The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone

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7.7/10(648 votes)
#1 - Examination Day / A Message From Charity
S1:E611/1/1985
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. 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.
Director:Paul Lynch
Writers:Alan Brennert, Henry Slesar, Philip DeGuere Jr.
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Director:Paul Lynch
Writers:Alan Brennert, Henry Slesar, Philip DeGuere Jr.
7.7/10(625 votes)
#2 - Profile in Silver / Button, Button
S1:E203/7/1986
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. A mysterious man offers a couple a bizarre deal: if they will push a button on a box that will kill one person they don't know, they will get a million dollars. After some contemplation, the couple goes ahead and pushes the button. The man tells them that they will indeed get the money. And somewhere, sometime, another couple will get the same box, and the same offer...
Directors:Peter Medak, John D. Hancock
Writer:Richard Matheson
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Directors:Peter Medak, John D. Hancock
Writer:Richard Matheson
7.6/10(538 votes)
#3 - Her Pilgrim Soul / I of Newton
S1:E1212/13/1985
Two scientists named Kevin and Daniel are experimenting with a holographic device. One day they are confronted with a fetus in their machine. Growing, it becomes a woman whose life story fascinates and allures Kevin. A frazzled mathematics professor accidentally summons a demon who will let him riddle to get free of the contract he accidentally invoked. The professor, Sam, has three questions to find a task the demon can't accomplish, or a question he can't answer, then challenge him after the questions are answered. The demon appears omnipotent, but Sam gives the demon a simple command: "Get lost." The demon is banished and Sam goes back to work.
Directors:Wes Craven, Kenneth Gilbert
Writer:Alan Brennert
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Directors:Wes Craven, Kenneth Gilbert
Writer:Alan Brennert
7.6/10(387 votes)
#4 - The Toys of Caliban
S2:E512/4/1986
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
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Director:Thomas J. Wright
Writer:George R. R. Martin
7.5/10(998 votes)
#5 - Shatterday / A Little Peace and Quiet
S1:E19/27/1985
A man named Peter Jay Novins accidentally dials his home phone number, and it's answered by Peter Jay Novins. A harried housewife finds a medallion that gives her the power to freeze time.
Director:Wes Craven
Writers:Alan Brennert, James Crocker, Harlan Ellison
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Director:Wes Craven
Writers:Alan Brennert, James Crocker, Harlan Ellison
7.4/10(457 votes)
#6 - Monsters! / A Small Talent for War / A Matter of Minutes
S1:E151/24/1986
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. An alien ship arrives at the UN and the alien representative declares his disappointment at Earth's progress. The UN ambassadors plead for 24 hours to resolve their differences. In 24 hours the ambassadors manage to arrange world peace and nuclear disarmament. When the alien returns the ambassadors realize they have misunderstood him entirely. 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.
Directors:Bill L. Norton, Sheldon Larry, Claudia Weill
Writers:Alan Brennert, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Harlan Ellison, Robert Crais
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Directors:Bill L. Norton, Sheldon Larry, Claudia Weill
Writers:Alan Brennert, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Harlan Ellison, Robert Crais

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The 20 WORST Episodes of The Twilight Zone

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7.2/10(692 votes)
#7 - Wordplay / Dreams for Sale / Chameleon
S1:E210/4/1985
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. On an idyllic outdoor picnic with her husband and their twins a nameless woman becomes confused and disoriented when events begin to repeat themselves. 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.
Directors:Wes Craven, Tommy Lee Wallace
Writers:Rockne S. O'Bannon, James Crocker, Joe Gannon
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Directors:Wes Craven, Tommy Lee Wallace
Writers:Rockne S. O'Bannon, James Crocker, Joe Gannon
7.2/10(374 votes)
#8 - The Card / The Junction
S2:E82/21/1987
A compulsive spender accepts "The Card" to keep up her habit. Unfortunately stringent penalties kick in for late payments. A modern-day miner has an argument with his wife and then goes off to work in the local mine. A collapse traps him, but he finds another survivor - a miner who claims to be from 1912. The two men figure out that somehow they have become connected through time. The modern-day man helps the 1912 miner to survive, and the latter is rescued. The modern-day miner appears trapped...but the rescuers look in an unexpected spot and find him. It turns out the 1912 miner wrote a letter marked for delivery 74 years later directing them where to search.
Directors:Bradford May, Bill Duke
Writers:Michael Cassutt, Virginia Aldridge
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Directors:Bradford May, Bill Duke
Writers:Michael Cassutt, Virginia Aldridge
7.2/10(369 votes)
#9 - Joy Ride / Shelter Skelter / Private Channel
S2:E95/21/1987
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. A survivalist traps himself in his bomb shelter when a nuclear blast finally comes. On board an airplane, a lightning storm transforms a boy's walkman into a telepathic tuning device that informs him that the man sitting next to him is carrying a bomb.
Directors:Peter Medak, Martha Coolidge
Writer:Unknown
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Directors:Peter Medak, Martha Coolidge
Writer:Unknown
7.2/10(360 votes)
#10 - The Hellgramite Method
S3:E711/5/1988
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:Unknown
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Director:Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer:Unknown
7.2/10(302 votes)
#11 - The Mind of Simon Foster
S3:E222/18/1989
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:Unknown
Writer:J. Michael Straczynski
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Director:Unknown
Writer:J. Michael Straczynski
7.1/10(628 votes)
#12 - Little Boy Lost / Wish Bank / Nightcrawlers
S1:E410/18/1985
A photographer torn between taking a plum overseas assignment and getting married, meets a strangely familiar little boy. Janice finds a magic lamp at a garage sale. Restrictions and lots of paperwork apply for her three wishes. A deputy trooper stops by a diner during a rainstorm where a Vietnam veteran's nightmares come to life.
Directors:Rick Friedberg, William Friedkin
Writers:Michael Cassutt, Philip DeGuere Jr.
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Directors:Rick Friedberg, William Friedkin
Writers:Michael Cassutt, Philip DeGuere Jr.
7.1/10(556 votes)
#13 - Teacher's Aide / Paladin of the Lost Hour
S1:E711/8/1985
A teacher on a violent and gang infested high school has trouble controlling her students. The building is warded by some mysterious gargoyles, which give some special powers to the teacher. A Vietnam Vet named Billy saves an old man named Gasper from a mugging at a cemetery. He discovers that this old man holds the future of time in his watch.
Directors:Bill L. Norton, Gilbert Cates
Writers:Harlan Ellison, Steven Barnes
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Directors:Bill L. Norton, Gilbert Cates
Writers:Harlan Ellison, Steven Barnes
7.1/10(347 votes)
#14 - The Cold Equations
S3:E161/7/1989
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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Director:Martin Lavut
Writer:Alan Brennert
7.0/10(551 votes)
#15 - Healer / Children's Zoo / Kentucky Rye
S1:E310/11/1985
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 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. Bob Spindler, a drunk driver, arrives at the "Kentucky Rye" bar where the customers are all victims of drunk drivers.
Directors:John D. Hancock, Sigmund Neufeld Jr., Robert Downey Sr.
Writers:Alan Brennert, Chip Duncan, Delree Todd, Richard Krzemien, Gerrit Graham, Chris Hubbell
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Directors:John D. Hancock, Sigmund Neufeld Jr., Robert Downey Sr.
Writers:Alan Brennert, Chip Duncan, Delree Todd, Richard Krzemien, Gerrit Graham, Chris Hubbell
7.0/10(431 votes)
#16 - Night of the Meek / But Can She Type? / The Star
S1:E1312/20/1985
A drunken storefront Santa is terminally depressed by the many children who go gift less and starving during Christmas. He is fired from his job at a department store when he shows up late, and subsequently finds a bag that he can pull any present anyone wants from it. An overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated secretary uses a Xerox machine and wakes up in a parallel reality where no one has heard of her. In this reality, however, secretaries are a revered, rare commodity. Onboard a spaceship an astrophysicist and a priest learn they have discovered a planet long dead and a transmitter emitting a signal for eons. They discover that the planet holds the last remains of a civilization, which died when their star went supernova.
Directors:Gerd Oswald, Martha Coolidge
Writers:Alan Brennert, Martin Pasko, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Rod Serling
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Directors:Gerd Oswald, Martha Coolidge
Writers:Alan Brennert, Martin Pasko, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Rod Serling
7.0/10(322 votes)
#17 - Take My Life...Please! / Devil's Alphabet / The Library
S1:E223/28/1986
A mainstream comedian is killed by the one from whom he stole his work from. When he comes to, he is in one strange stage show, but there is something extremely wrong... A college group holds their "Devil's Alphabet" meeting every year. When one of them dies, all the rest expect foul play. Landing a new job at a private library a girl is warned never to look at the books. Taking a peek she learns that there's a book for everyone alive. When a neighbor pesters her, she rewrites his biography.
Directors:Gus Trikonis, John D. Hancock
Writer:Anne Collins
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Directors:Gus Trikonis, John D. Hancock
Writer:Anne Collins
7.0/10(338 votes)
#18 - Shadow Play / Grace Note
S1:E234/4/1986
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. An opera singer is having a hard time. Her sister is at the hospital dying. Her sick sister leaves a gift: a glimpse into the future when the singer is a world-famous star.
Directors:Paul Lynch, Peter Medak
Writers:James Crocker, Charles Beaumont
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Directors:Paul Lynch, Peter Medak
Writers:James Crocker, Charles Beaumont
6.9/10(516 votes)
#19 - The Shadow Man / The Uncle Devil Show / Opening Day
S1:E1011/29/1985
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." Parents don't realize that the video their child watches demonstrates magic tricks like turning parents into lizards and giving dogs four eyes. A beautiful woman and her boyfriend plan to kill her husband on the first day of duck hunting season.
Directors:John Milius, Joe Dante, David Steinberg
Writers:Donald Todd, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Gerrit Graham, Chris Hubbell
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Directors:John Milius, Joe Dante, David Steinberg
Writers:Donald Todd, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Gerrit Graham, Chris Hubbell
6.9/10(408 votes)
#20 - The Elevator / To See the Invisible Man / Tooth and Consequences
S1:E161/31/1986
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. 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. A depressed dentist, Myron Mandel, is visited by the Tooth Fairy, who grants him the wish to be incredibly popular and loved. The wish is granted in full force, and soon Mandel can't handle the endless stream of visitors singing his praises.
Directors:Noel Black, Robert Downey Jr.
Writers:Ray Bradbury, Steven Barnes
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Directors:Noel Black, Robert Downey Jr.
Writers:Ray Bradbury, Steven Barnes
6.9/10(374 votes)
#21 - Need to Know / Red Snow
S1:E213/21/1986
On a little town people started going crazy. Edward Sayers is sent by the senator to investigate. He makes the usual tests but doesn't find anything. He traces it to one person with a very special secret... A KGB investigator is sent to Siberia to investigate the deaths of communist party officials. Later, he discovers that Stalin's exiles are alive and well. He also discovers dead people drained of blood.
Directors:Jeannot Szwarc, Paul Lynch
Writer:Michael Cassutt
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Directors:Jeannot Szwarc, Paul Lynch
Writer:Michael Cassutt
6.9/10(296 votes)
#22 - The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon
S3:E19/24/1988
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:Unknown
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Director:J. Michael Straczynski
Writer:Unknown
6.9/10(287 votes)
#23 - Love is Blind
S3:E273/25/1989
In a bar, a very mysterious blind man plays the piano, and gives some very special advice to a jealous boyfriend.
Director:Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer:Unknown
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Director:Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer:Unknown
6.8/10(499 votes)
#24 - Dead Woman's Shoes / Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
S1:E911/22/1985
Shy Maddie finds a pair of shoes and after trying them on, is possessed by the vengeful spirit of a rich murdered woman. David Wong searches for something he lost. He seeks the Lost and Found Emporium where he finds others looking for their lost items.
Directors:Paul Lynch, Peter Medak
Writers:Alan Brennert, Charles Beaumont
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Directors:Paul Lynch, Peter Medak
Writers:Alan Brennert, Charles Beaumont
6.8/10(391 votes)
#25 - The Beacon / One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty
S1:E1112/6/1985
When Dr. Dennis Barrows's car breaks down, he goes to an unusual town where visitors are disliked and townspeople are terrified of lighthouse and where it might shine. The house where Barrows stays the night is shined upon by the lighthouse. It holds a sick child, one which he helps with his medicine. Angry with his adult life, a man, Gus Rosenthal, returns to his childhood stomping ground in Ohio and while digging up an old toy soldier finds himself transported back to when he was a boy.
Directors:Gerd Oswald, Don Carlos Dunaway
Writers:Alan Brennert, Martin Pasko, Rebecca Parr Cioffi
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Directors:Gerd Oswald, Don Carlos Dunaway
Writers:Alan Brennert, Martin Pasko, Rebecca Parr Cioffi