The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature.

The program followed in the tradition of earlier shows like Tales of Tomorrow (1951–1953)—which also dramatized the short story "What You Need"—and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–1957), as well as radio programs such as The Weird Circle, X Minus One, and the radio work of Serling's hero, dramatist Norman Corwin.

The success of the series led to a feature film, a radio series, a comic book, a magazine, and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including two "revival" television series. The first ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, the second ran on UPN from 2002 to 2003.