One iconic bit of horror anthology TV series, an immensely popular genre of TV shows that has shown no signs of stopping with Black Mirror still chugging along, American Horror Stories taking the torch from American Horror Story, and more. The black-and-white, the opening credits with a swirling vortex, the unexpected twists, The Twilight Zone is iconic for almost everything it did.

Airing between 1959 and 1964, and then 1985 and 1989, then from 2002 to 2003, and most recently in The Twilight Zone reboot between 2019 and 2020. The Twilight Zone has explored a variety of genres, from science fiction to horror to absurdism to everything in between, and even their happier episodes are thought-provoking. The brainchild of Rod Serling, the host of the show and narrator who opens and closes each episode with an invitation to watch and a lesson to learn, The Twilight Zone would not be the same without him, or without producer William Self, for that matter.

Rod Serling Originally Called The Twilight Zone The "Sixth Dimension" By Mistake

Producer William Self Caught The Mistake

In the first 32 episodes of The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling says,

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

That fifth dimension is supposedly where all the strange events of The Twilight Zone take place, with the implication that, if you're not careful or if you're too curious, you might stumble into it just as you might stumble into a mysterious shop that opens in your neighborhood. However, when Serling first recorded that bit of narration, he said something else (via Syfy). Detailed in the archival book, Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series, Serling mixed his dimensions up.

He began that recording day by saying, "There is a sixth dimension, beyond that which is known to man". The producer of the pilot episode, William Self, immediately noted it. He said to Serling, "Please explain to me what the fifth dimension is." "Oh, aren't there five?" Serling is purported to have answered. Time is generally considered the fourth dimension, and if anyone is ever referring to the fifth, it's in a science fiction context.

Rod Serling wrote the opening narration and performed it.

Serling must have been caught up in all the dimensions and assumed the sixth was the one that we humans aren't privy to. It still could have worked, but it certainly would have kept viewers up wondering what that fifth dimension was that Serling had jumped right over. Instead, Serling re-recorded the narration, swapping "fifth" for "sixth".

Rod Serling Eventually Stopped Using "Fifth Dimension" In His Opening Twilight Zone Narration

The Famous Guitar Riff Intro Only Began With Season 2

Fifth or sixth dimension, it eventually became a moot point because Serling stopped using that narration by episode 33. In the famous opening narration of The Twilight Zone that most people , Serling intones, "You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!" Serling only began to use that narration starting in season 1, episode 33, "Mr. Bevus", but it's probably the one most closely associated with the show.

This narration would be used throughout seasons 2 and 3, and then would be slightly changed over the next few seasons. The other noticeable difference between intros was that, in season 1, the narration was accompanied by a score composed by Bernard Herrmann. In season 2, the narration was accompanied by the iconic guitar riff performed by French composer Marius Constant. The syndicated version of The Twilight Zone uses the episode 33 narration even in early season 1 episodes, so some fans may not even be aware of Rod Serling's fifth dimension, or sixth, for that matter.