The 10 best classic ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes of all time
by
Michael Starr
Original Article
Posted By: Pluperfect,
3/29/2019 5:27:50 PM
In honor of Jordan Peele’s revival of “The Twilight Zone,” premiering Monday on CBS All Access, here are my Top 10 all-time favorite episodes from the original CBS anthology series, which aired from 1959 to 1964. (Note: All of these classic episodes are available for streaming on CBS All Access and the official “Twilight Zone” YouTube channel.)‘A Game of Pool’ (Oct. 13, 1961)This parable of life and death, decided in a seedy pool room (city unknown), features two actors with terrific chops and even better chemistry: Jack Klugman as Jesse Cardiff, the self-proclaimed best pool player on Randolph Street,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Newtsche 3/29/2019 5:42:39 PM (No. 17270)
Sorry but "in honor of Jordan Peele" is beyond insulting.
34 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Rubinski 3/29/2019 5:55:02 PM (No. 17257)
Its a pretty good list, but Starr left off the best one: Burgess Meredith, a myopic book lover who doesn´t have time to read because he´s a browbeaten bank clerk, inadvertently survives a nuclear blast because he´s sent to the bank vault to complete a menial task. While he´s in the vault, a nuclear blast annihilates the city and he discovers he´s the lone survivor. However, he becomes ecstatic to realize he now can read all the books in the world at his leisure--until he breaks his coke-bottle glasses, rendering him unable to see.
63 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
jalo1951 3/29/2019 6:00:30 PM (No. 17261)
I have been a fan of "The Zone" since I watched it with my father as a mere child. I remember asking him what infinity meant. Not being able to understand that "it simply goes on forever" my dad got a mirror and set me on the floor. The second level in our house had a door to the steps. On that door was a full body mirror. He handed me the mirror and reflected it against the mirror on the door. It goes on forever he said. I will always remember that. I too have my favorites. Third from the Sun was always on my top ten list. Add "Time Enough at Last", "A Stop at Willoughby", "A Penny for Your Thoughts". Rod Serling was facinated with war, outer space/aliens, and cowboys. I have the complete set and still enjoy popping a dvd in and just enjoy the irony of his show.
22 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
LooseCannon 3/29/2019 6:03:25 PM (No. 17243)
Oh, good lawd! How can "The Invaders" starring Agnes Moorehead as a frightened farm woman investigating a noise in the attic not be on this list?
59 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
trackman999 3/29/2019 6:17:09 PM (No. 17273)
" To Serve Man ".
71 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
LoneVoice 3/29/2019 6:17:44 PM (No. 17250)
Obsolete Man and Nothing in the dark are the best two in my obviously correct opinion (yes my opinion is worth what you paid for it).
They both deal with facing up to the absolute certainty of death.
Burgess Meredith as a librarian being executed made the point that the lowest of us and the mightiest of us, in the hour of our deaths, find that in the eyes of God there is very little to distinguish us.
That observation alone is the most profound of any Twilight Zone episode.
22 people like this.
The two I remember the most are:
1) The couple who wake up in a vacant town with fake trees, fake phones and a train that just goes in a circle. They finally realize they are pets/toys of a giant girl whose father picked them up from his visit to earth.
2) The girl who kept going unsuccessfully for plastic surgery. She cried when she looked in the mirror. Then the camera finally shows this beautiful girl, and all the doctors and nurses were hideous.
42 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
bamapreacher 3/29/2019 6:23:36 PM (No. 17255)
My favorite is the one with the man on the roof of a tall office building in a city that has been destroyed (like everything else) by nuclear bombs. He has a working telephone next to him and he keeps dialing and dialing trying to find another living person. He finally gives up and decides to commit suicide by jumping off the building. As he launches himself into the air the telephone starts ringing.
17 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
WhamDBambam 3/29/2019 6:24:32 PM (No. 17244)
My favorite was about the country feller walking down a road when he sees what appears to be Paradise. "If there aren´t dogs, it ain´t Heaven."
41 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 3/29/2019 6:39:54 PM (No. 17254)
A World of His Own. The end is where Rod Serling then appears on the set and becomes part of the show."Rod, you shouldn´t!" interrupts Gregory, who walks over to his safe and pulls out a tape marked "Rod Serling". "I mean, you shouldn´t say such things as ´nonsense´ and ´ridiculous´!" he continues as he throws the tape into the fire. "Well, that´s the way it goes," observes Serling in a resigned tone as he fades away.
24 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Tendoy 3/29/2019 6:46:12 PM (No. 17266)
100 Yards Over The Rim - a pioneer with his family on the verge of dying of thirst...the patriarch walks up over a ridge and finds himself in 1950s California.
33 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
red1066 3/29/2019 6:48:54 PM (No. 17252)
Can´t think of the name of the episode, but as kids, we just called them picnic ants. The ants were aliens that arrived in a flying saucer. As a nine or ten year old, it was great.
14 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
davew 3/29/2019 6:52:04 PM (No. 17259)
"A Most Unusual Camera"
It takes pictures 5 minutes in the future and the people using it see their impending death.
If the new series approaches this level of imagination I´d be willing to subscribe.
19 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Penny Spencer 3/29/2019 7:14:07 PM (No. 17238)
I was sure I´d seen them all, but I can´t recall ever seeing A Game of Pool or the one cited by #11. My faves are Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? and The Invaders, but apparently I´m not working with the entire oeuvre. Better get busy!
17 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
franq 3/29/2019 7:16:31 PM (No. 17263)
That´s a classic #3, but the one that sent tingles down me was Long Distance Call.
15 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
P51DMustang 3/29/2019 7:17:45 PM (No. 17242)
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is episode 123 of the American television anthology series.
I was ten years old and my dad had me watch it with him. Scared the Be Jesus out of me.
16 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Videodrone 3/29/2019 7:21:47 PM (No. 17239)
All of them!
Rod and crew (writers and actors) were some of the best of 50/60´s TV even the later ´70´s are memorable
15 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DARling 3/29/2019 7:40:37 PM (No. 17241)
Back There and Obsolete Man.
16 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
MOBeef4u 3/29/2019 7:41:24 PM (No. 17260)
Your #2 pick, #8, was called Eye of the Beholder and it has stayed with me ever since I saw it. It’s a Good Life and the one with Burgess Meredith were also memorable.
Night Gallery later gave TZ a run for its money too.
28 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Yepper 3/29/2019 7:50:35 PM (No. 17236)
I think the most profound episode was "The Passerby" (Season 3, Episode 4). It takes place during the last few days of the American Civil War.
23 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
49 Ford 3/29/2019 8:10:10 PM (No. 17253)
My favorite was the episode entitled "The Stopwatch". A guy came into possession of a hand held watch which would, at the press of a button, freeze in place all human activity in the world, and resume it again with another press on the magic button. Long story short - he dropped the watch and it broke apart, leaving him the only sentient individual left on earth. Scared the dickens out of me.
20 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
save America 3/29/2019 8:13:12 PM (No. 17269)
"The old man in the cave ".
14 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
franq 3/29/2019 8:14:28 PM (No. 17246)
Night Gallery was very good albeit short lived.
18 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Readaholic 3/29/2019 8:27:02 PM (No. 17267)
#3, I agree, my most memorable also. So penetrating that I, as a readaholic, have long made sure I have a plethora of reading glasses here and there all around the house. Just in case.
21 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
ginadee 3/29/2019 8:35:16 PM (No. 17249)
I don´t remember one particular show, but I liked the theme music. That has got to mean
something.
16 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
envirodude 3/29/2019 8:43:46 PM (No. 17237)
Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge.
Watch it and you’re welcome.
38 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 3/29/2019 8:53:54 PM (No. 17248)
The Invaders (January 27, 1961) starring Agnes Moorehead. The little fellas she keeps killing turn out to be our astronauts. She´s a giant!
28 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
YorkieMom 3/29/2019 9:00:16 PM (No. 17258)
Rod Serling was genius. He died way too young.
25 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
FunOne 3/29/2019 9:06:05 PM (No. 17245)
My favorite three favorite Twilight Zone episodes:
The Carter Administration
The Obama Administration
The Clinton Administration
62 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 3/29/2019 9:35:09 PM (No. 17262)
Right now on my DVR. I have recorded "King Nine Will Not Return" and "I Am the Night, Color Me Black." Other favorites are "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up," "It’s a Good Life," "The Bewitchin´ Pool," "Stopover in a Quiet Town," "A Stop at Willoughby," "The After Hours," "The Night of the Meek," "The Shelter," "The Midnight Sun," and "Kick the Can," among a LOT of others. And "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is the reason I don´t look out the window when I fly at night!
15 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
kidsmom 3/29/2019 9:37:47 PM (No. 17272)
"Time Enough at Last" with Burgess Meredith and the episode where an old woman prided herself on being a good gardener~~"Everything I plant, grows." She was later killed by the mob for her land, and they buried her in the garden, only to return later and find her rocking in her old rocker, with roots coming out of her arms and legs. She told them, "Everything I plant grows, ~~even me." And with a weird cackle, the episode ended. Creeped me out, but boy, did I remember it!
14 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
Tennman 3/29/2019 10:12:59 PM (No. 17265)
Granted these lists are subjective but I automatically exclude anything with William Shatner. Some personal favs are Still Valley, The Hunt(for #10, Mr Garrity and the Graves, The 7th is made up of Phantoms, The Old Man and the Cave, Mr.Bevis, and many more.
Still way creepy and scary 60 years later
15 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Italiano 3/29/2019 10:18:56 PM (No. 17264)
"22" scared me to death as a kid. Late at night.
"Room for one more, honey."
"The Seventh is Made Up Of Phantoms" is another good one. So is "The Purple Testament."
13 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
grampus 3/29/2019 11:07:23 PM (No. 17240)
Or better still,#27, read it as it was written by Ambrose Bierce.
15 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
chumley 3/29/2019 11:27:57 PM (No. 17247)
All great choices in the article and here, but my all time favorite is the one with Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson as soldiers on opposite sides in a long ago lost war. She is so beautiful even covered with dirt and mud the plot becomes secondary.
25 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
BigGeorgeTX 3/31/2019 4:28:33 PM (No. 17271)
The Twilight Zone was probably the most consistently outstanding and mentally challenging TV series ever produced.
5 people like this.
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