The BEST episodes of The Twilight Zone (1985)

Every episode of The Twilight Zone (1985) ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Twilight Zone (1985)!

This show is based on Rod Serling's classic TV anthology show, The Twilight Zone. Redoing some episodes and doing new ones 20 years laters after the originals, these are made in color and in one-hour episodes. Most of the episodes contained two or three stories, and were broken up in half hour episodes for syndication. CBS cancelled the show in its second season, but it was picked up by a Canadian producer and aired in syndication in a half-hour format. The show contains mostly ironic or special situations with a twist at the end, which show the human nature, coupled with science fiction, horror or fantasy. Some of the show's writers are well known: Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Sidney Sheldon and J. Michael Straczynski. The opening and closing music was done by The Grateful Dead.

Last Updated: 11/20/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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To See the Invisible Man
star
8.42
105 votes

#1 - To See the Invisible Man

Season 1 - Episode 40 - Aired 1/31/1986

An uncaring man is sentenced to a year of social isolation.

Directors: Noel Black
Watch Now:Amazon
Aqua Vita
star
8.30
101 votes

#2 - Aqua Vita

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1986

A woman finds a method for eternal youth at a steep price.

Directors: Paul Tucker
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Shadow Play
star
8.12
78 votes

#3 - Shadow Play

Season 1 - Episode 56 - Aired 4/4/1986

A man is convinced that reality as we perceive it is dependent on his staying alive.

Directors: Paul Lynch
Watch Now:Amazon
The Trunk
star
8.10
60 votes

#4 - The Trunk

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/24/1988

A young man at a motel discovers an empty trunk that grants any wishes. He uses it for popularity, but at a party he discovers who his true friends are.

Directors: Steve DiMarco
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The Hellgramite Method
star
8.09
69 votes

#5 - The Hellgramite Method

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/1988

An alcoholic goes through an extremely painful and potentially deadly cure for his drinking problem. He has to choose which is more important - the bottle or his life.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Shelter Skelter
star
8.07
85 votes

#6 - Shelter Skelter

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/21/1987

A survivalist traps himself in his bomb shelter when a nuclear blast finally comes.

Directors: Martha Coolidge
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Need to Know
star
8.07
76 votes

#7 - Need to Know

Season 1 - Episode 51 - Aired 3/21/1986

A government scientist/agent sent to a small town to help investigate a bizarre outbreak of insanity which is spreading through the town.

Directors: Paul Lynch
Watch Now:Amazon
Profile in Silver
star
8.05
78 votes

#8 - Profile in Silver

Season 1 - Episode 49 - Aired 3/7/1986

A researcher from the future, a descendent of President John F. Kennedy goes back in time to witness his ancestor's death.

Directors: John D. Hancock
Watch Now:Amazon
Her Pilgrim Soul
star
8.01
105 votes

#9 - Her Pilgrim Soul

Season 1 - Episode 28 - Aired 12/13/1985

Two scientists create a holographic projector that has a woman appear in the display.

Directors: Wes Craven
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A Saucer of Loneliness
star
7.99
105 votes

#10 - A Saucer of Loneliness

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1986

A quiet waitress sees a glowing UFO, which gives her a message that everyone wants to know. She refuses to reveal exactly what the message is.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Once and Future King
star
7.98
109 votes

#11 - The Once and Future King

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1986

An Elvis impersonator is transported to the 1950s where he meets the real Elvis who thinks that the impersonator is his long dead brother.

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The Call
star
7.97
64 votes

#12 - The Call

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/1988

A lonely man accidentally phones the wrong number and finds an intriguing female to whom he grows attached. When she refuses to meet him, he investigates and finds the phone in a museum next to the statue of a woman.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Matter of Minutes
star
7.96
115 votes

#13 - A Matter of Minutes

Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 1/24/1986

A young married couple discovers that their home is being remodeled by blue-clad workers who are workers of time that build and move objects from one time period to another.

Directors: Sheldon Larry
Watch Now:Amazon
The Library
star
7.95
73 votes

#14 - The Library

Season 1 - Episode 55 - Aired 3/28/1986

Landing a new job at a private library a girl is warned never to look at the books. Taking a peek she learns that there's a book for everyone alive. When a neighbor pesters her, she rewrites his biography.

Directors: John D. Hancock
Writer: Anne Collins
Watch Now:Amazon
The Card
star
7.94
70 votes

#15 - The Card

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/21/1987

A woman with out-of-control spending habits finds her new credit card comes with unexpected penalties.

Directors: Bradford May
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Extra Innings
star
7.91
70 votes

#16 - Extra Innings

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1988

Ex-baseball player Ed Hamler, lame from an injury and forced to retire early, is given a baseball card from the early 1900s that transports Hamler to the past to be the player he used to be.

Directors: Doug Jackson
Writer: Tom Palmer
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Button, Button
star
7.91
110 votes

#17 - Button, Button

Season 1 - Episode 50 - Aired 3/7/1986

A mysterious man offers a couple a bizarre deal: if they will push a button on a box that will kill one person they don't know, they will get a million dollars.

Directors: Peter Medak
Watch Now:Amazon
Cold Reading
star
7.87
69 votes

#18 - Cold Reading

Season 1 - Episode 46 - Aired 2/14/1986

An actor arrives at a radio station to perform a radio play. An old voodoo stick is accidentally activated and the play becomes more real that anything anyone expected.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Watch Now:Amazon
The Elevator
star
7.84
103 votes

#19 - The Elevator

Season 1 - Episode 39 - Aired 1/31/1986

Two brothers searching for their father discover a factory full of giant animal bodies.

Directors: Ralph L. Thomas
Writer: Ray Bradbury
Watch Now:Amazon
Special Service
star
7.83
58 votes

#20 - Special Service

Season 3 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/8/1989

A man finds that his life has been on TV for the past five years.

Directors: Randy Bradshaw
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
What Are Friends For?
star
7.82
136 votes

#21 - What Are Friends For?

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1986

A lonely boy finds a strange friendship in the woods around his home.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Toys of Caliban
star
7.80
99 votes

#22 - The Toys of Caliban

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/4/1986

A mentally challenged child has strange powers.

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Quarantine
star
7.71
101 votes

#23 - Quarantine

Season 1 - Episode 43 - Aired 2/7/1986

An ill weapons designer is cryogenically frozen and awakened three centuries later..

Watch Now:Amazon
Acts of Terror
star
7.68
59 votes

#24 - Acts of Terror

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/3/1988

A battered wife living with her abusive husband finds the strength to leave him in the form of a Doberman pinscher statue.

Directors: Brad Turner
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Private Channel
star
7.68
65 votes

#25 - Private Channel

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/21/1987

On board an airplane, a lightning storm transforms a boy's walkman into a telepathic tuning device that informs him that the man sitting next to him is carrying a bomb.

Directors: Peter Medak
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV