John D. MacDonald's book, "The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything," was the basis for the 1980 movie and its sequel, as well as an episode of "The Twilight Zone" and the movie, "Clockstoppers" (2002), the latter two adaptations without credit.
In a comment, "Considered a ripoff by some..." (7 February 2005) by runar-4, it was noted that "Episode #5.4 of 'The Twilight Zone' ..., 'A Kind of Stop Watch,' has a storyline that is nearly identical to that of 'The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything'" (the movie). The reason: John D. MacDonald's book, "The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything," was the uncredited basis for "The Twilight Zone" episode, even though the actual credit for the episode was, "Written by Rod Serling (based on an unpublished story by Michael D. Rosenthal)."
Both Michael D. Rosenthal and Mile Korologos had "unpublished stories," which were credited as the basis for episodes of "The Twilight Zone," specifically "A Kind of Stopwatch" (Script 124) and "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" (Script 152), respectively. There is speculation that Michael D. Rosenthal and Mile Korologos were pseudonyms for Rod Serling himself. Both John D. MacDonald and Philip José Farmer (who wrote the story credited to "Mile Korologos") protested to the producers of "Twilight Zone," to no avail.
In the same comment by runar-4, it was suggested that, "One of the contributing factors to the misunderstanding is that the novel quickly went out of print." However, the novel was not out of print when the movie was made. In fact, "The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything" was more-or-less continuously in print, appearing in 24 printings through June 1991.
In a comment, "Considered a ripoff by some..." (7 February 2005) by runar-4, it was noted that "Episode #5.4 of 'The Twilight Zone' ..., 'A Kind of Stop Watch,' has a storyline that is nearly identical to that of 'The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything'" (the movie). The reason: John D. MacDonald's book, "The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything," was the uncredited basis for "The Twilight Zone" episode, even though the actual credit for the episode was, "Written by Rod Serling (based on an unpublished story by Michael D. Rosenthal)."
Both Michael D. Rosenthal and Mile Korologos had "unpublished stories," which were credited as the basis for episodes of "The Twilight Zone," specifically "A Kind of Stopwatch" (Script 124) and "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" (Script 152), respectively. There is speculation that Michael D. Rosenthal and Mile Korologos were pseudonyms for Rod Serling himself. Both John D. MacDonald and Philip José Farmer (who wrote the story credited to "Mile Korologos") protested to the producers of "Twilight Zone," to no avail.
In the same comment by runar-4, it was suggested that, "One of the contributing factors to the misunderstanding is that the novel quickly went out of print." However, the novel was not out of print when the movie was made. In fact, "The Girl, the Gold Watch, & Everything" was more-or-less continuously in print, appearing in 24 printings through June 1991.