike Wallace. In this program, Wallace talks with television writer/producer Rod Serling about the following topics, among others: Serling's decision to leave his job as a staff writer at a Cincinnati television station to become a freelance television dramatist; censorship on television, with special reference to the vitiation of his anti-racism teleplay "Noon on Doomsday"; television writers' use of "pre-censorship"; the outrage that followed the depiction of TV canine Lassie's giving birth to puppies; the censorship of references to Nazi gas chambers in "Judgment at Nuremberg" to avoid connection with a sponsor's gas stoves; Serling's artistic control of "The Twilight Zone"; his belief that "The Twilight Zone" is worthwhile adult drama that avoids controversy by staying within the realm of science fiction and fantasy; his definition of himself as a "tired nonconformist"; his gratitude to Paddy Chayefsky for giving television writers a good name; his comfort in the medium of television; his assertion that television can be both commercial and artistic; the inspirations behind the teleplay "The Velvet Alley"; the worthiness of television; his doubts about the future of pay television; and his desire to write a play about television during the McCarthy era. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Marc Haas and Helen Hotze Haas Foundations, 2000.
Details
- NETWORK: WNTA-TV (New York, NY) / PBS forerunner
- DATE: September 22, 1959 10:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:26:13
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:00944
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Television producers and directors; Television - Production and direction; Television - Censorship
- SERIES RUN: WNTA (Newark, NJ) - TV series, 1959-1960
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Al Ramrus … Producer
- Max Miller … Director
- Mike Wallace … Host
- Rod Serling … Guest
- Paddy Chayefsky
- Joseph McCarthy