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The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone Season 1

Every episode of The Twilight Zone Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone Season 1!

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 6 - Examination Day / A Message From Charity
    7.8/10(699 votes)

    S1:E6

    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:Henry Slesar, Philip DeGuere Jr., Alan Brennert

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  2. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 20 - Profile in Silver / Button, Button
    7.7/10(613 votes)

    S1:E20

    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:John D. Hancock, Peter Medak
    Writers:Richard Matheson, J. Neil Schulman

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  3. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 1 - Shatterday / A Little Peace and Quiet
    7.5/10(1072 votes)

    S1:E1

    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:Harlan Ellison, James Crocker, Alan Brennert

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  4. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 12 - Her Pilgrim Soul / I of Newton
    7.5/10(585 votes)

    S1:E12

    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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  5. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 15 - Monsters! / A Small Talent for War / A Matter of Minutes
    7.4/10(496 votes)

    S1:E15

    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:Claudia Weill, Sheldon Larry, Bill L. Norton
    Writers:Harlan Ellison, Robert Crais, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Alan Brennert

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  6. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 2 - Wordplay / Dreams for Sale / Chameleon
    7.2/10(730 votes)

    S1:E2

    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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  7. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 4 - Little Boy Lost / Wish Bank / Nightcrawlers
    7.1/10(672 votes)

    S1:E4

    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:William Friedkin, Rick Friedberg
    Writers:Michael Cassutt, Philip DeGuere Jr.

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  8. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 3 - Healer / Children's Zoo / Kentucky Rye
    7.0/10(588 votes)

    S1:E3

    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:Richard Krzemien, Delree Todd, Chip Duncan, Alan Brennert, Gerrit Graham, Chris Hubbell

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  9. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 7 - Teacher's Aide / Paladin of the Lost Hour
    7.0/10(596 votes)

    S1:E7

    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:Gilbert Cates, Bill L. Norton
    Writers:Harlan Ellison, Steven Barnes

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  10. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 23 - Shadow Play / Grace Note
    7.0/10(361 votes)

    S1:E23

    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:Peter Medak, Paul Lynch
    Writers:Charles Beaumont, James Crocker

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  11. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 10 - The Shadow Man / The Uncle Devil Show / Opening Day
    6.9/10(559 votes)

    S1:E10

    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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  12. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 13 - Night of the Meek / But Can She Type? / The Star
    6.9/10(456 votes)

    S1:E13

    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:Martin Pasko, Rod Serling, Rockne S. O'Bannon, Alan Brennert

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  13. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 16 - The Elevator / To See the Invisible Man / Tooth and Consequences
    6.9/10(439 votes)

    S1:E16

    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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  14. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 21 - Need to Know / Red Snow
    6.9/10(403 votes)

    S1:E21

    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:Paul Lynch, Jeannot Szwarc
    Writer:Michael Cassutt

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  15. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 22 - Take My Life...Please! / Devil's Alphabet / The Library
    6.9/10(345 votes)

    S1:E22

    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:John D. Hancock, Gus Trikonis, Ben Bolt
    Writer:Anne Collins

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  16. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 9 - Dead Woman's Shoes / Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
    6.8/10(538 votes)

    S1:E9

    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:Peter Medak, Paul Lynch
    Writers:Charles Beaumont, Alan Brennert

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  17. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 11 - The Beacon / One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty
    6.8/10(426 votes)

    S1:E11

    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:Martin Pasko, Alan Brennert, Rebecca Parr Cioffi

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  18. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 8 - Act Break / The Burning Man / Dealer's Choice
    6.7/10(516 votes)

    S1:E8

    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. During a heat wave in the 1930's a mother and her son enjoy a drive in the country. They encounter a strange man who wants a ride. Four friends and a fifth's stand-in get together for a game of poker. The fifth man, Nick, has an uncanny knack for drawing three-of-a-kinds...in 6s. The men figure out that Nick is the Devil, come to claim one of them. The unlucky man offers to play the Devil a game of poker to get his soul free.

    Director:Wes Craven
    Writers:Ray Bradbury, Donald Todd

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  19. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 14 - Still Life / The Little People of Killany Woods / The Misfortune Cookie
    6.6/10(394 votes)

    S1:E14

    Finding an old trunk, a couple realizes that it has a false bottom containing a 70-year-old film from the Amazon. An old Irishman has often been called a fool for his stories about Leprechauns. He catches the leader of "The Little People" and gets greedy. A young man has had his heart broken recently. At a Chinese restaurant, he reads a fortune about finding new love and it comes true. His life seems perfect until he becomes greedy with his good luck. He only wants to read the fortune cookies. The old Chinese owner advises him of the bad luck of not finishing his meal before reading his fortune.

    Directors:Allan Arkush, Peter Medak
    Writer:Rockne S. O'Bannon

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  20. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 17 - Welcome to Winfield / Quarantine
    6.6/10(412 votes)

    S1:E17

    The grim reaper arrives at a hospital to take possession of a dying man. The man's wife rescues him and takes him to the western town of Winfield where residents have been living for hundreds of years. Apparently, the reaper has failed to collect those living there. A man is awakened after several hundred years of cryogenic sleep. He finds a world where psychic powers abound. The people there want him to complete a mission that only he can accomplish.

    Directors:Bruce Bilson, Martha Coolidge
    Writer:Alan Brennert

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  21. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 19 - The Leprechaun-Artist / Dead Run
    6.5/10(404 votes)

    S1:E19

    Vacationing in the United States, an Irish leprechaun is caught by three boys. To be freed, he must grant them three wishes. An out-of-work trucker takes on a bizarre job upon the recommendation of a friend: deliveryman of souls to Hell. He soon begins to realize that Hell is essentially out of control, running on momentum, and that the current regime is way too harsh. Resolved, he decides to begin choosing which among the supposed "damned" should try to make their way to Heaven.

    Director:Paul Tucker
    Writers:Greg Bear, James Crocker, Alan Brennert

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  22. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 18 - Gramma / Personal Demons / Cold Reading
    6.4/10(503 votes)

    S1:E18

    A young boy is left to care for his old, scary grandmother. He finally confronts his fears and steps up to her, finding that she has no pulse. Then Gramma reaches out and grabs him... A screenwriter is having writer's block when strange impish creatures start haunting him. Sadly, only he can see them. An actor arrives at a radio station to perform a radio play. An old voodoo stick is accidentally activated and the play becomes more real that anything anyone expected.

    Directors:Bradford May, Gus Trikonis, Peter Medak
    Writers:Harlan Ellison, Martin Pasko, Stephen King, Rockne S. O'Bannon

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  23. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 24 - A Day in Beaumont / The Last Defender of Camelot
    6.4/10(355 votes)

    S1:E24

    In the 1950s a flying saucer crashes on Earth. The crash is seen by a couple. They run into town, but no one believes them. "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
    Writers:George R.R. Martin, David Gerrold

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  24. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 5 - If She Dies / Ye Gods
    5.8/10(491 votes)

    S1:E5

    A year after his wife died a man is involved in a car accident that leaves his young daughter in a coma. On his way home the man has a vision. Cupid arrives in the modern world. A love spell for his target does not work as well as he hopes.

    Directors:John D. Hancock, Peter Medak
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Examination Day / A Message From Charity" is the best rated episode of The Twilight Zone season 1. It scored 7.8/10 from 699 votes. Directed by Paul Lynch and written by Henry Slesar, Philip DeGuere Jr., Alan Brennert, it aired on November 1, 1985. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Profile in Silver / Button, Button".