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162-441: Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker who first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams . Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster-film Cloverfield (2008). He also directed the vampire drama Let Me In (2010), and the critically acclaimed science-fiction sequels Dawn of

324-576: A macabre or unexpected twist , and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes . The first series , shot entirely in black-and-white , ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964. The Twilight Zone followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53), Out There (1951–52) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57); radio programs such as The Weird Circle (1943–45), Dimension X (1950–51) and X Minus One (1955–58); and

486-462: A reverend and his family) and comedies The Steve Harvey Show (starring Harvey as a funk musician working as a music teacher at an inner-city Chicago high school), and The Jamie Foxx Show (starring Foxx as an aspiring actor/singer working at a Los Angeles hotel owned by his aunt and uncle). The WB first had success with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (a series based on the 1992 film of

648-496: A WB charter affiliate before joining ABC in January 1996 due to a similar affiliation deal between Fox and SF Broadcasting , owner of longtime ABC station WVUE-TV . On December 3, 1993, The WB announced a separate affiliation agreement with Tribune for its Chicago flagship station WGN-TV (which originally planned to remain an independent station due to concerns about handling its sports programming commitments while maintaining

810-472: A casual adventure game based on The Twilight Zone . On July 14, 2022, Fun Train and Pocket Money Games released a Virtual Reality game based on The Twilight Zone for Meta Quest 2 titled Twilight Zone VR . Serling novelized several of his original scripts, which were published in the anthologies Stories from the Twilight Zone (1960), More Stories from the Twilight Zone (1961) and New Stories from

972-495: A former animator. They have one son together. Short film Executive producer The WB On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation announced plans to replace their respective subsidiary networks, The WB and UPN , with the CW later that same year. The WB ceased operations on September 17, 2006, with some programs from both it and competitor UPN (which had shut down on September 15) moving to The CW when it launched

1134-493: A heavily fragmented market by marketing to the under-courted teen demographic. While the Fox network, the previous destination for teen television (with shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210 , Party of Five and Parker Lewis Can't Lose ), began to court older audiences with shows such as Ally McBeal , The WB began to craft its identity with programs targeted at teenagers. The network's breakout hit and, arguably, its signature series

1296-648: A large Hollywood lights-style sign of the network's logo that was used in the network's "backlot"-themed idents, promos, and bumpers is still located near storage facilities at the Warner Bros. Ranch Facilities in California, where the network's idents, promos, and bumpers were filmed at the same location. The clothing retailer H&M , not a traditional television advertiser in the United States, sponsored Sorority Forever and had some of its clothing worn by characters in

1458-569: A late-night series, "The Twilight Zone – Live" with permission of the Serling estate, since 1996. In 2009, Masquerade , A Chennai based theater group produced 'Dystopia', loosely based on the episodes " The Obsolete Man " and " Five Characters in Search of an Exit ". In 2011, the Penn State University theatre group, No Refund Theatre, produced a stage adaptation of The Twilight Zone . It included

1620-632: A mid-September launch, as other networks did with their fall schedules following the September 11 terrorist attacks ) and continued for much of the remainder of the network's run (comedies on that night were relegated to one hour in April 2006, with reality series filling the 8:00 p.m. hour). Other series to gain attention during this period were the family drama Everwood , and the short-lived but critically acclaimed soap satire Grosse Pointe . Despite some early success, The WB struggled to shift its focus from

1782-562: A misnomer, as both stories were conceived long after Twilight Zone's cancellation. Written just months before Serling's death, "Where the Dead Are" starred Patrick Bergin as a 19th-century doctor who stumbles upon a mad scientist 's medical experiments with immortality. "The Theatre" starred Amy Irving and Gary Cole as a couple who visits a cineplex where they discover the feature presentation depicts their own lives. James Earl Jones provided opening and closing narrations. Critical response

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1944-460: A national cable-only service that served most of the 110 smallest Nielsen media markets in the United States that did not have enough television stations to support an over-the-air affiliate. The removal of The WB's programs from the WGN national feed effectively reduced the network's potential household audience by 10 million homes (WGN-TV continued to carry WB programming over-the-air and on cable within

2106-453: A network affiliation); through this deal, WGN's superstation feed would provide additional national distribution for The WB as a cable-only affiliate, in order to give the network time to fill gaps in markets where it was unable to find an affiliate at launch. Although Tribune had a minority stake in the network, its stations were not technically considered owned-and-operated stations of The WB since Time Warner held controlling interest in

2268-406: A new broadcast television network that would include series from both soon-to-be predecessor networks, known as The CW . Over the next eight months, it was to be seen which shows from the two networks would cross over to The CW, as well as which stations aligned with either UPN or The WB would become future affiliates of the new network. In the end, seven shows from The WB, 7th Heaven , Beauty and

2430-416: A period piece, literate – some might say wordy. If Rod Serling's name weren't on it, it wouldn't have a chance at getting made." Eager to capitalize on Serling's celebrity status as a writer, CBS packaged "Where the Dead Are" with Matheson's adaptation of "The Theatre", debuting as a two-hour feature on the night of May 19, 1994, under the name Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics . The title represents

2592-416: A series based on such stories could succeed, CBS again began talks with Serling about the possibilities of producing The Twilight Zone . " Where Is Everybody? " was accepted as the pilot episode and the project was officially announced to the public in early 1959. Other than reruns at the time, "The Time Element" was not aired on television again until it was shown as part of a 1996 all-night sneak preview of

2754-564: A single issue of a new series using the title logo from the 1985 revival, featuring an adaptation of Harlan Ellison 's story " Crazy as a Soup Sandwich ". The issue was reprinted as Twilight Zones Premiere in 1991, followed by an eleven-issue second volume (1991–1992) and a four-issue third volume (1993), as well as an annual and a 3-D special in 1993. In 2008, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design partnered with Walker & Co. to create graphic novels based on eight episodes of

2916-512: A star out of lead Keri Russell ) and the wicca -themed Charmed (which was also produced by Aaron Spelling, and co-starred Alyssa Milano , Holly Marie Combs and 90210 alumna Shannen Doherty ), both of which set new records for the network when they respectively premiered to 7.1 and 7.7 million viewers; Charmed had the highest-rated premiere on the network until Smallville broke its record, debuting to 8.4 million viewers in October 2001. At

3078-514: A successful sitcom, and generally targeting a more diverse audience. This new strategy came as The WB had dropped to sixth place in the ratings among all major broadcast networks (behind UPN) during the 1999–2000 season, losing 19% of its household audience. Executives for the network attributed the ratings decline in large part due to the Tribune Company's decision to remove WB network programming from WGN-TV's superstation feed in October 1999, on

3240-649: A television network was produced by corporate cousin Warner Bros. Television . The network's schedule during its first two seasons – the 1995 midseason (when it inaugurated its initial Wednesday lineup) and the first half of the 1995–96 season (when the network expanded its programming to Sundays) – consisted entirely of sitcoms; the first drama series to debut on the network was the primetime soap Savannah , which debuted in February 1996 and ran for two seasons until its cancellation in February 1997. The WB's first reality series

3402-566: A time when they were considered taboo. Throughout the 1950s , Serling established himself as one of the most popular names in television. He was as famous for writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium's limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned censorship, which was frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. "I was not permitted to have my senators discuss any current or pressing problem", he said of his 1957 Studio One production "The Arena", intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff

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3564-524: A two-hour Wednesday night lineup of sitcoms, airing from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time . The limited amount of network programming in The WB's early years essentially rendered its affiliates as nominal independent stations; because of this, affiliates held the responsibility of programming primetime slots on nights that the network did not program, airing either first-run and/or off-network syndicated programs or more commonly, movies. Several of

3726-413: A vehicle for social comment, as networks and sponsors who censored controversial material from live dramas were less concerned with seemingly innocuous fantasy and sci-fi stories. Frequent themes on The Twilight Zone included nuclear war , McCarthyism , and mass hysteria , subjects that were avoided on less serious primetime television. Episodes such as " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street " and " I Am

3888-473: A week later by One Magnificent Morning programmed by Litton Entertainment ). As a result of its distribution deal with The CW, 4Kids produced Saturday morning blocks for two networks during the 2008–09 season, as it already programmed Fox's 4Kids TV block (which was discontinued by that network on December 27, 2008). Like its parent network, Kids' WB was revived as an online-only network in April 2008. In addition to carrying select previous Kids' WB programs,

4050-472: A wind-up camera. Reeves met and befriended J. J. Abrams , who also became a filmmaker, when both were 13 years old. A Los Angeles public-access television cable channel, Z Channel , was airing their short films. When Reeves and Abrams were 15 or 16 years old, Steven Spielberg hired them to transfer some of his own Super 8 films to videotape. Reeves attended the University of Southern California , where he

4212-424: Is a dystopian TV show called The Scary Door , the title sequence, dystopian themes and comedic premise of which are heavily influenced by The Twilight Zone . One episode of The Scary Door, "The Last Man On Earth," parodies The Twilight Zone's original season 1 episode " Time Enough At Last ." Many Treehouse Of Horror episodes of The Simpsons also reference the show. These include " Treehouse of Horror " (where

4374-469: Is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone". The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy , science fiction , absurdism , dystopian fiction , suspense , horror , supernatural drama , black comedy , and psychological thriller , frequently concluding with

4536-607: Is expected to serve as the first installment of a new Batman film trilogy, as well as establish a new shared universe centred on Batman; the first sequel, The Batman Part II , was announced in April 2022 with Reeves returning to write and direct, and will be released in theatres in October 2026. In May 2021, Reeves was confirmed to be serving as an executive producer for a Batman animated series for HBO Max and Cartoon Network , titled Batman: Caped Crusader , alongside J. J. Abrams and Bruce Timm . However, in August 2022, HBO Max dropped

4698-450: Is impossible given the nature of temporal paradoxes . While on the couch, Jenson falls asleep once again but this time dreams that the Japanese planes shoot and kill him. In Dr. Gillespie's office, the couch Jenson was lying on is now empty. Dr. Gillespie goes to a bar where he finds Jenson's picture on the wall. The bartender tells him that Jenson had tended bar there, but he was killed during

4860-478: Is named after one of the original series' writers. In Mad Men , Paul Kinsey quotes Rod Serling's "submitted for your approval" opening and foreshadows the original show's cancellation (Season 1, Episode 2), saying "Mitch in Media says CBS might pull the plug -- I'll kill myself." The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired a skit The Twilight Zone: Just The Twists on February 1, 2016 and on January 22, 2024, where

5022-477: Is planning to make a new film with Warner Bros ., citing The Twilight Zone as his favorite TV series. Unlike the first film, which was an anthology feature, it will be a big-budget, SFX-laden continuous story possibly based on classic episodes of the series such as " Eye of the Beholder ", " To Serve Man ", or any of the 92 scripts written by Rod Serling, to which Warner Bros. owns the rights. One plot leaked from

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5184-470: Is shown taking his hat off and bowing, thanking the audience for watching the network for 11 years and marking the end of The WB. Shortly thereafter, after the studio credits (instead of The WB's standard credits scheme) for the Dawson's Creek pilot aired, several former WB affiliates acknowledged their switch to The CW on their newscasts, with most adopting their new CW branding immediately. One instance of this

5346-481: Is the Year" fall campaign (likely borrowed for The WB by former Fox executives Kellner and Ancier). Local station IDs initially used by some WB affiliates until 1997—set to a soft orchestral theme incorporating the musical signature of " Hello Ma Baby "—featured moving projections of the "WB" lettering on CGI models of the Warner Bros. studio lot, with the end tag (in which the affiliate's logo is displayed) prominently featuring

5508-721: The Batman mythos, which premiered in October 2002 with an impressive 8 share), Tarzan , Jack & Bobby , The Mountain , the Jerry Bruckheimer -produced legal dramedy Just Legal , the Marta Kauffman -created dramedy Related , and the Rebecca Romijn vehicle Pepper Dennis . During the 2004–05 season, The WB finished behind rival UPN for the first time in four years and fell even further behind in fall 2005. Both networks fell behind Spanish language network Univision in

5670-624: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel , the latter of which premiered with 7.5 million viewers – the second-highest rated premiere for the network at the time. During this season, The WB was the only network to have gains in its total audience viewership and in each key demographic. As the teen boom of the late 1990s began to wane, The WB attempted to broaden the scope of its primetime lineup. Although teen-oriented fare like Popular and Roswell had premiered to strong ratings, both series saw serious ratings erosion in their sophomore seasons, leading

5832-509: The Daytime WB block, The WB stopped displaying its on-screen logo bug during the network's programming and replaced it with a countdown of days until The CW's premiere. Some stations that either affiliated with MyNetworkTV (itself created in response to Tribune and CBS receiving affiliation deals with The CW, leaving UPN affiliates owned by Fox Television Stations , a subsidiary of MyNetworkTV's original parent company News Corporation , with

5994-516: The Kids' WB children's program block in September 1995; the lineup initially featured a mix of Warner Bros.' most popular children's shows (such as Tiny Toon Adventures , Animaniacs , and later Batman: The Animated Series , all of which originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication) and newer series (such as Freakazoid! , Histeria! , Superman: The Animated Series , Road Rovers , Pinky and

6156-483: The Kids' WB programming block in September 1995, which featured a mix of existing Warner Bros. animated series that originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication and originally aired on Monday through Saturday mornings. The WB continued to expand in the 1996–97 season, adding programming on Monday nights. This season gave The WB modest hits in the Aaron Spelling -produced family drama 7th Heaven (centering on

6318-581: The Oriental Land Company , owner and operator of the Tokyo parks. The ride also served as the inspiration for the 1997 TV film Tower of Terror , which bears no connection to the attraction or The Twilight Zone . The Twilight Zone first series is currently in syndication on MeTV Network and Syfy , and the 2002 revival is syndicated on the El Rey Network . In Matt Groening 's Futurama , there

6480-479: The PC . In March 1992, Midway Games released a wide-body pinball game, Twilight Zone , based on the original TV series, as a Bally title. Conceived by Pat Lawlor , it uses Golden Earring 's hit song " Twilight Zone " (1982) as its theme song. The game sold 15,235 units. It is often regarded as one of the greatest pinball machines of all time. On September 17, 2014, Legacy Interactive and Spark Plug Games released

6642-513: The Ray Nelson short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" for Universal Pictures ; the story was previously adapted as the 1988 John Carpenter film They Live . That October, Reeves signed on to direct a film based on the classic television series The Twilight Zone , but he left the project in September 2012. Reeves was brought on by 20th Century Fox to direct the science-fiction film Dawn of

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6804-478: The Twilight Zone universe. In June 2017, Christine Lavaf was hired to write the script. In 1964, Ideal released a board game, The Twilight Zone Game , at the height of the show's popularity. The game consisted of a cardboard playing surface, four colored playing pieces, a colored spinning wheel, and 12 "door" playing cards. In 1988, Gigabit Systems, Inc. published a text adventure video game for Amiga and

6966-591: The Warner Bros. division of Time Warner announced the formation of The WB Television Network, with the Tribune Company holding a minority interest. As such, Tribune Broadcasting signed agreements to affiliate six of its seven television stations at the time – all of which were independent stations, including the television group's two largest stations, WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles – with

7128-468: The 10:00–11:00 p.m. ( Eastern and Pacific ) time period. The WB never ran network programming on Saturday nights – despite the fact that the network maintained a children's program block on Saturday mornings – allowing affiliates to run syndicated programs, sports, movies or network programs that were preempted from earlier in the week due to special programming, in the 8:00–10:00 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific) time period. The network's Sunday schedule

7290-410: The 11-year run of the network, ending with the statement: "For 11 years, you brought us into your homes. We made you smile and tugged at your heart. And now, we say goodbye. From all of us at The WB, thank you." The final image seen in the montage was former network mascot Michigan J. Frog (who was shown as a silhouette due to the animated character being retired as The WB's mascot the year before), who

7452-555: The 2001 album Invincible . The Marketts ' biggest hit, " Out of Limits ", originally entitled "Outer Limits", was named after the 1963 TV series The Outer Limits . Rod Serling sued the Marketts for quoting the four-note motif from The Twilight Zone , without his approval, which resulted in the change of the title to "Out of Limits". It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. It sold over one million copies, and

7614-704: The 2006–07 season, ended rather abruptly). Supernatural , which aired its final (15th) season in the fall of 2020, was the last surviving series from The WB that remained on the CW network schedule. Tribune Broadcasting also committed 16 of its 19 WB-affiliated stations at the time to serve as the network's core affiliates (though it relinquished its stake in The WB shortly after the launch announcement for The CW, in order to avoid shouldering shutdown costs for The WB, and would not take on an ownership stake in The CW) – alongside 11 UPN O&Os that were named as CW charter stations by CBS Corporation. Starting on August 14, 2006, with

7776-568: The Beholder." In December 2017 the Almeida Theatre in London are staging the World Premiere production of 'The Twilight Zone'. Adapted by Anne Washburn and directed by Laurence Olivier Award winner Richard Jones , and will be based on stories from the first series by Rod Serling, Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a theme park attraction based on

7938-656: The Brain , and Batman Beyond ). After the Turner Broadcasting System was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, Kids' WB formed an alliance with Cartoon Network , resulting over time in an increasing number of programs being shared between the block and the cable channel. In February 1999, Kids' WB began airing the American English dub of Pokémon . The WB acquired the U.S. rights to the Japanese animated series from TV Tokyo earlier that year (from its U.S. premiere in

8100-480: The CW Daytime block in the 2021–22 season in favor of a weekly Saturday-night primetime schedule. Warner Bros.' television arm planned on resurrecting the WB brand in the form of a website at TheWB.com, the website domain used for the official site of the broadcast network. The site streamed episodes of series that were broadcast during The WB's 1995–2006 run, including Gilmore Girls , Smallville , Everwood , Buffy

8262-596: The Chicago market until the network shut down in 2006). Despite the slight downturn in the network's fortunes, there were a few bright spots during the era. Gilmore Girls , which debuted in 2000, netted meager ratings when it debuted in a tough Thursday timeslot (where it competed against NBC 's powerhouse Must See TV lineup), but subsequently grew into one of the network's most successful shows after moving to Tuesdays in 2001, where it remained for six seasons (before moving to The CW for its seventh and final season). Also in

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8424-495: The DCEU and focus on a younger incarnation of the character, allowing him the opportunity to create a more personal story in line with his own vision and understanding of the character. Reeves co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig , and principal photography commenced in January 2020. Premiering in London on February 23, 2022, The Batman was released theatrically on March 4, starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman . The film

8586-413: The Dead Are") authored by her late husband, while rummaging through their garage. She showed the forgotten script to producers Michael O'Hara and Laurence Horowitz, who were significantly impressed by it. "I had a pile of scripts, which I usually procrastinate about reading. But I read this one right away and, after 30 pages, called my partner and said, "I love it," recalled O'Hara. "This is pure imagination,

8748-482: The Disco and John Williams . Beginning in 2002, episodes of the original The Twilight Zone were adapted for radio, with Stacy Keach taking Serling's role as narrator and produced by Carl Amari of Falcon Picture Group. Each episode features a current Hollywood celebrity, including Jason Alexander, Blair Underwood, Lou Gossett, Jr., Michael York, Jim Caviezel, Jane Seymour, Don Johnson, Sean Astin, Luke Perry and others in

8910-499: The Geek , Gilmore Girls , One Tree Hill , Reba , Smallville , and Supernatural were chosen to move to The CW for its inaugural 2006–07 fall schedule. 7th Heaven and Reba were originally canceled after the 2005–06 season but were ultimately renewed at the last minute with 13-episode deals ( 7th Heaven was later given a full-season order, while Reba served as a midseason replacement and, despite becoming The CW's highest-rated comedy of

9072-459: The Kanamits, who first appeared in the first series' season 3 episode " To Serve Man ". On February 24, 2021, CBS All Access canceled the series after two seasons. Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 feature film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis . It starred Dan Aykroyd , Albert Brooks , John Lithgow , Vic Morrow and Scatman Crothers . The film remade three classic episodes of

9234-455: The Kids' WB block from their launches until the 2003–2004 season were also respectively centered on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot and the Warner Bros. Ranch Facilities , often involving large neon signs promoting the nights of programming and their component shows (at times including signs for Kids' WB and certain shows from that block); this approach was similar to one used for Fox's 1989–90 "This

9396-447: The Meek ", and " Long Distance Call "). The first series contains 156 episodes. The episodes in seasons one through three are 30 minutes long with commercials (24 or 25 minutes without commercials). Season four (1962–63) consists of one-hour episodes with commercials (51 minutes without commercials). Season five returned to the half-hour format. It was Serling's decision to sell his share of

9558-527: The Night—Color Me Black " offered specific commentary on current events and social issues. Other stories, such as " The Masks ", " I Dream of Genie ", or " Mr. Denton on Doomsday " were allegories , parables , or fables that reflected the moral and philosophical choices of the characters. Despite his esteem in the writing community, Serling found the series difficult to sell. Few critics felt that science fiction could transcend empty escapism and enter

9720-1010: The Pearl Harbor attack. With the "Time Element" script, Serling drafted the fundamental elements that defined the subsequent series: a science-fiction/fantasy theme, opening and closing narration, and an ending with a twist. "The Time Element" was purchased immediately but shelved indefinitely. This is where things stood when Bert Granet , the new producer for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse , discovered "The Time Element" in CBS' vaults while searching for an original Serling script to add prestige to his show. "The Time Element" (introduced by Desi Arnaz ) debuted on November 24, 1958, to an overwhelmingly delighted audience of television viewers and critics alike. "The humor and sincerity of Mr. Serling's dialogue made 'The Time Element' consistently entertaining," offered Jack Gould of The New York Times . More than 6,000 letters of praise flooded Granet's offices. Convinced that

9882-563: The Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He directed the superhero film The Batman (2022), which stars Robert Pattinson as the title character . Reeves was born on April 27, 1966, in Rockville Centre, New York , on Long Island . He moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was five. He made his first film at the age of eight, directing friends and using

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10044-517: The Planet of the Apes (2014), the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes . The film became a commercial and critical success and resulted in Reeves signing a three-year production deal with 20th Century Fox. He then returned to write and direct the third film in the series, War for the Planet of the Apes , which was released on July 14, 2017. In January 2018, Reeves moved his production deal to Netflix , signing an exclusive first-look film deal with

10206-470: The Russian science fiction film Sputnik , together with Village Roadshow Pictures . In February 2022, Reeves was announced as producer of the vampire film Smile for Netflix , with William McGregor directing. In January 2023, it was announced Reeves would direct and executive produce a limited series about Buster Keaton starring Rami Malek , with Ted Cohen writing; the project is expected to be based on

10368-577: The TheWB.com beta website one month later on April 28. The CW maintained many operational and scheduling elements from The WB. When it launched on September 18, 2006, The CW initially maintained The WB's scheduling model; The WB had carried 30 hours of network programming each week (13 of which were devoted to primetime shows) in comparison to UPN's weekly programming total of 12 hours (10 hours of which were allocated to primetime shows). It also inherited The WB 100+ Station Group – which became The CW Plus – though

10530-502: The Turner Broadcasting System concurrent with that deal – sold his 11% stake in The WB to majority corporate parent AOL Time Warner , leaving it and minority owner, the Tribune Company, as the only partners in the network. Following Kellner's departure from Turner, AOL Time Warner reassigned the network's operations back to the Warner Bros. unit in 2003. In October 2001, the Superman -inspired Smallville debuted with 8.4 million viewers,

10692-431: The Twilight Zone (1962); these have all been reprinted several times, including in an omnibus, The Twilight Zone: Complete Stories (1980). In 1995, DAW Books published the anthology books Journeys to the Twilight Zone (16 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "Suggestion"), Return to the Twilight Zone (18 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "The Sole Survivor"), and Adventures in

10854-560: The Twilight Zone (24 stories edited by Carol Serling including Rod Serling's "Lindemann's Catch"). In September 2009, Tor Books published Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary , to mark the 50th anniversary of the series. It contains stories by 20 authors such as R. L. Stine and Timothy Zahn , and an introduction by Carol Serling. Western Publishing published a Twilight Zone comic book, first providing content under contract to publisher Dell Comics for four issues, one in 1961 and three further issues in 1962, with

11016-670: The United States. Much like its competitor UPN , The WB was created primarily in reaction to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s then-recent deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules , and partly due to the success of the Fox network (which debuted in October 1986) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as Baywatch , Star Trek: The Next Generation , and War of

11178-548: The Vampire Slayer , Dawson's Creek , One Tree Hill , Roswell , and What I Like About You . The new incarnation of the TheWB.com began in beta testing on April 28, 2008, and officially launched on August 27, 2008. The site – whose business model resembled that of free-to-stream services such as Hulu – was ad-supported and geared primarily to men, and women ages 15–39. In addition to older full-length series (among which also included All of Us , Hangin' with Mr. Cooper , Martin , Jack & Bobby , and Veronica Mars ),

11340-611: The Worlds ), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals. The network can also trace its beginnings to the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), a programming service operated as a joint venture between Time Warner and the Chris-Craft Industries group of stations, and launched in January 1989. On November 2, 1993,

11502-492: The animated projects that aired afterward were adult animation series; the last such attempts being The Oblongs (running for one season in 2001, and was later revived on corporate sister Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block) and The PJs (which moved to the network in 2000 following its cancellation by Fox, and ran for only one additional season on The WB). The WB also occasionally aired regularly scheduled repeat episodes of first-run series airing on other nights throughout

11664-475: The biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life by James Curtis . Reeves is set to serve as a producer on Dynamic Duo , an animated film based on the Dick Grayson and Jason Todd incarnations of Robin . The film will be produced by Reeves' company, 6th & Idaho, alongside DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation , with animation services provided by Swaybox. Reeves is married to Melinda Wang,

11826-415: The block did not refer to this name, the block was discontinued in 2021 when The CW dropped the weekday 3 PM hour in favor of a Saturday primetime night); The CW also kept the Kids' WB name for the network's Saturday morning children's programming. However, on October 2, 2007, The CW announced that it would discontinue the Kids' WB block, due to competition with youth-oriented cable channels. Kids' WB aired for

11988-583: The block in 2001; it was cancelled after one season. It also aired the live-action made-for-TV movie Zolar , as well as the JammX Kids All-Star dance specials. With Cartoon Network outrating Fox Kids, and The WB sharing more of its children's programming with the cable channel, The WB announced on May 31, 2005, that it would discontinue Kids' WB's weekday afternoon block as it became financially unattractive due to broadcast stations shifting their afternoon target audiences more exclusively to adults by filling

12150-641: The company under his 6th & Idaho production banner. Reeves served as executive producer on the Fox science fiction thriller series The Passage , which aired for one season. He also executive produced the Amazon Prime Video science fiction drama series Tales from the Loop . The series, based on artwork by Simon Stålenhag , premiered to positive reviews in April 2020. In July 2020, Reeves signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television to develop new television programming for all of

12312-613: The company's platforms under his production company, 6th & Idaho. Reeves served as executive producer on the Netflix science-fiction drama series Away (2020), starring Hilary Swank . In August 2022, Reeves signed a multi-year first-look film and television deal with Warner Bros. Pictures . In April 2022, it was announced Reeves would serve as producer on the heist film Lift , directed by F. Gary Gray and starring Kevin Hart , Úrsula Corberó and Vincent D'Onofrio , for Netflix . The film

12474-494: The deal gave Tribune an option to increase its stake in the network up to a 25% interest; Tribune would eventually increase its ownership share in The WB to 22.5% on March 31, 1997. The WB expanded its programming to Sunday nights for the 1995–96 season, but none of the new shows (including the Kirk Cameron vehicle Kirk and night-time soap opera Savannah ) managed to garner much viewing interest. The network also launched

12636-579: The distribution model of The CW Plus started to differ from The WB 100+ by mixing digital subchannel affiliations, alongside the cable-only affiliates and few conventional affiliate stations that were part of the predecessor group at the end of The WB's run. The CW continued the Daytime WB block – which became The CW Daytime (and was reduced from two hours to one in 2010), although three blocks that moved to The CW from The WB would eventually be discontinued: Kids' WB continued on The CW until May 17, 2008, when it

12798-473: The end of World War II, a man named Peter Jenson ( William Bendix ) visits a psychoanalyst , Dr. Gillespie ( Martin Balsam ). Jenson tells him about a recurring dream in which he tries to warn people about the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor before it happens, but the warnings are disregarded. Jenson believes the events of the dream are real, and each night he travels back to 1941. Dr. Gillespie insists that time travel

12960-550: The episodes "The Eye of the Beholder", "The Midnight Sun", and "Nothing in the Dark". It was directed by Anthony Arbaiza . In 2017, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School produced a live adaptation directed by Adam Graham with permission from CBS , with two shows containing four episodes each. These episodes included "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?" and "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." as well as more technically challenging episodes such as "Penny For Your Thoughts" and "The Eye of

13122-585: The fall of 1998 up to that point, the show was syndicated); the series ultimately became a widespread pop culture phenomenon with the added exposure on the network. Kids' WB also acquired the English-language dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! , which also saw the type of viewer popularity experienced by Pokémon . Between 2000 and 2005, Kids' WB experimented with some live-action programming, though the block continued to mainly run animated series. A television series adaptation of R. L. Stine 's The Nightmare Room debuted on

13284-549: The fall of 2000, the fantasy sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch moved from ABC to The WB as part of its Friday night schedule; the show continued on the network for three more seasons before ending in May 2003. Time Warner transferred operational duties for The WB from Warner Bros. over to its Turner Broadcasting System division in 2001. On November 12, 2002, chairman Jamie Kellner – who became chairman and chief executive officer of

13446-519: The family are abducted by aliens, "Hungry Are The Damned"), " Treehouse of Horror III " (which features an evil Krusty The Clown doll, "Clown Without Pity") and " Treehouse of Horror IV " (where Bart sees a gremlin on the side of the school bus, "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet"). Homer also references the show in the "Homer " segment of " Treehouse of Horror VI ," when, upon entering the 3rd dimension, he says "It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone". The X-Files character Robert Matheson

13608-451: The female 12–24 demographic to the broader 12–34 range, in its attempt to attract a broader young adult audience. In 2005, The WB retired Michigan J. Frog, as The WB's trademark mascot. The WB's president of entertainment at the time, David Janollari, explained in July 2005 at the network's summer press tour that "[Michigan] was a symbol that perpetuated the young-teen feel of the network. That's not

13770-513: The final issue being published in 1982. Several of the stories were reprinted in their Mystery Comics Digest , which mentioned the title on the covers. A wide range of artists worked on the title, including Jack Sparling , Reed Crandall , Lee Elias , George Evans , Russ Jones , Joe Orlando , Jerry Robinson , Mike Sekowsky , Dan Spiegle , Frank Thorne , and Alex Toth . The first published comic book work of artist Frank Miller appeared in issue 84 (June 1978). In 1990, NOW Comics published

13932-475: The first series and included one original story. Landis directed the prologue and the first segment "(Time Out"), Spielberg directed the second (Kick the Can), Joe Dante the third (It's a Good Life", and George Miller directed the fourth (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet). Landis's segment became notorious for a helicopter accident during filming that caused the deaths of Morrow and two child actors. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio

14094-462: The first two published as part of their long-running Four Color anthology series as issue numbers 1173 and 1288, and then two further one-shots numbered separately in Dell's unique fashion as 01-860-207 and 12-860-210 (numbered as 01-860-210 on the inside) respectively. Western then restarted the series under its own Gold Key imprint with a formal issue No. 1, which ran 92 issues from 1962 to 1979, with

14256-467: The following day, September 18. Time Warner re-used the WB brand for an online network that launched on April 28, 2008, and then August 27, 2008. Until it was closed in December 2013, the website allowed users to watch shows aired on the former television network, as well as programming from the defunct In2TV service created prior to Time Warner's spinoff of AOL . The website could only be accessed within

14418-455: The highest-rated premiere in the history of the network; that show was also important because it was one of the few series that drew a substantial male viewership. 2001 also saw the launch of the Reba McEntire vehicle Reba , arguably the network's most successful comedy; Reba and Sabrina served as the linchpins of a new Friday night sitcom block that debuted in October 2001 (delayed from

14580-467: The host claims to get access to unreleased alternative versions of episodes. The video game Alan Wake contains an in-universe series called Night Springs , episodes of which the player can find on televisions scattered through the game. The episodes mirror The Twilight Zone' s intro, theme song, and storytelling style, complete with an announcer impersonating Rod Serling's voice and narration. Many bands and artists have released songs dedicated to

14742-419: The image we [now] want to put to our audience." Still, the move did not seem to help The WB. The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, the teen-oriented drama One Tree Hill , social experiment reality competition Beauty and the Geek , and fantasy drama Supernatural (all of which ultimately moved to successor network The CW), and even still their ratings paled in comparison to

14904-399: The last time on May 17, 2008, replaced with a new block programmed in conjunction with 4Kids Entertainment called The CW4Kids (which was replaced by Vortexx on August 25, 2012, after Saban Brands and Kidsco Media Ventures took over programming the block as part of its acquisition of much of 4Kids's program library; Vortexx continued to run until September 27, 2014, before being replaced

15066-408: The lot's water tower next to a translucent outline of the "WB" logotype (which is briefly lit up as the image zooms out to show the tower and model soundstages). The WB's scheduling structure was similar to Fox's when it launched, as it started with one night a week of programming and then gradually added additional nights of programming over the course of several seasons: the network started with

15228-421: The narration is all strictly voice-over and the narrator never appears on-screen. In the early 1990s, Richard Matheson and Carol Serling produced an outline for a two-hour made-for-TV movie which would feature Matheson adaptations of three yet-unfilmed Rod Serling short stories. Outlines for such a production were rejected by CBS until early 1994, when Serling's widow discovered a complete shooting script ("Where

15390-451: The network added only one additional night (Sundays), along with a three-hour Saturday morning (later expanded to four, then five hours), one-hour weekday morning and two-hour weekday afternoon children's block. Warner Bros. appointed many former Fox executives to run the network, including the network's original chief executive Jamie Kellner , who served as president of Fox from 1986 to 1993; and president of programming Garth Ancier , who

15552-490: The network air reruns on various cable networks such as MTV2 and TNT . Also, WMJF , a small student-run television station at Towson University just outside Baltimore , Maryland, still uses the same call letters (WMJF – Michigan J. Frog) from when the station was a WB affiliate. A neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the facade of former WB affiliate WBNX-TV 's studio complex in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio . Similarly,

15714-461: The network decided – against Serling's wishes – to cut costs by shooting some episodes on videotape rather than film. The requisite multicamera setup of the videotape format precluded location shooting, severely limiting the potential scope of the storylines, and the experiment was abandoned after just six episodes (" Twenty Two ", " Static ", " The Whole Truth ", " The Lateness of the Hour ", " The Night of

15876-479: The network to cancel them both ( Roswell , like Buffy the Vampire Slayer , would end up being revived by rival network UPN). Meanwhile, even though ratings for 7th Heaven , Buffy and Charmed remained consistent, viewership for flagship series such as Felicity and Dawson's Creek began sagging. The network realized that it could no longer rely merely on the tastes of young teenage girls, and thus began moving back into more family-friendly fare, attempting to launch

16038-473: The network's first programs were black sitcoms . Four of the five shows that debuted in the network's first nine months were renewed beyond the first year – The Wayans Bros. , Unhappily Ever After (a dysfunctional family sitcom from Married... with Children co-creator Ron Leavitt ), The Parent 'Hood (a family sitcom starring and co-created by Robert Townsend ), and Sister, Sister (a teen/blended family sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry that

16200-400: The network's other shows, such as Buffy , which served as its lead-in on The WB's new night of programming that also launched in January 1998, branded as "New Tuesday", and 7th Heaven , which enjoyed a massive 81% increase in viewership that season. With three hit shows in its roster, The WB continued to build its teen fanbase the following season with college drama Felicity (which made

16362-439: The network's ownership. When the network was announced, The WB planned to run a predominantly network-programmed schedule over time. It was originally slated to launch with two nights of primetime programming in its first year, and two additional nights of primetime programming, a nightly half-hour in late primetime, 4½ hours of weekday daytime programming and a four-hour Saturday morning children's lineup in its second year. By

16524-472: The network's premiere), and would remain as part of the network's branding in one form or another until 2005. Much of the network's branding was based around Warner Bros. locations and characters: the television network's original logo (which was originally displayed upright until 1998, and displayed at a titled angle thereafter) was based on the typography of the iconic Warner Bros. Pictures' "shield" logo; network promotions and imaging campaigns for The WB and

16686-642: The network's series, 7th Heaven – which by the time it ended, had become the longest-running family drama in television history – was the longest-running series ever to have aired on The WB, having run on the network for ten seasons from 1996 to 2006. The program was beaten by Supernatural as the longest-running series to originate on The WB in the 2017–18 season, when the latter series began its thirteenth season ( 7th Heaven ran for an additional season on The CW from 2006 to 2007; while Supernatural aired on The WB for one season from 2005 to 2006, before moving to The CW in September 2006, ending in 2020). The WB debuted

16848-418: The network. Only five of these stations, along with a sixth that Tribune acquired the following year, would join The WB at launch; the company's Atlanta independent WGNX would instead agree to affiliate with CBS in September 1994, as a result of Fox's affiliation deal with New World Communications , then-owner of longtime CBS station WAGA-TV . In contrast, New Orleans sister station WGNO did become

17010-455: The new Twilight Zone a greenlight in 1984 under the supervision of Carla Singer, then Vice President of Drama Development. While the show did not come close to matching the enduring popularity of the original, some episodes – particularly Alan Brennert 's love story " Her Pilgrim Soul " and J. Neil Schulman 's " Profile in Silver " – were critically acclaimed. In a tribute to the first series,

17172-477: The new cable channel TVLand . It is available in an Italian DVD boxed set titled Ai confini della realtà – I tesori perduti . The Twilight Zone Season 1 Blu-ray boxed set released on September 14, 2010, offers a remastered high-definition version of the original Desilu Playhouse production as a special feature. The program's supporting cast features Darryl Hickman , Jesse White , Bartlett Robinson and future Three Stooges member Joe DeRita . The series

17334-401: The opening credits include a brief image of Rod Serling. Four episodes are remakes of those from the first series: " Night of the Meek ", " Shadow Play ", " The After Hours " and " A Game of Pool ", while " Dead Woman's Shoes " is an adaptation of " Dead Man's Shoes ". Unlike the first, third and fourth series, this version does not include the opening monologue during the title sequence. As well,

17496-699: The original Twilight Zone series. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering , the attraction is present at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Tokyo DisneySea in Japan. A fourth attraction at Disney California Adventure operated from 2004 to 2017 before being re-themed to Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! . The attraction in Japan is the only one not themed to The Twilight Zone , due to cultural differences and constraints in licensing for

17658-522: The overall 18–34 demographic. Between November and December 2005, the network laid off approximately 40 employees amid continued ratings and profit losses (with viewership down 12% by November 2005), with network representatives expecting The WB to lose about $ 35 million during the 2005–06 fiscal year. The WB was programming six days and 13 hours per week at this time. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to shut down both UPN and The WB and partner to launch

17820-409: The pilot and have A-list actors appear on the revival. The following month, he told IGN that a writer with whom he had previously worked was in negotiations to join the revival and that he felt "passionate" towards the first series and the planned revival. In February 2016, it was reported that Ken Levine would write and direct the pilot episode of the revival series. It was also reported that

17982-474: The pretense that the network's national distribution was large enough that it was no longer necessary for WGN to broadcast The WB's programs outside of Chicago; the network reached several affiliation deals during the prior four years with various station owners (such as the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Pappas Telecasting Companies ), buoyed by the September 1998 launch of The WB 100+ Station Group ,

18144-777: The prospect of ending up as independents), became independent stations or became CW charter affiliates received a logo-free feed of the network, while others took the main feed and overlaid the station's own logo bug over The CW's logo. The WB aired its final night of programming on September 17, 2006, with The Night of Favorites and Farewells , a five-hour block of pilot episodes of the network's past signature series. Commercial breaks featured re-airings of past image campaigns and network promotions, along with promotional spots given to cable networks carrying these shows in off-network syndication and ads for each series' TV-on-DVD box set. The 60-second montage that closed The WB's existence featured many well-known stars from shows which aired during

18306-504: The radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin . The success of the series led to a feature film (1983), a TV film (1994), a radio series (2002–12), various literature , theme park attractions and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including three revival television series. The second series (1985–89) ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, while the third series ran on UPN (2002–03). The fourth Twilight Zone series , helmed by Jordan Peele ,

18468-517: The ratings peaks of Dawson's Creek , which had ended its run in May 2003. Ratings dropped for many of The WB's shows, while also cancelling shows with steady ratings such as Angel ; the network failed to launch new hit shows to take their places. Although The WB's well-known inability to launch successful comedy series was nothing new ( Reba being a notable exception), this period saw The WB struggling to establish new dramas as well. High-profile failures included Birds of Prey (a series inspired by

18630-491: The realm of adult drama. In a September 22, 1959, interview with Serling, Mike Wallace asked a question illustrative of the times: "...[Y]ou're going to be, obviously, working so hard on The Twilight Zone that, in essence, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, you've given up on writing anything important for television, right?" While Serling's appearances on the show became one of its most distinctive features, with his clipped delivery still widely imitated today, he

18792-403: The respective titles Smallville: Beginnings and Gilmore Girls: Beginnings ). Furthermore, from September 2002 until The WB ceased operations, the network ran a two-hour extension of its Sunday lineup (from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time), known as "EasyView", a block featuring week-behind episode rebroadcasts of select shows from the network's primetime schedule. Out of all

18954-505: The romantic comedy film The Pallbearer (1996), which co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow and David Schwimmer . The film was screened in Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival . Reeves was recognized for co-creating and showrunning the WB drama series Felicity , alongside J. J. Abrams. The series ran for 84 episodes, from 1998 to 2002. Reeves directed several episodes of

19116-452: The same name ) which became a hit with critics when it premiered as a mid-season replacement in March 1997. The series debuted with the highest Monday night ratings in the network's history, attracting not only new teenage viewers, but new advertisers as well. Inspired by Buffy ' s success, The WB intentionally shifted the focus of its programming, trying to capture what it perceived to be

19278-411: The script tells about a pilot who time-travels 96 years into the future. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves was signed in 2011 to direct the movie, but left in 2012 to direct Dawn of the Planet of the Apes . On August 16, 2013, Joseph Kosinski was announced to direct. The studio hired Aron Eli Coleite to pen the screenplay for the film and will not be an anthology but use various elements from

19440-499: The scripts contain handwritten edits by Serling himself and differ in significant ways from the aired versions; most volumes contain an alternate version of a selected script. The script for " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street " has been published into 7th grade reading books in the form of a play. Live theatre productions of the original episodes can be seen in Los Angeles and Seattle, where Theater Schmeater has continuously produced

19602-509: The series and collaborate on the premiere episode. Win Rosenfeld and Audrey Chon will also serve as executive producers. Peele was revealed to be the new host and narrator in September 2018, and the new opening sequence was released. The series premiered on April 1, 2019. The season 1 episode "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" is based on the first series' season 5 episode " Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ". The season 2 episode "You Might Also Like" features

19764-455: The series back to the network that eventually allowed for a Twilight Zone revival. As an in-house production, CBS stood to earn more money producing The Twilight Zone than it could by purchasing a new series produced by an outside company. Even so, the network was slow to consider a revival, turning down offers from the original production team of Rod Serling and Buck Houghton and later from American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola . CBS gave

19926-676: The series through 2009. The first four, " Walking Distance ", " The After Hours ", " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street ", and " The Odyssey of Flight 33 ", were released in December 2011. The other four were " The Midnight Sun ", " Deaths-Head Revisited ", " The Big Tall Wish " and " Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? " Comics publisher Dynamite Entertainment ran a multiple-issue series, written by J. Michael Straczynski and with art by Guiu Vilanova, beginning in December 2013. Michael Jackson used samples from The Twilight Zone in his songs "The Lost Children" and "Threatened" from

20088-537: The series would be interactive. In November 2017, it was reported that Jordan Peele was developing a reboot of the series for streaming service CBS All Access with Marco Ramirez serving as potential showrunner. In December 2017, CBS All Access ordered the fourth The Twilight Zone series to series. It was announced that the series would be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Monkeypaw Productions and Genre Films . Jordan Peele, Marco Ramirez, and Simon Kinberg will serve as executive producers for

20250-554: The series, including the pilot. He also directed episodes of various other television series, including Relativity , Homicide: Life on the Street , and Gideon's Crossing , among others. Reeves gained further success and international recognition for his direction of the science fiction monster film Cloverfield (2008), which Abrams produced. Reeves later served as an executive producer on 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018). In September 2008, Reeves

20412-450: The series, with the series picked up by Amazon Prime Video in March 2023 with a two-season order; the series premiered on August 1, 2024. Reeves also executive produced The Penguin , a limited series spin-off of The Batman for HBO , with Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oswald "Oz" Cobb / The Penguin from the film. Lauren LeFranc served as showrunner. In August 2020, Reeves

20574-457: The series. Unilever 's Axe brand has sponsored Children's Hospital . Warner Horizon Television executive vice president Craig Erwich, who oversaw TheWB.com, said in regards to these tie-ins "If an advertiser has an interest in a series we have in production, we can work in their products or even adjust our launch dates if they want to tie it in to a special promotion." Much, though not all, of The WB's programming during its eleven-year run as

20736-433: The show, with some titled "The Twilight Zone"/"Twilight Zone", as listed above . John Grant briefly mentions the show's title in the song "Sigourney Weaver", from his 2010 album, Queen of Denmark . British post-punk band The Fall released a song called "Time Enough At Last" appearing on their Code: Selfish album. The song recounts the events of the original Twilight Zone episode of the same name and also appears on

20898-507: The site also featured other archived programs to which Time Warner owned or held distribution rights, and programs seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang . The Kids' WB website was shut down on May 17, 2015, when it was split into three sites: DCKids.com, LooneyTunes.com, and ScoobyDoo.com; the latter two were regrouped into WB Kids Go in July 2016. At the time of its shutdown, The WB ran only two hours of primetime network programming on Monday through Fridays and five hours on Sundays, compared to

21060-413: The site in any multimedia ads, it had drawn about 250,000 unique viewers a month, according to Mindshare 's Mr. Chapman, who had been tracking the site. Some of its original material had been offered on partner sites such as MySpace and Facebook . Data compiled by comScore Video Metrix showed that 62% of visitors to the site were female. The McG-produced original series Sorority Forever premiered on

21222-464: The site on September 8, 2008. By 2012, it had accrued more than 7.3 million views from TheWB.com and partner sites. An original reality series, Rich Girl, Poor Girl from Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor executive producer Gary Auerbach, in which two teenagers from different economic and social backgrounds swap lives (similar in format to Wife Swap and A Walk in Your Shoes ), had ranked among

21384-444: The site. However, the website did not include episodes of two of The WB's most popular shows, Charmed and Felicity , as the distribution rights to Charmed are owned by CBS Television Distribution and Felicity ' s rights are owned by Disney-ABC Domestic Television . Comcast offers over 1,000 episodes from the Warner Bros. Television library on its video on demand service. While Warner Bros. Entertainment did not promote

21546-400: The slot with talk shows and sitcom reruns, on the basis that children's viewing options in that time period had gravitated more towards cable television . Kids' WB's weekday programming continued, but with redundant programs and theme weeks until December 30, 2005 (the block began to increasingly promote Cartoon Network's afternoon Miguzi block and the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup during

21708-500: The start of the 1998–99 season, the network expanded its programming to Thursday nights. That season, 7th Heaven overtook Dawson's Creek as the network's highest-rated program, and garnered The WB the highest ratings it would ever see – the show's February 8, 1999, episode attracted 12.5 million viewers. For the 1999–2000 season, the network concluded its primetime expansion with the addition of programming on Friday nights. New shows that season included Roswell , Popular , and

21870-503: The summer months – since December 1993, when NBC removed repeats of Classic Concentration from its daytime lineup two years after that program's cancellation). From 1998 to 2000, the network also aired episode repeats from the first two seasons of 7th Heaven during the first hour of its Sunday lineup under the title 7th Heaven Beginnings ; this concept was revived during the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons with Smallville and Gilmore Girls (which aired repeats from their early seasons under

22032-409: The television season intermittently throughout its history; Sister, Sister was the first WB series to receive this treatment, with repeats of the sitcom's first two seasons (which originally aired on ABC) from August 1995 to August 1996, in addition to the first-run episodes it aired on Wednesday nights (this marked the first time that a network aired reruns as part of its regular schedule – outside of

22194-577: The third year, a fifth night of primetime and 1½ hours of weekday programming outside of primetime would have been added, followed by an additional hour of programming in primetime and 1½ hours on weekday afternoons by the network's fourth year, and a seventh night of primetime in the fifth year of operation. However, this plan was scaled back dramatically, partly to address potential sports-related programming conflicts on WGN and certain other affiliates (including WPIX and KTLA), as The WB launched with only one night of primetime programming; and by September 1995,

22356-496: The three Monday through Saturday and four Sunday primetime hours offered by the Big Three networks (unlike The WB, UPN never carried any weekend primetime programming, though it did offer a movie package to its affiliates on weekend afternoons until September 2000, when the latter was replaced with a two-hour repeat block of UPN programs). This primetime scheduling allowed for many of the network's affiliates to air local newscasts during

22518-574: The title roles. The series is broadcast on hundreds of radio stations from coast to coast and over Sirius/XM. The station list and episodes for download, including 3 Free episodes are available at the official website at www.twilightzoneradio.com Beginning in 2001, Gauntlet Press began publishing collections of original scripts from The Twilight Zone by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling. A ten-volume signed, limited edition series of all 92 of Rod Serling's scripts, authorized by his wife, Carol Serling, began yearly publication in 2004. Many of

22680-439: The top 100 programs in the teenage category on iTunes since its October 20, 2008, debut. With the full replacement of the CW's original Internet programming efforts with their CW Seed portal, The WB website was shut down in December 2013. The closure of The WB website ended, after more than eighteen years, the usage of the brand name "The WB". However, the legacy of The WB still lives on as of 2019. Various programs that aired on

22842-467: The transition). The weekday block was replaced on January 2, 2006, by "Daytime WB," a block that featured repeats of sitcoms and drama series formerly aired by The WB and other networks (such as ER , 8 Simple Rules , and What I Like About You ); five days later on January 7, the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup was expanded by one hour. The Daytime WB block continued on The CW, unofficially renamed The CW Daytime (though occasional on-air promos for

23004-632: The website featured original serialized web content including short series and vignettes from such well-known television producers as Josh Schwartz and McG , including Sorority Forever , Pushed , Rockville, CA , The Lake , and Children's Hospital (the latter's popularity was sustained enough to receive a run and eventual move to cable television as a regular series on Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim block). Each of these 10-episode programs ran for five minutes. Many other well-known Warner Bros.-produced series that did not air on The WB, including Friends and The O.C. , were also made available on

23166-465: Was Dawson's Creek , which debuted in January 1998 to what were then the highest ratings in the network's history (and made stars out of its four principal actors, James Van Der Beek , Michelle Williams , Joshua Jackson , and Katie Holmes ). The series was produced by Columbia TriStar Television and it quickly became the highest-rated show on television among teenage girls, and the most popular program on The WB. The popularity of Dawson helped boost

23328-462: Was New York City affiliate WPIX, who aired a montage of logos the station has used throughout its history, leading up to its new "CW11" logo before the start of its 10:00 p.m. newscast. The final night of WB programming netted relatively low ratings. The network scored a 1.0 household rating (amounting to 1% of all U.S. television households) and a share of 2, meaning just 2% of viewers were tuned into The WB on its final night of programming. This

23490-456: Was a screenwriting student for writer Jeph Loeb . Between 1991 and 1992, he produced a student film, Mr. Petrified Forest , which won an award and helped him acquire an agent. He also co-wrote a script that eventually was developed as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory . After graduating, he co-wrote Cloverfield , which he later directed. Reeves made his directorial film debut with the horror anthology film Future Shock (1994). He also directed

23652-435: Was announced to be developing a television series adapted from Diane Cook 's novel The New Wilderness , in association with Warner Bros. Television . He has been announced as producing several new works. In September 2020, Reeves was reported to produce a live-action movie of Andy Mcdermott's first novel, The Hunt for Atlantis , a Netflix work. In March 2021, Reeves was announced as producer of an English-language remake of

23814-663: Was awarded a gold disc . Many other musicians have written and performed music based on The Twilight Zone , including: 2 Unlimited (" Twilight Zone "), Anthrax (" Intro to Reality "), Average White Band , John Cale , Dr. John , David Dubowski (" To Serve Man "), Golden Earring (" Twilight Zone "), Michael Hurley , Tech N9ne , Iron Maiden (" Twilight Zone "), Mekong Delta (" Twilight Zone "), Van Morrison (" Twilight Zone "), Rush (" The Twilight Zone "), Raymond Scott , Sly & Robbie , Magneto Dayo, The Manhattan Transfer (" Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone "), The Residents , The Ventures (" Twilight Zone "), Panic! at

23976-477: Was developed by UPN in 2002; it was hosted by Forest Whitaker . It was broadcast in a one-hour format composed of two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season. " It's Still a Good Life " is a sequel to " It's a Good Life ", " The Monsters Are on Maple Street " is an adaptation of " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street " and " Eye of the Beholder " is a remake of an episode from the first series , with Serling still credited as writer. In December 2012, it

24138-470: Was hired to write and direct the vampire film Let Me In , an English-language adaptation of the 2004 novel Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist and a remake of the 2008 Swedish film of the same name. The film, a co-production with Hammer Films , was released in the United States on October 1, 2010, by Overture Films . In April 2011, Reeves signed on to write and direct an adaptation of

24300-428: Was mixed. Gannett News Service described it as "taut and stylish, a reminder of what can happen when fine actors are given great words." USA Today was less impressed, even suggesting that Carol Serling "should have left these two unproduced mediocrities in the garage where she found them." Ultimately, ratings proved insufficient to justify a proposed sequel featuring three scripts adapted by Matheson. A third series

24462-475: Was mostly due to the fact that some WB affiliates in certain areas had already joined MyNetworkTV, which debuted on September 5, two weeks before The CW's launch, leaving The WB's final two weeks of programming unavailable in those areas. After its closure, the network's URLs were redirected to The CW's website, cwtv.com. By March 30, 2008, the URLs redirected to the Warner Bros. Studios homepage, before being redirected to

24624-453: Was originally three hours when The WB began programming that night in September 1995, but expanded to five hours (from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time) in September 2002, with the creation of the "EasyView" repeat block (that block was retained by The CW, which initially adopted The WB's scheduling model until it turned Sunday programming over to its affiliates in September 2009). The Twilight Zone The Twilight Zone

24786-427: Was picked up by the network after its cancellation by ABC in the spring of 1995). The four shows had a lasting impact on audiences, while a fifth show, Muscle (a sitcom that parodied primetime soap operas), was canceled after one season due to low ratings, and ultimately replaced with Sister, Sister . On August 17, 1995, the Tribune Company acquired a 12.5% limited partnership interest in The WB for $ 12 million;

24948-860: Was produced by Cayuga Productions, Inc., a production company owned and named by Serling. It reflects his background in Central New York State and is named after Cayuga Lake, on which he owned a home, and where Cornell University and Ithaca College are located. Aside from Serling, who wrote or adapted nearly two-thirds of the series' total episodes, writers for The Twilight Zone included leading authors such as Charles Beaumont , Ray Bradbury , Earl Hamner, Jr. , George Clayton Johnson , Richard Matheson , Reginald Rose , and Jerry Sohl . Many episodes also featured new adaptations of classic stories by such writers as Ambrose Bierce , Jerome Bixby , Damon Knight , John Collier , and Lewis Padgett . Twilight Zone 's writers frequently used science fiction as

25110-473: Was released on CBS All Access from 2019 to 2020. TV Guide ranked the original TV series #5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest shows of all time and #4 in their list of the 60 greatest dramas. As a boy, Rod Serling was a fan of pulp fiction stories. As an adult, he sought books with themes such as racism , government , war , society , and human nature in general. Serling decided to combine these interests to broach these subjects on television at

25272-476: Was released on Netflix on January 12, 2024. In February 2017, Reeves was hired to direct and produce a Batman film, titled The Batman , which would serve as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He took over the position from Ben Affleck , who initially planned to stay involved as producer and star before dropping out completely, with Reeves opting to retool the film to separate it completely from

25434-480: Was replaced with The CW4Kids after 4Kids Entertainment began programming The CW's Saturday morning block through a time-lease agreement (Kids' WB was later relaunched as an online portal); The CW discontinued its Sunday primetime schedule in September 2009, effectively ending the EasyView block in the process (The CW returned to Sunday primetime nights on October 14, 2018, but with only two hours to program), and dropped

25596-416: Was reported that Bryan Singer was developing and executive producing a fourth television series for CBS Television Studios . A writer for the series was not chosen and the program was not pitched to any networks. CBS, which broadcast the first series and second series, was reportedly interested. In February 2013, Singer told TG Daily that the project was still in development and that he hoped to direct

25758-421: Was reportedly nervous about it and had to be persuaded to appear on camera. Serling often appeared in medias res with the characters remaining oblivious to him, with one notable exception: In " A World of His Own ", a writer ( Keenan Wynn ) with the ability to make characters appear and disappear objects to Serling's narration and promptly erases Serling from the show. In season two, due to budgetary constraints,

25920-425: Was the U.S. adaptation of Popstars , which ran for two seasons from 2001 to 2003. In addition to live-action programs, the network has experimented with primetime animated series; Pinky and the Brain was the first such series, airing as part of the network's Sunday lineup from September 1995 to July 1996, before moving exclusively to the Kids' WB Saturday lineup due to low ratings in its prime time slot. Most of

26082-507: Was the programming chief of Fox from 1986 to 1989. The WB Television Network launched on January 11, 1995, with the debut airing of the first episode of The Wayans Bros. (a sitcom starring comedians Shawn and Marlon Wayans ) as its first program. The classic Warner Bros. cartoon character Michigan J. Frog appeared on-air as the network's official mascot (with animator Chuck Jones , in person, drawing him out after Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argued about who should launch The WB during

26244-524: Was to align oneself with the Republicans ; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats . To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited." CBS purchased a teleplay in 1958 that writer Rod Serling hoped to produce as the pilot of a weekly anthology series. "The Time Element" marked Serling's first entry in the field of science fiction. Thirteen years after

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