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There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.
This is the dimension of imagination.
It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
With those words, television changed forever.
Whos got 74 hours to watch all of them?
Start with these great 50 chapters from one of be the best TV shows of all time.
Whats in the Box?
This late-series gem stars William Demarest as an average cab driver in a miserable marriage to Joan Blondell.
He complains about her cooking, may be cheating on her, and calls her names.
In the Twilight Zone, we cant avoid our true selves.
He learns a lesson, of course.
Its a classic tale of a woman using witchcraft to get the man she wants and paying the price.
Of course, its not.
Hes confused by people calling him Colonel when he knows hes a Major.
Deeply depressed by the decision, he contemplates suicide, wondering if hes had any impact at all.
What would you do if every connection in your life was suddenly erased?
And he often returned to the importance of faith in the human condition.
This season-two episode is blissfully simple but powerful.
Of course, Serling has a twist, encouraging viewers to believe that faith can overcome trickery.
As his captors attempt to catch him, he tries to make it home to his love.
Based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce, the ending definitely has thatTwilight Zoneflavor.
The Obsolete Man (Season 2, Episode 29)Is Burgess Meredith the MVP ofThe Twilight Zone?
Is the sword itself bringing out buried animosities in both men?
A Nice Place to Visit (Season 1, Episode 28)LikeThe Good Place?
You should check out this show that feels like it probably inspired it at least a little.
As a storm rages, the man seeks shelter but is turned away.
He pleads for help and hears a howl emanating from somewhere in the ancient structure.
He investigates and finds a prisoner who has been mistreated and abused by the Brothers.
Imagine being able to hear your child but not find her.
Twenty Two (Season 2, Episode 17)Who doesnt love a good prophetic vision?
While in her hospital bed, she keeps having a nightmare with the same beats.
Effectively creepy, this might not be one to watch on your next long-distance flight.
(There are several episodes of this show probably banned from in-flight entertainment.)
After all, you really can never go home again.
And yet that doesnt stop people from trying.
The funeral home that takes him away?
Wanda Dunn (silent film star Gladys Cooper) is convinced that she will.
After all, that could be the grim reaper rapping.
Of course, shes not wrong.
He actually made his first appearance on the show three seasons earlier in this clever mind game.
Could a fortune-teller machine on a diner table in Ohio actually be able to tell the future?
It turns out that its 1959, but thats not the biggest twist.
Realizing the importance that Mackaye will have to history, Decker decides to find his courage.
Its a clever, moving commentary on how saving one life can impact hundreds more.
They havenotaged well visually, looking stale and flat compared to the underrated visual brilliance of the show overall.
Would we trust them or fight them?
Warren Marcusson (Paul Comi) believes that needs are common, even across planets.
Sam Conrad (Roddy McDowall) disagrees.
Conrad exits and finds Martians who look like humans and can read his mind.
They reassure him, and he becomes convinced that he can trust them.
Lou will have to sell once more.
A Navy destroyer comes upon that inexplicable sound and tracks it to a sunken submarine on the ocean floor.
Have his fellow shipmates come to take him to the watery grave he deserves?
Its the creepiest episode of season four.
Is Charley witnessing a supernatural phenomenon or is he just going crazy?
The Dummy (Season 3, Episode 33)Ventriloquist dummies are creepy.
Theres just no way around it.
The idea of a man-controlled object suddenly becoming sentient is inherently terrifying.
No one believes him, even after Willie the dummy bites his masters hand.
This one is a fan favorite largely because of the gorgeous simplicity of its setup and twist.
Living Doll (Season 5, Episode 6)Im Talky Tina and Im going to kill you.
Erich is a jerk, the mean stepfather to his new wifes daughter Christie.
The episode takes place during Mardi Gras, as a wealthy old man faces impending death.
Will the Real Martian yo Stand Up?
(Season 2, Episode 28)Agatha Christie probably loved this episode.
A bus has stopped there, its travelers taking a break for a meal.
There are seven in the diner.
Which one is the interstellar traveler?
Did something happen to the man or to everyone else?
It was brilliant right from the very beginning.
Three Air Force pilots return from a test flight of an experimental spaceplane.
Hes been erased from headlines and Garts memory.
Was he never supposed to return?
Is some higher power trying to correct the oversight?
And how can Forbes convince the world that his friend of 15 years ever existed?
He can suffer and die.
Anne Francis plays Marsha White, an average shopper looking for a gold thimble in a department store.
She takes the elevator to the ninth floor, finding nothing there at first.
What if you were told you went somewhere that didnt exist?
Would you think you were going crazy?
Or would you know you were in the Twilight Zone?
For three decades, theyve relatively thrived, turning into a community of settlers on this desert planet.
This episode is the most essential to connecting the two.
The concept is beautiful and elegant in its simplicity.
A woman at an isolated bus station waits for a late bus, which seems to never arrive.
She asks the attendant for an update, only to be told that shes already asked three times.
She knows she hasnt.
Sitting in the station is her doppelganger.
Brilliantly, its an easily identifiable fear that allows for audience participation.
What would you do if you spotted someone who lookedexactlylike you?
This classic episode not to mention PeelesUs offers some hints.
Is she going crazy?
In fact, watch em both.
And God help anyone who dares to sing.
Hes too scared to do so.
His awful spouse even tricks him by inking over the pages of a book she asks him to read.
As despair leads him to contemplate suicide, he notices that a librarys worth of books is intact.
Misery turns to glee, but not for long.
The final lines are iconic: Thats not fair.
Thats fair at all.
There was time now.
There was was all the time I needed!
Nope, Henry, its definitely not.
Such is life in the Twilight Zone.
Shatner is one of the shows best surrogates, someone into whose terrified shoes we can easily step.
Hes not exactly welcome, scaring the young version of himself and confusing his parents.
It could be anywhere.
Our greatest threat is not from a foreign invader but from the fear and divisiveness created from within.
That matters just as much today as it did then.
At 6:43 p.m., the lights went out on Maple Street.
In that story, the aliens sent down a scout in the form of a human.
