< Conversation with a Curator

How Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone Transformed TV, with Serling biographer Alan Sepinwall

Thursday, October 15, 2026 
4:00 pm 
The Paley Museum, 25 West 52 Street, NYC
Curator: Jason Lynch

Few people have shaped television as significantly as Rod Serling. As the famed writer, producer, and narrator of The Twilight Zone, he redefined what television could be and the kinds of stories that connected with audiences, and his work has inspired almost every major TV and film creator working today.

Renowned TV critic and New York Times best-selling author Alan Sepinwall takes a fresh look at Serling’s extraordinary life and work in his new, definitive biography of the legend: Serling: A Journey Into The Twilight Zone with TV’s First Visionary. The book chronicles Serling’s life and his hundreds of scripts for film and television, including The Twilight Zone, Playhouse 90, Night Gallery, and Planet of the Apes.

Sepinwall will join Paley curator Jason Lynch to talk about his new book and reflect on Serling’s extraordinary legacy. The discussion will include highlights of Serling’s work from the Paley Archive, including some programs that are only publicly available via the Archive, as well as rare interview footage of Serling. Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase a copy of Sepinwall’s book, which includes new insights on Serling from the Hollywood heavyweights he inspired like Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Vince Gilligan, Ben Stiller, and Guillermo del Toro.

Free for Paley Members, included in General Admission.
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