On this day: the premiere of “The Twilight Zone” in 1959

On October 2, 1959, CBS aired the first episode of "The Twilight Zone", the anthology series created and hosted by Rod Serling. The show ran for five seasons, until 1964, and 156 episodes aired in total.

Every episode here is a story unto itself: ordinary people come up against something inexplicable and often unsettling, frequently with a twist ending and a moral. Serling felt that a fantastical setting gave him more freedom and less interference when expressing controversial ideas than more realistic stories did. He was the executive producer and head writer, writing or co-writing 92 of the 156 episodes, and he also served as host and narrator: he delivered monologues at the beginning and end, and from the second season he appeared on screen as well.

Critics greeted the premiere with praise. Daily Variety ranked it among the best that half-hour television had produced, and the New York Herald Tribune called the series the best and most original anthology show of the year. Audiences were harder to win: CBS had expected a rating of no lower than 21–22, the opening numbers came in worse, and the third episode drew only 16.3.

By the end of the first season, sponsors were ready to walk away, and CBS was reportedly looking for a replacement host for Serling, offering the role to Orson Welles. In the end everything was smoothed over: a new sponsor replaced one company, Welles turned it down, and Serling's involvement was expanded instead. The first season brought him his fourth Emmy for writing, and the series received a Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation.

The first season's theme was written by Bernard Herrmann, and from the second by Marius Constant. The title entered the language as a term for a surreal experience, and the series was later revived in 1985, 2002 and 2019.

Image: Panorama Annual 1943 staff Public domain

Translation editor: Ловушкин А.