The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone

A young married couple discovers that their home is being remodeled by blue-clad workers who are workers of time that build and move objects from one time period to another.

Director: Sheldon Larry

Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon, Harlan Ellison

"The Last Defender of Camelot" takes place in 1986 in London and, eventually, Cornwall. An extension of the story by Sir Thomas Mallory, a mid-50's man is drawn toward Cornwall with a sense of urgency. He is jumped by 3 young men, who are thrown aside like playthings. The old man forces one of the younger ones to take him to the boss. The boss is a late-30's woman, who reveals herself as Morgana. Lancelot is quested by her to see Merlin, who is asleep in a cave in Cornwall. Lancelot finds Merlin awakened. Merlin has different plans to resurrect a new king. What does the world's oldest magician have up his sleeve? Who can save mankind? Perhaps the Last Defender of Camelot?

Director: Jeannot Szwarc

Writer: George R. R. Martin

For the crime of emotional coldness, Mitchell Chaplin is condemned to social invisibility. For one year he will be branded with an irremovable brand that everyone knows means they must totally ignore him. At first, Chaplin is thrilled at the prospects. However, he soon finds he can't pay his rent, or gain medical treatment.

Director: Noel Black

Writer: Steven Barnes

A man in prison who insists that he is innocent of a crime discovers a piano that transports him to the old days of gangsters.

Director: Thomas J. Wright

Writer: N/A

A normal, everyday guy discovers a camera in his closet. Puzzled, a repairman shows up to fix it, and secretly informs him that his life is being televised, and is a top-ratings grabber. The guy, John, doesn't want his life to be aired, and decides to quit. He soon finds that he misses the fame and popularity, albeit was kept secret from him. He has the repairman secretly reinstall the camera, begins to go back to his everyday "popular" televised life, and the ratings start pouring in again.

Director: Randy Bradshaw

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

A shuttle pilot on the outer fringes of space finds a stowaway on board his ship. Because of the extra weight, he does not have enough fuel for his journey and faces a dilemma forcing him to consider jettisoning her into space.

Director: Martin Lavut

Writer: Alan Brennert

A harried housewife finds a medallion that gives her the power to freeze time.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: James Crocker

On an idyllic outdoor picnic with her husband and their twins a nameless woman becomes confused and disoriented when events begin to repeat themselves. Then she awakens and discovers she is in a futuristic dream-making machine - she is only a drone in a future where no "outside" exists since Man has grown over the whole planet and turned it into factory, and the only escape is a 15-minute virtual reality scenario once a week. Despairing of her future, the woman returns to the reality which breaks down, "trapping" her there forever.

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace

Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon, Joe Gannon

A little girl's parents are always fighting and screaming at each other. She takes them to the Children's Zoo with a special invitation and she gets something very special, something her parents could not even imagine.

Director: Robert Downey Sr.

Writer: Chris Hubbell, Gerrit Graham

In the far future, twelve-year-old Dickie must pass the government intelligence test. He is very nervous about the outcome of the test but eager to show how smart he is. At the end his parents get the news - Dickie "passed" the test...but the government kills anyone who is too intelligent.

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: Philip DeGuere Jr., Henry Slesar

A young boy becomes fascinated with the new neighbor next door. The neighbor, Mr. Bendictson, warns him that he cannot stay long, as he is a vampire! The boy is still intrigued, but soon finds out the truth.

Director: Bill L. Norton

Writer: Robert Crais

A condemned man, Adam Grant, insists that everything and everyone around him is a dream: one that he can't wake up from. He claims that every time he is executed, he fails to wake up and must relive the whole thing again. His attorney is originally skeptical, but Grant knows all of the "lines" and can predict things that will happen miles away. His attorney tries to get a stay of execution, but is just too late: Grant is "executed" and wakes up at his trial once more. The players have changed roles, but otherwise everything is the same as he must relive the same events over...and over...and over.

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: James Crocker, Charles Beaumont

An elderly husband and wife live in terror of their son, a boy who has the power to summon anything he can conceive. They are forced to limit what he sees and reads, since anything he summons has to come from...somewhere. When he becomes sick from eating too much summoned food, they take him to a hospital and attract the attention of a social worker, who doesn't know of the boy's power and is shocked at the parents' harsh treatment. The boy inadvertently kills his mother when he sees a picture of a heart in a magazine, and "summons" it out of her chest. Later, as the social worker comes calling, the boy demonstrates his power by summoning his missing mother...who has been two weeks in the grave. As the worker summons the police, the boy's father has him summon an explosion, killing them both rather than have his son fall into the hands of the government.

Director: Thomas J. Wright

Writer: George R. R. Martin

Two teenage boys and their girlfriends steal a recently deceased man's classic car. While they are on a joyride, they accidentally kill a policeman.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

A woman tries to get her Uncle Edgar committed, believing that he is senile. The investigating doctor finds Edgar living in an apartment containing all kinds of junk. Edgar claims that a mysterious Voice tells him what junk to collect, and to assemble it into a device that constantly keeps the world in balance. The doctor has him committed, only to realize when a small Pacific island is destroyed as Edgar predicted that the "insane" man is anything but. The doctor has Edgar released, only to discover that he has been chosen to replace Edgar as the new "balancer" of the world.

Director: J. Michael Straczynski

Writer: N/A

An alcoholic, Miley Judson, is approached by a doctor who offers to provide him with a unique cure. Desperate, Judson agrees and is secretly given a "hellgramite" insect. The insect in his stomach will keep him sober no matter how much he drinks, and will feed on any alcohol he does drink. The more Judson drinks, the larger it will get until it is fatal. Judson can stop drinking, but if he does the insect will force him through terrible withdrawal pains until it goes into hibernation. Judson manages to make it, and offers a card for the doctor to another alcoholic buddy.

Director: Gilbert M. Shilton

Writer: N/A

In an impoverished future, Simon Foster goes to a pawnshop to sell some personal items to raise money for rent. The shop owner offers to buy some of his memories. In Simon Foster's life, what could be possibly be valuable?

Director: N/A

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

An epidemic breaks out and many people are struck blind. Something more happens, however: People have become cold and heartless toward each other.

Director: Ryszard Bugajski

Writer: William Froug

A space shuttle returns from a mission and NASA discovers that something unusual has been picked up. They discover that they have a shape-changing alien in their holding tank that poses a danger to all.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: James Crocker

Cat burglar Jackie Thompson breaks into a museum to steal ancient artifacts and takes a rare gem that has strange healing powers - he is shot but the gem heals him. Taking on the name of Brother John, Jackie becomes a faith healer but soon becomes too greedy. Meanwhile an old Indian man, Duende, shows up and tells Jackie the relic must go back to where it belongs. Jackie starts to have second thoughts but his partner Harry leaves with the cash and his old bullet wound opens up and he begins dying again. A young deaf boy he had previously rejected because of lack of payment heals Jackie with it, then Jackie heals the boy and Duende leaves with the stone.

Director: Sigmund Neufeld Jr.

Writer: Alan Brennert

A researcher from the future, a descendent of President John F. Kennedy goes back in time to witness his ancestor's death, and inadvertently changes history by saving the President. The researcher accidentally gives away the fact that he is from the future, as Kennedy is "pursued" by a series of hurricanes. The researcher soon realizes that he has irrevocably altered history, and there's only one way to fix it. He travels back in time and takes the President's place, leaving his ancestor free to travel back to the future.

Director: John D. Hancock

Writer: N/A

Two twenty-something brothers go to their father's laboratory to steal his fathers' growth serum research and sell for their own profit. They find a web-like material, which tastes great. They find large plants. Some plants have increased in size more than others. Then they find animals that have also grown in different degrees of magnitude, but they are all dead.

Director: N/A

Writer: Ray Bradbury

Salesman Bill Lowery wakes up one morning and discovers, to his horror, that people around him are slowly degenerating their talk into gibberish that he cannot understand. His ability to communicate is needed more than ever when his son becomes sick. Lowery manages to get his son the treatment he needs and discovers he must relearn everything from scratch.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon

A man named Peter Jay Novins accidentally dials his home phone number, and it's answered by Peter Jay Novins.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Alan Brennert, Harlan Ellison

A landlord hounds a playwright named Maury for his rent. When the playwright's partner dies of a heart attack, he wishes he could become the greatest playwright ever. Maury is transported back in time and meets Shakespeare.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A