10.0/101 votesLoading...#1 - A Matter of Minutes
Season 1 Episode 38 - Aired 1/24/1986
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
10.0/101 votesLoading...#2 - The Last Defender of Camelot
Season 1 Episode 59 - Aired 4/11/1986
"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
8.0/101 votesLoading...#3 - To See the Invisible Man
Season 1 Episode 40 - Aired 1/31/1986
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
7.7/10604 votesLoading...#4 - Healer
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/11/1985
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
7.7/10583 votesLoading...#5 - Dealer's Choice
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 11/15/1985
Four friends and a fifth's stand-in get together for a game of poker. The fifth man, Nick, has an uncanny knack for drawing three-of-a-kinds...in 6s. The men figure out that Nick is the Devil, come to claim one of them. The unlucky man offers to play the Devil a game of poker to get his soul free. The Devil agrees, and the game is lowball...but the condemned man gets an incredibly good hand. The simple-minded Marty decides to touch the cards, disspelling the Devil's illusion that he didn't have four sixes. Caught out cheating, the Devil apologies and leaves the men a kitchen full of beer and food to make it up to them.
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Donald Todd
7.6/10492 votesLoading...#6 - If She Dies
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 10/25/1985
A year after his wife died a man is involved in a car accident that leaves his young daughter in a coma. On his way home the man has a vision.
Director: John D. Hancock
Writer: N/A
7.5/10927 votesLoading...#7 - Shatterday
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1985
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
7.5/10362 votesLoading...#8 - The Storyteller
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1986
In the early 20th century a young woman takes a job as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. One of her students, Mica, secretly takes extra books home to read. When the teacher confronts him, she finds that the boy is reading the books to his ailing grandfather - who claims to be more than a hundred and forty years old!
Director: Paul Lynch
Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon
7.3/10424 votesLoading...#9 - A Message From Charity
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 11/1/1985
In 1985, a fever-stricken Peter Wood finds himself in telepathic contact with Charity Paine, a sick girl his age living in Puritan New England. The two rejoice in sharing their thoughts, and Peter gives Charity the chance to see things that she'd never experienced in her limit time and place. However, their new-found contact turns to horror when Peter's knowledge of the future endangers Charity's life. She inadvertently speaks of the future, causing the villagers to believe she is a witch. With help from Peter, she convinces the witch-hunter to drop the case by hinting she can reveal information about him that Peter has found in the future. Eventually their contact breaks, but Peter receives one last message telling him to look on a rock...where the words "CP+PW" are inscribed.
Director: Paul Lynch
Writer: Alan Brennert
7.2/10645 votesLoading...#10 - A Little Peace and Quiet
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1985
A harried housewife finds a medallion that gives her the power to freeze time.
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: James Crocker
7.2/10342 votesLoading...#11 - Lost and Found
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 10/18/1986
A young college student has been losing personal items for some time. The mystery is resolved when she finds two time-travelers in her closet.
Director: Gus Trikonis
Writer: George R. R. Martin
7.1/10579 votesLoading...#12 - Dreams for Sale
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1985
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
7.1/10520 votesLoading...#13 - Children's Zoo
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/11/1985
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
7.1/10346 votesLoading...#14 - The World Next Door
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 10/18/1986
A hen-pecked man with a boring life and a secret yearn to build inventions finds a secret door in his basement that leads to a parallel world. In that world, his counterpart is a rich famous inventor in a Victorian-style setting who is equally bored with his life. The two switch lives and are happy ever after.
Director: Paul Lynch
Writer: N/A
7.1/10336 votesLoading...#15 - The Hellgramite Method
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/1988
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
7.1/10323 votesLoading...#16 - The Cold Equations
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/7/1989
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
7.1/10276 votesLoading...#17 - Room 2426
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 2/11/1989
Martin Decker is confined to a special room for acts and thoughts against the state. They want the formula for a weapon he does not want to reveal. Escape for Martin comes from the mind.
Director: Ryszard Bugajski
Writer: N/A
7.0/10505 votesLoading...#18 - Wordplay
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1985
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
7.0/10403 votesLoading...#19 - Ye Gods
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 10/25/1985
Cupid arrives in the modern world. A love spell for his target does not work as well as he hopes.
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: N/A
7.0/10302 votesLoading...#20 - Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 11/22/1985
David Wong searches for something he lost. He seeks the Lost and Found Emporium where he finds others looking for their lost items.
Director: Paul Lynch
Writer: Alan Brennert
7.0/10318 votesLoading...#21 - The Shadow Man
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 11/29/1985
The smartest boy in school is a target for bullies. At home in bed after an attack, the boy meets the "Shadow Man" under his bed who offers him a solution. The "Shadow Man" is a serial killer, but tells the boy that it never kills the one underneath whose bed he lurks. In defiance of all the curfews, the boy goes out and taunts the killer to show his courage. As the other kids run, the boy stands confident as the "Shadow Man" approaches, only to be told, "I'm not the Shadow Man under your bed."
Director: Joe Dante
Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon
7.0/102 votesLoading...#22 - Monsters!
Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 1/24/1986
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
7.0/101 votesLoading...#23 - Shadow Play
Season 1 Episode 56 - Aired 4/4/1986
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
7.0/101 votesLoading...#24 - Joy Ride
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 5/21/1987
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
6.9/10481 votesLoading...#25 - Wish Bank
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 10/18/1985
Janice finds a magic lamp at a garage sale. Restrictions and lots of paperwork apply for her three wishes.
Director: Rick Friedberg
Writer: Michael Cassutt
The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone
Every episode of The Twilight Zone ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone!
This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or...
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaMystery
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"A Matter of Minutes" is the best rated episode of "The Twilight Zone". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Sheldon Larry and written by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Harlan Ellison, it aired on 1/24/1986. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Last Defender of Camelot".