
Scripted series · CBS
The Twilight Zone
You are about to enter another dimension.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How The Twilight Zone actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
The Twilight Zone reads strongest on Character Depth, Bingeability and Emotional Weight.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
An anthology series containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.
The run
Seasons
5 seasons · 156 episodes.

Season 0 · Complete
Specials
1958182 episodes

Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
195936 episodes
7.3IMDbThe first season of The Twilight Zone aired Fridays at 10:00–10:30 pm on CBS from October 2, 1959 to July 1, 1960. There are 36 episodes, including the pilot, "Where Is Everybody?". The theme music for this season, written by Bernard Herrman, is different from the music most commonly associated with the series, written by Marius Constant for the second season onwards.
Best episode · S01E08 Time Enough at Last

Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
196029 episodes
7.0IMDbThe second season of The Twilight Zone aired Fridays at 10:00–10:30 pm on CBS from September 30, 1960 to June 2, 1961. There are 29 episodes.
Best episode · S02E06 Eye of the Beholder

Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
196137 episodes
7.0IMDbThe third season of The Twilight Zone aired Fridays at 10:00–10:30 pm on CBS from September 15, 1961 to June 1, 1962. There are 37 episodes. Continuing with Marius Constant's theme music, a different set of graphics was used for the opening, consisting of a rotating cone with concentric circles suggesting a spiral, receding into a star field. Rod Serling's narration from the second season was used, with the verse "That's the signpost up ahead" taken out: "You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop—The Twilight Zone." Some subtle changes in the opening's acoustics were made beginning with Person or Persons Unknown.
Best episode · S03E24 To Serve Man

Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
196318 episodes
6.7IMDbThe fourth season of The Twilight Zone aired Thursdays at 9:00–10:00 pm on CBS from January 3 to May 23, 1963. This season broke with the previous seasons in presenting hour-long episodes instead of the earlier half-hour episodes. A very different and more complex set of graphics was used for the intro, and Rod Serling's narration changed from the earlier seasons as well: "You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."
Best episode · S04E03 Valley of the Shadow

Season 5 · Complete
Season 5
196336 episodes
6.9IMDbThe fifth and final season of The Twilight Zone aired Fridays at 9:30–10:00 pm on CBS from September 27, 1963 to June 19, 1964. It featured the same intro as the fourth season, but reverted to the original half-hour format.
Best episode · S05E25 The Masks
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S03E24
To Serve Man
An alien race comes to Earth, promising peace and sharing technology. A team of linguists sets out to translate the aliens' language, using a book whose title they deduce to be "To Serve Man."
- Directed by Richard L. Bare
- Written by Rod Serling, Damon Knight

S02E06
Eye of the Beholder
A young woman lying in a hospital bed awaits the outcome of an experimental treatment in an attempt to make her look normal.
- Directed by Douglas Heyes
- Written by Rod Serling

S05E25
The Masks
A wealthy dying man invites his family to a Mardi Gras party and insists that they wear masks specially made for them, threatening to cut off their inheritance if they refuse.

S03E03
The Shelter
When a nuclear attack appears imminent, several suburban friends and neighbors fight over control of a single bomb shelter.
- Directed by Lamont Johnson
- Written by Rod Serling

S05E03
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in.

S01E08
Time Enough at Last
A bank teller, obsessed with reading, faces conflicts at work and home because of his passion for literature.
- Directed by John Brahm
- Written by Rod Serling
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Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

Rod Serling
Showrunner
- Photo unavailable
Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Martin Goldsmith
Writer

Reginald Rose
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Paul W. Fairman
Writer

George Clayton Johnson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
E. Jack Neuman
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Jerry Sohl
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Anthony Wilson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Adele T. Strassfield
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Earl Hamner, Jr.
Writer

Bill Idelson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
John Tomerlin
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Montgomery Pittman
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Jerry McNeely
Writer

Richard Matheson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Lucille Fletcher
Writer
- Photo unavailable
John Collier
Writer
- Photo unavailable
John Furia, Jr.
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Henry Slesar
Writer

Ray Bradbury
Writer

Charles Beaumont
Writer

Damon Knight
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Madelon Champion
Writer

Jerome Bixby
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Sam Rolfe
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Lewis Padgett
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Malcolm Jameson
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Rod SerlingExecutive Producer
- Marcel IchacProducer
- Herbert HirschmanProducer
- Paul de RoubaixProducer
- Bert GranetProducer
- William FrougProducer
Writing
- Bernard C. SchoenfeldWriter
- Martin GoldsmithWriter
- Reginald RoseWriter
- Rod SerlingWriter
- Paul W. FairmanWriter
- George Clayton JohnsonWriter
Direction
- Alan Crosland, Jr.Director
- Allen H. MinerDirector
- Richard L. BareDirector
- David Orrick McDearmonDirector
- Douglas HeyesDirector
- Joseph M. NewmanDirector
Cinematography
- Jack SwainDirector of Photography
- Harkness SmithDirector of Photography
- Joseph LaShelleDirector of Photography
- Harry J. WildDirector of Photography
- George T. ClemensDirector of Photography
- Robert PittackDirector of Photography
Music
- Franz WaxmanOriginal Music Composer
- Bernard HerrmannOriginal Music Composer
Recognition
Awards
3 wins · 1 nomination
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
3 wins · 1 nomination · latest 1962
- WinnerHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1962
The Twilight Zone · The Twilight Zone
- WinnerHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1961
The Twilight Zone · The Twilight Zone
- WinnerHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1960
The Twilight Zone · The Twilight Zone
- NomineeHugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1963
The Twilight Zone · The Twilight Zone
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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- Paramount+ Roku Premium ChannelStreaming
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