The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone logo used in the original 1959 television series
Created by	Rod Serling
Original work	"The Time Element" (The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series))
Owner	Paramount
Years	1958–present
Print publications
Book(s)	Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary (2009)
Films and television
Film(s)	Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Television series	First series (1959–64) Second series (1985–89) Third series (2002–03) Fourth series (2019–20)
Television film(s)	Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994)
Audio
Radio program(s)	The Twilight Zone radio dramas (2002–12)
Original music	Marius Constant[1] (composer)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (1994–present)
Pinball	Twilight Zone pinball machine (1993)

The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone". The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, frequently concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes. The first series, shot entirely in black-and-white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.

The Twilight Zone followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53), Out There (1951–52) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57); radio programs such as The Weird Circle (1943–45), Dimension X (1950–51) and X Minus One (1955–58); and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to a feature film (1983), a TV film (1994), a radio series (2002–12), various literature, theme park attractions and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including three revival television series. The second series (1985–89) ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, while the third series ran on UPN (2002–03). The fourth Twilight Zone series, helmed by Jordan Peele, was released on CBS All Access from 2019 to 2020.

TV Guide ranked the original TV series #5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest shows of all time and #4 in their list of the 60 greatest dramas.^[2][3]