The Twilight Zone Was Originally Going To Take Place In The Sixth Dimension

"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." These words opened the initial episodes of "The Twilight Zone" – but that almost wasn't the case. While Rod Serling's dramatic intro changed over the course of the program's five seasons on CBS, that original iteration was first recorded in error.

In the creator's first take of the "Twilight Zone" intro, he identified the series as taking place in not the fifth dimension, but the sixth. As recorded by Marc Scott Zicree in his book "The Twilight Zone Companion," this prompted producer William Self to step in. "I said, 'Rod, what is the fifth one?'" Self recalled asking his colleague. "And he said, 'I don't know. Aren't there five?'" After confirming that there are only four known dimensions, Serling settled on the fifth.

Eventually, the series did away with naming the dimension altogether. Before the first season ended, Serling adjusted the intro again, now identifying "another dimension" as the residence of whatever strange, macabre, or otherworldly plot audiences had tuned into. This dimension was deemed as one "not only of sight and sound, but of mind" — a phrase that has since gone down in pop culture legend.

Few anthology programs have made quite the cultural impact that "The Twilight Zone" did. The series was well known for its incredible plot twists and the exceptional performances of its rotating cast. What all of these episodes had in common, however, was Serling's ever-evolving intro, which transported the viewer to another realm. Yet he wasn't actually supposed to narrate it himself.

When the pilot, "Where Is Everybody?," first screened for audiences, it was Westbrook Van Voorhis whose voice introduced the program. Unhappy with the results, Serling, Self, and the rest of the crew knew they needed a change. Orson Welles was reportedly considered for the part, but Serling eventually offered himself up for the role. "Finally, Rod himself made the suggestion that maybe he should do it," Self revealed. "None of us knew Rod except as a writer. But he did a terrific job."

In addition to narrating the intro, Serling also wrote the bulk of the series. While some of the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone" weren't penned by its creator, his hand guided the entire series from start to finish — and it all began with that iconic intro.