In the realm of science fiction, Star Wars and Star Trek are generally considered to be the two biggest franchises. And, if you’re purely talking about profitability, that’s correct, as those two have dominated TV and film for decades. However, if you factor in things like influence and impact, another sci-fi property ranks up there with the big two.
In the realm of science fiction, pretty much all roads lead to, or derive from, The Twilight Zone. And this landmark show is currently free to stream on Tubi.
Debuting in 1959, The Twilight Zone ran for five seasons on CBS, totaling 156 episodes. It was created by Rod Serling, a television pioneer who sought to expand what had been seen on television throughout the 1950s, much of which was taped plays and multi-camera sitcoms like I Love Lucy. To do this, he created The Twilight Zone, a single-camera anthology series where each episode would operate like a little movie (for most of its run, the show ran for a half-hour, but season 4 tried out an hour-long format before switching back to half-hours for season 5).
While every episode of The Twilight Zone has its own characters and premise, it often explores science fiction subjects like time travel and aliens, as well as horror staples like ghosts and possessed dolls. But that was just the surface-level stuff, as many of the deeper messages in the series tackled things like prejudice, loneliness, morality, and regret.
The show was influenced by some of the earliest, greatest authors in science fiction, including the works of H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley. Some of the best sci-fi writers of the 1950s also penned episodes, such as Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. Serling himself, though, deserves the most credit, as he not only hosted every episode of the series, but also wrote nearly 100 episodes, too.
Despite how much early science fiction and horror influenced The Twilight Zone, it has proven to be vastly more influential to future generations. The obvious inspirations are shows like Black Mirror and The Outer Limits, as both of them are anthology series dealing with sci-fi and horror concepts. But shows like The X-Files, Fringe, Lost, Futurama, and many, many others were also informed by The Twilight Zone. The influence can be felt in film too, as Jordan Peele has said his 2019 movie Us was directly inspired by the season 1 Twilight Zone episode “Mirror Image,” and Chucky creator Don Mancini has pointed to the season 5 episode, “Living Doll” as an inspiration for his killer Good Guy doll.
Those episodes remain excellent all these years later, along with some of the series’ most famous entries. There’s Bradbury’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” which is the well-known (and often parodied) episode about a gremlin on the wing of a plane (starring a young William Shatner). “Dummy,” about a living ventriloquist dummy, is another classic. “To Serve Man” is also a particularly beloved alien invasion story, especially for its twist ending.
Because the show first ran over 60 years ago, certain aspects of it are undoubtedly dated, particularly when it comes to the special effects. However, because of the deeper, more universal themes explored in the show’s subtext, a great many more episodes remain surprisingly relevant and even poignant. And, because it’s an anthology series, you can freely bounce around to get your feet wet with guaranteed classics, before delving into every episode. It’s also a good show to come back and forth to, as opposed to more bingeable shows where you have to worry about keeping up on the continuity.
In other words, it’s the perfect show to tune into for free, especially if you’re not too afraid of a bit of trial-and-error as to which episodes are for you. I can almost guarantee though, if you like modern science fiction and horror films, some of the episodes will be suited for you, because so much of what we see now in those genres comes straight out of The Twilight Zone.