Freeman, Martin Landau, Jonathan Frakes, Frances McDormand, Victor Garber and Fred Savage, among others. New theme music was composed and performed by Grateful Dead with Merl Saunders, incorporating elements of the classic theme to the original Twilight Zone by Marius Constant (used in seasons 2–5). Grateful Dead also provided incidental music for a number of episodes. Rod Serling had died in 1975, so he was not available to narrate the new series; this was done instead by Charles Aidman—himself the star of two classic Twilight Zone episodes. The new series ran for three seasons. Most episodes presented two or three stories within the one-hour time slot. Four episodes in season 2 were 30 minutes long, and a third season of half-hour episodes was produced in 1988 to expand the series' syndication package. Robin Ward replaced Aidman as the narrator of these Canadian-produced episodes. Unlike Serling in the original series, neither Aidman nor Ward appear on-screen (Serling's image appears fleetingly in the revival's opening credits, however.) Subsequent revivals would return to having on-screen hosts; Forest Whitaker would host the 2002 series, and Jordan Peele would host the 2019 revival. Episodes First season (1985–86) The Twilight Zone debuted the night of September 27, 1985 to a warm reception: it won its Friday-night time slot in four of its first five weeks. Episodes featured adaptations of stories by Harlan Ellison (whose "Shatterday", adapted by Alan Brennert, launched the new series), Greg Bear, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert McCammon, and Stephen King. In contrast to Twilight Zone: The Movie, which relied primarily on remakes of classic Twilight Zone episodes in order to tap the nostalgia market, content for the new The Twilight Zone consisted almost entirely of new stories and adaptations of stories which had never before been brought to the television screen. Animator Gary Gutierrez designed the visual images used in the title sequence, including the ghostly Rod Serling, which he created by projecting Serling's image onto nitrogen. After the images were completed, the footage was taken to a recording studio, where the Grateful Dead both composed and recorded the title music in a late night recording session. "Paladin of the Lost Hour", an episode written by Harlan Ellison, won the 1987 Writers Guild of America Award for Anthology Episode/Single Program. Executive producer Philip Deguere stated that CBS initially told him the show would air at 10 P.M., and therefore the earliest