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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
Episodes
110
Avg. Rating
NaN
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
6.1
6.0
7.0
7.0
NaN
6.0
6.2
4.0
6.0

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".

  • A Matter of Minutes
    10.0/10(1)
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    #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

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  • The Last Defender of Camelot
    10.0/10(1)
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    #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

    Comments

    0
  • To See the Invisible Man
    8.0/10(1)
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    #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

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    0
  • The Convict's Piano
    8.0/10(1)
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    #4 - The Convict's Piano

    Season 2 Episode 11

    Aired 12/11/1986

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Special Service
    8.0/10(1)
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    #5 - Special Service

    Season 3 Episode 27

    Aired 4/8/1989

    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

    Comments

    0
  • The Cold Equations
    7.5/10(2)
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    #6 - 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

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    0
  • A Little Peace and Quiet
    7.0/10(3)
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    #7 - 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

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    0
  • Dreams for Sale
    7.0/10(3)
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    #8 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • Children's Zoo
    7.0/10(2)
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    #9 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • Examination Day
    7.0/10(3)
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    #10 - Examination Day

    Season 1 Episode 14

    Aired 11/1/1985

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Monsters!
    7.0/10(2)
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    #11 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • Shadow Play
    7.0/10(1)
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    #12 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • The Toys of Caliban
    7.0/10(1)
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    #13 - The Toys of Caliban

    Season 2 Episode 10

    Aired 12/4/1986

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Joy Ride
    7.0/10(1)
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    #14 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon
    7.0/10(1)
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    #15 - The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon

    Season 3 Episode 1

    Aired 9/24/1988

    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

    Comments

    0
  • The Hellgramite Method
    7.0/10(1)
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    #16 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • The Mind of Simon Foster
    7.0/10(1)
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    #17 - The Mind of Simon Foster

    Season 3 Episode 23

    Aired 2/18/1989

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Many, Many Monkeys
    7.0/10(2)
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    #18 - Many, Many Monkeys

    Season 3 Episode 25

    Aired 3/18/1989

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Chameleon
    6.8/10(4)
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    #19 - Chameleon

    Season 1 Episode 5

    Aired 10/4/1985

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Healer
    6.8/10(5)
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    #20 - 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

    Comments

    0
  • Profile in Silver
    6.7/10(3)
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    #21 - Profile in Silver

    Season 1 Episode 49

    Aired 3/7/1986

    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

    Comments

    0
  • The Elevator
    6.5/10(2)
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    #22 - The Elevator

    Season 1 Episode 39

    Aired 1/31/1986

    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

    Comments

    0
  • Wordplay
    6.2/10(5)
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    #23 - 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

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    0
  • Shatterday
    6.1/10(9)
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    #24 - 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

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    0
  • Act Break
    6.0/10(3)
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    #25 - Act Break

    Season 1 Episode 18

    Aired 11/15/1985

    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

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    0