A Dimension of Sight, a Dimension of Mind

It is hard to dispute that one of the most lasting and influential American television series is The Twilight Zone, created by Rod Serling. The show ran on the CBS Television Network from 2 October 1959 to 19 June 1964. The series contained 156 episodes in total, 96 penned by Rod Serling. The first three seasons as well as the fifth season were in the half hour format, while the fourth season moved to the hour format. There was a seven-month gap between the third and fourth seasons as the show was brought in as a mid-season replacement in 1963 for the sitcom Fair Exchange. As one critic acknowledged, The Twilight Zone “showed that a touch of originality can be brought to the half-hour form but in […] the day-by-day output from the Hollywood factory.” Aside from its new length, the fourth season was unusual for yet another reason: it contained only 13 episodes—exactly half the number of episodes in a typical television season. Additionally, prior to the fourth season, CBS dropped the “The” from the series name, making it only Twilight Zone. While Serling originally conceived of the series as hourlong installments, CBS believed that it would be more successful in half that length. Serling eventually agreed with this, commenting that, “Ours is the perfect half-hour show. If we went to an hour, we'd have to fleshen [sic] our stories soap-opera style. Viewers could watch fifteen minutes without knowing whether they were in a Twilight Zone or a Desilu Playhouse.” Judging from its move to and from the hour format, their inclination proved correct.

The series was subject to repeated threats of cancellation—even as early as its first season—due to lack of sponsorship. Serling's company, Cayuga Productions, produced the show, for with Serling acting as both host and executive producer. While Serling's appearances in the show during the first season were confined to intro and outro voiceovers (except for his appearance onscreen at the end of the Season 1 finale, “A World of His Own”), he began to appear onscreen during his intros from the second season to the end of the series run.