A Dec. 18 event at Syracuse’s Everson Museum of Art will honor “The Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling, one of the most significant creative minds from Central New York. SUNY Oswego computer science faculty member Ryan Zlomek said this annual event is borne of appreciation and connection for Serling’s work.

“Rod Serling: Requiem For A Writer,” with a screening and lecture starting at 5:30 p.m., will feature the titular Emmy-winning teleplay as one more example of Serling’s staggering body of work. The event is free and open to the public as part of the Everson’s Pay What You Wish nights.

Serling was born in Syracuse on Christmas Day in 1924. While most famous for developing the television shows “The Twilight Zone” and “Night Gallery,” as well as initial scripts for the film “Planet of the Apes,” Serling became well known in the 1950s by writing award-winning teleplays that explored the nature of humanity. 

“For this series I've been doing at the Everson Museum, it's been awesome to reintroduce the public to this era of Serling before ‘The Twilight Zone’ existed,” Zlomek said. “Last year, we showed ‘Patterns’, which skyrocketed Rod Serling into a household name. This year I'll be discussing and screening ‘Requiem For A Heavyweight,’ to show Serling's ability to expand his cast of characters.”

During his service in World War II, Serling trained as a paratrooper while also competing as a flyweight boxer. After returning from war, he started his career as a writer, eventually developing teleplay scripts broadcast live to American televisions across the country. 

On Oct. 11, 1956, the Serling-penned “Requiem for a Heavyweight” premiered as a teleplay that explored the end of the boxing career for fictional character Harlan “Mountain” McClintock. 

“Requiem for a Heavyweight” won four Emmy awards, including “Best Single Program of the Year” and claimed the achievement of being the first 90-minute teleplay ever broadcast on television, Zlomek said. Critics raved about “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” including Jack Gould of the New York Times, who claimed that it “was a play of overwhelming force and tenderness … a searing, inspired indictment of the worst side of the prize-fight fame.”

CNY connections

Zlomek, like Serling, was born in Syracuse and had connections to Binghamton, which Serling would sometimes call his hometown.

“He was the poster child for Binghamton,” Zlomek said. “He hid little upstate New York Easter eggs into his work, including calling his production company Cayuga Productions.”

Zlomek would attend elementary school in Hillcrest, a suburb of Binghamton, and later attend Binghamton University. “Spending so much time in the Southern Tier, you can feel the pride the area has for Rod Serling,” he said. 

“My family would not traditionally watch a lot of science fiction media, but the exception was ‘The Twilight Zone’ because it was written by a hometown boy,” Zlomek recalled. “New Year's ‘Twilight Zone’ marathons and going to public screenings were a regular occurrence for our family, so I became very familiar with Rod's work at a young age.”

Studying cinema and media at Binghamton and the University at Buffalo helped Zlomek develop “an interest in the relationship between the stories we tell on screens as they relate to the technology available at the time,” he said. 

“I discovered Serling's 1950s work in the medium of live teleplays during what some call ‘The Golden Age Of Television’ and was over the moon,” Zlomek said. “In the current world of sitcoms and multi-season dramas, the teleplay was truly a bygone era of television that showed the emotional depth and highbrow writing people expected in the 1950s. Plus, these were all broadcast live, so the technical needs were fascinating to review.” 

Now Zlomek is happy to continue the fascination for longtime fans and cultivate new ones for brilliant creations that stand the test of time.

The event at the Everson, 401 Harrison St. in Syracuse, that celebrates Serling’s 101st birthday, is a collaboration with The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, SUNY Oswego, Fat Cat Baking and The Comic Shop.

For treats during the screening, Fat Cat Baking will be set up, selling vegan baked goods for patrons to enjoy. Doors open at 5 p.m. for the Dec. 18 event.