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Rod Serling's Night Gallery
Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour
In the early 1970s, Emmy-winning dramatist Rod Serling followed his landmark television series, The Twilight Zone, with Night Gallery. This multisegment foray into the macabre proved to be a new forum for Serling’s unique brand of storytelling. In chronicling the turbulent history behind this innovative program, authors Scott Skelton and Jim Benson provide fascinating production detail and behind-the-scenes material, with critical commentary, complete cast and credit listings, and synopses of all ninety-eight episodes.
Containing more than one hundred photographs-some never before published-this book is spiced with anecdotes from such film and television luminaries as Leonard Nimoy, John Astin, Sydney Pollack, Roddy McDowall, Richard Kiley, and Leslie Nielsen. Rod Serling’s Night An After-Hours Tour offers the first comprehensive overview of a significant entry in the annals of classic television.
Containing more than one hundred photographs-some never before published-this book is spiced with anecdotes from such film and television luminaries as Leonard Nimoy, John Astin, Sydney Pollack, Roddy McDowall, Richard Kiley, and Leslie Nielsen. Rod Serling’s Night An After-Hours Tour offers the first comprehensive overview of a significant entry in the annals of classic television.
- GenresNonfictionFilmTv
404 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 18, 2025
For the longest time, I've been one of those who considered "Night Gallery" to be the poor relation of "The Twilight Zone." So, it came as a complete surprise to me that I sought out the second edition of ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR following a recommendation of a fan of that series ... especially when I saw the length of the book! Why on earth would I want to read a comprehensive study of a series that I had not seen since its original airing, and that memory told me only had some "passable" episodes? In addition, there were those interviews given by Rod Serling in which he expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the series.
Of course, the ultimate personal questioning of my sanity occurred when Kino Lorber had a sale of their Blu-ray collection of "Night Gallery," and I decided that I just had to watch it before I read the book I'd ordered so that I would appreciate the book more. (Yes, I know. Some of you have a bridge you'd like to sell to me.)
Truth to tell, if I'd had the misfortune of seeing "Night Gallery" in syndication, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me to either purchase. The syndicated episodes were mostly sliced and diced along with pointless additional sequences added, and some even included half-hour cuts of the hour-long series, "The Sixth Sense." Fortunately, none of my local stations appear to have carried the syndicated version.
Well, from my rating, I imagine that you know that I am now one of the raving fans not only of "Night Gallery," but also ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR. Both provided me with many hours of enjoyment.
What I had primarily remembered from the original "Night Gallery" was the pilot episode-movie that I very much enjoyed, and those terrible waste-of-time comedy segments that completely dispelled the creepy mood the other stories had established. However, as is recounted in the book, "The Twilight Zone" mostly leaned toward fantasy morality tales, while "Night Gallery" was more at home next to a stack of "Weird Tales" magazine. Serling's dissatisfaction was in not having creative control, yet he gave that up when he didn't want to be the Executive Producer of another series because of the huge time commitment. Oddly enough, although Jack Laird (in that role) was Serling's nemesis, Laird also had a good sense of how to tell an effective story (outside of the comedy segments). Consequently, I found in my re-viewing of the series, that "Night Gallery" was one of the most effective horror anthologies ever created for television (and quite ahead of its time).
Yes, the book is very long with lots of details. At the same time, the writing style was compelling, the behind-the-scenes reminisces were a sheer delight, and the background information about the people involved both in front of and behind the camera makes ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR an exceptional book that I've used for reference purposes several times while reading it. (Watching the series again had also caused me to "fall in love" with Joanna Pettit, so the book's images and background information were hugely appreciated.) Other highlights are the texts of all of Rod Serling's introductions, and inserts of the artwork that was used to create the mood of the episode.
When I finished reading ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR this morning, I'll admit to being a bit saddened. I've looked forward to every reading session. Saying that, I also have a friend who has never seen the series and is interested in sampling some episodes. So, I'll be a return visitor to the best of what "Night Gallery" has to offer.
Of course, the ultimate personal questioning of my sanity occurred when Kino Lorber had a sale of their Blu-ray collection of "Night Gallery," and I decided that I just had to watch it before I read the book I'd ordered so that I would appreciate the book more. (Yes, I know. Some of you have a bridge you'd like to sell to me.)
Truth to tell, if I'd had the misfortune of seeing "Night Gallery" in syndication, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me to either purchase. The syndicated episodes were mostly sliced and diced along with pointless additional sequences added, and some even included half-hour cuts of the hour-long series, "The Sixth Sense." Fortunately, none of my local stations appear to have carried the syndicated version.
Well, from my rating, I imagine that you know that I am now one of the raving fans not only of "Night Gallery," but also ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR. Both provided me with many hours of enjoyment.
What I had primarily remembered from the original "Night Gallery" was the pilot episode-movie that I very much enjoyed, and those terrible waste-of-time comedy segments that completely dispelled the creepy mood the other stories had established. However, as is recounted in the book, "The Twilight Zone" mostly leaned toward fantasy morality tales, while "Night Gallery" was more at home next to a stack of "Weird Tales" magazine. Serling's dissatisfaction was in not having creative control, yet he gave that up when he didn't want to be the Executive Producer of another series because of the huge time commitment. Oddly enough, although Jack Laird (in that role) was Serling's nemesis, Laird also had a good sense of how to tell an effective story (outside of the comedy segments). Consequently, I found in my re-viewing of the series, that "Night Gallery" was one of the most effective horror anthologies ever created for television (and quite ahead of its time).
Yes, the book is very long with lots of details. At the same time, the writing style was compelling, the behind-the-scenes reminisces were a sheer delight, and the background information about the people involved both in front of and behind the camera makes ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR an exceptional book that I've used for reference purposes several times while reading it. (Watching the series again had also caused me to "fall in love" with Joanna Pettit, so the book's images and background information were hugely appreciated.) Other highlights are the texts of all of Rod Serling's introductions, and inserts of the artwork that was used to create the mood of the episode.
When I finished reading ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR this morning, I'll admit to being a bit saddened. I've looked forward to every reading session. Saying that, I also have a friend who has never seen the series and is interested in sampling some episodes. So, I'll be a return visitor to the best of what "Night Gallery" has to offer.
May 12, 2017
An extraordinary television companion, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour provides a comprehensive review of this beloved science-fiction/fantasy series. Often compared (unfavorably) to The Twilight Zone, Rob Serling’s Night Galley was a different type of anthology series with its own unique voice that ran for three seasons. Authors Scott Skelton and Jim Benson have conducted exhaustive research and present a behind-the-scenes look at the creation and development of the show, along with a summary and commentary for every story segment of every episode (including several that were never aired). Additionally, each segment is given a star rating, along with cast and writing credits. However, there are times when the book overloads the reader with too much information; going into the minutia of the music cues, make-up effects, and other production issues. Still, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour is a well-written and informative guide that is sure to heighten one’s appreciation for this often misunderstood and underappreciated series.
September 10, 2009
A WONDERFUL, well researched and lovingly in detail book of a somewhat esoteric subject, Rod Serling's last network TV show, the horror/sci fi anthology series 'Night Gallery' Being a huge fan of the series and of Serling's Twilight Zone work, I tore through this book in a day. It offers up a complete history of the series from idea to last episode. Along the way, each segment is rated and summarized with author's comments. (The show had anywhere from 2-4 stories in each episode.) The reviews are for the most part spot on. Also of note is the exhaustive interviews with nearly everyone involved in the show's brief 3 season run. If you're a Serling fan, or a Night Gallery fan, this is a must read. Note: Jim Benson is the credited Co-Author.
July 9, 2017
Excellent history of a neglected TV series, "Rod Serling's Night Gallery". It has concise story synopsis of every episode and relevant commentaries. I especially enjoyed the back stories of the production, the differences from the original stories to the adaptations and unfortunately the problems that Serling had with the producer and Universal. It's a very extensive look at a TV series that should be remembered for a long time.
February 25, 2023
A lovingly compiled episode guide and history of the oft-maligned anthology that will always live in the shadow of "Twilight Zone." I read this while watching the series, and the detailed summaries and reactions to each episode were useful. They might be maddening if read in isolation. Worth noting that this is longer than Zicree's tidy TZ book despite NG having far fewer episodes.
January 29, 2022
A nice companion guide to read while watching the entire series again.
November 23, 2014
Very thorough indeed (and they managed to interview everybody!). The only knock against this one is the emphasis on rating and evaluating each segment. It would certainly be nice to find an episode guide that merely filled you in on the background material without overwhelming you with commentary.
September 1, 2012
Worth reading for Night Gallery fans.
April 27, 2017
Another really good companion book that covers Serling's lesser known "Night Gallery" series.
November 20, 2012
Well written and researched book on Rod Serling's underrated early 1970's series.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews