Today in Television History (October 11th, 1963): The "Twilight Zone" Episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", Starring William Shatner, Airs on Television!
Jay B
On October 11th, 1963, the third episode of the fifth season of "The Twilight Zone", "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" aired on U.S. television. Based on a short story of the same name published by Richard Matheson in 1961, the episode has since become one of the most iconic and most-referenced episodes of the series. The episode stars William Shatner (who later became Captain James T. Kirk on "Star Trek" in 1966), as a passenger on an airline flight who notices a hideous creature trying to sabotage the aircraft while in flight. In the 1993 "Treehouse of Horror IV" episode of "The Simpsons", one of the segments references the episode when Bart sees a Gremlin trying to sabotage the school bus while driving.