This is, by no means, a complete listing of all ofthe best episodes of The Twilight Zone; rather, consider it a representative sampling of some of the better episodes among the 156 that were broadcast.

The episodes are listed in chronological order by original air date. Each summary is framed with Serling's opening and closing narration, followed by writing, directing, production and acting credits.

NOTE: Twilight Zone, The Twilight Zone and all related images are the property of CBS. No ownership is claimed or implied.

"One For The Angels," October 9, 1959

"Street scene. Summer. The present. Man on a sidewalk named Lew Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer, a rather minor component to a hot July, a nondescript, commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks. And in just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival - because as of three o'clock this hot July afternoon he'll be stalked by Mr. Death."
Mr. Bookman is a longtime sidewalk salesman, adored by children, who laments that he never got the chance to make his greatest pitch. "A really big pitch," he tells Mr. Death, "a pitch for the angels." Mr. Death tells Bookman he is to die at midnight, but, when he determines that Bookman will never make his "big pitch," he decides to take the life of Maggie, a young neighborhood girl, instead. Mr. Death, however, must be at the scene when a truck strikes the child. Bookman, however, realizes this, and, making the biggest, most dramatic pitch of his life, keeps Mr. Death enthralled at his sidewalk stand, and the Grim Reaper misses his appointment. Content that he has now accomplished something, Bookman folds his little sidewalk stand and brings it with him, saying that "someone may need something up there. Up there?" "Up there," Mr. Death replies. "You made it."
"Lewis J. Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Formerly a fixture of the summer, formerly a rather minor component of a hot July. But, throughout his life, a man loved by the children, and therefore a most important man. Couldn't happen, you say? Probably not in most places - but it did happen in the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Robert Parrish
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Mr. Bookman: Ed Wynn
Mr. Death: Murray Hamilton
Maggie: Dana Dillaway
Truck Driver: Merritt Bohn
Doctor: Jay Overholts
Boy: Mickey Maga
"One For The Angels" was a rewrite of a script Serling first wrote after college and originally aired nationally on Danger. Ed Wynn, who was so impressive in "Requiem For A Heavyweight," was the man Serling had in mind when he rewrote the story. Far from being a fast-talking pitchman, Wynn succeeded through the strength and passion of his characterization.

"Mr. Denton On Doomsday," October 16, 1959

Street scene in the Old West. Hotaling, the town bully, is having fun with Al Denton, the town drunk, coaxing him into singing "How Dry I Am" in exchange for a drink. Hotaling breaks the top of the bottle on a hitching post, tossing it into the street. Denton dives after it, and begins sobbing, a man as broken as the bottle he was chasing. At this time, a wagon, with a sign reading "Henry J. Fate" on the side, pulls to a halt near where Denton is lying.
"Portrait of a town drunk named Al Denton. This is a man who's begun his dying early - a long, agonizing route through a maze of bottles. Al Denton, who would probably give an arm or a part of his soul to have another chance, to be able to rise up and shake the dirt from his body and the bad dreams that infest his consciousness. (Cut to shot of Mr. Fate) In the parlance of the times, this is a peddler, a rather fanciful-looking man in a black frock coat. (Colt six-shooter appears next to Denton) And this is the third principal character of our story. Its function: perhaps to give Mr. Al Denton his second chance."
Liz, the barmaid, goes outside to check on Al, who, once again, is encouraged to sing by Hotaling. "Don't do it, Al," she tells him. "But, he'll give me a drink," Denton replies. "The devil with that, I would, too, and you won't have to do that for it," Liz says. Denton, however, begins the song again, and Hotaling tells him, "Okay, Rummy, you've been a good boy."
Hotaling, however, notices the six-shooter in Denton's hands, which Al tells him he found. Hotaling challenges him to a draw, and, to make it fair, he says, he'll draw left-handed. Under the watchful eye of Mr. Fate, Denton's hand springs into motion and fires one shot, knocking the revolver out of Hotaling's hand.
Al is congratulated by townsfolk inside the bar, when an angry Hotaling charges inside. Again, as Mr. Fate watches, Denton's hand springs into action, firing one shot that dislodges the chandelier from the ceiling, dropping on Hotaling. His dignity restored, Al leaves the bar, followed by Liz, who tells him that the bartender, Charlie, said that display of shooting was as good as Al ever performed.
Denton tells her that he was good, until the day that the latest of many who asked him to prove it, and died in the street, was sixteen years old. Al knows that such challenges will begin again, although he is not up to meeting them.
Despite his best efforts in practice, Denton cannot hit a single target, and knows that his ability is gone. He then learns that a young gunslinger, Pete Drake, has challenged him to a draw in the bar. Denton notices Mr. Fate outside, watching him intently. The peddler offers Al a potion, which he says will make him "the fastest of the fast," for ten seconds.
The two men meet in the bar, awaiting the designated time for the draw. As the clock strikes ten, Al drinks the potion Fate gave him, only to notice that Drake is drinking from an identical bottle. The two fire, each striking the other's gun hand. The gunfight was a "push," there was no winner, and Denton tells Drake that they were both blessed that they'll never fire another gun in anger. Al and Liz walk out of the bar, as Mr. Fate, smiling, leaves town.
"Mr. Henry Fate, dealer in utensils and pots and pans, liniments and potions. A fanciful little man in a black frock coat who can help a man climbing out of a pit - or another man from falling into one. Because, you see, Fate can work that way - in the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Allen Reisner
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Denton: Dan Duryea
Henry J. Fate: Malcolm Atterbury
Liz Smith: Jeanne Cooper
Hotaling: Martin Landau
Pete Drake: Doug McClure
Charlie: Ken Lynch
Doctor: Robert Burton
Cowboy: Arthur Batanides
Man in Bar: Bill Erwin
Serling used an Old West setting for a story which would dramatize a theme common throughout The Twilight Zone, that of a decent person, beaten down by circumstances, who gets a second chance. All the players, especially Duryea, are excellent in this well-written story.

"Walking Distance," October 30, 1959

Martin Sloan is on a drive in the country, when he stops his convertible as a gas station. Realizing that Homewood, his old hometown which he hasn't visited in "20, 25 years," is just up the road, he leaves the car for service and walks up the dirt road.
"Martin Sloan, age 36. Occupation: vice-president, ad agency, in charge of media. This is not just a Sunday drive for Martin Sloan. He perhaps doesn't know it at the time - but it's an exodus. Somewhere up the road, he's looking for sanity. And somewhere up the road, he'll find something else."
Martin enters the old malt shop, and is amazed at how much it looks like it did when he was a kid, and that triple-scoop ice cream sodas are still just a dime. Walking through his old neighborhood, he finds a boy playing marbles on the sidewalk, and mentions that he used to live across the street. "The Sloan house?" the boy asks. "They still call it that?" Martin asks. "My name's Sloan, Martin Sloan." The boy insists that he knows Marty Sloan, and that the man isn't him. Martin pulls out his driver's license to show the boy, but he runs home.
Martin walks up to the house, and, upon seeing his own parents as they appeared when he was 11, realizes he has somehow gone back in time. He tries to tell his parents who he is, but they think he is mad, and close the door on him. He returns that night, however, and is met in the yard by his father. Martin tells him exactly when he received the baseball glove that is lying in the yard, and runs to the house to confront his mother. When he tries to show her his identification, she slaps his face. He then realizes he must tell the young Martin, whom he saw earlier in the park, that this is the most special time of his life, and he shouldn't waste it. Running to the merry-go-round, Martin chases young "Marty" around the carousel, although the boy falls off and breaks his leg.
Martin sits alone at the merry-go-round, mourning out loud that there will be "no more merry-go-rounds, no more cotton candy, no more band concerts ... This is a special time, here, now. That's all I wanted to tell you. God help me; that's all I wanted to tell you ..."
Martin's father arrives, and tells him "the doctor said he'll limp some," but that young Marty will be fine. He then hands Martin his wallet, which he dropped at the house. He now knows that this man is his son. But the driver's license expires in 1960 - 25 years in the future! He tells Martin he has to leave, as there's no place for him there.
When Martin asks, "Why not," his father replies that "maybe there's only one summer to every customer," adding that "that little boy I know - the one who belongs here - this is his summer, just as it was yours once. Don't make him share it."
When Martin bitterly says, "all right," his father asks, "is it so bad where you're from?" "I thought so, Pop," Martin replies. "I've been living it at a dead run and I was tired. Then one day, I knew I had to come back here. I had to come back and get on a merry-go-round and eat cotton candy and listen to a band concert, to stop and breathe and close my eyes and smell and listen."
Martin's father tells him that "maybe, when you go back, Martin, you'll find that there are merry-go-rounds and band concerts where you are." He adds that "you've been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead." And the two say goodbye.
Next morning, Martin returns to the malt shop, although it is now completely different, stocked with picture post cards and rock 'n' roll blaring from the jukebox. He then walks back to his car, with a limp he received from falling off a merry-go-round at age 11.
"Martin Sloan, age 36, vice-president in charge of media. Successful in most areas, but not in the one effort that all men try at some point in their lives - trying to go home again. And also like all men perhaps there'll be an occasion - maybe a summer night sometime - when he'll look up from what he's doing and listen to the distant music of a calliope, and hear the voices and the laughter of his past. And perhaps across his mind there'll flit a little errant wish that a man might not have to become old, never outgrow the parks and the merry-go-rounds of his youth. And he'll smile then too, because he'll know it is just an errant wish, some wisp of memory not too important really, some laughing ghosts that cross a man's mind, that are a part - of the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Robert Stevens
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Martin Sloan: Gig Young
Martin's father: Frank Overton
Martin's mother: Irene Tedrow
Young Martin: Michael Montgomery
Wilcox Boy: Ronny Howard
Mr. Wilson: Pat O'Malley
Mr. Wilcox: Bill Erwin
Woman in park: Nan Peterson
Soda Jerk: Joseph Corey
Gas Station Attendant: Sheridan Comerate
With "Walking Distance," Serling wrote a very personal journey based on his own nostalgia for Binghamton, and in the process created one of his most moving stories. His closing narration alone is bittersweet, nostalgic, and among his most beautiful. Special credit should also be given to Bernard Herrmann, whose score for this episode is among the most evocative of the entire series (portions of it, in fact, would be reused later).
Serling told The New York Times that the idea for the episode came as a result of a walk he took on a backlot at MGM, "when I was suddenly hit by the similarity of it to my home town. Feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia, it struck me that all of us have a deep longing to go back - not to our home town as it is today, but as we remember it. It was from this simple incident that I wove the story 'Walking Distance.'"
Don't look for the scene featuring young Ronny Howard, who would be costarring in The Andy Griffith Show the following year, in the syndicated version of the episode, however, as it has been trimmed to allow for more commercials. An average of two and a half minutes is missing from each TZ episode airing in syndication.

"The Lonely," November 13, 1959

"Witness, if you will, a dungeon, made out of mountains, salt flats and sand that stretch to infinity. The dungeon has an inmate, James A. Corry. And this is his residence, a metal shack. An old touring car that squats in the sun and goes nowhere - for there is nowhere to go. For the record, let it be known that James A. Corry is a convicted criminal placed in solitary confinement. Confinement in this case stretches as far as the eye can see, because this particular dungeon is on an asteroid nine million miles from the Earth. Now witness, if you will, a man's mind and body shrivelling in the sun, a man dying of loneliness."
Corry is serving a 50-year sentence on the asteroid, although he maintains his innocence. His only visitors are the crew of a supply ship that visit the asteroid. Capt. Allenby, the leader of the crew, likes Corry and takes pity on him, leaving him a package which he instructs him not to open until the crew leaves. Inside the box he finds Alicia, a robot that looks, talks and acts like a woman. Initially, Corry resists her, angrily telling her that she is just a machine, but, when he sees her tears of sorrow, he apologizes. A friendship begins, and eventually Corry finds himself falling in love with Alicia. The two spend many pleasant hours together, playing board games, reading books and talking.
After 11 months, Allenby's crew aboard the supply ship returns. Allenby excitedly tells Corry that he has received a full pardon, but he must pack his things quickly, that the ship has been dodging meteor showers and is running low on fuel. He can only bring 15 pounds of his possessions with him. When Corry says he only has a few things to bring, and that he and Alicia will be ready shortly, Allenby replies, "Oh, my dear God. I forgot about her."
Allenby tells Corry that he can't bring Alicia; he only has room for Corry and 15 pounds of his gear. When a crewman asks who Alicia is, Allenby replies, "a robot." Corry, however, insists that Alicia is a woman, and he can't leave her behind. He runs to her, and cries to her, "tell them. Tell them you're a woman. Tell them!"
Allenby, saying he has no choice, pulls out his gun and fires one shot, blasting away Alicia's face, revealing circuits and wires underneath. He then tells Corry to board the ship, that "all you're leaving behind is loneliness." Shocked, Corry replies, "I must remember that. I must remember to keep that in mind."
"On a microscopic piece of sand that floats through space is a fragment of a man's life. Left to rest is the place he lived in and the machines he used. Without use, they will disintegrate from the wind and the sand and the years that act upon them; all of Mr. Corry's machines, including the one made in his image, kept alive by love, but now obsolete - in the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Jack Smight
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
James Corry: Jack Warden
Alicia: Jean Marsh
Capt. Allenby: John Denher
Adams: Ted Knight
Carstairs: James Turley
With "The Lonely," Serling created a science fiction love story that offered, perhaps, a parable on our own creation, "in his image, kept alive by love." The cast, including Warden, Marsh (best known perhaps for Upstairs, Downstairs), Denher and Knight (best remembered for The Mary Tyler Moore Show), turn in fine performances, despite a couple of days of shooting in 130-degree heat in Death Valley.

"Time Enough At Last," November 20, 1959

"Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock. But in just a moment Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He'll have a world all to himself - without anyone."
Henry Bemis is a bank teller who spends as much time as possible peering at books through his thick glasses, much to the consternation of his customers and his boss. When he is reprimanded by his boss for having a copy of David Copperfield under his counter, he tells his boss that his wife will no longer allow him to read at home, that he has resorted to trying to read the condiment bottles at the dining room table.
Per his usual, however, Bemis sneaks into the bank vault during his lunch break to read. A massive shock wave strikes the bank, and knocks him unconscious. He awakens to find the city has been hit by an atomic bomb and that, thanks to his being in the vault, he is the only survivor. Initially, he is happy, as he has plenty of food, although the onslaught of loneliness begins to wear on his mind. Passing a sporting goods store, he finds a .38 revolver and decides to end it all. Placing the barrel of the gun to his temple, he says, "I know I'll be forgiven for this." Then, he notices the local library nearby. The building has been demolished, but the books are all intact. Finally! All the books he will ever need, and all the time he needs to read them. Joyfully, he arranges them in stacks on the library stairs. "There's time, time, time," he says gleefully as he sits on the stairs, "there's time enough at last." He then notices a book below him, and bends over to pick it up. He slips, however, and his glasses fall off his head - and shatter. Everything is now just a blur.
"That's not fair," he cries. "That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was all the time I needed." And he begins to weep.
"The best laid plans of mice and men - and Henry Bemis, the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis - in the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling (based on a Lynn Venable short story)
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: John Brahm
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Henry Bemis: Burgess Meredith
Mr. Carsville: Vaughn Taylor
Helen Bemis: Jacqueline deWit
Mrs. Chester: Lela Bliss

Serling took a 1953 short story from Lynn Venable and infused it with character, humor, and tragedy. As is often the case with characters he likes, Serling allows the viewer to get to know Bemis, and to sympathise with his dilemma. When the tragedy besets him at the end (in contrast to Serling's usual modus operandi of the character benefitting from his opportunity), there is particular sorrow for what has happened to Bemis. It is one of the best-remembered episodes of the series. Burgess Meredith again proves himself as the consummate actor, turning in a wonderful performance full of heart, humor and, at the end, agony. It was the first of four starring turns in TZ for Meredith, tying him with Jack Klugman for the most lead roles in the series.