Great Books Guy

Reviewing The Twilight Zone Series

Submitted for your approval, a project in which I attempt to review all 156 episodes of the original series of The Twilight Zone (stay tuned):

Season 1 (1959-1960)

Introduction To The Twilight Zone: Season 1

  1. “Where Is Everybody?” (October 2, 1959) – 5/5
  2. “One For The Angels” (October 9, 1959) – 5/5
  3. “Mr. Denton on Doomsday” (October 16, 1959) – 5/5
  4. “The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine” (October 23, 1959) – 5/5
  5. “Walking Distance” (October 30, 1959) – 5/5
  6. “Escape Clause” (November 6, 1959) – 4/5
  7. “The Lonely” (November 13, 1959) – 5/5
  8. “Time Enough At Last” (November 20, 1959) – 5/5
  9. “Perchance To Dream” (November 27, 1959) – 5/5
  10. “Judgment Night” (December 4, 1959) – 5/5
  11. “And When The Sky Was Opened” (December 11, 1959) – 5/5
  12. “What You Need” (December 25, 1959) – 4/5
  13. “The Four Of Us Are Dying” (January 1, 1960) – 4/5
  14. “Third From The Sun” (January 8, 1960) – 5/5
  15. “I Shot An Arrow Into The Air” (January 15, 1960) – 5/5
  16. “The Hitch-Hiker” (January 22, 1960) – 5/5
  17. “The Fever” (January 29, 1960) – 4/5
  18. “The Last Flight” (February 5, 1960) – 5/5
  19. “The Purple Testament” (February 19, 1960) – 5/5
  20. “Elegy” (February 19, 1960) – 5/5
  21. “Mirror Image” (February 26, 1960) – 5/5
  22. “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” (March 4, 1960) – 5/5
  23. “A World Of Difference” (March 11, 1960) – 5/5
  24. “Long Live Walter Jameson” (March 18, 1960) – 5/5
  25. “People Are Alike All Over” (March 25, 1960) – 4/5
  26. “Execution” (April 1, 1960) – 4/5
  27. “The Big Tall Wish” (April 8, 1960) – 5/5
  28. “A Nice Place To Visit” (April 15, 1960) – 4/5
  29. “Nightmare As A Child” (April 29, 1960) – 5/5
  30. “A Stop At Willoughby” (May 6, 1960) – 5/5
  31. “The Chaser” (May 13, 1960) – 3/5
  32. “A Passage For Trumpet” (May 20, 1960) – 5/5
  33. “Mr. Bevis” (June 3, 1960) – 3/5
  34. “The After Hours” (June 10, 1960) – 5/5
  35. “The Mighty Casey” (June 17, 1960) – 4/5
  36. “A World Of His Own” (July 1, 1960) – 5/5

Season 2 (1960-1961)

Introduction To The Twilight Zone: Season 2

  1. “King Nine Will Not Return” (September 30, 1960) – 5/5
  2. “The Man In The Bottle” (October 7, 1960) – 4/5
  3. “Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room” (October 14, 1960) – 5/5
  4. “A Thing About Machines” (October 28, 1960) – 5/5
  5. “The Howling Man” (November 4, 1960) – 5/5
  6. “Eye of the Beholder” (November 11, 1960) – 5/5
  7. “Nick of Time” (November 18, 1960) – 5/5
  8. “The Lateness of the Hour” (December 2, 1960) – 5/5
  9. “The Trouble With Templeton” (December 9, 1960) – 5/5
  10. “A Most Unusual Camera” (December 16, 1960) – 4/5
  11. “The Night of the Meek” (December 23, 1960) – 3/5
  12. “Dust” (January 6, 1961) – 4/5
  13. “Back There” (January 13, 1961) – 5/5
  14. “The Whole Truth” (January 20, 1961) – 5/5
  15. “The Invaders” (January 27, 1961) – 5/5
  16. “A Penny For Your Thoughts” (February 3, 1961) – 4/5
  17. “Twenty-Two” (February 10, 1961) – 4/5
  18. “The Odyssey of Flight 33” (February 24, 1961) – 5/5
  19. “Mr. Dingle, the Strong” (March 3, 1961) – 4/5
  20. “Static” (March 10, 1961) – 5/5
  21. “The Prime Mover” (March 24, 1961) – 5/5
  22. “Long Distance Call” (March 31, 1961) – 5/5
  23. “A Hundred Yards Over The Rim” (April 7, 1961) – 5/5
  24. “The Rip Van Winkle Caper” (April 21, 1961) – 4/5
  25. “The Silence” (April 28, 1961) – 4/5
  26. “Shadow Play” (May 5, 1961) – 4/5
  27. “The Mind and the Matter” (May 12, 1961) – 4/5
  28. “Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?” (May 26, 1961) – 5/5
  29. “The Obsolete Man” (June 2, 1961) – 5/5

Season 3 (1961-1962)

Introduction to The Twilight Zone: Season 3

  1. “Two” (September 15, 1961) – 5/5
  2. “The Arrival” (September 22, 1961) – 5/5
  3. “The Shelter” (September 29, 1961) – 4/5
  4. “The Passerby” (October 6, 1961) – 4/5
  5. “A Game of Pool” (October 13, 1961) – 4/5
  6. “The Mirror” (October 20, 1961) – 5/5
  7. “The Grave” (October 27, 1961) – 4/5
  8. “It’s A Good Life” (November 3, 1961) – 5/5
  9. “Deaths-Head Revisited” (November 10, 1961) – 5/5
  10. “The Midnight Sun” (November 17, 1961) – 4/5
  11. “Still Valley” (November 24, 1961) – 4/5
  12. “The Jungle” (December 1, 1961) – 5/5
  13. “Once Upon A Time” (December 15, 1961) – 5/5
  14. “Five Characters In Search Of An Exit” (December 22, 1961) – 5/5
  15. “A Quality of Mercy” (December 29, 1961) – 5/5
  16. “Nothing In The Dark” (January 5, 1962) – 5/5
  17. “One More Pallbearer” (January 12, 1962) – 5/5
  18. “Dead Man’s Shoes” (January 19, 1962) – 4/5
  19. “The Hunt” (January 26, 1962) – 4/5
  20. “Showdown with Rance McGrew” (February 2, 1962) – 3/5
  21. “Kick The Can” (February 9, 1962) – 5/5
  22. “A Piano in the House” (February 16, 1962) – 4/5
  23. “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” (February 23, 1962) – 4/5
  24. “To Serve Man” (March 2, 1962) – 5/5
  25. “The Fugitive” (March 9, 1962) – 5/5
  26. “Little Girl Lost” (March 16, 1962) – 5/5
  27. “Person or Persons Unknown” (March 23, 1962) – 4/5
  28. “The Little People” (March 30, 1962) – 5/5
  29. “Four O’Clock” (April 6, 1962) – 4/5
  30. “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby” (April 13, 1962) – 4/5
  31. “The Trade-Ins” (April 20, 1962) – 5/5
  32. “The Gift” (April 27, 1962) – 5/5
  33. “The Dummy” (May 4, 1962) – 5/5
  34. “Young Man’s Fancy” (May 11, 1962) – 5/5
  35. “I Sing the Body Electric” (May 18, 1962) – 5/5
  36. “Cavender Is Coming” (May 25, 1962) – 3/5
  37. “Changing of the Guard” (June 1, 1962) – 5/5

Season 4 (1963)

Introduction to The Twilight Zone: Season 4

  1. “In His Image” (January 3, 1963) – 5/5
  2. “The Thirty-Fathom Grave” (January 10, 1963) – 4/5
  3. “Valley of the Shadow” (January 17, 1963) – 4/5
  4. “He’s Alive” (January 24, 1963) – 4/5
  5. “Mute” (January 31, 1963) – 5/5
  6. “Death Ship” (February 7, 1963) – 5/5
  7. “Jess-Belle” (February 14, 1963) – 4/5
  8. “Miniature” (February 21, 1963) – 5/5
  9. “Printer’s Devil” (February 28, 1963) – 4/5
  10. “No Time Like The Past” (March 7, 1963) – 5/5
  11. “The Parallel” (March 14, 1963) – 5/5
  12. “I Dream of Genie” (March 21, 1963) – 4/5
  13. “The New Exhibit” (April 4, 1963) – 5/5
  14. “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville” (April 11, 1963) – 5/5
  15. “The Incredible World of Horace Ford” (April 18, 1963) – 5/5
  16. “On Thursday We Leave for Home” (May 2, 1963) – 5/5
  17. “Passage of the Lady Anne” (May 9, 1963) – 3/5
  18. “The Bard” (May 23, 1963) – 4/5

Season 5 (1963-1964)

Introduction to The Twilight Zone: Season 5

  1. “In Praise of Pip” (September 27, 1963) – 5/5
  2. “Steel” (October 4, 1963) – 4/5
  3. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (October 11, 1963) – 5/5
  4. “A Kind of Stopwatch” (October 18, 1963) – 4/5
  5. “The Last Night of a Jockey” (October 25, 1963) – 3/5
  6. “Living Doll” (November 1, 1963) – 5/5
  7. “The Old Man in the Cave” (November 8, 1963) – 5/5
  8. “Uncle Simon” (November 15, 1963) – 4/5
  9. “Probe 7, Over and Out” (November 29, 1963) – 4/5
  10. “The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms” (December 6, 1963) – 4/5
  11. “A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain” (December 13, 1963) – 4/5
  12. “Ninety Years Without Slumbering” (December 20, 1963) – 5/5
  13. “Ring-a-ding Girl” (December 27, 1963) – 3/5
  14. “You Drive” (January 3, 1964) – 4/5
  15. “The Long Morrow” (January 10, 1964) – 5/5
  16. “The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross” (January 17, 1964) – 4/5
  17. “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” (January 24, 1964) – 5/5
  18. “Black Leather Jackets” (January 31, 1964) – 5/5
  19. “Night Call” (February 7, 1964) – 5/5
  20. “From Agnes – With Love” (February 14, 1964) – 4/5
  21. “Spur of the Moment” (February 21, 1964) – 5/5
  22. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (February 28, 1964) – 5/5
  23. “Queen of the Nile” (March 6, 1964) – 4/5
  24. “What’s In The Box” (March 13, 1964) – 3/5
  25. “The Masks” (March 20, 1964) – 5/5
  26. “I Am the Night – Color Me Black” (March 27, 1964) – 4/5
  27. “Sounds and Silences” (April 3, 1964) – 3/5
  28. “Caesar and Me” (April 10, 1964) – 4/5
  29. “Jeopardy Room” (April 17, 1964) – 4/5
  30. “Stopover in a Quiet Town” (April 24, 1964) – 4/5
  31. “The Encounter” (May 1, 1964) – 5/5
  32. “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” (May 8, 1964) – 3/5
  33. “The Brain Center at Whipple’s” (May 15, 1964) – 4/5
  34. “Come Wander with Me” (May 22, 1964) – 3/5
  35. “The Fear” (May 29, 1964) – 4/5
  36. “The Bewitchin’ Pool” (June 19, 1964) – 3/5

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following resources:

  • Marc Scott Zicree’s The Twilight Zone Companion (1982), third edition published in 2018
  • Running from the Hunter: The Life and Works of Charles Beaumont (1996) by Lee Prosser
  • Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television’s Groundbreaking Series (2007) by by Stewart T. Stanyard
  • Martin Grams Jr.’s The Twilight Zone: Unlocking The Door To A Television Classic (2008)
  • A Critical History of Television’s The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) by Don Presnell and Marty McGee
  • The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia (2017) by Steven Jay Rubin
  • The Twilight Zone and Philosophy: A Dangerous Dimension to Visit (2018) edited by by Heather L. Rivera and Alexander E. Hooke
  • Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (2018) by Nicholas Parisi
  • Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone (2020) by Mark Dawidziak
  • As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2021) by Anne Serling
  • The Many Lives of The Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise (2022) edited by Ron Riekki and Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.
  • Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream (2023) by David J. Brokaw
  • Serling At 100: One Writer’s Acknowledgment (2024) Joseph Dougherty
  • The wonderful research and blogging efforts of Jordan Prejean & Brian Durant at The Twilight Zone Vortex
  • The equally wonderful work of Dr. Joe Meyer and his Twilight Zone podcast “The Key of Imagination”

Main Twilight Zone Writers

Rod Serling (1924-1975)
Wrote: 92 Episodes

Raised in Binghamton, New York, Rod Serling was talkative, inquisitive kid who loved pulp magazines, sports, and radio. Immediately after his high school graduation, he enlisted in the army. He served as a Technician in the 11th Airborne Division and then in the 511th’s bomb squad in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Mr. Serling personally witnessed hundreds of his fellow servicemen killed in action and he won a variety of awards including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, he attended Antioch College in Yellow Spring, Ohio with plans to become a physical education teacher but soon switched course and graduated with a degree in English literature. During his college years he worked as a risky “parachute tester” for a bit of extra cash. He married fellow Antioch student Carol and they had two daughters together. He convinced his wife that he should walk away from a steady paycheck and become a freelance writer over a meal at Howard Johnson’s restaurant in 1951 (she was twenty-one years old at the time and three months pregnant).

Mr. Serling began his career working for various radio stations in Cincinnati before moving into television where he wrote advertisement scripts. In 1955, Mr. Serling wrote an Emmy award-winning script “Patterns” for the Kraft Television Theatre program. He then moved his family out to California and focused on writing quality television scripts while battling censorship and corporate demands along the way. By 1959, he was set to air his own variety show, a critically lauded weekly program entitled The Twilight Zone, featuring a heavyweight science fiction creative team including Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson. While it was an award winning show, The Twilight Zone was never a true ratings booster and it was officially canceled after its fifth season in 1964. Mr. Serling continued to produce televisions programs, including a celebrated variety show called Night Gallery (1970-1973). Tragically, a life-long chain-smoker, Mr. Serling died of heart complications in 1975.

Click Here For A List Of Every Rod Serling Twilight Zone Episode

Season 1 (27 out of 36 episodes)

Season 2 (21 out of 29 episodes)

Season 3 (21 out of 37 episodes)

Season 4 (7 out of 18 episodes)

Season 5 (16 out of 36 episodes)

Other Notable Rod Serling Scripted Episodes

Pre-Twilight Zone (1952-1959)

  • “The Sergeant” on Armstrong Circle Theater (April 29, 1952)
  • “Welcome Home, Lefty” on Lux Video Theater (June 23, 1952)
  • “The Carlson Legend” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (August 3, 1952)
  • “I Lift Up My Lamp” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (August 15, 1952)
  • “You Be the Bad Guy” on Lux Video Theater (August 18, 1952)
  • “No Gods to Serve” on The Doctor (October 5, 1952)
  • “Those Who Wait” on The Doctor (October 19, 1952)
  • “The Face of Autumn” on Lux Video Theater (November 3, 1952)
  • “The Hill” on Lux Video Theater (November 24, 1952)
  • “The Inn of Eagles” on Lux Video Theater (January 26, 1953)
  • “A Time for Heroes” on Lux Video Theater (March 2, 1953)
  • “Horace Mann’s Miracle” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (March 8, 1953)
  • “Next of Kin” on Kraft Television Theater (April 8, 1953)
  • “The Twilight Rounds” on Kraft Television Theater (May 27, 1953)
  • “Man Against Pain” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (June 21, 1953)
  • “Old MacDonald Has a Curve” on Kraft Television Theater (August 5, 1953)
  • “Nightmare at Ground Zero” on Suspense (August 18, 1953)
  • “The Quiet Village” on Medallion Theater (August 22, 1953)
  • “The Blues for Joey Menotti” on Kraft Television Theater (August 26, 1953)
  • “The Return of Socko Renard” on Lux Video Theater (October 29, 1953)
  • “A Long Time Till Dawn” on Kraft Television Theater (November 11, 1953)
  • “Buffalo Bill is Dead” on Studio One (November 23, 1953)
  • “At Ease” on Motorola Television Hour (December 15, 1953)
  • “Twenty-Four Men in a Plane” on Medallion Theater (December 19, 1953)
  • “The Happy Headline” on Campbell Soundstage (December 25, 1953)
  • “They Call Them Meek” on Medallion Theater (December 26, 1953)
  • “Herman Came By Bomber” on Studio One (February 1, 1954)
  • “A Walk in the Night” on Philip Morris Playhouse (February 18, 1954)
  • “The Muldoon Matter” on Motorola Television Hour (February 23, 1954)
  • “The Strike” on Studio One (June 7, 1954)
  • “The Worthy Opponent” on Center Stage (August 24, 1954)
  • “U.F.O.” on Studio One (September 6, 1954)
  • “One for the Angels” on Danger (September 14, 1954)
  • “The Summer Memory” on Ford Theater (November 18, 1954)
  • “Knife in the Dark” on Danger (December 7, 1954)
  • “Save Me From Treason” on Armstrong Circle Theater (January 4, 1955)
  • “Patterns” on Kraft Television Theater (January 12, 1955) – Emmy Winner
  • “Garrity’s Sons” on Ford Theater (March 24, 1955)
  • “The Champion” on Climax (March 31, 1955)
  • “The Rack” on The U.S. Steel Hour (April 12, 1955)
  • “The Fateful Pilgrimage” on Appointment With Adventure (April 17, 1955)
  • “A Man With a Vengeance” on General Electric Theater (May 15, 1955)
  • “Strength of Steel” on Star Tonight (June 16, 1955)
  • “To Wake at Midnight” on Climax (June 23, 1955)
  • “The Director” on Fireside Theater (September 13, 1955)
  • “Incident in an Alley” on The U.S. Steel Hour (November 23, 1955)
  • “Portrait in Celluloid” on Climax (November 24, 1955)
  • “The Man Who Caught the Ball at Coogan’s Bluff” on Studio One (November 28, 1955)
  • “O’Toole From Moscow” on Matinee Theater (December 12, 1955)
  • “The Arena” on Studio One (April 9, 1956)
  • “Beloved Outcasts” on Catholic Hour (April 15, 1956)
  • “Noon on Doomsday” on The U.S. Steel Hour (April 25, 1956)
  • “Mr. Finchley Verses the Bomb” on Kaiser Aluminium Hour (September 25, 1956)
  • “Forbidden Area” on Playhouse 90 (October 4, 1956)
  • “Requiem for a Heavyweight” on Playhouse 90 (October 11, 1956) – Emmy Winner
  • “The Comedian” on Playhouse 90 (February 14, 1957) – Emmy Winner
  • “The Dark Side of the Earth” on Playhouse 90 (September 19, 1957)
  • “Panic Button” on Playhouse 90 (November 28, 1957)
  • “The Cause” on Matinee Theater (May 12, 1958)
  • “Bomber’s Moon” on Playhouse 90 (May 22, 1958)
  • “A Town Has Turned to Dust” on Playhouse 90 (June 19, 1958)
  • “The Time Element” on Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse (November 24, 1958)
  • “The Last Night of August” on Pursuit (December 17, 1958)
  • “The Velvet Alley” on Playhouse 90 (January 22, 1959)
  • “The Rank and File” on Playhouse 90 (May 28, 1959)

Post-Twilight Zone (1964-1976)

  • “The Command” on Bob Hope Presents: The Chrysler Theater (May 22, 1964)
  • “Carol For Another Christmas” on United Nations Special (December 28, 1964)
  • “Exit From a Plane in Flight” on Bob Hope Presents: The Chrysler Theater (January 22, 1965)
  • “The Hate Syndrome” on Insight (April 29, 1966)
  • “Certain Honorable Men” on On Stage (September 12, 1968)
  • “Pilot” on The New People (September 22, 1969)
  • “A Storm in Summer” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (February 6, 1970)
  • “Sad and Lonely Sundays” on The Oath (August 26, 1976)

The Loner (1965-1966)

  • “An Echo of Bugles” (September 18, 1965)
  • “The Vespers” (September 25, 1965)
  • “The Lonely Calico Queen” (October 2, 1965)
  • “The Kingdom of McComb” (October 9, 1965)
  • “One of the Wounded” (October 16, 1965)
  • “Widow on the Evening Stage” (October 30, 1965)
  • “The House Rules at Mrs. Wayne’s” (November 6, 1965)
  • “The Sheriff at Fetterman’s Crossing” (November 13, 1965)
  • “The Homecoming of Lemuel Stove” (November 20, 1965)
  • “Westward the Shoemaker” (November 27, 1965)
  • “The Oath” (December 4, 1965)
  • “A Little Stroll to the End of the Line” (January 15, 1966)
  • “The Trial in Paradise” (January 22, 1966)
  • “The Mourners for Johnny Sharp (Part I)” (February 5, 1966)
  • “The Mourners for Johnny Sharp (Part II)” (February 12, 1966)

Night Gallery (1970-1973)

  • “The Little Black Bag” (December 23, 1970)
  • “The Nature of the Enemy” (December 23, 1970)
  • “The House” (December 30, 1970)
  • “Certain Shadows on the Wall” (December 30, 1970)
  • “Make Me Laugh” (January 6, 1971)
  • “Clean Kills and Other Trophies” (January 6, 1971)
  • “Pamela’s Voice” (January 13, 1971)
  • “Lone Survivor” (January 13, 1971)
  • “The Doll” (January 13, 1971)
  • “The Last Laurel” (January 20, 1971)
  • “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar” (January 20, 1971)
  • “The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes” (September 15, 1971)
  • “A Death in the Family” (September 22, 1971)
  • “The Class of ’99” (September 22, 1971)
  • “A Fear of Spiders” (October 6, 1971)
  • “The Academy” (October 6, 1971)
  • “Midnight Never Ends” (November 3, 1971)
  • “The Diary” (November 10, 1971)
  • “Dr. Stringfellow’s Rejuvenator” (November 17, 1971)
  • “The Dear Departed” (December 1, 1971)
  • “Cool Air” (December 8, 1971)
  • “Camera Obscura” (December 8, 1971)
  • “The Messiah on Mott Street” (December 15, 1971)
  • “The Different Ones” (December 29, 1971)
  • “Green Fingers” (January 5, 1972)
  • “Lindemann’s Catch” (January 12, 1972)
  • “The Miracle at Camafeo” (January 19, 1972)
  • “The Waiting Room” (January 26, 1972)
  • “Deliveries in the Rear” (February 9, 1972)
  • “You Can’t Get Help Like That Anymore” (February 23, 1972)
  • “The Caterpillar” (March 1, 1972)
  • “Rare Objects” (October 22, 1972)
  • “You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan” (November 12, 1972)
  • “Finnegan’s Flight” (December 3, 1972)
  • “Something in the Woodwork” (January 14, 1973)

Charles Beaumont (1929-1967)
Wrote: 22 Episodes

Raised in Chicago, Charles Beaumont dropped out of high school to join the military. Upon his return to civilian life, Mr. Beaumont became a celebrated writer of pulp fiction and science fiction. He was praised by his colleagues and soon became one of the chief creative visionaries behind The Twilight Zone, however at the height of his success at age 34, Mr. Beaumont contracted a rapid neural degenerative disease that sadly ended his life too soon. Mr. Beaumont’s friends William F. Nolan and Jerry Sohl helped him by ghost-writing his scripts, particularly for the fifth season of The Twilight Zone. Mr. Beaumont died a couple years later in 1967.

Click Here For A List Of Every Episode Written By Charles Beaumont

Season 1 (4 out of 36 episodes)

Season 2 (4 out of 29 episodes)

Season 3 (5 out of 37 episodes)

Season 4 (5 out of 18 episodes)

Season 5 (4 out of 36 episodes)

Richard Matheson (1926-1913)
Wrote: 14 Episodes

Born in New Jersey and raised in Brooklyn, Richard Matheson was an early lover of science and tales of mystery and intrigue. He studied at the University of Missouri before moving westward to California. He became a member of the “Southern California Sorcerers” (or Southern California School of Writers) in the 1950s which also included Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, George Clayton Johnson, William F. Nolan, Jerry Sohl, and others. He wrote for a variety of films and television shows (most famously Star Trek and The Twilight Zone) and his works have become remarkably influential on the likes of Stephen King. One of his more famous novels is I Am Legend. Mr. Matheson died at his home in California at the age of 87 in 2013.

Click Here For A List Of Every Episode Written by Richard Matheson

Season 1 (4 out of 36 episodes)

Season 2 (4 out of 29 episodes)

Season 3 (2 out of 37 episodes)

Season 4 (3 out of 18 episodes)

Season 5 (3 out of 36 episodes)

Other Shows:

Earl Hamner, Jr. (1923-2016)
Wrote: 8 Episodes

Earl Hamner Jr. was a celebrated television writer and the brain behind several programs including The Waltons. He died in 2006 at the age of 92.

Click Here For A List Of Every Episode Written By Earl Hamner, Jr.

Season 3 (2 out of 37 episodes)

Season 4 (2 out of 18 episodes)

Season 5 (4 out of 36 episodes)

George Clayton Johnson (1929-2015)
Wrote: 5 Episodes
(3 of his short stories were also adapted into teleplays)

From childhood, George Clayton Johnson was something of an eccentric. He floated in and out of schools and jobs for years while traveling around the United States before he settled down in Los Angeles and became a television writer for a number of shows including Alfred Hitchcock Presents as well as Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Mr. Clayton joined his fellow Twilight Zone writers in the Southern California group and he famously co-wrote Logan’s Run with William F. Nolan. He was a life-long Vegetarian and advocate for legalizing marijuana. Mr. Clayton Johnson died on Christmas Day 2015.

Click Here For A List Of Every Episode Written By Charles Clayton Johnson

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 5

Montgomery Pittman (1917-1962)

Wrote: 3 Episodes
Directed: 5 Episodes (Including The Three He Wrote)

Montgomery Pittman was a television writer, director, and actor whose most notable shows included The Twilight Zone, Maverick, and 77 Sunset Strip. He was also the stepfather of actress Sherry Jackson who appeared in one of his Twilight Zone episodes. He died of cancer at the age of 45.

Click Here For Every Montgomery Pittman Episode Of The Twilight Zone

Season 2

Season 3

Martin M. Goldsmith (1913-1994)
Wrote: 2 Episodes

Martin Goldsmith was a screenwriter and novelist who penned several novels and classic B-movies including Detour (1945), Blind Spot (1947), and The Narrow Margin (1952), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination.

Episodes (Both in Season 5): What’s in the Box and The Encounter

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)
Wrote: 1 Episode

According to various accounts, Ray Bradbury initially introduced Rod Serling to the core group of Twilight Zone writers listed above. He was instrumental in the creation of the show, yet only one of his stories was ever made into an episode (officially). He was disappointed with the final product, and sadly Mr. Bradbury and Rod Serling had a bit of a falling out. Mr. Bradbury was unquestionably the most accomplished writer involved in the project, he represented an elder statesman for key writers like Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson. Mr. Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 is broadly celebrated today as are his wide array of short stories. He died at the age of 91 in 2012.

Episode: I Sing The Body Electric

Other Writers Who Wrote One Episode:

Twilight Zone Short Story Reviews:

Short Story Review: “The Mighty Casey” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Escape Clause” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Walking Distance” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Fever” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Where Is Everybody?” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Lonely” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Mr. Dingle, The Strong” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “A Thing About Machines” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Big, Tall Wish” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “A Stop At Willoughby” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Odyssey of Flight 33” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Dust” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “The Whole Truth” by Rod Serling

Short Story Review: “Perchance to Dream” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “The Howling Man” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “The Jungle” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “The Beautiful People” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “Song For A Lady” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “In His Image” by Charles Beaumont

Short Story Review: “Long Distance Call” by Richard Matheson

Short Story Review: “Third from the Sun” by Richard Matheson

Short Story Review: “Death Ship” by Richard Matheson

Short Story Review: “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

Short Story Review: “What You Need” by Lewis Padgett

Short Story Review: “All Of Us Are Dying” by George Clayton Johnson

Radio Play Review: The Hitch-Hiker (1941) by Lucille Fletcher

Short Story Review: “Brothers Beyond the Void” (1952) by Paul W. Fairman

Other Related Reviews:

Book Review: As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013) by Anne Serling