Best Twilight Zone Episodes of the Original Series
What follows are the top episodes of the original Twilight Zone series as voted for by the members of the Internet Movie Database. Some people may no doubt disagree with this list, but it has been democratically decided by thousands of people!
1. Eye Of The Beholder (9.1/10)
Airdate: 11 Nov 1960Main Cast: Maxine Stuart
Writer: Rod Serling
Janet Tyler is in hospital waiting for the outcome of her latest operation to be revealed. If not successful, she will be forced into a segregated area where others of her kind are kept.
A truly classic episode, and one of the most memorable. Set in a time when non-conformity is dealt with ruthlessly, the medical staff nevertheless show her great compassion. The actors are kept faceless for almost the entire episode. The twist at the end demonstrates that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
2. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (9.1/10)
Airdate: 11 Oct 1963Main Cast: William Shatner
Writer: Richard Matheson
Mr. Robert Wilson has spent the last six months in a sanitarium recovering from a nervous breakdown. Flying home, his nerves are about to be shattered once more when he believes he can see a creature on the wing destroying the engine.
Another classic episode that is often referred to in popular culture. This episode was remade as one segment in the 1983 Twilight Zone movie. William Shatner takes the lead role, three years before he boarded the starship Enterprise.
3. To Serve Man (9.1/10)
Airdate: 2 Mar 1962Main Cast: Lloyd Bochner, Richard Kiel, Susan Cummings
Writer: Damon Knight/Rod Serling
The Kanamits arrive on Earth and seem to be full of good intentions, helping man in all sorts of ways. They leave a book. After scientist have decoded the title as "To Serve Man", they frantically try to decode the rest of the book.
Mistranslation can have dire consequences, as this episode shows. Has a twist ending as good as "The Eye of the Beholder".
4. Time Enough At Last (9.0/10)
Airdate: 20 Nov 1959
Main Cast: Burgess Meredith, Vaughn Taylor, Jacqueline deWitt, Lela Bliss
Writer: Rod Serling
Henry Bemis, a bankteller, has one passion in life - reading. When he skives off to the vault to read, the world is hit by a blastwave. Waking up, he finds that the Earth has been destroyed by nuclear war. Initially contemplating suicide, he sees a library and believes he has finally enough time to do all the reading he wants.
The moral of this story is that big consequences can follow from small events. Either that, or always remember to carry a spare set of spectacles.
5. It's A Good Life (8.9/10)
Airdate: 3 Nov 1961Main Cast: Billy Mumy, John Larch, Cloris Leachman
Writer: Jerome Bixby/Rod Serling
In a small hamlet in Peaksville, Ohio, lives Anthony Fremont, a six year old boy with amazing powers. He uses his abilities to control anything he wishes, even the inhabitants themselves, who live in fear of him.
Interesting tale of a monstrous being in the form of a young boy.
6. The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street (8.8/10)
Airdate: 4 Mar 1960Main Cast: Claude Akins, Barry Atwater
Writer: Rod Serling
When a meteor flies overhead, Maple street undergoes a power-failure. Science-fiction reader Tommy causes widespread panic when he tells people that aliens are to blame. The paranoia that infects Maple street threatens to set neighbour upon neighbour.
Classic tale of paranoia and how it can almost act like a highly infectious virus. Perhaps, a metaphor for the McCarthy era.
7. Living Doll (8.7/10)
Airdate: 1 Nov 1963Main Cast: Telly Savalas
Writer: Charles Beaumont/Jerry Sohl
When his wife buys his step-daughter a doll, Erich streator takes an instant dislike to it. After the doll talks back to him and tells him that she dislikes him, he tries to get rid of it.
Talky-Tina, a plastic doll, does nothing but talk, but she's one scary doll. Classic demonstration of how understatement can produce mounting threat.