# Suggest some Twilight Zone(TOS) episodes, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107 "2013-06-28T12:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/1 "2013-06-28T12:08:08Z")
Just watched To Serve Man last night and wanna watch the best episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/2 "2013-06-28T12:17:43Z")
“It’s a Good Life”: as a kid it scared me for weeks on end; and “The Monsters Are Coming To Maple Street” is one of the best. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/3 "2013-06-28T12:54:03Z")
“Nick of Time.” Underrated, but one of the best. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/4 "2013-06-28T12:55:23Z")
My favorite is Time Enough at Last. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/5 "2013-06-28T13:05:01Z")
Seconding “Nick of Time.” Always loved that one. And “Number 12 Looks Just Like You.” I have also always loved “Five Characters in Search of an Exit.” That’s the first episode I ever remember sitting down and watching, and for some reason, it just _really_ got me. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/6 "2013-06-28T15:17:35Z")
I remember two that were decent, but I haven’t seen them in 30 years! No idea what they were called but here are the decriptions: 1). Office worker guy goes into work. Throughout the day in conversations he’s having with other people, the other people start dropping random english words into their sentences. As the day goes on the frequency of these words increase and he begins to be less and less understood. By the end of the day he can’t understand anybody and they can’t understand him. The last shot is of his 4 year old kid trying to teach him to speak using one of their childrens books. 2). A lady got a locket at some antique shop. She found out it could stop time. Blah bla blah, in the end she stopped time just as a nuclear missile was about to hit her city. Everyone in the city was frozen in place but she could walk around. Kind of creepy. MtM ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/7 "2013-06-28T15:51:48Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > I remember two that were decent, but I haven’t seen them in 30 years! About 28, actually; those episodes were from the 1985 revival - “[Wordplay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordplay_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29)” and “[A Little Peace and Quiet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Peace_and_Quiet_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29).” In addition to the aforementioned, I’ve always liked “[Walking Distance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Distance)”, a wistful rumination on the “can’t go home again” theme, and “[The After Hours](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_After_Hours)”, a spookily atmospheric outing (careful of those links; the plot summaries are (obviously) huge spoilers). But it’s hard to go wrong with _The Twilight Zone_; there are so many episodes (especially from the first three seasons) that are absolute classics: “One for the Angels”, “A Passage for Trumpet”, “The Howling Man”, “The Eye of the Beholder”, “The Night of the Meek” (Art Carney in a sweet Christmas story), “A Game of Pool”, “In Praise of Pip”, “Living Doll”, to name just a few. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/8 "2013-06-28T15:56:15Z")
“Number 12 Looks Just Like You” is not a famous one but might be my favorite. Also: “Midnight Sun” “Probe 7 Over and Out” “Two” “Little People” “Mirror Image” “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” Those are some of my favorites that are not quite as famous as other episodes. BTW Both of the ones in McDeath\_The\_Mad’s post were from the new TZ from the 80s not the original show. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/9 "2013-06-28T16:04:23Z")
“The Night of the Meek” is my favorite, but I’m sentimental. I wouldn’t say it was one of the best episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/10 "2013-06-28T17:01:00Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > I remember two that were decent, but I haven’t seen them in 30 years! > > No idea what they were called but here are the decriptions: > > 1). Office worker guy goes into work. Throughout the day in conversations he’s having with other people, the other people start dropping random english words into their sentences. As the day goes on the frequency of these words increase and he begins to be less and less understood. By the end of the day he can’t understand anybody and they can’t understand him. The last shot is of his 4 year old kid trying to teach him to speak using one of their childrens books. > > 2). A lady got a locket at some antique shop. She found out it could stop time. Blah bla blah, in the end she stopped time just as a nuclear missile was about to hit her city. Everyone in the city was frozen in place but she could walk around. Kind of creepy. > > MtM As mentioned, these are from _The New Twilight Zone_, but that’s not a bad thing - many of the newer ones were as good or better than most of the original series. Don’t believe it? Watch [“The Shadowman”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUP64E930iw) or [“A Small Talent for War”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ9Ar_B_jy8) or [“Eye of Newton”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQ6ZC8EUQ0) before you decide. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/11 "2013-06-28T18:34:26Z")
I like _Stopover in a Quiet Town_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/12 "2013-06-28T19:13:44Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > About 28, actually; those episodes were from the 1985 revival - “[Wordplay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordplay_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29)” and “[A Little Peace and Quiet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Peace_and_Quiet_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29).” I think the 80s revival was at least as good if not better than the original, but the OP wasn’t asking about it (and I don’t know if it’s as readily available). They adapted stories by some of the best writers in SF and fantasy (including Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Ray Bradbury, Joe Haldeman, Arthur C. Clarke, and Theodore Sturgeon). George R. R. Martin, J. Micheal Straczynski, and Rockne O’Bannon ( **Alien Nation, Seaquest** and **Farscape** ) were story editors and the show had more rounded characters and less reliance on twist endings. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/13 "2013-06-28T19:20:08Z")
One I liked not often mentioned is **The Odyssey of Flight 33** , about a plane going through a time slip. The other episodes mentioned here are good also. I wasn’t watching much TV when the revival came on - I think I’ll put that on my Netflix queue. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/14 "2013-06-28T20:32:09Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > I like _Stopover in a Quiet Town_. Very good! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/15 "2013-06-28T21:14:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I think the 80s revival was at least as good if not better than the original, but the OP wasn’t asking about it (and I don’t know if it’s as readily available). I have the DVD’s on my shelf right next to the original series. (“Shatterday” was done very well, as I recall, with Bruce Willis.) ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/16 "2013-06-28T21:23:53Z")
I love “The Twilight Zone” and have the complete series on DVD. There are lots of very fine episodes. But I don’t think they ever did much better than the very first one, “Walking Distance.” ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/17 "2013-06-28T22:21:26Z")
**randwill** , the first one from the Original Series was “Where Is Everybody?” Just Earl Holliman for most of it. He did an excellent job. The bit where he walks into the jail cell and the door sloooowly starts closing really got to me. Many excellent episodes, depending on your personal tastes of course. I really enjoyed “Two”, Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson and she doesn’t speak a word thoughout. But just acts instead. Two favorites of mine from the 1985 revival, “Button, button” and “Shatterday”. The latter made me believe Bruce Willis could act, in spite of “Moonlighting”. 😉 Also “To see the invisible man”, these were written by very talented people. Then (usually) brought to the small screen by other talented people. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/18 "2013-06-28T22:30:20Z")
“The Invaders” was good too. It starred Agnes Moorehead (Endora from “Bewitched”) and had almost no dialogue. Very creepy. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/19 "2013-06-28T22:31:33Z")
“The Hitchhiker” with Inger Stevens, driving alone and running across the same hitchhiker over and over. You can see where it’s going but it’s still creepy. “Night Call” scared the bejesus out of me just a few years ago on a hot summer afternoon. Seriously. An old woman living alone starts getting phone calls that start out as static…and the phone keeps ringing and ringing… And there is an episode I forgot the name, an agoraphobic old woman in her house gets a visitor a’knocking on her door, asking her to come out. She eventually lets him in and talks to him, because the visitor is played by Robert Redford! You can see where that one’s going, too. But it’s rather charming, moreso than scary. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107/20 "2013-06-28T22:52:52Z")
Just wanted to note if you’re very interested in the original series, _The Twilight Zone Companion_ by Marc Scott Zicree is worth the small investment. He details the history of the entire series, complete with episode-by-episode synopses including Serling’s intro and outro bits. (He also critiques the episodes unflinchingly, which has annoyed some Amazon reviewer/fanboys.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-some-twilight-zone-tos-episodes-please/662107.md?page=2)