No, don't rush to Wikipedia to check how Rod Serling died - it wasn't by jumping out of a plane. By the same token, don't bother trying to figure out if Serling was suffering from depression over the cancellation of the series that would become his lifelong legacy and, by extension, the original 1959-64 version of The Twilight Zone. Of course, the series was Serling's baby, a program that broke a lot of new ground in broadcast television and led to the creation of subsequent landmark programs such as Star Trek, Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Serling's own Night Gallery. And yes, Serling was passionate about The Twilight Zone, as he often fought for the integrity of the show during its run, as well as the integrity of television itself as a creative medium.

So while one wouldn't be surprised to learn that Serling was upset when he got the news that The TwilightZone would finally be canceled after its fifth and final season aired, the truth is that he was quite pragmatic about the situation. To be fair, hearing that Serling jumped out of a plane shortly after canceling invites all kinds of speculation, but there was none "Stopping at Willoughby" or "Trumpet Passage" for the randomness. The reason for Serling's jump had more to do with the personal invitation he received, along with his history with the United States military.

During a 1964 interview with the Miami Herald (via Me TV), conducted shortly after The Twilight Zone was canceled, Rod Serling revealed that he would be jumping out of a plane at Fort Bragg to support the 82nd Airborne Division. When asked about the timing of this event, Serling clarified that it was all just a coincidence:

"It doesn't matter. I'm jumping out of a plane for the 82nd Airborne Division. "They sent me a note and told me that I have the courage that they have the plane."

Although Serling had become a national celebrity at the time thanks to his on-screen appearance in all 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone, It turns out that his tapping by the 82nd Airborne to make the jump was in honor of his military service during World War II. In that war, Serling served as a paratrooper in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division.

While Serling ended up with numerous decorations during his military career — a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a Philippine Liberation Medal — his time in the war was full of losses and traumatic experiences that went on to influence much of his work on "The Zone." at dusk". In particular, his time with the Infantry Regiment inspired the 1960 episode "The Purple Testament" and his experiences with the 511th Demolition Squad in the Philippines led to the 1961 episode "Quality of Mercy".

During the interview, Serling revealed more of his thoughts on canceling The Twilight Zone. He made sure to point out that the decision to cancel the show isn't completely final (and that it wasn't the first time the show faced cancellation), although it seemed unlikely:

“The other time we were thrown off knowing we might get back into class form. This time we have no guarantees that we will ever return, even as a five minute commercial.

Despite the slim chance The Twilight Zone would continue, Serling was quick to say he wasn't interested in moving the show to another network with more compromises, especially ABC, which wanted to make the show more macabre than Serling. was comfortable with. He also explained why he felt the series had a home at CBS as well:

“I think ABC wanted a trip to the graveyard every week. We had different opinions. CBS didn't even give me a chance to change the format. I think they are preoccupied with comedy.

Ultimately, the cancellation of The Twilight Zone had more to do with Serling's weakening opinion of the series than any other factor, believing that the show had begun to wear out its welcome:

"In a weird way, I don't really blame them.

It seems like an anthology series like The Twilight Zone could go on forever, given that there's no serialized story or characters to drag and keep around. However, the other side of that includes how much effort and originality is required for an anthology, finding new stories, situations, scenes, actors, etc. for each episode. Ironically, The Twilight Zone would find itself both canceled and revived in the decades following its first cancellation, with the series returning for a feature film in 1983, as well as a series of reboots/revivals in 1985–89, 2002–03 and 2019–20. With all this, plus the popularity of holiday marathons of the original syndicated series, The Twilight Zone ended up existing in the titular liminal space it created: it's a show that's never quite alive or dead, but it's always there. , somewhere to be found.