The Twilight Zone: Season 3
The third season of The Twilight Zone aired on CBS from September 15, 1961, to June 1, 1962. This season consists of 37 episodes and was broadcast on Fridays during the 10:00 to 10:30 pm time slot. The season features the theme music composed by Marius Constant. A new set of opening graphics was introduced, which depicted a rotating cone with concentric circles suggesting a spiral receding into a star field. While th
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- The series is an anthology containing drama, psychological, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and suspense elements.
- Rod Serling serves as the narrator for the series.
- The show originally premiered in 1959 on CBS.
- The series explores a dimension of sight, sound, and mind that is bounded by imagination.
Season overview
The third season of The Twilight Zone aired on CBS from September 15, 1961, to June 1, 1962. This season consists of 37 episodes and was broadcast on Fridays during the 10:00 to 10:30 pm time slot. The season features the theme music composed by Marius Constant. A new set of opening graphics was introduced, which depicted a rotating cone with concentric circles suggesting a spiral receding into a star field. While the narration provided by Rod Serling from the second season was retained, the specific verse That's the signpost up ahead was removed from the spoken introduction. The narration describes a journey through another dimension of sight, sound, and mind, characterized as a wondrous land bounded by imagination. Beginning with the episode Person or Persons Unknown, the opening sequence included subtle changes to its acoustics. The series remains an anthology containing elements of drama, psychological themes, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and suspense.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
Two
Sep 15, 1961 · 26 min
A man and a woman, on opposite sides of a future war, encounter each other in a deserted town.
The Arrival
Sep 22, 1961 · 26 min
A plane lands safely, but all its passengers, pilot and crew are missing.
The Shelter
Sep 29, 1961 · 26 min
When a nuclear attack appears imminent, several suburban friends and neighbors fight over control of a single bomb shelter.
The Passersby
Oct 6, 1961 · 26 min
On the road home from the Civil War, a Confederate soldier stops at a burned-out house and gets to know the owner, a recent widow.
A Game of Pool
Oct 13, 1961 · 26 min
Championship pool player Fats Brown returns from the grave for one last game.
The Mirror
Oct 20, 1961 · 26 min
After a poor but ambitious Central American farm worker overthrows his country's tyrannical leader, he believes he sees assassins everywhere. A look in the mirror reveals his most
The Grave
Oct 27, 1961 · 26 min
Before he died, notorious gunslinger Pinto Sykes put a curse on hired-gun Conny Miller. Miller returns to town and is challenged to visit the grave of Sykes, despite the curse.
It's a Good Life
Nov 3, 1961 · 26 min
On an isolated family farm in Peakesville, Ohio, young Anthony Fremont, who has vast mental powers but lacks emotional development, holds his terrified family and neighbors in thra
Deaths-Head Revisited
Nov 10, 1961 · 26 min
A former Nazi SS Captain returns to the ruins of a concentration camp to reminisce, and is met by one of his victims.
The Midnight Sun
Nov 17, 1961 · 26 min
The Earth's orbit has been changed, drawing ever closer to the sun and promising imminent destruction.
Still Valley
Nov 24, 1961 · 26 min
Confederacy scout Sgt. Joseph Paradine finds a town full of Union soldiers, and an old man who claims he used witchcraft to paralyze them.
The Jungle
Dec 1, 1961 · 26 min
Alan Richards plans to build a dam in Africa on a tribe's ancestral land. The tribe's voodoo doctor puts a curse on him.
Once Upon a Time
Dec 15, 1961 · 26 min
Woodrow, a janitor living in the year 1890, accidentally activates a time travelling helmet which transports him to 1962.
Five Characters in Search of an Exit
Dec 22, 1961 · 26 min
A hobo, clown, bagpipe player, ballerina and military officer are trapped in a huge cylinder.
A Quality of Mercy
Dec 29, 1961 · 26 min
A gung ho young soldier gets a new viewpoint on war when he inexplicably changes places with a Japanese officer trying to stop his superior from leading a charge against American f
Nothing in the Dark
Jan 5, 1962 · 26 min
A lonely old woman refuses to leave her apartment for fear of meeting "Mr. Death."
One More Pallbearer
Jan 12, 1962 · 26 min
Paul Radin has invited three people to join him in his bomb shelter.
Dead Man's Shoes
Jan 19, 1962 · 26 min
A vagrant steps into a murdered gangster's expensive shoes and is taken over by the dead man's ghost, who vows to remain on Earth to seek revenge against his killer.
The Hunt
Jan 26, 1962 · 26 min
On a hunting trip, Hyder Simpson and his dog Rip dive into a lake after a raccoon. When he gets home he finds that no one can see or hear him.
Showdown with Rance McGrew
Feb 2, 1962 · 26 min
The star of a Western TV series suddenly finds himself transported back in time to the real Wild West, and face-to-face with the real Jesse James.
Kick the Can
Feb 9, 1962 · 26 min
A retiree living in a rest home thinks he has discovered the secret of youth — acting young, and in particular playing a children's game called "kick-the-can".
A Piano in the House
Feb 16, 1962 · 26 min
Fortune discovers that a piano he bought his wife for her birthday has magical properties - the music that it plays makes people reveal their true essence.
The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank
Feb 23, 1962 · 26 min
Jeff Myrtlebank comes back to life at his own funeral and soon begins to act very strangely...
To Serve Man
Mar 2, 1962 · 26 min
An alien race comes to Earth, promising peace and sharing technology. A team of linguists sets out to translate the aliens' language, using a book whose title they deduce to be "To
The Fugitive
Mar 9, 1962 · 26 min
Old Ben, who is able to transform himself into anything, tries to help a crippled little girl.
Little Girl Lost
Mar 16, 1962 · 26 min
Awakened by the cries of their daughter Bettina, Chris and Ruth Miller enter her room to find that she has vanished, even though they still hear her crying for help. Chris' physici
Person or Persons Unknown
Mar 23, 1962 · 26 min
David Gurney wakes up to find that no one - his wife, his co-workers, his best friend, not even his own mother knows him.
The Little People
Mar 30, 1962 · 26 min
An astronaut declares himself a god when his ship lands on a planet populated by people smaller than ants.
Four O'Clock
Apr 6, 1962 · 26 min
Oliver Crangle is a bitter, prejudiced man. Through unknown means he intends to shrink every evil person in the world at four o'clock.
Hocus-Pocus and Frisby
Apr 13, 1962 · 26 min
A loud-mouthed braggart's boasts attract the attention of some aliens.
The Trade-Ins
Apr 20, 1962 · 26 min
An elderly couple visit the New Life Corporation, hoping to transport their personalities into youthful artificial bodies.
The Gift
Apr 27, 1962 · 26 min
An alien who crash-lands into a remote mountain village stirs up the villagers' fears and animosity, but he befriends a little boy and gives him a mysterious present.
The Dummy
May 4, 1962 · 26 min
A ventriloquist is convinced that his dummy, Willie, is alive and evil. He makes plans for a new act with a new dummy: plans that Willie doesn't support!
Young Man's Fancy
May 11, 1962 · 26 min
When a newlywed couple briefly return to the groom's childhood home, the ties of the past prove too strong to resist.
I Sing the Body Electric
May 18, 1962 · 26 min
A widower buys a robot grandmother for his three children.
Cavender is Coming
May 25, 1962 · 25 min
Cavender, an angel trying to win his wings, tries to help down-on-her-luck Agnes, who has just been fired.
The Changing of the Guard
Jun 1, 1962 · 25 min
An elderly private school teacher wonders if his life has meant anything as he contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve and is reminded by former students that he has, indeed, made an