The Twilight Zone: Every Movie & TV Series In The Franchise, Ranked

The original “Twilight Zone” is one of those rare shows that serve as the yardstick for the entire medium of television, which is especially impressive when you remember how all over the place its stories can be. The most notable episodes of “The Twilight Zone” alone range from “Time Enough at Last” (a deeply ironic, reading-themed apocalypse scenario) to “Eye of the Beholder” (a legendary take on body horror). The only reliable throughlines here are the inventive speculative premises, wild plot twists, and clever parables. Apart from them, anything and everything is possible in the “Zone.”

Because of the original show’s sheer impact on popular culture, it’s no surprise that “The Twilight Zone” at large has grown into a loose franchise that spans over six decades and numerous movies and TV shows. Academy Award winners and visionaries have given their best shot at the property over the years, but how have they succeeded? Let’s find out which of the many installments of “The Twilight Zone” is the greatest.

1983’s “Twilight Zone: The Movie” is best known for its behind-the scenes issues. Originally, every segment in the movie was going to be interconnected, but a horrible helicopter accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and two child actors during the filming of John Landis’ “Time Out” segment messed up the production and tarnished the film’s legacy. If you hear talk about the “Twilight Zone” movie curse, this is probably what the speaker is alluding to, even though this particular “curse” is really just a case of tragic set mismanagement that ultimately changed labor laws.

This kind of thing can’t help but affect a film. Some individual segments in “Twilight Zone: The Movie” are ambitious, but as a whole, it’s a disjointed mess. Landis kicks things off by having a pre-“Ghostbusters” Dan Aykroyd turn into a monster and murder Albert Brooks after a conversation about the original show, then transitions into the Morrow segment where the late actor plays a frothing racist who gets to experience some of the worst moments in history from an oppressed victim’s point of view. Combine that with Steven Spielberg’s heartstring-tugging retirement home story and Joe Dante’s exploration of reality-bending children through the medium of silly monster rabbits, and it’s clear that nothing is even attempting to mesh. Fortunately, things end on a high note with George Miller’s intense take on the classic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” segment, with John Lithgow playing the William Shatner role.

Even the impressive special effects are all over the place, with the exaggerated monsters of the Dante segment looking like they belong in a different movie than Miller’s gritty gremlin (Larry Cedar). Still, Lithgow is his usual MVP self, and there’s plenty of fun to be had — provided you don’t mind the movie’s tragic backstory and constant tonal whiplash.

Yes, there was a second “Twilight Zone” movie that you’ve probably never heard of, called “Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics.” As the name implies, this 1994 CBS TV movie consists of two Serling stories that never made their way to the original series: “The Theatre” and “Where the Dead Are.” Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Serling might have preferred to keep these two particular tales in his drawer.

Despite its intriguing premise of a woman (Amy Irving) whose partner (Gary Cole) seems to be making a movie about her impending death, “The Theatre” switches gears and falls flat before the finish line. Meanwhile, “Where the Dead Are” is a decent horror mystery about a town that’s seemingly been cured from death by the shady Dr. Wheaton (Jack Palance) … but really, can “decent” be the standard when it comes to “The Twilight Zone?”

All in all, “Lost Classics” is not bad, but it’s far from the best “The Twilight Zone”-adjacent project out there. Still, it’s not a terrible way to spend a couple of hours, whether you’re a casual fan or a devoted Serling completionist. Besides, if you really have to recruit a replacement for the legendary “Twilight Zone” host, let’s be honest: James Earl Jones is a pretty ideal choice.

UPN’s short-lived 2002 “The Twilight Zone” revival suffered from network interference. Higher-ups pressured executive producer Ira Steven Behr to strive for relevance and feature prominent pop culture figures, while still forcing the show to remake several episodes from the original “Twilight Zone.” Such behind-the-scenes issues may be the reason why the series sometimes seems to take cues from the era’s reigning king of paranormal TV, “The X-Files” — which itself has been known to draw inspiration from Rod Serling’s original – to the point that the show’s creatives hired “The X-Files” composer Mark Snow to give his spin on the iconic “Twilight Zone” theme.

Unfortunately, neither the 2000s revival nor its segments can match the original, and the network wasn’t willing to give it a chance to find its wings, either. This Forest Whitaker-hosted incarnation of “The Twilight Zone” didn’t make it past season 1 and underwhelmed critics, but there’s still plenty of sci-fi horror goodness in there for the dedicated fan.

Thanks to its three-season run, the 1985 version of “The Twilight Zone” is easily the longest-lasting revival of the series. CBS really tried its best to recapture lightning in the bottle after the 1983 movie, and if you ask the audiences, the attempt actually kind of succeeded. 

With no on-screen host, a comparatively limited number of remade classic stories, and a laundry list of fascinating story premises, this particular revival is just similar enough to the original to warrant the name, while also different enough to stand out. Even if a 1980s “The Twilight Zone” holds absolutely no allure to you on paper, it’s worth checking out just for the amazing and eclectic list of contemporary and future superstars involved. 

For a sample of the show’s delicacies, look no further than the very first segment of the first episode — the doppelgänger story “Shatterday.” It stars Bruce Willis, was directed by Wes Craven, and one of its writers is speculative fiction legend Harlan Ellison … who, incidentally, went to win a Writer’s Guild of America award for the season 1 finale segment “Paladin of the Lost Hour.” WIth folks like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin also among the show’s writers, 1985’s “The Twilight Zone” may not always be great, but it sure is consistently interesting.  

What to do when you need to update the most visionary travel trough a dimension of sight, sound, and mind to a full 60 years after Rod Serling first presented it to us? It’s not the worst idea to put one of the best contemporary horror minds on the case. Jordan Peele updates Serling’s iconic “The Twilight Zone” vision with skill and tact, keeping what works in the original and refreshing it with modern issues and premises where needed. As a result, the classic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” gains 10,000 extra feet and replaces the plane-wrecking gremlin with a monster for our times: a podcast that seems to narrate the disappearance of the very flight Adam Scott’s increasingly horrified protagonist is on.

“The Twilight Zone” obviously isn’t Peele’s show to the extent that the original is Serling’s, but the filmmaker does a commendable job as the host and overseer of the show’s parable-filled, Easter egg-laden modernization. In true “The Twilight Zone” anthology style, the segments can be fairly hit and miss, but when this version of the show works, it works extremely well. Unfortunately, two seasons are all Peele’s “The Twilight Zone” got, and while they’re not what you’d call mind-blowingly excellent, they’re more than enough to show that the franchise can still provide thrilling moments in the hands of the right people.

Sometimes, sheer collective nostalgia for a project can provide the kind of popularity boost that overrules its actual quality. But what happens on the strange, dimly-lit territory where a show benefits from both the aforementioned nostalgia factor and the fact that it was nothing short of excellent to begin with? That’s where you get the original 1959 “The Twilight Zone” series, which oozed quality and lovely terror from every pore even before it reached the heights of pop culture prestige.

What’s there to say about “The Twilight Zone” that hasn’t been said before? Virtually every speculative and spooky story that you’ve seen in television since the show started can be traced back to at least one of the stories told over its five seasons — in spirit, at the very least. Critics and audiences adore it. The industry recognized the series’ quality even back in the day, showering it with three Emmys and numerous other awards. Rod Serling alone probably had to invest in a second mantelpiece for all the awards he won for the show, especially since the first was likely already occupied by all the Emmys he had before “The Twilight Zone” even started.

Nothing short of revolutionary, “The Twilight Zone” and Serling pioneered the sci-fi genre for years to come. And honestly? No matter how good they are on their own, every single other thing in the “Twilight Zone” franchise is a remake, a homage, or a doomed attempt to expand upon the true original.