The Twilight Zone

INDULGENT MUSINGS: 

I've always loved the Twilight Zone. It's the type of "family friendly" horror and "wholesome" sci-fi show that I think every kid should lose weeks of sleep over. These are morality tales with wit and teeth that are entirely accessible without ever talking down to the audience. They make you feel smart.

When I was in the third grade, I remember predicting the reveal at the end of "The Eye of the Beholder" after noticing the not-so-subtle exclusion of anyone's face just a few minutes in.  Needless to say, my dad was blown away. "Good catch," he said whilst hoisting me onto his shoulders and leading a parade in my name to the nearest Harvard-like genius school. It gave me the same sense of intellectual superiority we all feel when watching Rick and Morty and totally "getting it."  

But anyway, like in "The Eye of the Beholder," my favorite Twilight Zone episodes hit these three boxes:

1) Clear thesis/ moral

2) Unsettling tone/ setting

3) Characters I relate to 

I'd like to focus on the third point in this post because, admittedly, I didn't pay it much mind while writing this week's spec. In a morality tale, you often have a garbage person protagonist who faces a challenge to be less of a garbage person, fails, then winds up in the garbage. It's a real challenge to make that garbage person relatable (not necessarily "likable." Go ahead and let that cat die) at the top. I think you want that "garbage" quality to resonate with your audience. "I know that guy" is good but "I am that guy" is way way better. 

SEED OF THE IDEA: 

What if there was a Twilight Zone episode that predicted social media? 

HONESTY CORNER: 

This script took me a breezy three or four hours to throw together. I'm proud that I got it done. I worry it's a little rushed. I think I could've consolidated some characters and fleshed out the protagonist a bit. Writing a Rod Serling monologue at the start and end made it feel more like fan fic than a spec script. C+

Got thoughts on this post or this week's spec script? Maybe you can teach me how to blog properly? Share 'em below!