David Bianculli

Maple Street was about how aliens from outer space agitated people in small-town neighborhoods merely by provoking them to mistrust one another.

At the time, it was a parable about McCarthyism.

But played at Serlingfest, Serling's epilogue had an all-too-contemporary ring, especially if you imagine social media as a modern equivalent weapon of choice.

Here are the aliens observing their test subjects, followed by Serling's own observations.

I promised a taste of Carol for another Christmas, and here it comes.

Serling took the Charles Dickens story of Christmas Carol and adapted it to modern times.

His Scrooge-like protagonist, a military leader who believed in isolationism, was visited by ghosts who tried to persuade him that a peaceful future depended upon supporting other countries in their times of need.

Steve Lawrence, in a powerful performance, played the ghost of Christmas past, arguing his case.

The things Rod Serling wrote about and warned about are anything but dated.

All these years later, you can still find and watch and think about The Twilight Zone.

And I hope you do.

This is Fresh Air.

I'm TV critic David Bianculli.

It's been a busy week or so for ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

After Kimmel made remarks in his monologue about various political responses to the murder of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr complained publicly...

ABC affiliate station group owners Sinclair and Nexstar said they wouldn't carry the show, and ABC responded by announcing last week that Jimmy Kimmel Live was being taken off the air indefinitely.

But after a wave of support from Hollywood celebrities and threats of boycotts of Disney Plus and Hulu by angry streaming subscribers, Disney-owned ABC reversed course and returned Jimmy Kimmel Live to the airwaves Tuesday night.

Many cities still couldn't see the broadcast because those same ABC affiliate station group owners preempted his show in Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, Nashville, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

But those who could watch, and did, saw Kimmel in fine and feisty form.

That same attitude continued Wednesday night when Kimmel's monologue included Trump's social media response to Kimmel's on-air return the night before.