"The Twilight Zone" (1959) TV series 1959-1964

User Rating:

9.6/10   

Creator:

Rod Serling

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

2 October 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Rod Serling's seminal anthology series focused on ordinary folks who suddenly found themselves in extraordinary, usually supernatural, situations. The stories would typically end with an ironic twist that would see the guilty punished.

Plot Keywords:

Anthology | Supernatural | Moral | Famous Opening Theme | Surrealism

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19	9:00 AM	SYFY	The Silence	#2.25
Mon. July 20	1:00 AM	SYFY	And When the Sky Was Opened	#1.11

Cast

Rod Serling

...

Narrator / ... (156 episodes, 1959-1964)

Also Known As:

"The Twilight Zone: The Original Series" (Australia)
"Twilight Zone" (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

51 min (18 episodes) | 25 min (138 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:M | Australia:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Due to budgetary constraints in its second season, the network decided to cut costs by shooting some episodes on videotape rather than film. Because videotape was a relatively primitive medium in the early 1960s, the editing of tape was next to impossible. Thus, each of the 6 episodes was "camera-cut" as in live TV, on a studio sound stage, using a total of four cameras. The requisite multi-camera setup of the videotape experiment, pretty much precluded location shooting, severely limiting the potential scope of the story-lines, and so, the short-lived experiment was ultimately abandoned. The 6 videotaped episodes were titled: "The Lateness of the Hour" (12/2/60); "Static" (3/10/61); "The Whole Truth" (1/20/61); "Night of the Meek" (12/23/60); "Twenty-Two" (2/10/61); "Long Distance Call" (3/3/61)

Quotes:

[Opening narration-Season 1 alternate]
Narrator: You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Movie Orgy (1968)

Soundtrack:

Twilight Zone Theme

You've just crossed over into...

I would assume that everyone knows "The Twilight Zone"'s theme song, and recognizes Rod Serling's monotone explanations of how the given character has just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I'm not sure which episode is my favorite. There's "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", in which William Shatner sees a monster tearing at an airplane wing, and there's also "Time Enough at Last", where Burgess Meredith plays a bookworm who gets enough time to read as much as he wants...or does he? Or, it might be another episode. But no matter. "The Twilight Zone" never ceases to impress me. Even the 1983 movie was pretty interesting, not something that many movies based on TV shows accomplish. You should try to see the show.