The Twilight Zone Specials Episode 1 The Time Element (Pilot) from Desilu Playhouse ( Air Date 1958-11-24 ) Genre Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Drama category. Overview "A man (William Bendix) visits a psychoanalyst, complaining about a recurring dream in which he imagines waking up in Honolulu just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Rod Serling wrote a teleplay intending for it to be the pilot episode of a new series called The Twilight Zone. Although it ended up airing on a different show, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse S01E06, it is still considered the pilot episode of The Twilight Zone.".