The 10th annual SerlingFest will celebrate the wide-ranging career of Binghamton native Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone, with a weekend of guests, presentations and screenings.
Nicholas Parisi, president of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, says this year's festival is deliberately broad in its focus.
"This year is very much a smorgasbord of everything Rod Serling," Parisi says. "We always try to cover all aspects of Rod's career because, as you know, he was not just The Twilight Zone."
Among the guests will be Mary Badham, who appeared in the final episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Bewitching Pool." Badham is perhaps better known for her role as Scout Finch in the film To Kill a Mockingbird. Parisi says her appearance marks the first time a Twilight Zone cast member has attended SerlingFest.
The festival will also feature authors who have written about Serling and The Twilight Zone, including several members of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation's board.
Serling's Binghamton roots will be another important part of the weekend. Parisi points to the Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance," which was inspired by Recreation Park and its carousel.
"Walking Distance is kind of a hymn to his memories of Binghamton," Parisi says.
The park was close to Serling's childhood home and was a place where he spent considerable time as a boy. It is also now home to the Rod Serling statue erected by the foundation.
Another episode, "Mirror Image," mentions Binghamton and Rochester, while other works by Serling drew on places in the Southern Tier and the Finger Lakes.
"Rod Serling was always drawing from his own biography when he wrote, just as most writers do," Parisi says. "He was not shy about mentioning these places that were very dear to him."
Serling's experiences as a young soldier in World War II also had a profound effect on his writing. Parisi says Serling himself described writing as a form of therapy after returning from the war.
His early writing was heavily influenced by his wartime experiences, and those experiences continued to appear in his work. Parisi points to the Twilight Zone episode "The Purple Testament," which is set in the Philippines and incorporates the names of some of Serling's wartime comrades.
Parisi says Serling also found a way to address contemporary social issues through science fiction and fantasy.
"Rod had this crazy idea that the writer is supposed to do that," Parisi says. "The writer's job is to menace the public's conscience."
Prejudice was one of Serling's primary concerns. Parisi says that during Serling's earlier television career, network and sponsor censorship made it difficult for him to address prejudice directly. The Twilight Zone gave him another way to approach subjects including prejudice, scapegoating and conformity.
"The message was pretty clear," Parisi says, "but as far as the networks were concerned, it was obscured just enough that they didn't mind him doing it in that fashion."
More than half a century later, Serling's work continues to influence television writers and filmmakers. Parisi cites creators including Vince Gilligan, David Chase, J.J. Abrams and Ryan Coogler as admirers of Serling's work.
Parisi says Serling was also something of a pioneer as a writer-producer who exercised unusual control over his television creation.
"He was really the first writer to do that," Parisi says. "And now again, you have guys like Vince Gilligan who look to him as their role model. He's the guy who got it done, and the first one."
And while Serling is often remembered for the serious social commentary of The Twilight Zone, Parisi says people might be surprised to learn how funny and approachable he was in person.
According to Serling's daughter, Ann Serling, her father loved practical jokes, impressions and doing voices.
"Rod had a tremendous sense of humor," Parisi says. "He was a really funny guy."
Parisi also says Serling was remarkably gracious with fans who approached him for autographs or photographs.
"He was incredibly gracious with people and generous with people," Parisi says. "He was a really, really personable guy."
SerlingFest will feature presentations from guests including The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz, NPR's Fresh Air contributor David Bianculli, and Emmy-winning writer Joe Dougherty. Tom Elliott of The Twilight Zone podcast will travel from Liverpool, England, for a live presentation, while online creator Michaela of Make That Magic will present a live Twilight Zone episode reaction.
Actor Bill Mumy, who appeared in three Twilight Zone episodes, will participate virtually, as will R.C. Matheson, son of writer Richard Matheson. The festival will also mark what would have been Richard Matheson's 100th birthday.
Another highlight will be a screening of A Storm in Summer, a 1970 Hallmark Hall of Fame production written by Serling and considered by Parisi and Serling's daughter among his favorite works.
The 10th annual SerlingFest takes place Friday, August 21 through Sunday, August 23, with two full days of presentations on Friday and Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel on Water Street in Binghamton. The complete schedule and additional information are available at rodserling.com.