Rod Serling Played The Mayor Of The Twilight Zone On The Jack Benny Program
When the 1962-1963 American television season kicked off, there was a notable absence on CBS' schedule: "The Twilight Zone" had been bumped from its Friday 10 PM timeslot and replaced by a new sitcom titled "Fair Exchange." This was quite the blow to its devoted fans, who adored the series for its unusually heady treatment of the science fiction, horror, and suspense genres. Though that itch would get scratched by the debut of ABC's "The Outer Limits," viewers looked forward to embarking on mind-bending journeys once a week with the show's creator and frequent writer Rod Serling.
Fortunately, CBS had no plans to cancel "The Twilight Zone." The show just needed to find a new sponsor before it could once again haunt the airwaves. Once this issue got settled, CBS was keen to trumpet its January 1963 return in any way it could — and it hit upon a brilliant bit of cross-promotion by having Serling drop by the long-running and still fairly popular "The Jack Benny Program."
Benny had been an entertainment institution since his show debuted on radio in 1932. The series was a model of simplicity: Benny played a cranky, miserly caricature of himself opposite his real-life wife Mary Livingstone and Black valet Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (who, at Benny's behest, gradually went from being a stereotypical minstrel-ish character to a quick-witted companion who often made his employer/friend look clownish). Aside from a few cast changes, "The Jack Benny" program stuck to its tried-and-true formula, which also involved bringing on celebrity guests from time to time — typically from the comedy and music worlds. The more dramatically inclined Serling might've seemed like an odd choice at the time, but thanks to Benny's impeccable comedic timing, he wound up being a perfect fit.
Rod Serling was a seriously funny guy
Serling's episode aired on January 15, 1963, and, as was the show's custom, he also played himself. In the fictionalized universe of the series, Benny hires Serling to help his struggling writers smarten up their material. Though Serling acknowledges he has little experience with comedy (before "The Twilight Zone," he was probably best known as the Emmy-winning writer of "Requiem for a Heavyweight"), he's excited to collaborate with Benny's two-man staff.
This does not go well.
After repeated clashes with Benny's writers, Serling gives up, citing his desire to tell stories with deeply considered characterizations and thought-provoking themes. Benny takes issue with Serling's dismissive opinion of his style of comedy and fires back that "The Twilight Zone" can't possibly tell stories of significance because the Twilight Zone does not actually exist. And you can probably guess what happens next.
After quarreling with Serling, Benny decides to take a leisurely walk home. On the way there, he gets lost in a thick fog and finds himself in an area of town he doesn't recognize. Eventually, he encounters a road sign which tells him exactly where he is. It reads: "Welcome to Twilight Zone, Population: Unlimited." Below this is an arrow pointing left to "Subconscious 27 Mi," and one pointing right to "Reality 35 Mi."
This is when matters take a distressingly surreal turn.
You can call him Twi
Benny locates his house, but, upon entering, is greeted by a baffled Rochester who does not know who he is. Benny soon learns that Rochester is the valet for Mayor Twilight Zone (Serling). Yes, they named the town after him, and you can call him "Twi."
A distraught Benny demands that this is his house, and tries to clear things up by asking Rochester who is considered the best entertainer in the world ("Nat King Cole," he replies). When series regular Dennis Day shows up, Benny asks him to sing an Irish standard in his lovely tenor voice, only to discover that the Twilight Zone incarnation of Dennis belts songs in a deep bass. Unwilling to accept his presence in the Twilight Zone, Benny picks up his violin and begins playing. He gets the tune right, but in that "middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition," a violin sounds like a horn.
A furious Benny finally storms out, at which point Serling turns to the camera and quips, "Anybody who claims to be 39 years old as long as he has is a permanent resident of The Twilight Zone" (one of Benny's long-running catchphrases was that he was "39 and holding").
It's a clever appearance that makes you wish Serling's deadpan had been put to comedic use more frequently (à la Leslie Nielsen or Andre Braugher). As for "The Twilight Zone," it survived a difficult fourth season where Serling was forced to expand the series to an hour-long format. Citing exhaustion, Serling ended the show after the fifth season, though he did eventually return to the anthology format with the chilling "Night Gallery" in 1970.
Sadly, Benny never got a chance to guest-star on either show.