Created by the visionary writer Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone proved both a landmark of televised science fiction and a powerful touchstone in America's pop cultural consciousness. The black-and-white anthology series, which ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964, generated lukewarm ratings at the time but has grown in public estimation over time. Over the course of its five-year network run, The Twilight Zone explored themes never before examined on television. It exposed the talents of a generation of talented character players, like Jack Klugman, William Shatner, and Robert Duvall, who would go on to become household names for subsequent portrayals. It also cemented the legacy of its creator, at the time known principally as the author of socially concerned live dramas.

Serling created The Twilight Zone to serve as a forum for his commentary about technology, conformity, discrimination, and a whole host of other issues...