`TWILIGHT ZONE' TURNS 40 (OCT. 2)

`TWILIGHT ZONE' TURNS 40 (OCT. 2)

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Don't be surprised if you enter the "Twilight Zone" this Saturday (Sept. 29): it's the show's 40th anniversary. Amazingly, the hit show almost didn't made it on the air, according to Marc Zicree, author of "The Twilight Zone Companion" (Silman-James). It seems CBS execs didn't think the public would watch a sci-fi series -- especially one with no recurring characters. Zicree claims the network only approved the show because they didn't want to offend series creator Rod Serling, one of the most successful writers in TV. Although Serling is now well known as the show's host, he wasn't the original choice: it was Orson Welles. However, when Welles asked for too much money, someone suggested Serling should do it himself. By the way, "twilight zone" is an actual Air Force term relating to the moment when a pilot landing an airplane can't see the horizon.