Though it ’s been more than 50 year since it left the air , Rod Serling’sThe Twilight Zonecontinues to be a bench mark for all the science fable and fantasy serial that have followed . Shows likeLost , The Leftovers , andUnder the Domeoftendrawcomparisonto Serling ’s dumbly populated fifth proportion of moral predicament and supernatural occurrences . by nature , the show ’s history has a few queer footnotes . We ’ve unlock the door to some of the most intriguing .
1. Rod Serling and Ray Bradbury didn’t see eye to eye.
Though Serling wascontractedto write most of the playscript forZoneduring its five - year political campaign from 1959 to 1964 , it was unimaginable to tackle every individual episode . At first , the multiple - time Emmy winner wanted to give fresh writers a fortune to wear out into the job . But when the show find over14,000 submission — most of them either unread or deem unsuitable — he read to look on authors like Richard Matheson , Charles Beaumont , and George Clayton Johnson for story point of departure or full scripts .
Serling also try out the talents of sci - fi colossus like Arthur C. Clarke andRay Bradbury . Clarke was unavailable , but Bradbury drop a line several book , only one of which made it to air out : an adaptation of his poor story “ I Sing the Body Electric . ” Serling would go on to say that Bradbury ’s work “ seems to lend itself to the print page , rather than spoken language . ” Bradbury , possibly nursinga wound egotism , accuse Serling of the capital offence of writing : plagiarizing tale . An pained Serling tell interviewer he look up to Bradbury immensely , but it ’s unknown if the two ever resign before Serling ’s death in 1975 .
2. OneTwilight Zoneepisode won an Oscar.
When Serling ’s budget for the series tightened in the 5th and final season , he determine on an unusual monetary value - cutting measure : the author paid $ 10,000 ( by some accounts , $ 25,000 ) for the rightfield to broadcastAn Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge , a Gallic short based on the Ambrose Bierce story about a Confederate sympathizer who escapes the hangman ’s noose at the end of the Civil War . No dubbing was require ; the short was near silent , and its haunting filming was a perfect conniption for the show . The year prior , ithad wonan Oscar for Best Short Subject . Bierce ’s story was alsoadaptedinto an instalment of the other popular anthology of the day , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , stigmatize the only clock time the two serial publication used the same germ material .
3. William Shatner pranked director Richard Donner during the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” shoot.
Director Richard Donner still had his feature article career in front of him ( Lethal Weapon , Superman : The Movie ) when he solve on “ Nightmare at 20,000 Feet , ” about a humankind ( William Shatner ) get on a plane after recovering from a neural dislocation . Inevitably , Shatner freak out when he ascertain a gremlin on the fender tearing the intestine out of the engine , and is unable to convince his married woman or attendants of the danger .
The episode was buck in an empty water system armoured combat vehicle , with the woodworking plane roughly 30 feet off the land . bring out in the show ’s typical hurried pace of three day , Shatner and actor Edd Byrnes decided to add to Donner ’s stress by staging a mock fight on the wing . As Donner looked on , the two grappled before throwing a Shatner - sized dummy that gate-crash to the concrete below . The manager was horror-stricken , but later on joked his first sentiment was that they ’d have to reshoot with another actor . ( Serling himself did n’t fare as well with another “ Nightmare”-relatedprank . He once stick a picture of the monster on writer Richard Matheson ’s window seat ; the propellers blew it off before Matheson could see it . )
4.The Twilight Zone’s opening narration had to be re-recorded.
When Serling recorded his famous porta tale for the pilot episode in 1959 , he began by chant that there was “ a sixth dimension ” to explore . A CBS executive try it and postulate the author why he had pass over a 5th dimension — weren’t there only four ? Serling , at a loss , had n’t really regard it . “ Oh , ” he said . “ Are n’t there five ? ” The narration wasre - recordedbefore any tempestuous letters from physicist pullulate in .
5. J.J. Abrams did aTwilight Zonehomage onFelicity.
CountlessZoneparodies and tributes have aired over the decades , but writer / manager J.J. Abrams wantedsomething bolderthan a forged Serling imitation . For a 2000 installment of his twentysomething dramaFelicity , Abrams filmed an instalment that put the casting in a dreamscape of paranormal event . To mimicZone ’s trademark blackened and white visuals , Abrams hired one of the show ’s original directors , 77 - year - old Lamont Johnson . Critics praised the effort . ( Abrams , an admitted Serling fan , buy the writer’slast script , The Stops Along the Way , in 2013 , with an eye on grow it as a circumscribed series . )
6. Desi Arnaz’sDesilu Playhouseproduced one of Serling’s scripts.
While CBSdeliberated overSerling ’s pitch for a primetime fantasy anthology series in the later 1950s , producers of the connection ’s anthology seriesDesilu Playhousehad pulled his original pilot hand , “ The Time Element , ” from store . In it , a man sees a psychiatrist with recurring nightmare where he tries to warn others of an close at hand attack onPearl Harbor ; at the climax , he disappears , with the doctor being tell he perish during the attack some 15 year prior .
After the hourlong play unfolded , Arnaz arrive out to direct the consultation directly , offering his take on the ambiguous ending . “ We wonder if Pete Jenson did go back in time , ” Arnaz meditate . “ Any of you have any solution ? allow me have sex . ” Arnaz ’s clumsy wrap - up would later make Serling ’s deft hint look prima in comparability .
7. OneTwilight Zoneepisode had a laugh track.
Though prolific and cutting in his veiled societal comment , Serling ’s one helplessness as a author may have been taste to wrench drollery out of his learned characterizations . In “ Cavender is Coming , ” an angel is sent to Earth to help Carol Burnett feel happiness . ( The moral : Even in a sameness existence , she had it all along . ) CBS reckon this would make a hunky-dory pilot for a sitcom , and so for the first and only clip inZone ’s run , producers added alaugh track . Viewers did not embrace the social enforcement : “ Cavender ” never made it as a serial , and the canned laugh was removed for syndication and home video passing .
8. No one but Serling could use the wordGodin scripts.
Though he spoke lovingly of Serling through his entire career , Zoneteleplay writer Richard Matheson ( “ Steel , ” “ The Invaders ” ) found one mandate puzzling : accord to Matheson , only Serling could use the wordGodin his teleplays . It was off - limitation to the rest of the committal to writing squad . “ I used to get ticked off at Rod because he could put ‘ God ’ in all his scripts , ” Matheson say . “ If I did it , they ’d queer it out . ” Matheson never take , and was never told , the reason behind the ruler . Chalk it up to a closed book worthy ofThe Twilight Zone .
A version of this story run for in 2014 ; it has been updated for 2022 .
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