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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!

This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or...
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaMystery
Network:CBS

Worst Episodes Summary

"Opening Day" is the worst rated episode of "The Twilight Zone". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by John Milius and written by Chris Hubbell, Gerrit Graham, it aired on 11/29/1985. This episode scored NaN points lower than the second lowest rated, "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty".

  • Opening Day
    NaN/100 votes
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    #1 - Opening Day

    Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 11/29/1985

    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

  • One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty
    NaN/100 votes
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    #2 - One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty

    Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 12/6/1985

    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. Taking on the guise of a writer he meets himself as a child - angry, frustrated and misunderstood. Taking the name of 'Harry Rosenthal', Gus tries to guide his younger self but sickens from his place out-of-time. When he has to leave he tells his younger self to stay behind...which was what frustrated himself as a child and led to him being so angry throughout his life. Returning to his own time, the old Gus returns to his life, sadder but wiser.

    Director: Don Carlos Dunaway

    Writer: Alan Brennert

  • I of Newton
    NaN/100 votes
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    #3 - I of Newton

    Season 1 Episode 29 - Aired 12/13/1985

    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.

    Director: Kenneth Gilbert

    Writer: N/A

  • But Can She Type?
    NaN/100 votes
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    #4 - But Can She Type?

    Season 1 Episode 31 - Aired 12/20/1985

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Alan Brennert, Martin Pasko

  • The Star
    NaN/100 votes
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    #5 - The Star

    Season 1 Episode 32 - Aired 12/20/1985

    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.

    Director: Gerd Oswald

    Writer: Alan Brennert

  • The Little People of Killany Woods
    NaN/100 votes
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    #6 - The Little People of Killany Woods

    Season 1 Episode 34 - Aired 1/3/1986

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Misfortune Cookie
    NaN/100 votes
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    #7 - The Misfortune Cookie

    Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 1/3/1986

    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.

    Director: Allan Arkush

    Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon

  • A Small Talent for War
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    #8 - A Small Talent for War

    Season 1 Episode 37 - Aired 1/24/1986

    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.

    Director: Claudia Weill

    Writer: Alan Brennert

  • Tooth and Consequences
    NaN/100 votes
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    #9 - Tooth and Consequences

    Season 1 Episode 41 - Aired 1/31/1986

    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. He flees, only to find himself on a train with a bunch of other hobo/dentists who similarly wished for the same thing.

    Director: Robert Downey Jr.

    Writer: N/A

  • Personal Demons
    NaN/100 votes
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    #10 - Personal Demons

    Season 1 Episode 45 - Aired 2/14/1986

    A screenwriter is having writer's block when strange impish creatures start haunting him. Sadly, only he can see them.

    Director: Peter Medak

    Writer: Rockne S. O'Bannon

  • Dead Run
    NaN/100 votes
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    #11 - Dead Run

    Season 1 Episode 48 - Aired 2/21/1986

    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

    Writer: Alan Brennert, Greg Bear

  • Button, Button
    NaN/100 votes
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    #12 - Button, Button

    Season 1 Episode 50 - Aired 3/7/1986

    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...

    Director: Peter Medak

    Writer: Richard Matheson

  • Red Snow
    NaN/100 votes
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    #13 - Red Snow

    Season 1 Episode 52 - Aired 3/21/1986

    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.

    Director: Jeannot Szwarc

    Writer: Michael Cassutt

  • Devil's Alphabet
    NaN/100 votes
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    #14 - Devil's Alphabet

    Season 1 Episode 54 - Aired 3/28/1986

    A college group holds their "Devil's Alphabet" meeting every year. When one of them dies, all the rest expect foul play.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Library
    NaN/100 votes
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    #15 - The Library

    Season 1 Episode 55 - Aired 3/28/1986

    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.

    Director: John D. Hancock

    Writer: Anne Collins

  • Grace Note
    NaN/100 votes
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    #16 - Grace Note

    Season 1 Episode 57 - Aired 4/4/1986

    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.

    Director: Peter Medak

    Writer: N/A

  • The Junction
    NaN/100 votes
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    #17 - The Junction

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 2/21/1987

    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.

    Director: Bill Duke

    Writer: Virginia Aldridge

  • Shelter Skelter
    NaN/100 votes
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    #18 - Shelter Skelter

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 5/21/1987

    A survivalist traps himself in his bomb shelter when a nuclear blast finally comes.

    Director: Martha Coolidge

    Writer: N/A

  • Private Channel
    NaN/100 votes
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    #19 - Private Channel

    Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 5/21/1987

    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.

    Director: Peter Medak

    Writer: N/A

  • Voices in the Earth
    NaN/100 votes
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    #20 - Voices in the Earth

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 7/10/1987

    In the far future an expedition returns to a desolate barren Earth where a scientist begins to see the ghosts of those who died years ago.

    Director: Curtis Harrington

    Writer: Alan Brennert

  • The Girl I Married
    NaN/100 votes
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    #21 - The Girl I Married

    Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 7/17/1987

    An attorney and his wife have successful careers. They feel something is lacking in their marriage. Soon, they encounter younger versions of their mates.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: J. M. DeMatteis

  • Song of the Younger World
    3.5/102 votes
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    #22 - Song of the Younger World

    Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 7/17/1987

    In 1916 a girl and a young man from a reformatory for wayward boys fall in love and try to get away from her father, the superintendent. He finds out and doesn't approve of their love, locking away his daughter and punishing the boy. With the help of a wandering vagrant the girl finds a way to use a book to transfer both her and the boy into a primordial world where they become wolves and can live free and together.

    Director: Noel Black

    Writer: Anthony Lawrence

  • The Leprechaun-Artist
    4.0/103 votes
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    #23 - The Leprechaun-Artist

    Season 1 Episode 47 - Aired 2/21/1986

    Vacationing in the United States, an Irish leprechaun is caught by three boys. To be freed, he must grant them three wishes.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: James Crocker

  • The Card
    4.0/102 votes
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    #24 - The Card

    Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 2/21/1987

    A compulsive spender accepts "The Card" to keep up her habit. Unfortunately stringent penalties kick in for late payments.

    Director: Bradford May

    Writer: Michael Cassutt

  • The Beacon
    5.0/102 votes
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    #25 - The Beacon

    Season 1 Episode 26 - Aired 12/6/1985

    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. The child recovers, but when Barrows goes to the lighthouse, the townfolk confront him with the truth: the lighthouse keeper is long dead, but in return for ensuring the town's prosperity, it demands the occasional sacrifice. Since Barrows saved the girl and was in the house where the light shined, he becomes the townsfolks' next sacrifice.

    Director: Gerd Oswald

    Writer: Martin Pasko, Rebecca Parr Cioffi