TUESDAY, MARCH 17 @ 5:30pm EST:
“DECONSTRUCTING THE TWILIGHT ZONE: ‘Perchance to Dream’” webinar via NY Adventure Club!
The Twilight Zone, the 1959-64 CBS science fiction/fantasy television series, created by one of the most influential American writers of the 20th Century, Rod Serling (1924-75), is considered by generations of TV critics and viewers alike to be one of—if not the—greatest television series of all time.
Utilizing the benefits of the varied subject matter and settings afforded by its anthology format, Serling’s Twilight Zone used the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres to tell incisive stories that dealt with the social and societal issues of its time, which have proven to be still relevant to us today in the 21st Century. As well, the series tackled all the timeless themes and conflicts that man has forever been telling stories about, but presented them in the relatively new medium of black and white filmed television. In doing so, Serling and Co. created some of the most indelible half-hours of filmed television drama ever made.
One of those half-hours was The Twilight Zone’s ninth episode, “Perchance to Dream,” the first series episode written by the enigmatic horror and fantasy author Charles Beaumont, one of the triad of main writers of the series that included creator Serling and science fiction luminary Richard Matheson. “Perchance” is the first of Beaumont’s two Twilight Zone meditations on the nature of dreams and reality (the other is season two’s “Shadow Play,” a future “Deconstructing” episode), a core concept of The Twilight Zone itself. It takes us on a surreal rollercoaster ride—literally—that plunges us into the feverish depths of one man’s never-ending nightmares. The episode’s surprise ending is still one of the most shocking of all Twilight Zone twists…and one of the most misunderstood! Why? You’ll have to come to the webinar to find out!
So join New York Adventure Club and pop culture historian Arlen Schumer (author/designer, Visions from The Twilight Zone and The Five Themes of The Twilight Zone) as he deconstructs “Perchance to Dream” via discussion and dissemination of clips from the episode, along with stills, behind-the-scenes material, and collateral images and ideas culled from both the episode’s time, and our time, so that even the most ardent aficionados of The Twilight Zone will feel as if they’ve seen “Perchance to Dream” for the first time!
TIX: bit.ly/4rMu5mS
CAN’T make it LIVE? Buy a ticket so you can watch a video recording of the webinar for 1 week!