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With the STC, you had to write a script using established characters. That's where the challenge is. Rod Serling gave his monologue with a deadpan delivery. That's no challenge in that.
I think a Twilight Zone theme is too vague. That show, though great, would be too vague for a theme. It would be saying:
GENRE: Suspense THEME: something scary.
Phil
I dunno, man, Twilight Zone had sub-genre's within the show.
They had Si-fi They had suspense They had oddity They had horror
You could be restrictive within the shackles.
GENRE: Si-Fi THEME: Space explorers on a collision course with the sun have to make a choice between landing on -- PLANET A. an icy, un-inhabitable planet with a under ground advanced civilization or PLANET B a prehistoric planet with primitive life -- in hopes of survival.
The writer could then decide which planet they wanted to set their story on. Like a choose your own adventure book in a way. Each writer's vision could/would be vastly different and each take of the planets would be neat to see unfolded. Hell, now thinking about it we could leave the Twiligth Zone out of the mix and just go for Si-fi.
TZ is too vague. As Balt pointed out, it could be horror or sci-fi or suspense or WTF... Why even have one if there is that much room to play with? Even if you were to throw in a limitation (ie: it must take place in a bar), there is still too much room to play with.
How many OWC scripts get produced? I know it's supposed to be a challenge, but why not do something people actually want to do as well? Besides, to many writers, writing a 12 page short in one week is the challenge. Not the genre and theme...
There is a nuance to the Twilight zone that makes it different from other shows. The show has to bear a certain signature that anyone who has ever watched the show recognizes it as such.
In the way Star Trek had its own voice; TWZ has its own voice also.
That's the trick. Catching that wind.
The twilight zone sets a stage, gives you a short story and ever so slightly pulls the rug at the end. They are never overboard, and sometimes silly.
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Who Wrote What, Writer's Choice and 'final' words 
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Actually three if you count that mp3. 
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