The Twilight Zone
This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or three) rooted in horror or suspense, often with a surprising twist at the end. Episodes usually feature elements of drama and comedy.
Episodes
A woman tries to get her Uncle Edgar committed, believing that he is senile. The investigating doctor finds Edgar living in an apartment containing all kinds of junk. Edgar claims that a mysterious Voice tells him what junk to collect, and to assemble it into a device that constantly keeps the world in balance. The doctor has him committed, only to realize when a small Pacific island is destroyed as Edgar predicted that the "insane" man is anything but. The doctor has Edgar released, only to discover that he has been chosen to replace Edgar as the new "balancer" of the world.
Ex-baseball player Ed Hamner, lame from an injury and forced to retire early, is given a 1909 baseball card of a player that looks exactly like him, Monte Hanks. The card is magical in that he becomes drawn into it and lives out the life of the player in the past. Hamner must choose between being healthy and playing his favorite sport in the past, or live in the present with his despairing wife who fears he'll never grow up.
A stressed-out priest repeatedly encounters a station wagon containing a young girl. The car keeps crashing and bursting into flames.
A young boy falls into an undiscovered cave near a housing project. An archeologist studies strange paintings on its walls and then bizarre things begin to happen. Cave items move around and animals are killed and brought into the cave.
Roger, a curmudgeonly man in a retirement home, has nightmares of an unknown woman trying to hold back some strange creature behind a door in a room filled with candles. He is shocked when that woman, a cataleptic, becomes his next-door neighbor. Roger soon comes to realize that he is somehow tied to the woman, and that even in the dream he can be hurt and possibly killed. The next time he is drawn into the dream he tries to help her, only to realize that she is holding something in - the spirit of her dead husband, as she can't let go of his memory. Roger releases him to pass on to the other side, and slowly begins to reconcile with the woman as she comes back to life.
A hypnotist who specializes in helping people relive their past lives tries to find her own history. She hypnotizes herself and when she awakens, she learns that everyone can now remember their past lives. They also desperately want to forget them.
An alcoholic, Miley Judson, is approached by a doctor who offers to provide him with a unique cure. Desperate, Judson agrees and is secretly given a "hellgramite" insect. The insect in his stomach will keep him sober no matter how much he drinks, and will feed on any alcohol he does drink. The more Judson drinks, the larger it will get until it is fatal. Judson can stop drinking, but if he does the insect will force him through terrible withdrawal pains until it goes into hibernation. Judson manages to make it, and offers a card for the doctor to another alcoholic buddy.
A young woman, Diane, comes to live with her family, including the dying patriarch Sylena. Much to the doctor's astonishment, Sylena begins to make an astonishing recovery, while Diane begins to show all the signs of rapid aging. The doctor soon deduces the truth: the Brockman's have discovered a way to assure immortality, at the sacrifice of their younger members. When the doctor confronts Sylena, a fire breaks out burning down the house. Diane is restored to her normal youth, and Sylena is taken in as a Jane Doe, and begins to heal herself as a nurse nearby complains of inexplicable burn injuries.
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.
A scam artist purports to channel the spirit of Delos, a former inhabitant of Atlantis. Together with a partner, he makes a living off of it. The day of his big break, he channels another spirit, one who could cause him to lose everything. Is it punishment or a lesson from the twilight zone?
A woman terrorized by her abusive husband finds some small consolation in a statue of a dog given to her by her sympathetic sister. The woman soon discovers that she can summon the dog to life as a huge ferocious beast that will respond when her husband abuses her. He manages to break the statue but the dog is not sent away. Begging for his life, she decides to simply leave, accepting the dog into herself. He tries to stop her but the dog is still there when she needs it.
Newly promoted bank loan officer Warren Cribbens cracks his eyeglasses and discovers he can see the future through them. Faced with seeing the future of the farmers whose farms he must foreclose on, Warren can't bring himself to foreclose. Right away he's torn into doing his job or standing up for the people he helps. He manages to get his way by using his knowledge of the future to blackmail his conniving boss and convincing him to let things go.
A famous children's book writer visits a sick boy and reads him one of her stories. Later, at home, she is disturbed by children's voices throughout her house and learns from his parents that the boy has died.
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.
After finishing a heart transplant, a man finds his personality has changed. He also discovers that he has a strange attraction to a waitress at a road diner.
A shuttle pilot on the outer fringes of space finds a stowaway on board his ship. Because of the extra weight, he does not have enough fuel for his journey and faces a dilemma forcing him to consider jettisoning her into space.
A young boy playing in a field meets an old man who is really an alien collecting specimens to bring back to his planet.
Walking taking a walk in a wealthy neighborhood an unemployed man living in a shelter experiences an unusual transformation.
A doctor arrives at his new job in a sanitarium. He discovers the case of a woman who is terribly frightened of things that appear on her walls.
Young Jesse has spent his entire life mastering pool, and wants to beat the best: the deceased Fats Brown. Summoned, Fats Brown appears to challenge him to a game of pool. The stakes: Jesse's life. After a tense match, Jesse fails to make a critical shot. Fats tells him that he will indeed "die": he'll die as the second-rate player he always is. Fats departs as Jesse vows to keep playing until he's good enough to beat Brown.
Martin Decker is confined to a special room for acts and thoughts against the state. They want the formula for a weapon he does not want to reveal. Escape for Martin comes from the mind.
In an impoverished future, Simon Foster goes to a pawnshop to sell some personal items to raise money for rent. The shop owner offers to buy some of his memories. In Simon Foster's life, what could be possibly be valuable?
At a lab a dimensional portal appears. Major Alex McAndrews is sent through the portal to learn what is on the other side. He discovers a pastoral paradise. When he returns to Earth, he discovers that the military has plans for the portal.
Andrea, a plain, shy, secluded girl longs for love. One day, love comes to her in the form of a cat who transforms into the man of her dreams. The man was cursed to become a cat by a scorned woman centuries ago. Unfortunately, the cursed prince is a little more than Andrea can handle, particularly when he starts "catting around". Andrea gets revenge by drugging him and then taking him to the vet to be neutered.
An old woman with an obsession with death attends funerals for entertainment. One night when an injured thief breaks into her home, she lets him die and waits for Death to come and collect him.
An epidemic breaks out and many people are struck blind. Something more happens, however: People have become cold and heartless toward each other.
In a bar, a very mysterious blind man plays the piano, and gives some very special advice to a jealous boyfriend.
A man sells his soul to a demon for some racing tips. After being terrified by the demon he goes for help from the criminal boss he borrowed the track money from.
A normal, everyday guy discovers a camera in his closet. Puzzled, a repairman shows up to fix it, and secretly informs him that his life is being televised, and is a top-ratings grabber. The guy, John, doesn't want his life to be aired, and decides to quit. He soon finds that he misses the fame and popularity, albeit was kept secret from him. He has the repairman secretly reinstall the camera, begins to go back to his everyday "popular" televised life, and the ratings start pouring in again.
A 79-year-old man wants to keep on living so he transplants his brain into a younger body. His son, however, resents his father's continued life and tries to wrestle power from him.
