The series that inspired Netflix's technology-focused series Black Mirror is getting a reboot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rod Serling brainchild The Twilight Zone will receive new life, this time, on CBS' streaming platform, CBS All Access.
The original Twilight Zone was a genre-defying anthology series which spun sci-fi, fantasy, and even Hitchcockian tales in order to reveal an ultimate moral. In "The Eye Of The Beholder," a group of doctors attempt to "fix" a woman's terribly ugly appearance, only for it to be revealed at the end that the woman is already beautiful by our standards, and it's the doctors who are monstrous.
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Another iconic episode, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," revealed how easy it is for people to turn against one another when manipulated by outside forces — in this case, the loss of their neighbourhood's electricity.
The reported new show will mark the third time the series – which originally ran from 1959 to 1964 – has been rebooted. Despite originating decades ago, the Twilight Zone has always adapted to the times: In a 2003 reboot of the classic "Maple Street" episode, the aliens from the original episode are swapped for members of the government, who have shut off the electricity as part of a social experiment to see how the town will react to a terrorist attack. The fear of terrorism was particularly timely, given that it aired just two years after the September 11th attacks.
Currently, THR reports that it's unclear if the show has received a straight-to-series deal with CBS All-Access, or if it's currently in development.
The news comes not long after Disneyland in Anaheim, California removed their Twilight Zone "Tower of Terror" attraction and replaced it with a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. Hopefully, a Twilight Zone reboot will finally get the iconic series back in the pop culture zeitgeist where it belongs.