92-440: Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series The Twilight Zone . Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen, and helped form television industry standards. He was known as the "angry young man" of Hollywood, clashing with television executives and sponsors over
184-469: A Star of David over his grave. Serling later set several of his scripts in the Philippines and used the unpredictability of death as a theme in much of his writing. In the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Purple Testament", a prologue written by Serling stated, "Infantry platoon, U.S. Army, Philippine Islands, 1945. These are the faces of the young men who fight, as if some omniscient painter had mixed
276-525: A trance -like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word berserk , meaning 'furiously violent or out of control'. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources. The Old Norse form of the word was berserk (plural berserkir ), a compound word of ber and serk . The latter part is an old germanic word, meaning "shirt" and thereof (also found in Middle English , see serk ). The first part, ber , on
368-821: A Heavyweight " for the television series Playhouse 90 in 1956, again gaining praise from critics. In the autumn of 1957, the Serling family moved to California. When television was new, shows aired live from New York, but as studios began to tape their shows, the business moved from the East Coast to the West Coast. The Serlings would live in California for much of his life, but they kept property in Binghamton and Cayuga Lake as retreats for when he needed time alone. Anthology series An anthology series
460-469: A berserker as " hamrammr " or "shapestrong" – literally able to shapeshift into a bear's form. For example, the band of men who go with Skallagrim in Egil's Saga to see King Harald about his brother Thorolf's murder are described as "the hardest of men, with a touch of the uncanny about a number of them ... they [were] built and shaped more like trolls than human beings." This has sometimes been interpreted as
552-505: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
644-399: A glance from their evil eyes. This appears as early as Beowulf where it is a characteristic attributed to Grendel . Both the fire eating and the immunity to edged weapons are reminiscent of tricks popularly ascribed to fakirs . In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. Grágás , the medieval Icelandic law code , sentenced berserker warriors to outlawry . By
736-400: A great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe. When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days. When Viking villages went to war in unison, the berserkers often wore special clothing, for instance furs of
828-534: A grocer to earn a steady income. Sam Serling later became a butcher after the Great Depression forced the store to close. Rod had an older brother, novelist and aviation writer Robert J. Serling . Serling spent most of his youth 70 mi (110 km) south of Syracuse in Binghamton, New York , after his family moved there in 1926. His parents encouraged his talents as a performer. Sam Serling built
920-466: A home for many in either radio or television. As Serling's college years ended, his scripts began to sell. He continued to write for television and eventually left WKRC to become a full-time freelance writer. He recalled, "Writing is a demanding profession and a selfish one. And because it is selfish and demanding, because it is compulsive and exacting, I didn't embrace it. I succumbed to it." According to his wife, Serling "just up and quit one day, during
1012-530: A jet ejection seat that had killed the previous three testers. Serling volunteered at WNYC in New York as an actor and writer in the summer of 1946. The next year, he worked at that station as a paid intern in his Antioch work-study program. He then took odd jobs in other radio stations in New York and Ohio. "I learned 'time', writing for a medium that is measured in seconds," Serling later said of his early experiences. While attending college, Serling worked at
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#17327879982721104-400: A man called Kveldulf ( Evening-Wolf ) who is said to have transformed into a wolf at night. This Kveldulf is described as a berserker, as opposed to an ulfheðinn . Ulfheðnar are sometimes described as Odin 's special warriors: "[Odin's] men went without their mailcoats and were mad as hounds or wolves, bit their shields...they slew men, but neither fire nor iron had effect upon them. This
1196-455: A new town and got involved with the local residents. Other radio programs for which Serling wrote scripts include Leave It to Kathy , Our America , and Builders of Destiny . During the production of these, he became acquainted with a voice actor, Jay Overholts, who later became a regular on The Twilight Zone . Serling said of his time as a staff writer for radio: From a writing point of view, radio ate up ideas that might have put food on
1288-563: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
1380-548: A profession. —Carol Serling, Los Angeles Times , 1990 interview Serling moved from radio to television, as a writer for WKRC-TV in Cincinnati . His duties included writing testimonial advertisements for dubious medical remedies and scripts for a comedy duo. He continued at WKRC after graduation and, amidst the mostly dreary day-to-day work, also created a series of scripts for a live television program, The Storm , as well as for other anthology dramas (a format which
1472-486: A royal bodyguard . It may be that some of those warriors only adopted the organization or rituals of berserk Männerbünde , or used the name as a deterrent or claim of their ferocity. Emphasis has been placed on the frenzied nature of the berserkers, hence the modern sense of the word "berserk". However, the sources describe several other characteristics that have been ignored or neglected by modern commentators. Snorri's assertion that "neither fire nor iron told upon them"
1564-520: A scene indicative of a relationship between berserkgang ... and the god Odin". In Norse poetry, the word jǫfurr , which originally meant "wild boar", is used metaphorically for "a prince, monarch or warrior", which probably stems from the custom of wearing boar's heads as helmets or boar crested helmets in battle. Swine played a central role in Germanic paganism , featuring in both mythology and religious practice, particularly in association with
1656-401: A small stage in the basement, where Rod often put on plays (with or without neighborhood children). His older brother, writer Robert, recalled that, at the age of six or seven, Rod entertained himself for hours by acting out dialogue from pulp magazines or movies he had seen. Rod would often ask questions without waiting for their answers. On an hour trip from Binghamton to Syracuse, the rest of
1748-419: A start as a writer. Serling believed radio was not living up to its potential, later saying, "Radio, in terms of ... drama, dug its own grave. It had aimed downward, had become cheap and unbelievable, and had willingly settled for second best." He opined that there were very few radio writers who would be remembered for their literary contributions. I think Rod would have been one of the first to say he hit
1840-518: A tube of oils that were at one time earth brown, dust gray, blood red, beard black, and fear—yellow white, and these men were the models. For this is the province of combat, and these are the faces of war." Serling returned from the successful mission in Leyte with two wounds, including one to his kneecap, but neither kept him from combat when General Douglas MacArthur deployed the paratroopers for their usual purpose on February 3, 1945. Colonel Haugen led
1932-465: A week as a network continuity writer for WLW radio in Cincinnati, Ohio . While at WLW, he continued to freelance. He sold several radio and television scripts to WLW's parent company, Crosley Broadcasting Corporation . After selling the scripts, Serling had no further involvement with them. They were sold by Crosley to local stations across the United States. Serling submitted an idea for
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#17327879982722024-521: A week at the college radio station, Serling attempted to make a living selling freelance scripts of radio programs, but the industry at that time was involved in many lawsuits, which affected willingness to take on new writers (some whose scripts were rejected would often hear a similar plot produced, claim their work had been stolen, and sue for recompense). Serling was rejected for reasons such as "heavy competition", "this script lacks professional quality", and "not what our audience prefers to listen to". In
2116-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
2208-462: A weekly radio show in which the ghosts of a young boy and girl killed in World War II would look through train windows and comment on day-to-day human life as it moved around the country. This idea was changed significantly but was produced from October 1950 to February 1951 as Adventure Express , a drama about a girl and boy who travel by train with their uncle. Each week they found adventure in
2300-471: A wide range of issues, including censorship , racism, and war. Serling was born on December 25, 1924, in Syracuse, New York , to a Jewish family. He was the second of two sons born to Esther (née Cooper, 1893–1958), a homemaker, and Samuel Lawrence Serling (1892–1945). Serling's father had worked as a secretary and amateur inventor before his children were born but took on his father-in-law's profession as
2392-436: A wolf or bear, to indicate that this person was a berserker, and would not be able to tell friend from foe when in " bersærkergang ". In this way, other allies would know to keep their distance. Some scholars propose that certain examples of berserker rage had been induced voluntarily by the consumption of drugs such as hallucinogenic mushrooms , massive amounts of alcohol , or a mixture only known as 'butotens.' This
2484-431: Is a temporary thing," Gus Youngstrom told him. "It ends. Education doesn't. Without your degree, where will you be after the war?" Serling enlisted in the U.S. Army the morning after high school graduation, following his brother Robert. Serling began his military career in 1943 at Camp Toccoa , Georgia, under General Joseph May Swing and Colonel Orin D. Haugen and served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of
2576-885: Is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
2668-408: Is called 'going berserk'." The helm-plate press from Torslunda depicts a scene of a one-eyed warrior with bird-horned helm, assumed to be Odin, next to a wolf-headed warrior armed with a spear and sword as distinguishing features, assumed to be a berserker with a wolf pelt: "a wolf-skinned warrior with the apparently one-eyed dancer in the bird-horned helm, which is generally interpreted as showing
2760-430: Is much debated but the theory is further supported by the discovery of seeds belonging to black henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger ) in a Viking grave that was unearthed near Fyrkat, Denmark in 1977. An analysis of the symptoms caused by Hyoscyamus niger revealed that they are also similar to the symptoms ascribed to the berserker state, which suggest it may have been used to generate their warlike mood. Other explanations for
2852-462: Is reiterated time after time. The sources frequently state that neither edged weapons nor fire affected the berserks, although they were not immune to clubs or other blunt instruments. For example: These men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man; and he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the victory with most confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured
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2944-549: The Svarfdæla saga tells of a challenge to single-combat that was postponed by a berserker until three days after Yule. The bodies of dead berserkers were laid out in bearskins prior to their funeral rites. The bear-warrior symbolism survives to this day in the form of the bearskin caps worn by the guards of the Danish monarchs. In battle, the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy. They would howl like wild beasts, foam at
3036-576: The Vatnsdæla saga , the Haraldskvæði and the Grettis saga and are consistently referred to in the sagas as a group of berserkers, always presented as the elite following of the first Norwegian king Harald Fairhair . They were said to wear the pelt of a wolf over their chainmail when they entered battle. Unlike berserkers, direct references to ulfheðnar are scant. Egil's Saga features
3128-426: The 11th Airborne Division . He eventually reached the rank of Technician Fourth Grade (T/4). Over the next year of paratrooper training, Serling and others began boxing to vent aggression. He competed as a flyweight and had 17 bouts, rising to the second round of the division finals before being knocked out. He was remembered for his Berserker style, and for "getting his nose broken in his first bout and again in
3220-503: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
3312-672: The Philippine islands . In November 1944, his division first saw combat, landing in the Philippines . The 11th Airborne Division was not used as paratroopers, however, but as light infantry during the Battle of Leyte . The division helped secure the area after the five divisions that had gone ashore earlier. For a variety of reasons, Serling was transferred to the 511th's demolition platoon, nicknamed "The Death Squad" for its high casualty rate. According to Sergeant Frank Lewis, leader of
3404-524: The Rhine . There are warriors depicted as barefoot, bare-chested, bearing weapons and helmets that are associated with the Germani . Scene 36 on the column shows some of these warriors standing together, with some wearing bearhoods and some wearing wolfhoods. Nowhere else in history are Germanic bear-warriors and wolf-warriors recorded fighting together until 872 AD, with Thórbiörn Hornklofi 's description of
3496-554: The Unitarian church in college, which allowed him to marry Kramer on July 31, 1948. They had two daughters, Jodi (born 1952) and Anne (born 1955). Carol Serling's maternal grandmother, Louise Taft Orton Caldwell, had a summer home on Cayuga Lake in Interlaken, New York, which was the honeymoon destination for the newlyweds. The Serling family continued to use this house annually throughout Rod's life, missing only two summers in
3588-710: The Vanir , Freyr and Freyja . It has been proposed that similar to berserkers, warriors could ritually transform into boars so as to gain strength, bravery and protection in battle. It has been theorised that this process was linked to the wearing of boar helmets as a ritual costume. Berserkers appear prominently in a multitude of other sagas and poems . Many earlier sagas portrayed berserkers as bodyguards, elite soldiers, and champions of kings. This image would change as time passed and sagas would begin to describe berserkers as boasters rather than heroes, and as ravenous men who loot , plunder, and kill indiscriminately. Within
3680-581: The battle of Hafrsfjord , when they fought together for King Harald Fairhair of Norway. In 1639 and 1734 respectively, two vastly decorated horns made of sheet gold, the Golden Horns of Gallehus , were discovered in Southern Jutland, Denmark. As part of its decoration, the first horn, the larger of the two, depicts two armed animal headed men facing each other. Dated to the early 5th century, these depictions could represent bearserkers. In
3772-562: The 12th century, organised berserker war-bands had disappeared. The Lewis Chessmen , found on the Isle of Lewis , Outer Hebrides , Scotland , and thought to be of Norse manufacture, include berserkers depicted biting their shields . Scholar Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII (CE 905–959) in his book De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae ("Book of Ceremonies of
Rod Serling - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-436: The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment as it landed on Tagaytay Ridge , met the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment and marched into Manila . It met minimal resistance until it reached the city, where Vice Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi had arranged his 17,000 troops behind a maze of traps and guns and ordered them to fight to the death. During the next month, Serling's unit battled block by block for control of Manila . When portions of
3956-541: The Antioch Broadcasting System's radio workshop and was managing the station within a couple of years. He then took charge of full-scale radio productions at Antioch which were broadcast on WJEM, in Springfield. He wrote and directed the programs and acted in them when needed. He created the entire output for the 1948–1949 school year. With one exception (an adaptation), all the writing that year
4048-564: The Byzantine court") of a " Gothic Dance" performed by members of his Varangian Guard , Norse warriors in the service of the Byzantine Empire , who took part wearing animal skins and masks: she believes this may have been connected with berserker rites. The rage the berserker experienced was referred to as berserkergang ('berserk fit/frenzy' or 'berserk movement'). This condition has been described as follows: This fury, which
4140-584: The Haraldskvæði saga describes Harald's berserkers: I'll ask of the berserks, you tasters of blood, Those intrepid heroes, how are they treated, Those who wade out into battle? Wolf-skinned they are called. In battle They bear bloody shields. Red with blood are their spears when they come to fight. They form a closed group. The prince in his wisdom puts trust in such men Who hack through enemy shields. The "tasters of blood" (a kenning ) in this passage are thought to be ravens, which feasted on
4232-570: The St. Gallus Church in the Gutenstein district of the city of Sigmaringen , Germany. One of the graves contained, among other things, a silver sword scabbard, the Gutenstein scabbard [ de ] . Highly ornate, it features a warrior figure with a wolf's head, holding a sword and a spear. It is thought this depicts an ulfheðinn (wolf warrior), as pre-Christian Central Europe was part of
4324-434: The United States was involved in World War II at the time, and Serling decided to enlist rather than start college immediately after he graduated from Binghamton Central High School in 1943. As editor of his high school newspaper , Serling encouraged his fellow students to support the war effort. He wanted to leave school before graduation to join the fight, but his civics teacher talked him into waiting for graduation. "War
4416-409: The artillery started firing. As it moved in on Iwabuchi's stronghold, Serling's regiment had a 50% casualty rate, with over 400 men killed or wounded. Serling was wounded and three comrades were killed by shrapnel from rounds fired at his roving demolition team by an antiaircraft gun. He was sent to New Guinea to recover but soon returned to Manila to finish "cleaning up". Serling's final assignment
4508-465: The autumn of 1949, Martin Horrell of Grand Central Station (a radio program known for romances and light dramas) rejected one of Serling's scripts about boxing, because his mostly female listeners "have told us in no uncertain terms that prize fight stories aren't what they like most". Horrell advised that "the script would be far better for sight than for sound only, because in any radio presentation,
4600-494: The band of men being " hamrammr ", though there is no major consensus. Another example of " hamrammr " comes from the Saga of Hrólf Kraki . One tale within tells the story of Bödvar Bjarki , a berserker who is able to shapeshift into a bear and uses this ability to fight for king Hrólfr Kraki . "Men saw that a great bear went before King Hrolf's men, keeping always near the king. He slew more men with his fore paws than any five of
4692-492: The berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of posttraumatic stress disorder . In Achilles in Vietnam , he writes: If a soldier survives the berserk state, it imparts emotional deadness and vulnerability to explosive rage to his psychology and permanent hyperarousal to his physiology — hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. My clinical experience with Vietnam combat veterans prompts me to place
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#17327879982724784-487: The berserker's madness that have been put forward include self-induced hysteria , epilepsy , or mental illness , among other causes. One theory of the berserkers suggests that the physical manifestations of the berserker alongside their rage was a form of self-induced hysteria. Initiated before battle through a ritualistic performance meant for effect, which included actions such as shield-biting and animalistic howling. Jonathan Shay makes an explicit connection between
4876-409: The campus radio station, an experience that proved useful in his future career. He wrote, directed, and acted in many radio programs on campus, then around the state, as part of his work study. Here he met Carolyn Louise "Carol" Kramer, a fellow student, who later became his wife. At first, she refused to date him because of his promiscuous campus reputation, but she eventually changed her mind. He joined
4968-417: The city were taken from Japanese control, local civilians sometimes showed their gratitude by throwing parties and hosting banquets. During one of these parties, Serling and his comrades were fired upon, resulting in many soldier and civilian deaths. Serling, still a private after three years, caught the attention of Sergeant Lewis when he ran into the line of fire to rescue a performer who had been on stage when
5060-566: The demolitions squad, "He screwed up somewhere along the line. Apparently he got on someone's nerves." Lewis also judged that Serling was not suited to be a field soldier: "he didn't have the wits or aggressiveness required for combat." At one point, Lewis, Serling, and others were in a firefight, trapped in a foxhole. As they waited for darkness, Lewis noticed that Serling had not reloaded any of his extra magazines. Serling sometimes went exploring on his own, against orders, and got lost. Serling's time in Leyte shaped his writing and political views for
5152-623: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
5244-424: The edges of his shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the perils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every sort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts of six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from thirst for battle or natural ferocity. Then with
5336-412: The end of 1954, his agent convinced him he needed to move to New York, "where the action is." The writer Marc Scott Zicree , who spent years researching his book The Twilight Zone Companion , noted, "Sometimes the situations were clichéd, the characters two-dimensional, but always there was at least some search for an emotional truth, some attempt to make a statement on the human condition." In 1955,
5428-409: The family remained silent to see if Rod would notice their lack of participation. He did not, and he talked nonstop through the entire car ride. In elementary school, Serling was seen as the class clown and dismissed by many of his teachers as a lost cause. His seventh-grade English teacher, Helen Foley, encouraged him to enter the school's public speaking extracurriculars. He joined the debate team and
5520-528: The fights are not seen. Perhaps this is a baby you should try on some of the producers of television shows." Realizing the boxing story was not right for Grand Central Station , Serling submitted a lighter piece called Hop Off the Express and Grab a Local , which became his first nationally broadcast piece on September 10, 1949. His Dr. Christian script aired on November 30 of that year. Serling began his professional writing career in 1950, when he earned $ 75
5612-652: The horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with the Halloween franchise where the third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch , was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved. Anthology video games have been very rare since the 1980s. Berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers ( Old Norse : berserkir ) were those who were said to have fought in
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#17327879982725704-614: The king's champions." Wolf warriors appear among the legends of the Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and Native American cultures. The Germanic wolf-warriors have left their trace through shields and standards that were captured by the Romans and displayed in the armilustrium in Rome. Frenzy warriors wearing the skins of wolves called ulfheðnar ("wolf-skin-ers" or possibly "wolf-heathens"; singular ulfheðinn ), are mentioned in
5796-657: The last bout." He tried his hand at the Golden Gloves , with little success. On April 25, 1944, Serling received his orders and saw that he was being sent west to California. He knew that he would be fighting against the Empire of Japan rather than Nazi Germany . This disappointed him because he had hoped to help fight against Adolf Hitler . In May, he was assigned to the Pacific Theater in New Guinea and
5888-498: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
5980-686: The meaning as "bare-shirt", that is to say that the warriors went into battle without armour , but that view has largely been abandoned due to contradicting and lack of supporting evidence. It is proposed by some authors that the northern warrior tradition originated from hunting magic. Three main animal cults appear to have developed: the cult of the bear , the wolf , and the wild boar . The bas-relief carvings on Trajan's column in Rome, completed in 113 AD, depict scenes of Trajan 's conquest of Dacia in 101–106 AD. The scenes show his Roman soldiers plus auxiliaries and allies from Rome's border regions, including tribal warriors from both sides of
6072-451: The mouth, and gnaw the rims of their shields. According to belief, during these fits, they were immune to steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. When this fever abated, they were weak and tame. Accounts can be found in the sagas. To "go berserk" was to " hamask ", which translates as "change form", in this case, as with the sense "enter a state of wild fury". Some scholars have interpreted those who could transform as
6164-453: The nationwide Kraft Television Theatre televised a program based on Serling's 72nd script. To Serling, it was just another script, and he missed the first live broadcast. He and his wife hired a babysitter for the night and told her, "no one would call because we had just moved to town. And the phone just started ringing and didn't stop for years!" The title of this episode was " Patterns ", and it soon changed his life. "Patterns" dramatized
6256-506: The new industry, television, at exactly the right time. The first job he got out of school was as a continuity writer at (radio station) WLW in Cincinnati. He worked there for over a year before he could free-lance. At that point, he was really working on television scripts. [I]n 1951 and 1952, the new industry was grabbing up a lot of material and needed it. It was a very propitious time to be graduating from school and getting ready to find
6348-471: The other hand, can linguistically mean several things, but is assumed to have most likely meant " bear ", with the full phrase, berserk , meaning just "bear-shirt", as in "someone who wears a coat made out of a bear's skin ". Thirteenth-century historian Snorri Sturluson , an Icelander who lived around 200 years after berserkers were outlawed in Iceland (outlawed in 1015), on the other hand, interpreted
6440-441: The other winners were interviewed by the star of Dr. Christian , Jean Hersholt . One of the other winners that day was Earl Hamner, Jr. , who had also earned prizes in previous years. Serling's first job out of college was with WLW radio as copy writer. The position had just been vacated by Hamner who left to concentrate on his writing. Hamner later wrote scripts for Serling's The Twilight Zone . In addition to earning $ 45 to $ 50
6532-562: The physical education program at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio . He had been accepted to Antioch (his brother's alma mater ) while in high school. His interests led him to the theater department and then to broadcasting. He changed his major to Literature and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950. "I was kind of mixed up and restless, and I kind of liked their work-for-a-term, go-to-school-for-a-term set-up," he recounted. As part of his studies, Serling became active in
6624-486: The power struggle between a veteran corporate boss running out of ideas and energy and the bright, young executive being groomed to take his place. Instead of firing the loyal employee and risk tarnishing his own reputation, the boss enlists him into a campaign to push aside his competition. Serling modeled the character of the boss on his former commander, Colonel Orin Haugen. The New York Times critic Jack Gould called
6716-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
6808-432: The remaining band of his champions he attacked Halfdan, who crushed him with a hammer of wondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life; paying the penalty both to Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and to the kings whose offspring he had violently ravished... Similarly, Hrolf Kraki 's champions refuse to retreat "from fire or iron". Another frequent motif refers to berserkers blunting their enemy's blades with spells or
6900-464: The rest of his life. He saw death every day while in the Philippines, at the hands of his enemies and his allies, and through freak accidents such as that which killed another Jewish private, Melvin Levy. Levy was delivering a comic monologue for the platoon as they rested under a palm tree when a food crate was dropped from a plane above, decapitating him. Serling led the funeral services for Levy and placed
6992-719: The sagas, Berserkers can be narrowed down to four different types. The King's Berserkr, the Hall-Challenging Berserkr , the Hólmgangumaðr , and the Viking Berserkr . Later, by Christian interpreters, the berserker was viewed as a "heathen devil". The earliest surviving reference to the term "berserker" is in Haraldskvæði , a skaldic poem composed by Thórbiörn Hornklofi in the late 9th century in honor of King Harald Fairhair , as ulfheðnar ("men clad in wolf skins"). This translation from
7084-606: The same tradition as the Norse. Other animal headed figures have been found, such as an antlered figure on the Gundestrup cauldron , found on northern Jutland, Denmark, in 1891, which has been dated from 200 BC to 300 AD. It is proposed by some authors that the berserkers drew their power from the bear and were devoted to the bear cult , which was once widespread across the northern hemisphere. The berserkers maintained their religious observances despite their fighting prowess, as
7176-505: The service. I think I turned to writing to get it off my chest." After being discharged from the Army in 1946, Serling worked at a rehabilitation hospital while recovering from his wounds. His knee troubled him for years. Later, his wife, Carol, became accustomed to the sound of him falling on the stairs when his knee would buckle. When he was fit enough, he used the federal G.I. bill's educational benefits and disability payments to enroll in
7268-554: The show "one of the high points in the TV medium's evolution" and said, "[f]or sheer power of narrative, forcefulness of characterization and brilliant climax, Mr. Serling's work is a creative triumph." Robert Lewis Shayon stated in Saturday Review , "in the years I have been watching television I do not recall being so engaged by a drama, nor so stimulated to challenge the haunting conclusions of an hour's entertainment." The episode
7360-618: The slain. The Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) wrote the following description of berserkers in his Ynglinga saga : His ( Odin 's) men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them. This was called Berserkergang . King Harald Fairhair's use of berserkers as " shock troops " broadened his sphere of influence. Other Scandinavian kings used berserkers as part of their army of hirdmen and sometimes ranked them as equivalent to
7452-527: The spring of 1870, four Vendel era cast-bronze dies, the Torslunda plates , were found by Erik Gustaf Pettersson and Anders Petter Nilsson in a cairn on the lands of the farm No 5 Björnhovda in Torslunda parish, Öland, Sweden, one of them showing what appears to be a berserker ritual. In 1887, the graves of two 7th century Alemanni men were found during construction work in the immediate vicinity of
7544-452: The table for weeks at a future freelancing date. The minute you tie yourself down to a radio or TV station, you write around the clock. You rip out ideas, many of them irreplaceable. They go on and consequently can never go on again. And you've sold them for $ 50 a week. You can't afford to give away ideas—they're too damn hard to come by. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't staff-write at all. I'd find some other way to support myself while getting
7636-454: The winter of 1952, about six months before our first daughter Jody was born—though he was also doing some freelancing and working on a weekly dramatic show for another Cincinnati station." He and his family moved to Connecticut in early 1953. Here he made a living by writing for the live dramatic anthology shows that were prevalent at the time, including Kraft Television Theatre , Appointment with Adventure and Hallmark Hall of Fame . By
7728-519: The years when his daughters were born. For extra money in his college years, Serling worked part-time testing parachutes for the United States Army Air Forces . According to his radio station coworkers, he received $ 50 for each successful jump and had once been paid $ 500 (half before and half if he survived) for a hazardous test. His last test jump was a few weeks before his wedding. In one instance, he earned $ 1,000 for testing
7820-418: Was a hit with the audience as well, and a second live show was staged by popular demand one month later. During the time between the two shows, Kraft executives negotiated with people from Hollywood over the rights to "Patterns". Kraft said they were considering rebroadcasting "Patterns", unless the play or motion picture rights were sold first. Immediately following the original broadcast of "Patterns", Serling
7912-406: Was a speaker at his high school graduation. He began writing for the school newspaper, in which, according to the journalist Gordon Sander, he "established a reputation as a social activist". Serling was interested in sports, and excelled at tennis and table tennis. When he attempted to join the varsity football team, he was told he was too small at 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) tall. Serling
8004-668: Was as part of the occupation force in Japan . During his military service, Private Serling was awarded the Purple Heart , the Bronze Star , and the Philippine Liberation Medal . Serling's combat experience affected him deeply and influenced much of his writing. It left him with nightmares and flashbacks for the rest of his life. He said, "I was bitter about everything and at loose ends when I got out of
8096-421: Was called berserkergang , occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power. This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its colour. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into
8188-438: Was his original work. While in college, Serling won his first accolade as a writer. The radio program, Dr. Christian , had started an annual scriptwriting contest eight years earlier. Thousands of scripts were sent in annually, but very few could be produced. Serling won a trip to New York City and $ 500 for his radio script "To Live a Dream". He and his new wife, Carol, attended the awards broadcast on May 18, 1949, where he and
8280-534: Was in demand by networks based in New York). Following a full day of classes (or, in later years, work), he spent evenings on his own, writing. He sent manuscripts to publishers and received forty rejection slips during these early years. In 1950, Serling hired Blanche Gaines as an agent. His radio scripts received more rejections, so he began rewriting them for television. Whenever a script was rejected by one program, he would resubmit it to another, eventually finding
8372-418: Was interested in radio and writing at an early age. He was an avid radio listener, especially interested in thrillers, fantasy, and horror shows. Arch Oboler and Norman Corwin were two of his favorite writers. He also "did some staff work at a Binghamton radio station ... tried to write ... but never had anything published." He was accepted into college during his senior year of high school. However,
8464-424: Was inundated with offers of permanent jobs, congratulations, and requests for novels, plays, and television or radio scripts. He quickly sold many of his earlier, lower-quality works and watched in dismay as they were published. Critics expressed concern that he was not living up to his promise and began to doubt he was able to recreate the quality of writing that "Patterns" had shown. Serling then wrote " Requiem for
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