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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!

Binge this in 3d 3h•Peaking at 8.5/10

An anthology series containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 6 - Eye of the Beholder
    8.5/10(7421 votes)

    #1 - Eye of the Beholder

    S2:E6

    A young woman lying in a hospital bed awaits the outcome of an experimental treatment in an attempt to make her look normal.

    Director:Douglas Heyes
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  2. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 24 - To Serve Man
    8.5/10(6110 votes)

    #2 - To Serve Man

    S3:E24

    An alien race comes to Earth, promising peace and sharing technology. A team of linguists sets out to translate the aliens' language, using a book whose title they deduce to be "To Serve Man."

    Director:Richard L. Bare
    Writers:Rod Serling, Damon Knight

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  3. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 3 - The Shelter
    8.4/10(4266 votes)

    #3 - The Shelter

    S3:E3

    When a nuclear attack appears imminent, several suburban friends and neighbors fight over control of a single bomb shelter.

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  4. The Twilight Zone Season 5 Episode 25 - The Masks
    8.4/10(3830 votes)

    #4 - The Masks

    S5:E25

    A wealthy dying man invites his family to a Mardi Gras party and insists that they wear masks specially made for them, threatening to cut off their inheritance if they refuse.

    Director:Ida Lupino
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  5. The Twilight Zone Season 5 Episode 3 - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
    8.3/10(6373 votes)

    #5 - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

    S5:E3

    A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in.

    Director:Richard Donner
    Writer:Richard Matheson

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  6. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 8 - Time Enough at Last
    8.2/10(9322 votes)

    #6 - Time Enough at Last

    S1:E8

    A bank teller, obsessed with reading, faces conflicts at work and home because of his passion for literature.

    Director:John Brahm
    Writer:Rod Serling

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Twilight Zone

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  7. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 8 - It's a Good Life
    8.2/10(5298 votes)

    #7 - It's a Good Life

    S3:E8

    On an isolated family farm in Peakesville, Ohio, young Anthony Fremont, who has vast mental powers but lacks emotional development, holds his terrified family and neighbors in thrall to his every juvenile wish.

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writers:Rod Serling, Jerome Bixby

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  8. The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 16 - A Penny for Your Thoughts
    8.0/10(3787 votes)

    #8 - A Penny for Your Thoughts

    S2:E16

    The lucky flip of a coin seems to give a mild-mannered bank clerk the power to read minds. But he soon learns that you can't believe everything you read.

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:George Clayton Johnson

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  9. The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 25 - The Silence
    8.0/10(3961 votes)

    #9 - The Silence

    S2:E25

    A talkative man takes an offer to keep silent for a year for $500,000.

    Director:Boris Sagal
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  10. The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 28 - Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
    8.0/10(5228 votes)

    #10 - Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?

    S2:E28

    State Troopers follow the tracks from a frozen pond, into a diner. Inside they find a soda jerk, a bus driver and his seven passengers. The bus driver is certain only six people boarded his bus…

    Director:Montgomery Pittman
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  11. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 22 - The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
    7.9/10(7408 votes)

    #11 - The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

    S1:E22

    Paranoia strikes the residents of Maple Street when they believe human-looking aliens have invaded the neighborhood.

    Director:Ron Winston
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  12. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 30 - A Stop at Willoughby
    7.9/10(5609 votes)

    #12 - A Stop at Willoughby

    S1:E30

    Riding home on the train one day, a stressed businessman falls asleep and dreams it is 1888, and he is entering a small, idyllic town called Willoughby.

    Director:Robert Parrish
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  13. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 10 - The Midnight Sun
    7.9/10(4562 votes)

    #13 - The Midnight Sun

    S3:E10

    The Earth's orbit has been changed, drawing ever closer to the sun and promising imminent destruction.

    Director:Anton Leader
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  14. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 14 - Five Characters in Search of an Exit
    7.9/10(4561 votes)

    #14 - Five Characters in Search of an Exit

    S3:E14

    A hobo, clown, bagpipe player, ballerina and military officer are trapped in a huge cylinder.

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  15. The Twilight Zone Season 5 Episode 14 - You Drive
    7.9/10(2387 votes)

    #15 - You Drive

    S5:E14

    Driving home one rainy evening, Oliver Pope accidentally hits a boy on a bicycle. Pope flees the scene, determined to hide his guilt, but his car has other ideas.

    Director:John Brahm
    Writers:Earl Hamner, Jr.

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  16. The Twilight Zone Season 5 Episode 22 - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
    7.9/10(3159 votes)

    #16 - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

    S5:E22

    As a Confederate spy is about to be hanged, the rope breaks and he falls to the water below. Finally free, he races for his home where his family awaits... as does the terrible truth of his future...

    Director:Robert Enrico
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 5 - Walking Distance
    7.8/10(7340 votes)

    #17 - Walking Distance

    S1:E5

    A stressed advertising executive, driving through the country, leaves his car and starts to walk toward his hometown, Homewood. He finds things exactly as they were when he was a child.

    Director:Robert Stevens
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  18. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 11 - And When the Sky Was Opened
    7.8/10(6053 votes)

    #18 - And When the Sky Was Opened

    S1:E11

    Recovering in the hospital after a space mission, Major William Gart is visited by his co-pilot Lieutenant Colonel Clegg Forbes, who insists on the existence of a third astronaut.

    Director:Douglas Heyes
    Writers:Richard Matheson, Rod Serling

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  19. The Twilight Zone Season 3 Episode 16 - Nothing in the Dark
    7.8/10(4108 votes)

    #19 - Nothing in the Dark

    S3:E16

    A lonely old woman refuses to leave her apartment for fear of meeting "Mr. Death."

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writer:George Clayton Johnson

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  20. The Twilight Zone Season 4 Episode 3 - Valley of the Shadow
    7.8/10(2550 votes)

    #20 - Valley of the Shadow

    S4:E3

    A reporter finds himself trapped in a small town where people can reverse time and do many other amazing things.

    Director:Perry Lafferty
    Writer:Charles Beaumont

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  21. The Twilight Zone Season 4 Episode 4 - He's Alive
    7.8/10(2683 votes)

    #21 - He's Alive

    S4:E4

    A small American Neo-Nazi group struggles pathetically to succeed in a big city. A mysterious figure begins to guide their young, insecure leader, and the group begins to draw more attention.

    Director:Stuart Rosenberg
    Writer:Rod Serling

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  22. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 12 - What You Need
    7.7/10(5245 votes)

    #22 - What You Need

    S1:E12

    A two-bit thug thinks he's found the key to a better life in an old sidewalk salesman who has the uncanny ability to tell people what they need the most.

    Director:Alvin Ganzer
    Writers:Rod Serling, Lewis Padgett

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  23. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 25 - People are Alike All Over
    7.7/10(4728 votes)

    #23 - People are Alike All Over

    S1:E25

    After a space exploration crash-lands on Mars, the lone surviving astronaut is surprised to find that Martians are human-looking and friendly.

    Director:Mitchell Leisen
    Writers:Paul W. Fairman, Rod Serling

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  24. The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 7 - Nick of Time
    7.7/10(4890 votes)

    #24 - Nick of Time

    S2:E7

    A superstitious newlywed becomes obsessed by a penny fortune-telling machine when he and his new wife are stranded with car trouble.

    Director:Richard L. Bare
    Writer:Richard Matheson

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  25. The Twilight Zone Season 5 Episode 7 - The Old Man in the Cave
    7.7/10(2661 votes)

    #25 - The Old Man in the Cave

    S5:E7

    A mysterious guardian helps a tiny community survive after the Bomb destroys much of the Earth.

    Directors:Alan Crosland, Jr.
    Writers:Rod Serling, Henry Slesar

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Best Episodes Summary

"Eye of the Beholder" is the best rated episode of "The Twilight Zone". It scored 8.5/10 based on 7421 votes. Directed by Douglas Heyes and written by Rod Serling, it aired on 11/11/1960. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "To Serve Man".