The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone Season 1

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

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

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. The Devil agrees, and the game is lowball...but the condemned man gets an incredibly good hand. The simple-minded Marty decides to touch the cards, disspelling the Devil's illusion that he didn't have four sixes. Caught out cheating, the Devil apologies and leaves the men a kitchen full of beer and food to make it up to them.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Donald Todd

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.

Director: John D. Hancock

Writer: N/A

A man named Peter Jay Novins accidentally dials his home phone number, and it's answered by Peter Jay Novins.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Alan Brennert, Harlan Ellison

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 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. With help from Peter, she convinces the witch-hunter to drop the case by hinting she can reveal information about him that Peter has found in the future. Eventually their contact breaks, but Peter receives one last message telling him to look on a rock...where the words "CP+PW" are inscribed.

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: Alan Brennert

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

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.

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon

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

Cupid arrives in the modern world. A love spell for his target does not work as well as he hopes.

Director: Peter Medak

Writer: N/A

David Wong searches for something he lost. He seeks the Lost and Found Emporium where he finds others looking for their lost items.

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: Alan Brennert

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."

Director: Joe Dante

Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon

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

Janice finds a magic lamp at a garage sale. Restrictions and lots of paperwork apply for her three wishes.

Director: Rick Friedberg

Writer: Michael Cassutt

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.

Director: Bill L. Norton

Writer: Steven Barnes

Shy Maddie finds a pair of shoes and after trying them on, is possessed by the vengeful spirit of a rich murdered woman.

Director: Peter Medak

Writer: Charles Beaumont

A photographer torn between taking a plum overseas assignment and getting married, meets a strangely familiar little boy.

Director: N/A

Writer: Michael Cassutt

A deputy trooper stops by a diner during a rainstorm where a Vietnam veteran's nightmares come to life.

Director: William Friedkin

Writer: Philip DeGuere Jr.

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

Bob Spindler, a drunk driver, arrives at the "Kentucky Rye" bar where the customers are all victims of drunk drivers.

Director: John D. Hancock

Writer: Delree Todd, Richard Krzemien, Chip Duncan

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