The Best Episodes Written By Richard Matheson

Every TV Episode Written by Richard Matheson Ranked from Best to Worst by Thousands of Voters

  1. Background image for Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
    8.2/10(29 votes)

    #1 - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

    Missing info
    S5:E3

    No one can see the gremlin tearing apart an airplane's wing, except a newly released mental patient.

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  2. Background image for The Doll
    8.0/10(11 votes)

    #2 - The Doll

    Missing info
    S1:E22

    The lonely, loveless life of a shy bachelor takes an astounding turn when he buys a special doll, exquisitely hand-crafted by a mysterious German toymaker. He tries to track down the woman who modeled for it.

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  3. Background image for Nick of Time
    7.8/10(27 votes)

    #3 - Nick of Time

    Missing info
    S2:E7

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

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  4. Background image for And When the Sky Was Opened
    7.7/10(40 votes)

    #4 - And When the Sky Was Opened

    Missing info
    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.

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  5. Background image for Death Ship
    7.7/10(12 votes)

    #5 - Death Ship

    Missing info
    S4:E6

    A three-man spacecraft lands on a planet only to discover the wreckage of a spacecraft identical to their own. Two of the crew are convinced that they are dead, but the captain refuses to see the truth.

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  6. Background image for Third from the Sun
    7.5/10(31 votes)

    #6 - Third from the Sun

    Missing info
    S1:E14

    With all-out nuclear war about to ignite, a scientist and his pilot friend plot to escape on an experimental spaceship.

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  7. Background image for The Invaders
    7.5/10(26 votes)

    #7 - The Invaders

    Missing info
    S2:E15

    An old woman in an isolated farmhouse encounters tiny, hostile aliens.

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  8. Background image for The Last Flight
    7.4/10(26 votes)

    #8 - The Last Flight

    Missing info
    S1:E18

    A World War I flying ace flies through a mysterious cloud - and lands at a modern U.S. air base in the year 1959!

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  9. Background image for A World of His Own
    7.3/10(24 votes)

    #9 - A World of His Own

    Missing info
    S1:E36

    Coming home, Victoria catches her husband Gregory flirting with a beautiful woman in his study. His explanation that characters come to life before his eyes when he speaks into his dictation machine, leads Victoria to question his sanity.

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  10. Background image for One For the Books
    7.3/10(9 votes)

    #10 - One For the Books

    Missing info
    S1:E23

    An elderly college janitor amazes himself, his wife and the scientific community when his brain turns into a sponge that soaks up more and more incredible knowledge of every subject taught at the school - until a shocking event changes everything.

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  11. Background image for A World of Difference
    7.3/10(29 votes)

    #11 - A World of Difference

    Missing info
    S1:E23

    Arthur Curtis, a successful businessman sitting in his office discovers that he is on a film set and everyone refers to him as Gerry Reagan, a movie star struggling with alcoholism and a declining career.

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    Director:Ted Post
  12. Background image for The Enemy Within
    7.2/10(58 votes)

    #12 - The Enemy Within

    Missing info
    S1:E5

    A transporter malfunction causes Captain Kirk to split into his "good" and "evil" selves, and a landing party will freeze to death if they don't merge the two back together.

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    Director:Leo Penn
  13. Background image for Once Upon a Time
    7.2/10(16 votes)

    #13 - Once Upon a Time

    Missing info
    S3:E13

    Woodrow, a janitor living in the year 1890, accidentally activates a time travelling helmet which transports him to 1962 - then promptly breaks down!

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  14. Background image for Little Girl Lost
    7.1/10(16 votes)

    #14 - Little Girl Lost

    Missing info
    S3:E26

    A six-year-old girl rolls under her bed and vanishes into a fourth dimension. Her parents and a neighbor struggle to free her before the hole between the dimensions closes forever.

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  15. Background image for Night Call
    7.0/10(11 votes)

    #15 - Night Call

    Missing info
    S5:E19

    An elderly, wheelchair-bound lady receives strange anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night.

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  16. Background image for The Return of Andrew Bentley
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - The Return of Andrew Bentley

    Missing info
    S2:E12

    A man inherits his uncle's estate on the condition that he spend twenty-four hours a day in the house and guard his uncle's grave against a supernatural intruder.

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  17. Background image for First Anniversary
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #17 - First Anniversary

    Missing info
    S2:E7

    As he celebrates his first wedding anniversary, Norman Glass thinks he's the luckiest man alive. His wife Ady, whom he met after the tragic death of her first husband, is stunningly beautiful and talented. She loves him more than anyone alive. They have two great friends, Dennis and Barbara, who were arried on the same day and are just as madly in love as Norman and Ady. But suddenly things start to change. First, Dennis leaves Barbara. Then, Norman must struggle with the strange, growing revulsion he feels when he touches, smells, tastes or sees his lovely wife. Norman thinks he's going crazy, but Barbara and Ady know better. Is love blind? Is beauty only skin-deep? Guess again.

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  18. Background image for Ride the Nightmare
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - Ride the Nightmare

    Missing info
    S1:E11

    When three of his childhood pals break out of prison, Christopher Martin is in trouble. When he was younger, he and his pals committed a crime. All except Christopher were caught and sent to jail. Each of them vowed revenge. Christopher confesses his crime to his wife Helen though he fears she will leave him. Helen is shocked at first, but she agrees to help him proving that his fears were groundless. Together they foil the three prison escapees when they show up looking for revenge.

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  19. Background image for The Thirty First of February
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #19 - The Thirty First of February

    Missing info
    S1:E15

    Andrew Anderson is an advertising executive who discovers the body of his deadwife laying at the bottom of the basement stairs. An investigating detective named Sgt. Cresse believes Mr. Anderson is guilty of murder. He wants to trick him into making a confession by making Mr. Anderson believe that his wife is still alive and that she is having an affair with one of his fellow workers at the advertising agency. Eventually Mr. Anderson is proven innocent of murder, but Cresse's hounding has left him hopelessly insane.

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  20. Background image for Profile in Silver / Button, Button
    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #20 - Profile in Silver / Button, Button

    Missing info
    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...

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  21. Background image for Steel
    6.6/10(10 votes)

    #21 - Steel

    Missing info
    S5:E2

    A small-time promoter desperately in need of money takes the place of his broken-down robot in a prize fight where humans are barred from participating.

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    Director:Don Weis
  22. Background image for Spur of the Moment
    6.4/10(9 votes)

    #22 - Spur of the Moment

    Missing info
    S5:E21

    After being chased on horseback by a terrifying, unidentified figure in black, Anne Henderson faces the biggest decision of her life.

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  23. Background image for Mute
    6.1/10(11 votes)

    #23 - Mute

    Missing info
    S4:E5

    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.

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  24. Background image for Young Man's Fancy
    5.6/10(9 votes)

    #24 - Young Man's Fancy

    Missing info
    S3:E34

    When a newlywed couple briefly return to the groom's childhood home, the ties of the past prove too strong to resist.

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  25. Background image for Dance of the Dead
    4.5/10(41 votes)

    #25 - Dance of the Dead

    Missing info
    S1:E3

    This story revolves around a post-apocalyptic town where re-animated corpses of friends and enemies dance on stage for the few people who survived a nuclear holocaust. Peggy a naive girl learns of the dangers of the outside world and the sacrifices made to guarantee her survival.

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Richard Matheson Ratings Summary

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is the best rated episode written by Richard Matheson. It scored 8.2/10 based on 29 votes. It was directed by Richard Donner. It aired on 10/11/1963 and is rated 0.2 points higher than their second-best episode, "The Doll".