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Season guide

The Twilight Zone: Season 1

36 episodes Premiered Oct 2, 1959 Updated Jul 20, 2026

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling. The first season aired on CBS from October 2, 1959, to July 1, 1960. Broadcast on Fridays from 10:00 to 10:30 pm, the inaugural season consisted of 36 episodes, including the pilot titled Where Is Everybody?. As an anthology series, the program features standalone tales that incorporate elements of science fiction, fant

Season overview

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling. The first season aired on CBS from October 2, 1959, to July 1, 1960. Broadcast on Fridays from 10:00 to 10:30 pm, the inaugural season consisted of 36 episodes, including the pilot titled Where Is Everybody?. As an anthology series, the program features standalone tales that incorporate elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, suspense, and drama. Each episode explores psychological themes, often focusing on ordinary people who encounter uncanny, impossible, or disturbing events. These narratives frequently conclude with a macabre or unexpected twist. The theme music for this first season was composed by Bernard Herrmann, which differs from the music used from the second season onwards. Throughout the series, Rod Serling serves as both creator and presenter, guiding viewers into what is described as another dimension. The show is categorized as a fantasy, science fiction, and horror series, maintaining a focus on standalone stories that challenge the perceptions of its characters.

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Episodes

S1·E1

Where Is Everybody?

Oct 2, 1959 · 26 min

Mike Ferris finds himself in a town strangely devoid of people. But despite the emptiness, he has the odd feeling that he's being watched...

S1·E2

One for the Angels

Oct 9, 1959 · 26 min

A street salesman cleverly eludes Death. But if he lives, a little girl must die in his place.

S1·E3

Mr. Denton on Doomsday

Oct 16, 1959 · 26 min

A has-been, drunk gunslinger finds his fast-draw abilities magically restored.

S1·E4

The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine

Oct 23, 1959 · 26 min

An aging, former movie star lives and dreams in the past, constantly watching her old movies alone in her room.

S1·E5

Walking Distance

Oct 30, 1959 · 26 min

A stressed advertising executive, driving through the country, leaves his car and starts to walk toward his hometown, Homewood. He finds things exactly as they were when he was a c

S1·E6

Escape Clause

Nov 6, 1959 · 26 min

A hypochondriac exchanges his soul for immortality and indestructibility.

S1·E7

The Lonely

Nov 13, 1959 · 26 min

In 2046, imprisoned for murder on a distant asteroid, Corry receives an unexpected present that brings a semblance of companionship during his isolation.

S1·E8

Time Enough at Last

Nov 20, 1959 · 26 min

A bank teller, obsessed with reading, faces conflicts at work and home because of his passion for literature.

S1·E9

Perchance to Dream

Nov 27, 1959 · 26 min

A man with a heart condition explains to his psychiatrist that he feels extremely tired, because he is terrified of falling asleep for fear he might die.

S1·E10

Judgment Night

Dec 4, 1959 · 26 min

In 1942, a German wonders why he's on the deck of a British steamship, with no memory of how he got there.

S1·E11

And When the Sky Was Opened

Dec 11, 1959 · 26 min

Recovering in the hospital after a space mission, Major William Gart is visited by his co-pilot Lieutenant Colonel Clegg Forbes, who insists on the existence of a third astronaut.

S1·E12

What You Need

Dec 25, 1959 · 26 min

A two-bit thug thinks he's found the key to a better life in an old sidewalk salesman who has the uncanny ability to tell people what they need the most.

S1·E13

The Four of Us are Dying

Jan 1, 1960 · 26 min

In this noirish tale, a man with the ability to change his face to resemble others gets into hot water with gangsters.

S1·E14

Third from the Sun

Jan 8, 1960 · 26 min

With all-out nuclear war about to ignite, a scientist and his pilot friend plot to escape on an experimental spaceship.

S1·E15

I Shot an Arrow into the Air

Jan 15, 1960 · 26 min

Three astronauts crash-land on an unknown planet and must confront survival challenges, unraveling their unity in the face of desperation.

S1·E16

The Hitch-Hiker

Jan 22, 1960 · 26 min

Alone on a cross-country trip, a woman continually encounters the same mysterious hitch-hiker who inexplicably reappears at various points in her journey.

S1·E17

The Fever

Jan 29, 1960 · 26 min

Tight fisted Franklin Gibbs is not pleased when his wife wins a trip for two to Las Vegas. But things change when he falls under the spell of a slot machine that calls his name.

S1·E18

The Last Flight

Feb 5, 1960 · 26 min

A World War I flying ace flies through a mysterious cloud - and lands at a modern U.S. air base in the year 1959!

S1·E19

The Purple Testament

Feb 12, 1960 · 26 min

Lieutenant Fitzgerald, serving in World War II, possesses the disquieting ability to foresee impending death by observing a strange glow on the faces of his men before battle.

S1·E20

Elegy

Feb 19, 1960 · 26 min

Three astronauts land on what looks like Earth 200 years before they left--only all of the people seem frozen in time.

S1·E21

Mirror Image

Feb 26, 1960 · 26 min

In a bus depot, Millicent Barnes experiences odd events, leading to concerns about her sanity.

S1·E22

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Mar 4, 1960 · 26 min

Paranoia strikes the residents of Maple Street when they believe human-looking aliens have invaded the neighborhood.

S1·E23

A World of Difference

Mar 11, 1960 · 26 min

Arthur Curtis, a successful businessman sitting in his office discovers that he is on a film set and everyone refers to him as Gerry Reagan, a movie star struggling with alcoholism

S1·E24

Long Live Walter Jameson

Mar 18, 1960 · 26 min

Walter Jameson, a popular history professor, is suspected by his fiancée's father, another professor at the college, to be an immortal.

S1·E25

People are Alike All Over

Mar 25, 1960 · 26 min

After a space exploration crash-lands on Mars, the lone surviving astronaut is surprised to find that Martians are human-looking and friendly.

S1·E26

Execution

Apr 1, 1960 · 26 min

Just before being hanged for shooting a man in the back, an outlaw cowboy in 1880 is transported into the future.

S1·E27

The Big Tall Wish

Apr 8, 1960 · 26 min

Washed-up boxer Bolie Jackson, with the help of a special wish from his young friend Henry, miraculously switches places with his opponent during a comeback fight, turning the tide

S1·E28

A Nice Place to Visit

Apr 15, 1960 · 26 min

After being shot to death, the criminal Rocky Valentine encounters the amiable white-haired Mr. Pip in the afterlife, who gives him everything he wishes for.

S1·E29

Nightmare as a Child

Apr 29, 1960 · 26 min

Schoolteacher Helen Foley finds a strange and very serious little girl on the stairs outside her apartment, who tries to jog Helen's memory about a man she saw earlier that day.

S1·E30

A Stop at Willoughby

May 6, 1960 · 26 min

Riding home on the train one day, a stressed businessman falls asleep and dreams it is 1888, and he is entering a small, idyllic town called Willoughby.

S1·E31

The Chaser

May 13, 1960 · 26 min

A man, desperate to win the affection of a beautiful woman, seeks the help of an old professor, who provides him with a love potion.

S1·E32

A Passage for Trumpet

May 20, 1960 · 26 min

A down-and-out trumpet player who's convinced he'll never amount to anything attempts suicide and finds himself in a world where no one can hear or see him.

S1·E33

Mr. Bevis

Jun 3, 1960 · 26 min

After losing his job, his car and his apartment on the same day, an eccentric loser gets a new lease on life from his guardian angel, but there is a price for keeping it.

S1·E34

The After Hours

Jun 10, 1960 · 26 min

Puzzled and unsettled by the odd behavior of the salespeople, a woman discovers that the floor of a department store, on which she bought a gold thimble, doesn't exist.

S1·E35

The Mighty Casey

Jun 17, 1960 · 26 min

A baseball manager takes his team to the championships thanks to a robot pitcher.

S1·E36

A World of His Own

Jul 1, 1960 · 26 min

Coming home, Victoria catches her husband Gregory flirting with a beautiful woman in his study. His explanation that characters come to life before his eyes when he speaks into his