Everyone has their favorite TZ episodes, and we could argue all day about which ones are the best. But this is my blog, so here are mine. 😄
20) The New Exhibit (episode 115, fourth season, 1963)
Martin Senescu works at a wax museum, home to “Murderer’s Row” which features wax figures of famous murderers such as Jack The ripper Jack the Ripper, Albert Hicks, etc.
When Martin’s boss informs him that he is selling the museum, which will be torn down and replaced by a supermarket, Martin volunteers to keep the unsettling wax figures at his house until a buyer can be found for them. Shortly after moving them into his home, Martin discovers his wife dead and Jack’s knife covered in blood. Realizing no one will believe Emma was killed by a wax figure, he buries her under the basement floor. Hm. What could go possibly wrong from there?
19) The Little People (episode 93, third season, 1962)
On a distant planet, a shipwrecked astronaut discovers a civilization of tiny people, who regard him as a god as he towers over them. They worship him, erect a statue in his honor, and by the time his partner repairs the wrecked spaceship, he is drunk on power and out of his mind.
18) The Lateness of the Hour (episode 44, second season, 1961)
A well-to-do daughter is sick of her family’s easy life, surrounded by legions of servant robots built by her father. She feels like she is not really living life, being waited on hand and foot. The lifestyle has utterly consumed them. But will her father destroy his robots to prove his love for her?
17) The After Hours (episode 34, first season, 1959)
Marsha White is on a shopping trip to find a gift for her mother. She finds the perfect gift on the ninth floor of the department store, but when she mentions this, store employees inform her there is no ninth floor.
16) Nightmare As A Child (episode 29, first season, 1959)
A woman realizes that the little girl she’s been seeing around her apartment is her own self, at a much younger age, urging her to remember the details of her life’s most tragic event.
15) The Lonely (episode 7, first season, 1959
A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives a realistic woman robot from the government back on earth. At first, this upsets him. He has been longing for human contact, not the programmed interactions of a machine. As time goes by, he warms up to her and teaches her to be more human. But in the end, he is forced to accept that a machine is just a machine.
14) The Masks (episode 145, fifth season, 1964)
A dying man is fully aware that his relatives are waiting to inherit his fortune. He coerces them into wearing grotesque masks that reflect their true personalities.
13) Mute (episode 107, fourth season, 1963)
The orphaned daughter of telepathic parents must learn to speak and deal with a world she cannot communicate in.
12) A Thing About Machines (episode 40, second season, 1960)
Bartlett Finchley is beginning to think technology has turned against him. All the electronic devices around him are set on driving him mad… Or worse. Killing him.
11) Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (episode 123, fifth season, 1963)
A man with a fear of flying sees something terrible on the wing of the plane. But can he convince anyone he’s not seeing things before the monster destroys the plane?
10) A Most Unusual Camera (episode 46, second season, 1961)
A petty thief steals a camera that can predict the future by the pictures it takes. He intends to use it’s power to win horse races, but possessing the camera only takes him down a dangerous path.
9) You Drive (episode 134, fifth season, 1964)
After being involved with a hit-and-run accident, which resulted in killing a child, Mr. Oliver Pope’s car seems to have a mind of its own.
8) What You Need (episode 12, first season 1960)
A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny ability to give people exactly what they need before they need it. He gave the crook a pair of scissors that ended up saving the man’s life… but what will save the old peddler from the ruthless pursuit of this fortune-hungry criminal?
7) The Man In The Bottle (episode 38, second season, 1960)
A luckless couple stumbles upon fortune when a genie materializes from a bottle in their antique shop. The genie grants them four wishes but warns them, prophetically, to be careful what they wish for.
6) And When The Sky Was Opened (episode 11, first season, 1960)
Three astronauts return to Earth, hailed as heroes, but soon, nobody remembers them. Whatever they encountered in space is erasing them from existence, one by one.
5) Long Distance Call (episode 58, second season, 1961)
A toy telephone becomes the link between a young boy and his dead grandmother. His frightened mother wonders what length the deceased woman will go to to be reunited with him.
4) Eye of the Beholder (episode 42, second season, 1960)
A woman lays in a hospital bed, her face wrapped in bandages. She fears that the surgery she underwent hasn’t altered her appearance enough, and she’s eager to remove them. Will she still be a freak?
3) To Serve Man (episode 89, third season, 1962)
An alien race teaches humans to live peacefully with each other, but they have a sinister ulterior motive.
2) The Living Doll (episode 126, fifth season, 1963)
A vindictive doll takes revenge on a man who wants it destroyed.
1) Five Characters In Search Of An Exit (episode 79, third season, 1961)
A ballet dancer, a major, a clown, a tramp and a bagpipe player find themselves trapped together at the bottom of a tall enclosure and work together to try and escape. But things are not always what they seem.
So there you have it. My Top Twenty Twilight Zone episodes. What are yours?
Weird Wide Web 