1964: The final episode of the iconic thriller anthology, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, airs on CBS after a five-season run.

Though recognized to this day as a giant of science fiction, horror and suspense, Serling and his creative output could easily have been snuffed out by the Japanese army during World War II. The New York native served as a U.S. Army paratrooper and demolition specialist during the war in the Pacific. He was badly wounded in the wrist and knee in combat and came home in 1945 with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Serling attended Antioch College in Ohio after the war and then wrote for a local Cincinnati TV station, WKRC. There he penned episodes for a small anthology production, The Storm. The program was a modest early version of The Twilight Zone.

While at WKRC, Serling would write one of his first masterpieces, Requiem for a Heavyweight. Though a small man physically, Serling was a decorated boxer in the army, and he brought his love for the sport to the tragic story of an aging prize fighter facing the end of his career. The teleplay would become a classic network TV production in the 1950s, starring Jack Palance, and a feature film with Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney.

After transitioning to the national networks, Serling would write scripts for early 1950s shows Fireside Theater, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Lux Video Theater, *The Doctor, Kraft Television Theatre, Suspense and Studio One. *But he wouldn't become a star until he wrote the teleplay, "Patterns," for the Kraft Television Theatre. This story of an aging corporate executive fending off a younger competitor was a huge critical and ratings hit. The success of "Patterns," combined with the popularity of Requiem for a Heavyweight, promoted Serling as a new phenomenon: an intellectual television writer on par with the great playwrights of his era.

But Serling knew the only way he could enjoy complete creative control was to forge his own TV series. Building on the clout of his previous success at CBS, he wrote a teleplay — "The Time Element" — that would serve as a blueprint for a half-hour sci-fi and horror show. The success of "Time Element" persuaded CBS to produce The Twilight Zone. The first episode broadcast was "Where Is Everybody?" in 1959. Over the next five years, Serling would set the television standard for half-hour drama, suspense and social commentary.

Serling would also host the show, narrating its creepy opening credits with his trademark, Bogart-like staccato delivery. The show's best moments are burned into television history. The claustrophobic flyer haunted by a gremlin on the wing of his airliner. The bookworm who survives a nuclear blast only to break his glasses while surrounded by books. The telekinetic child sending "mean people" into the cornfield forever. The obsessed ventriloquist possessed by his dummy. The drunken department store Santa Claus who gets his shot at being the real thing.

Serling wrote 92 of the series' 156 episodes, while sci-fi masters like Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and Charles Beaumont (*The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao) *would also contribute. Using sci-fi to hide strong social commentary during its run, The Twilight Zone won every award in reach, including Emmys, Golden Globes and Hugos. But, it never had overwhelming viewership. CBS cancelled the show twice, before relenting both times. On the third cancellation, Serling decided not to fight and let his show pass "the sign post up ahead" in 1964 with the series' last episode, "The Bewitchin' Pool."

Serling went on to write the screenplays for Seven Days in May and Planet of the Apes. He'd also produce other horror anthology shows (*Night Gallery and The Zero Hour). *A life-long smoker, Serling died of a heart attack in 1975 at the age of 50.

The Twilight Zone would enjoy an afterlife in syndicated reruns and be reborn twice in television remakes and once as a feature film. But no remake could match the mood, style and imagination of Serling's original trip into another dimension.

Source: Scifi.com, IMDb, Rod Serling.com

Image: A gremlin troubles an airline passenger in a classic Twilight Zone episode.

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

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