Mapping the Fifth Dimension: Serling Tells Us What The Twilight Zone is About

What made The Twilight Zone work?

Seems like an easy question, right? After all, Rod Serling’s legendary brain child has been entertaining TV viewers for half a century now. Such broad appeal should be simple to define. But once you start trying to come up with an answer, you realize that the show’s formula can be a little hard to pin down.

“Basically, nobody understood what made The Twilight Zone work except Rod,” executive producer Buck Houghton said.

So let’s turn to Serling. “The Twilight Zone is about people,” he said. “About human beings involved in extraordinary circumstances, in strange problems of their own or of fate’s making.”

25 Episodes in Search of a Favorite Twilight Zone

“What’s your favorite Twilight Zone?” It’s a question I hear frequently from new followers of my Twitter page. Others want to know what my top 10 episodes are.

It’s tough to answer, though. It’s like picking a favorite child. You love ’em all (or nearly all — sorry, kiddo) for different reasons. Narrowing it down even a little bit feels like you’re making some of them walk the plank.

In fact, I couldn’t leave it at a top 10. So here are my top 25 episodes: