5.6/101,645 votesLoading...#1 - The Bard
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 5/23/1963
An untalented would-be writer's career takes off when the ghost of William Shakespeare writes his script.
Director: David Butler
Writer: Rod Serling
5.7/101,746 votesLoading...#2 - Sounds and Silences
Season 5 Episode 27 - Aired 4/3/1964
A man's wish to listen to loud noise backfires.
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: Rod Serling
5.9/102,283 votesLoading...#3 - Cavender is Coming
Season 3 Episode 36 - Aired 5/25/1962
Cavender, an angel trying to win his wings, tries to help down-on-her-luck Agnes, who has just been fired.
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Rod Serling
6.1/103,185 votesLoading...#4 - The Mighty Casey
Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 6/17/1960
A baseball manager takes his team to the championships thanks to a robot pitcher.
Director: Robert Parrish, Alvin Ganzer
Writer: Rod Serling
6.2/101,656 votesLoading...#5 - I Dream of Genie
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 3/21/1963
A man considers several possibilities when offered one wish by a genie.
Director: Robert Gist
Writer: John Furia, Jr.
6.2/101,698 votesLoading...#6 - The Incredible World of Horace Ford
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 4/18/1963
Toy designer Horace Ford spends most of his time reminiscing about his idyllic childhood. But when he gets a chance to go back to those years he gets a bitter taste of reality.
Director: Abner Biberman
Writer: Reginald Rose
6.2/101,926 votesLoading...#7 - Come Wander with Me
Season 5 Episode 34 - Aired 5/22/1964
A singer searches for an authentic folk song.
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: Anthony Wilson
6.3/102,290 votesLoading...#8 - Showdown with Rance McGrew
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 2/2/1962
The star of a Western TV series suddenly finds himself transported back in time to the real Wild West, and face-to-face with the real Jesse James.
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Rod Serling
6.3/101,937 votesLoading...#9 - The Last Night of a Jockey
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1963
Barred from the track for life, crooked jockey Grady boozily expresses the wish to escape his sordid surroundings and become a truly "big man." His wish is granted by his lookalike alter ego, but there's a heavy price to be paid at fadeout time.
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Writer: Rod Serling
6.3/101,931 votesLoading...#10 - From Agnes – With Love
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1964
A computer technician must deal with the queen of all femme fatales: a computer named Agnes who wreaks havoc on his love life.
Director: Richard Donner
Writer: Bernard C. Schoenfeld
6.4/102,934 votesLoading...#11 - A Thing About Machines
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/28/1960
A writer feels that the machines in his house are conspiring against him.
Director: David Orrick McDearmon
Writer: Rod Serling
6.4/102,692 votesLoading...#12 - The Whole Truth
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 1/20/1961
A peculiar Model A automobile compels a used car dealer to tell only the truth.
Director: James Sheldon
Writer: Rod Serling
6.4/102,477 votesLoading...#13 - The Mind and the Matter
Season 2 Episode 27 - Aired 5/12/1961
A book on the power of thought enables an irritable worker to re-create the world exactly as he wants it. But what he wants and what he gets are two different things!
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Rod Serling
6.4/102,290 votesLoading...#14 - Four O'Clock
Season 3 Episode 29 - Aired 4/6/1962
Oliver Crangle is a bitter, prejudiced man. Through unknown means he intends to shrink every evil person in the world at four o'clock.
Director: Lamont Johnson
Writer: Rod Serling
6.4/102,057 votesLoading...#15 - Black Leather Jackets
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 1/31/1964
Three tough-looking men on motorcycles disrupt a peaceful suburb when they move in. Yet the neighbors could never imagine just how dangerous these men really are.
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.
6.5/102,576 votesLoading...#16 - The Mirror
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 10/20/1961
After a poor but ambitious Central American farm worker overthrows his country's tyrannical leader, he believes he sees assassins everywhere. A look in the mirror reveals his most dangerous enemy.
Director: Don Medford
Writer: Rod Serling
6.5/102,299 votesLoading...#17 - Still Valley
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 11/24/1961
Confederacy scout Sgt. Joseph Paradine finds a town full of Union soldiers, and an old man who claims he used witchcraft to paralyze them.
Director: James Sheldon
Writer: Rod Serling
6.5/102,085 votesLoading...#18 - Young Man's Fancy
Season 3 Episode 34 - Aired 5/11/1962
When a newlywed couple briefly return to the groom's childhood home, the ties of the past prove too strong to resist.
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Richard Matheson
6.5/101,817 votesLoading...#19 - Mute
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 1/31/1963
A 12-year-old girl who lost her parents in a fire doesn't speak because she has grown up in a secret telepathic community. The couple who take her in, and her teacher, are determined to help her adapt to their society, no matter the cost.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writer: Richard Matheson
6.5/101,915 votesLoading...#20 - Caesar and Me
Season 5 Episode 28 - Aired 4/10/1964
A ventriloquist's dummy goads him into committing burglaries.
Director: Robert Butler
Writer: Adele T. Strassfield
6.5/102,429 votesLoading...#21 - The Bewitchin' Pool
Season 5 Episode 36 - Aired 6/19/1964
Two unhappy children find a happy escape in a swimming pool.
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.
6.6/104,031 votesLoading...#22 - The Fever
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/29/1960
Tight fisted Franklin Gibbs is not pleased when his wife wins a trip for two to Las Vegas. But things change when he falls under the spell of a slot machine that calls his name.
Director: Robert Florey
Writer: Rod Serling
6.6/103,411 votesLoading...#23 - The Big Tall Wish
Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 4/8/1960
Washed-up boxer Bolie Jackson, with the help of a special wish from his young friend Henry, miraculously switches places with his opponent during a comeback fight, turning the tide in his favor.
Director: Ron Winston
Writer: Rod Serling
6.6/103,140 votesLoading...#24 - King Nine Will Not Return
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/1960
A WWII captain finds himself in the desert, next to his crashed plane, and desperately tries to find out what happened to the rest of his crew.
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Rod Serling
6.6/102,971 votesLoading...#25 - Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/1960
Ordered to commit a murder he doesn't want to perform, a smalltime hood nervously looks in the mirror and sees the man he could have been--confident, strong...and determined to get out.
Director: Douglas Heyes
Writer: Rod Serling
The Worst Episodes of The Twilight Zone
Every episode of The Twilight Zone ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Twilight Zone!
A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyMysteryDrama
Network:CBS
Worst Episodes Summary
"The Bard" is the worst rated episode of "The Twilight Zone". It scored 5.6/10 based on 1645 votes. Directed by David Butler and written by Rod Serling, it aired on 5/23/1963. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Sounds and Silences".