Why the Cast & Crew of This Classic Twilight Zone Episode Ate Salads for Most of Shooting

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Previously, we’ve delved deeply into the scorching heat that was a constant on the set of the original Twilight Zone. Episodes from this series are frequently broadcast on SYFY. Remarkably, even though the cast and crew endured extreme heat during the filming of “The Lonely,” which was produced immediately after the pilot, they still returned to the unforgiving landscapes of Death Valley, California for another episode in Season 1: “I Shot an Arrow into the Air.

In this rephrased version:

A story concept by Madelon Champion was bought instantly for $500 by series creator Rod Serling, which became the basis for an episode directed by Stuart Rosenberg (named after a line in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Arrow and the Song”). This episode centers around three individuals who survive a spaceship crash on what appears to be a barren asteroid. The harsh conditions pose challenges for the crew, but it is Flight Officer Corey (played by Dewey Martin) who stirs up trouble by acting out his own version of the events depicted in Lord of the Flies.

For More on The Twilight Zone

1. In the early days, Rod Serling discarded the initial script for The Twilight Zone’s pilot due to its overly dark tone.

2. Later, Serling aimed to transform a politically charged episode of The Twilight Zone into a standalone movie.

3. Prior to his role as Leonard on Community, Richard Erdman was responsible for halting time in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

He was determined to survive at any cost, and when faced with a dwindling water supply, he started planning on hoarding it. In the end, he ended up killing Colonel Donlin (Edward Finns) and Flight Officer Pierson (Ted Otis), but later discovered that they had been on Earth all along, just 100 miles outside Reno, Nevada. This discovery, which set the stage for a major plot twist in Rod Serling’s Planet of the Apes script, left Corey riddled with regret over his cruel actions. However, it was too late for him to make amends.

According to Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton (as detailed by Marc Scott Zicree in The Twilight Zone Companion), the weather during filming was no improvement over what it had been on “The Lonely,” but this time, the cast and crew were more prepared. To prevent everyone from succumbing to the intense 100+ degree heat of Death Valley, meals were significantly lighter, featuring many salads instead.

Why the cast and crew of The Twilight Zone‘s “I Shot an Arrow into the Air” episode ate salads for most of the shoot

According to dietary perspective, our meals consisted mostly of salads – they were quite filling yet not heavy, Houghton recalls in the mentioned Companion.

Additionally, we informed the team, “We’re planning a two-hour lunch break. We’ll head to the hotel, set up lunch by the pool. Feel free to rest in your rooms. And please avoid discussions about the union and overtime for now, as you understand that this is beneficial for everyone, and you’ll still receive the same number of paid hours as we gave you a 45-minute break here on location, which made you work through it till six.

The team readily agreed with the producer’s fair demand, expressing their consent with just one word – “Aye!” (or simply “Yes!”)

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2025-04-08 22:01