Catfan
Caped Crusader
Registered: 11-2005
Location: Gardner, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1462
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Twilight Zone Convention
:flapbat
I had the chance to attend the Twilight Zone Convention, held 12-13 August 2006 in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. What a fun time!! I met such people as Morgan Brittany (pictured above), as well as Peter Mark Richman, H.M. Wynant, Lois Nettleton, Tom Reese, Noah Keen and many others.
Here is the account from The New York Times:
Perhaps the strangest thing about the 2006 “Twilight Zone” convention was the lack of strange occurrences. T-shirts were selling for $25, and the only time an organizer turned down the volume on the show’s familiar theme song was to make special announcements, like the one that the holder of ticket No. 410035 had won the first door prize.
But the less-than-supernatural particulars masked the nervous excitement yesterday at a Hilton hotel in less-than-supernatural Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. The first “Twilight Zone” convention on the East Coast was not so much for casual admirers, but for true fanatics.
Mike Belveduto, 22, of Scranton, Pa., was there, a bracelet-style tattoo across his left forearm with the clock, the eyeball and other objects that float across the screen in the show’s opening montage.
“One day this whole arm will be all ‘Twilight Zone,’ ” he said. “I just don’t have the money yet.”
Dr. Jeff Menkes, 59, was there, too, driving in from his home in Connecticut (that was his green Corvette convertible in the parking lot, the one with the “TWLT ZN” license plate).
A few years ago, Dr. Menkes, a physician, won an online “Twilight Zone” trivia contest, and he demonstrated his talents when asked to name the episode in which the woman trapped in a department store discovers she is really a mannequin.
“ ‘The After Hours,’ ” Dr. Menkes answered, “with Anne Francis, and it was on the first season, and written by Rod Serling, and directed by Douglas Heyes, H-e-y-e-s.”
You might hear about the intricacies of warp speed at a “Star Trek” convention. You might bump into a man dressed as a Wookiee at a “Star Wars” convention. But at a “Twilight Zone” gathering, people dress down instead of up, and the talk centers not on space travel but on stories: The 156 episodes of the classic television series, which continues to influence popular culture today.
The series ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964, but in a sense, it never really went away. The show has inspired Hollywood movie directors, television writers and science fiction authors. Not only has it been in reruns for decades, but there also have been “Twilight Zone” marathons on the Sci-Fi Channel and recently released DVD box sets. There are plans to open a museum honoring Rod Serling, the creator and host of the series, in his hometown, Binghamton, N.Y.
Two major conventions were in California in August 2002 and August 2004. Herman Darvick, 60, a retired public school teacher who lives on Long Island, thought it was time for one closer to home. So he started planning it last year, and he invited some of the men and women who starred in the original episodes.
Yesterday, the 14 actors and actresses sat behind tables, signing autographs and shaking hands. The fans — some in their teens, some in their 20’s, some in their 60’s — bought “Twilight Zone” trading cards, books and other memorabilia and chatted with George Clayton Johnson, who wrote eight episodes. The convention, admission $15, ends today.
Paul Comi, 74, who acted in three “Twilight Zone” episodes, posed for pictures, and Peter Mark Richman, 79, who starred in a popular episode called “The Fear,” greeted fans who were not yet alive when it was first broadcast in the early 1960’s. The longest line for autographs formed for the actor at the far end of the room, Mickey Rooney.
“He was a very clever man,” Mr. Rooney, 85, said of Mr. Serling, who died in 1975. “He was one of the best.”
“Twilight Zone” episodes were American parables in black and white, cautionary tales and sci-fi puzzlers with gotcha endings and spare, simple sets.
Yesterday, everyone had a favorite. For Mr. Darvick, the event’s organizer, it was the one about the disenchanted teacher whose deceased students appear before him to tell him he made a difference. Mr. Darvick gets choked up talking about it. For Mr. Belveduto, the young tattooed fan, it was the one about the washed-up jazz musician caught in a kind of purgatory.
“There was a moral to every story,” said Mr. Richman, the actor. “That’s why it has a staying power.”
The main room with the actors bustled with people and activity throughout the day. Down the hall, past the placards adorned with some of the dialogue from various episodes, people sat in silence in a smaller room. They stared at a large projection screen, watching the old episodes one more time.
_______________________
:flapbat
---
Catfan's Feline Fatale Follies: http://www.catwomanfan.com
The 1965 FBI Show Tribute site: http://1965fbishow.com |
|
8/14/2006, 9:17 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Catfan
Send PM to Catfan
|
BelmontBat
Keeper of the Cave
Registered: 02-2004
Posts: 4228
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone Convention
Very cool. I hope it can become an annual event.
---
Howdy.
|
|
8/14/2006, 11:28 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to BelmontBat
Send PM to BelmontBat
|
jokerscrowbar
Caped Crusader
Registered: 07-2005
Location: Wales
Posts: 4338
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone Convention
I still love that show. Most of the episodes are online and I watch them whenever I get a chance.
There are a couple here.
http://www.tv.com/twilight-zone/show/237/summary.html
---
TJ
---
|
|
8/14/2006, 12:26 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to jokerscrowbar
|
paulv70
Caped Crusader
Registered: 03-2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1631
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone Convention
Quote:
Catfan wrote:
...the only time an organizer turned down the volume on the show’s familiar theme song was to make special announcements...
They had that playing over and over again? I would've gone insane in about 20 minutes.
|
|
8/14/2006, 1:16 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to paulv70
Send PM to paulv70
|
Catfan
Caped Crusader
Registered: 11-2005
Location: Gardner, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1462
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone Convention
:flapbat
You barely heard it. Anyway, seeing those people was well worth it! Another event is planned for 2007, presumably in New York.
:flapbat
---
Catfan's Feline Fatale Follies: http://www.catwomanfan.com
The 1965 FBI Show Tribute site: http://1965fbishow.com |
|
8/16/2006, 3:35 am
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Catfan
Send PM to Catfan
|
Catfan
Caped Crusader
Registered: 11-2005
Location: Gardner, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1462
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone Convention
:flapbat
Here are a couple of photos!
Me with Morgan Brittany. Gorgeous lady!
Twilight Zone cast members who appeared on The FBI.
Me with Peter Mark Richman!
:flapbat
Last edited by Catfan, 8/19/2006, 6:20 pm
---
Catfan's Feline Fatale Follies: http://www.catwomanfan.com
The 1965 FBI Show Tribute site: http://1965fbishow.com |
|
8/19/2006, 6:18 pm
|
Link to this post
Send Email to Catfan
Send PM to Catfan
|
