The Twilight Zone (1985 — 1989)

The Twilight Zone (1985–1989), an anthology television series that originally aired from September 27, 1985 to April 15, 1989, was the first of three revivals of Rod Serling’s acclaimed 1959-1964 show. Similar to its predecessor, it featured a range of speculative fiction that often involved ordinary characters in extraordinary situations. However, unlike the original, most episodes included multiple self-contained stories instead of just one. Though the voice-over narrations were still present, they were not as consistent as in the previous series. Some episodes had only an opening or closing narration, while others had none at all.

Season 1 (1985–1986). The Twilight Zone debuted on the night of September 27, 1985 to a warm reception, winning its Friday-night time slot in four out of the first five weeks. Its episodes featured adaptations of works by renowned authors such as Harlan Ellison, Greg Bear, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert McCammon, and Stephen King. Unlike Twilight Zone: The Movie that relied heavily on remakes of classic episodes to appeal to nostalgia, the new series mainly consisted of original stories and adaptations never seen on television before.

Season 2 (1986–1987). After just a few weeks on air, the new series was halted. It had initially aired in an hour-long format, but CBS’s decision to move it to Saturday nights resulted in decreased viewership. The show returned in December with episodes condensed to half an hour and focused on a single story. Some, like The Road Less Traveled, were originally intended for the longer time slot but ended up being cut down for the new format. Writer Alan Brennert explains that CBS saw this change as a way to rescue the show from its low ratings, drawing inspiration from the original series’ one season that also used an hour-long format – and happened to have the poorest ratings of its run.

Season 3 (1988–1989). After CBS replaced the original production team, they aimed to produce thirty 22-minute episodes for the third season in order to meet requirements for syndication. Robin Ward took over as narrator for these Canadian-made episodes and re-recorded Aidman’s narration for the syndication package. To lead the new writing team, executive producer Mark Shelmerdine was brought in, along with story editors Paul Chitlik and Jeremy Bertrand Finch, and J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski wrote more episodes that season than any other writer on staff. Following the departure of Chitlik and Finch, Straczynski became the sole story editor. The producers also managed to persuade Harlan Ellison to return to The Twilight Zone for the third season. His episode Crazy as a Soup Sandwich would be one of the last three episodes of the series.