13 Ways ‘The Twilight Zone’ Transformed Sci-Fi TV

10. Director John Landis Was Prosecuted for Manslaughter

While shooting a scene for Twilight Zone: the Movie involving prolific actor and director Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese children — 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen — a helicopter crashed on the three actors, killing them instantly. You can Google the specifics if you want, but it’s graphic and I wouldn’t recommend it. Four people, including director John Landis, were prosecuted (and acquitted) of involuntary manslaughter as a result.

11. Ray Bradbury’s Only Episode

Okay, so Ray Bradbury was definitely one of the original writers, and he definitely wrote a bunch of scripts for the show. Unfortunately, only one of those scripts — an adaptation of his short story “I Sing the Body Electric” — made it to TV. Serling later remarked that Bradbury’s work was better suited to print than television. Bradbury, in turn, accused Serling of plagiarism, an insult which Serling didn’t dignify with a response.

12. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

You most likely know about “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” the classic series episode in which William Shatner totally wigs out because he keeps seeing a gremlin on the wing of his commuter flight. Ultimately, the plane is forced to land and Shatner is carried off in a straightjacket, but (twist!) there’s claw marks and damage to bits of the plane. It’s a very popular episode that you may not realize was directed by future Lethal Weapon and Superman helmer Richard Donner.