USPS Early TV Memories - The Twilight Zone

USPS on 11 August 2009 issued a First Day Cover stamp honouring Rod Serling’s and his TV series ,"The Twilight Zone", along with 19 other Early TV shows from the 1950s. Postmark cancellation originated from North Hollywood, California.

The Early TV Memories sheet of 44-cent First-Class stamps celebrated 20 productions from television’s golden age: "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet"; "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"; "Dinah Shore Show"; "Dragnet"; "Ed Sullivan Show"; "George Burns & Gracie Allen Show"; "Hopalong Cassidy"; "The Honeymooners"; "Howdy Doody"; "I Love Lucy"; "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"; "Lassie"; "The Lone Ranger"; "Perry Mason"; "Phil Silvers Show"; "The Red Skelton Show"; "Texaco Star Theater"; "The Tonight Show"; "Twilight Zone"; and "You Bet Your Life".

The Twilight Zone

You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!” Rod Serling’s famous words — the introduction to his sci-fi television show, which originally ran from 1959 to 1964.

"The Twilight Zone", a thought-provoking anthology series focused on the imaginary and the bizarre, began in a half-hour time slot in 1959 and ran for several seasons, ultimately expanding to a full hour. This intelligent series cautioned viewers not to be too sure of anything. The best scripts for The Twilight Zone dealt with the shadowy area of the almost-but-not-quite; the unbelievable told in terms that could be believed. Time travel was a frequent subject, and so was contact with aliens from outer space. The contest between humanity and technology was another characteristic theme.

The series creator, a prolific young playwright named Rod Serling, served as the show’s narrator and wrote many episodes. Serling, who earned his B.A. in 1950 from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and whose career can be traced through the WLW broadcasting franchise in Cincinnati.

Source: USPS