narration Production In an interview with Twilight Zone historian Marc Zicree, series producer Buck Houghton discussed the final scene in which the giant astronauts appear and stand towering behind the mountains in the foreground. He explained that this was an optically composited matte shot which combined new footage of the two actors playing the 'giants' with stock location footage of the real mountains around Death Valley, which had originally been filmed two years earlier for the Season 1 episode "I Shot an Arrow into the Air". Like many other installments of Twilight Zone episodes, this episode used several props and costumes originally created for MGM's Forbidden Planet. In this case, the sidearms worn by the two Earth astronauts are two of the Forbidden Planet 'blaster pistols', and the two 'giants' who appear in the final scene are wearing C-57D crew tunics (with different belts). One particularly unusual item is seen during Act I, when Claude Akins' character is shown working on a device he evidently has taken out of the rocket for repair. The design, level of detail and standard of workmanship is highly suggestive of classic-era MGM props department manufacture, and it does bear some resemblance to other items originally crafted for Forbidden Planet. The hyperbolic plexiglass cover Akins removes at the beginning of the scene is very similar in shape to the conical dome on the head of Robby the Robot although it is considerably smaller. This cover protects a small "radar dish" device which is mounted on gimbals (and was probably motor-driven). This prop's general appearance - the frontal "radome", plexiglass "windows" and a small insignia visible on the side - suggests that it may have been built as the nose-cone of some large-scale miniature prop - possibly a futuristic aircraft or spaceship? - although its provenance and what it was originally built for is currently unknown. In Dennis Etchison's Twilight Zone Radio Dramas adaptation starring Daniel J. Travanti as Fletcher, the name of the "Craig" character was changed to "Knopf" and the character of a talking ship's computer with a female personality was added. References DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. Zicree, Marc Scott (undated), audio interview with Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton. Episode Special Feature, 'The Twilight Zone' DVD boxed set,