Photos: On this day – October 2, 1959 – The Twilight Zone premieres

Posted Oct 02, 2012

You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop…the Twilight Zone.
—Rod Serling (1961-1962)

On this day – October 2, 1959 – The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television.

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consists of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, kafkaesque, or simply disturbing events; each story typically features a surprising plot twist and usually containing a moral.

The Twilight Zone was ranked No. 26 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

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Original 1959 title card
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Serling working on his script with a dictating machine, 1959
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William Shatner in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" 1963
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Rod Serling modeling an airplane with actress Inger Stevens, who appeared in "The Hitch-Hiker", 1960
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Cliff Robertson, starring in the role of a ventriloquist, chats with Bethelynn Grey, center, and Sandra Warner on April 19, 1962, during a rehearsal of ?The Dummy,? an episode in ?The Twilight Zone? series. (AP Photo)
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Publicity photo of American child actor, Billy Mumy promoting his guest-starring role on the CBS television series The Twilight Zone.
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Publicity photo of American actors, Lili Darvas and Billy Mumy promoting their guest-starring roles on the CBS television series The Twilight Zone. 1961
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Photo of Buster Keaton from the television program The Twilight Zone. In this episode, "Once Upon a Time", Keaton played a man who was able to travel back and forth in time with a magical helmet. Keaton performed some of his scenes for the episode as a silent performer, as in his old film days. (1961)
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Vic Morrow in “Twilight Zone - The Movie” in 1983. (AP Photo)
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Wreckage of helicopter lies in river bed in park near Castaic, California on Friday, July 24, 1982. Actor Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese child actors were killed in an accident involving the helicopter during shooting of a scene in a movie revival of “The Twilight Zone.” (AP Photo)
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An undated portrait of Emmett Louis Till, a black 14 year old Chicago boy, whose weighted down body was found in the Tallahatchie River near the Delta community of Money, Mississippi, Aug. 31, 1955. More than a half-century after it was twice censored by network television, Rod Serling's story on the notorious 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and his message about prejudice will finally be told the way Serling wanted. The original stage script of Serling's "Noon on Doomsday" will be read Saturday, March 29, 2008, at Ithaca College during a conference on "The Life and Legacy of Rod Serling." The award-winning writer and creator of "The Twilight Zone" taught at Ithaca from 1967 until 1975, when he died. (AP Photo, file)
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This undated photo provided by the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation shows Rod Serling. (AP Photo/Rod Serling Memorial Foundation) NO SALES
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This undated image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows a 2009 postage stamp honoring "The Twilight Zone" television show. (AP Photo/USPS)
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Photo shows from left, inductees Sid Caesar, Carol Burnett, Sylvester "Pat" Weaver and Walter Cronkite. Also inducted, posthumously, Rod Serling, Ed Sullivan and Joyce Hall, founder of the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" specials shown April 22, 1985. Location is not given. (AP Photo)
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The "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" is shown in this undated photo. The attraction will open May 4, 2004, at Disney's California Adventure park in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Hiffmeyer/Disney)
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Spectators, seen in the foreground, ride a falling elevator, as they are presented with special effects with the likeness of ghosts seen inside one of the halls of the Hollywood Tower Hotel Tuesday, May 4, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," an adventure ride based on the classic "Twilight Zone," television series opens officially on Wednesday in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area of Disney's California Adventure. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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The Hollywood Tower Hotel at the Disneyland Resort is seen Tuesday, May 4, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," an adventure ride based on the classic "Twilight Zone," television series, opens officially on Wednesday in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area of Disney's California Adventure. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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A New York State historical marker honoring Rod Serling's attendance at Binghamton Central School stands in front of what is now Binghamton High School in Binghamton, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. The 50th anniversary of the "Twilight Zone" will be celebrated in Serling's hometown of Binghamton, Oct. 1-4, 2009, in an event called "The Twilight Zone @ 50, a Celebration of Rod Serling & The Twilight Zone." (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth)
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A passerby walks over the bronze star honoring the late Binghamton-raised writer and "Twilight Zone" host, Rod Serling, in Binghamton, NY, Friday, September 25, 2009. Serling's star was the first to be laid in the Binghamton Sidewalk of Stars. Binghamton will mark the 50th anniversary of Serling's "The Twilight Zone", October 1-4, 2009, in an event called "The Twilight Zone @ 50, a Celebration of Rod Serling & The Twilight Zone." (AP/Heather Ainsworth)
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Rod Serling pauses for a cigarette and coffee between scenes during filming of "The Twilight Zone" in this 1961 photo. (AP PHOTO)