The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 beautiful woman and her boyfriend plan to kill her husband on the first day of duck hunting season.

Director: John Milius

Writer: Chris Hubbell, Gerrit Graham

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

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

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 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 young DJ working the graveyard shift at a radio station rediscovers a record album by her boyfriend who disappeared five years ago. When he suddenly appears again, she is surprised and upset.

Director: Bradford May

Writer: Michael Reaves

Andrea, a plain, shy, secluded girl longs for love. One day, love comes to her in the form of a cat who transforms into the man of her dreams. The man was cursed to become a cat by a scorned woman centuries ago. Unfortunately, the cursed prince is a little more than Andrea can handle, particularly when he starts "catting around". Andrea gets revenge by drugging him and then taking him to the vet to be neutered.

Director: Eric Till

Writer: Christy Marx

A man sells his soul to a demon for some racing tips. After being terrified by the demon he goes for help from the criminal boss he borrowed the track money from.

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: Harlan Ellison

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

A lonely man accidentally phones the wrong number and finds an intriguing female to whom he grows attached. When she refuses to meet him, he investigates and finds the phone in a museum next to the statue of a woman.

Director: Gilbert M. Shilton

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski