The Twilight Zone first appeared on television fifty years ago this month… October 2, 1959.
Here’s a mini-version of the episode I remember most. It stars William Shatner.
Here’s a little know tidbit about the theme song.
Much like the “dum-de-DUM-dum” Dragnet theme, the opening notes of The Twilight Zone theme song have become a pop culture icon. Any time something frightening or inexplicable is mentioned in conversation, odds are someone will intone the iconic four repetitive notes composed by Marius Constant. The French avant-garde composer was never commissioned to write the theme song; it was instead cobbled together from two different short “cues” he had previously written for CBS. “Etrange 3 (Strange No. 3)” and “Milieu 2 (Middle No. 2)” were two different short pieces Constant had written and recorded for the CBS music library in 1959 with a small ensemble featuring two guitars, bongo drums, a saxophone and French horns. When The Twilight Zone was picked up for a second season, the show’s producers were looking to replace the original Bernard Hermann theme, which CBS execs had described as “too down.” By splicing together the two rarely-heard short pieces composed by Constant which were already owned by CBS, the network managed to create a theme song legend without having to pay a truckload of royalty fees.
More on The Twilight Zone here and here
My favorite episode was the one with Burgess Meredith (I think) breaking his glasses after the rest of the world is destroyed.
Wow. For some reason, I always remember the episode where this collection of various people wonder what and why they are inside this huge cylindrical room. Turns out they were all dolls in a charity collection barrel outside a church at Christmas. Course, that mighta been Hitchcock, but a little too smarmy for him, I think.
Its not fair! I had so much time now!