About
"I want to be remembered as a person who early on in his life took control of his life and set goals. When people gave me a lined paper, I wrote the other way. When people expect some certain behavior from me, I will frustrate their expectations."
In his five-hour interview, George Clayton Johnson (1929-2015) chronicles his career as a fiction, television, and movie writer. He talks about his association with the 1960 feature film Oceans 11, for which he was the original co-screenwriter and received co-story credit on the movie. He details in depth his association as one of the key collaborators on The Twilight Zone (1959-64) for which he contributed to eight series episodes including the classics "Nothing in the Dark," "A Game of Pool," and "Kick the Can." He describes The Twilight Zone's place in television history and talks about producer Buck Houghton, creator Rod Serling, and writers Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Johnson speaks in depth about Star Trek, for which he contributed the teleplay to what would become the premiere episode, "The Man Trap." Johnson also talks about his teleplays for such series as Route 66, The Law and Mr. Jones, and Kung Fu. He also discusses the classic science fiction novel Logan's Run, which he co-authored with William F. Nolan. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interview on September 16, 2003 in Pacoima, CA.
Highlights
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark"
George Clayton Johnson on writing for The Twilight Zone and meeting Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek and how Roddenberry was inspired by the program Wagon Train
George Clayton Johnson on the Star Trek episode he wrote, "The Man Trap," being the premiere episode
George Clayton Johnson on his mentors
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On his childhood and early influences; on moving around a lot when he was a child; on quitting school in eighth grade; on being on his own at age fifteen
On odd jobs and joining the Army; on the first time he saw television
On following a woman to Alabama
Chapter 2
On getting married and working drafting jobs in architecture; on starting to write
On thinking he could be a writer - and starting to plot out "Ocean's Eleven"; on making it a screenplay instead of a novel; on getting an agent and selling the screenplay; on credit disputes
On covering the making of "Ocean's Eleven" for Playboy magazine
Chapter 3
On seeing "Ocean's Eleven" and meeting Frank Sinatra; on the remake of "Ocean's Eleven" starring George Clooney
On writing the Oscar-nominated short "Icarus Montgolfier Wright"
On writing for The Twilight Zone and meeting Rod Serling; on writing the episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"
Chapter 4
On The Twilight Zone episodes "The Four of Us Are Dying" and "Penny for Your Thoughts"
On Rod Serling and the reality of The Twilight Zone; on The Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton
Chapter 5
On Buck Houghton suggesting ideas for The Twilight Zone; on the story behind The Twilight Zone episode "Execution," adapted by Rod Serling
On The Twilight Zone episodes "Kick The Can," "Penny For Your Thoughts," and "Nothing in the Dark"
Chapter 6
On The Twilight Zone episodes "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" and "The Prime Mover"
On writing episodes of Route 66, The Law and Mr. Jones, and Mr. Novak
Chapter 7
On how he came to write for Star Trek; on the early storylines and character ideas for Star Trek
On Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; on Roddenberry rewriting his work
Chapter 8
On Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek; on the nickname "Bones" and race relations on Star Trek
On the set of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek and writing "The Man Trap" episode, which became the premiere episode
On Star Trek Associate Producer Robert Justman; on coming up with the story for the Star Trek episode "Rock-a-Bye Baby Or Die", which Gene Coon did not want to produce
Chapter 9
On arguments he had over storyline with the producers of Star Trek; on the legacy of Star Trek
On being a freelance writer for Honey West, Kentucky Jones, and Kung Fu
On co-writing the novel Logan's Run; on the movie version of Logan's Run
Chapter 10
On the "Kick The Can" segment of The Twilight Zone movie
On the remake of The Twilight Zone series
On his process for writing episodic television; on his mentors; on how he'd like to be remembered
B-roll photos from his career on the sets of The Intruder, Logan's Run, and The Twilight Zone
Shows
Honey West
George Clayton Johnson on being a freelance writer for Honey West
Kentucky Jones
George Clayton Johnson on being a freelance writer for Kentucky Jones
Kung Fu
George Clayton Johnson on being a freelance writer for Kung Fu
Law and Mr. Jones, The
George Clayton Johnson on writing an episode of The Law and Mr. Jones
Logan's Run
George Clayton Johnson on co-writing the novel Logan's Run
George Clayton Johnson on the movie version of Logan's Run
Mr. Novak
George Clayton Johnson on writing an episode of Mr. Novak
Route 66
George Clayton Johnson on writing an episode of Route 66
Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on how he came to write for Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on the early storylines and character ideas for Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; on Roddenberry rewriting his work
George Clayton Johnson on Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek and how Roddenberry was inspired by the program Wagon Train
George Clayton Johnson on the nickname "Bones" on Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on race relations on Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on the set of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on the Star Trek episode he wrote, "The Man Trap," being the premiere episode
George Clayton Johnson on Star Trek Associate Producer Robert Justman
George Clayton Johnson on coming up with the story for the Star Trek episode "Rock-a-Bye Baby Or Die", which Gene Coon did not want to produce
George Clayton Johnson on arguments he had over storyline with the producers of Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on the legacy of Star Trek
Twilight Zone, The
George Clayton Johnson on his opinion of The Twilight Zone movie
George Clayton Johnson on writing for The Twilight Zone and meeting Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on how he wrote The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Penny for Your Thoughts"
George Clayton Johnson on the reality of The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling's influences
George Clayton Johnson on working with The Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton
George Clayton Johnson on Buck Houghton suggesting ideas for The Twilight Zone
George Clayton Johnson on the story behind The Twilight Zone episode "Execution," adapted by Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episodes "Kick The Can" and "Penny For Your Thoughts"
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark"
George Clayton Johnson on the The Twilight Zone episode "Ninety Years Without Slumber"
George Clayton Johnson on the The Twilight Zone episode "The Prime Mover"
George Clayton Johnson on an episode of The Twilight Zone he wrote ("Kick the Can") that was used in the film version directed by Steven Spielberg and caused some trouble with the Writers Guild
George Clayton Johnson on the remake of The Twilight Zone series
Wagon Train
George Clayton Johnson on Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek and how Roddenberry was inspired by the program Wagon Train
Topics
Classic TV Series Episodes
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Penny for Your Thoughts"
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"
George Clayton Johnson on the Star Trek episode he wrote, "The Man Trap," being the premiere episode
Creative Influences and Inspiration
George Clayton Johnson on his mentors
George Clayton Johnson on his mentors
Historic Events and Social Change
George Clayton Johnson as serving as a cartographer for the Army
Pivotal Career Moments
George Clayton Johnson on his mentors
Pop Culture
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Penny for Your Thoughts"
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"
George Clayton Johnson on the Star Trek episode he wrote, "The Man Trap," being the premiere episode
War
George Clayton Johnson as serving as a cartographer for the Army
Professions
Writers
George Clayton Johnson on thinking he could be a writer - and starting to plot out "Ocean's Eleven"
George Clayton Johnson on an episode of The Twilight Zone he wrote ("Kick the Can") that was used in the film version directed by Steven Spielberg and caused some trouble with the Writers Guild
George Clayton Johnson on his process for writing episodic television
Genres
Sci-Fi/Supernatural Series
George Clayton Johnson on writing for The Twilight Zone and meeting Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episodes "The Four of Us Are Dying" and "Penny for Your Thoughts"; on Rod Serling and the reality of The Twilight Zone; on The Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton
George Clayton Johnson on Buck Houghton suggesting ideas for The Twilight Zone; on the story behind The Twilight Zone episode "Execution," adapted by Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episodes "Kick The Can," "Penny For Your Thoughts," and "Nothing in the Dark"
George Clayton Johnson on the The Twilight Zone episodes "Ninety Years Without Slumber" and "The Prime Mover"
George Clayton Johnson on how he came to write for Star Trek; on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; on Roddenberry rewriting his work
George Clayton Johnson on Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek, race relations, and specific episodes of the show
George Clayton Johnson on arguments he had over storyline with the producers of Star Trek; on the legacy of Star Trek
People
Ray Bradbury
George Clayton Johnson on the reality of The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling's influences
George Clayton Johnson on his mentors
John Carradine
George Clayton Johnson on being a freelance writer for Kung Fu and John Carradine directing the episode he wrote
George Clooney
George Clayton Johnson on the remake of "Ocean's Eleven" starring George Clooney
Gene Coon
George Clayton Johnson on coming up with the story for the Star Trek episode "Rock-a-Bye Baby Or Die", which Gene Coon did not want to produce
George Clayton Johnson on arguments he had over storyline with the producers of Star Trek
Buddy Ebsen
George Clayton Johnson on the The Twilight Zone episode "The Prime Mover"
Buck Houghton
George Clayton Johnson on working with The Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton
George Clayton Johnson on Buck Houghton suggesting ideas for The Twilight Zone
George Clayton Johnson on the story behind The Twilight Zone episode "Execution" adapted by Rod Serling
Lamont Johnson
George Clayton Johnson on Lamont Johnson directing The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark"
Robert Justman
George Clayton Johnson on Star Trek Associate Producer Robert Justman
Dean Martin
George Clayton Johnson on covering "Ocean's Eleven" for Playboy magazine and meeting Dean Martin
Richard Matheson
George Clayton Johnson on the reality of The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling's influences
Robert Redford
George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark"
Gene Roddenberry
George Clayton Johnson on how he came to write for Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on the early storylines and character ideas Star Trek
George Clayton Johnson on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; on Roddenberry rewriting his work
George Clayton Johnson on Gene Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek and how Roddenberry was inspired by the program Wagon Train
George Clayton Johnson on arguments he had over storyline with the producers of Star Trek
Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on writing for The Twilight Zone and meeting Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson on the reality of The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling's influences
George Clayton Johnson on the story behind The Twilight Zone episode "Execution" adapted by Rod Serling
James Sheldon
George Clayton Johnson on James Sheldon directing The Twilight Zone episode "Penny for Your Thoughts"
Frank Sinatra
George Clayton Johnson on covering "Ocean's Eleven" for Playboy magazine and observing Frank Sinatra
George Clayton Johnson on meeting Frank Sinatra
Herbert F. Solow
George Clayton Johnson on advice from Herb Solow when he wrote for Star Trek
Steven Spielberg
George Clayton Johnson on an episode of The Twilight Zone he wrote ("Kick the Can") that was used in the film version directed by Steven Spielberg and caused some trouble with the Writers Guild