Rod Serling’sThe Twilight Zonecovered science fiction, crime thriller, and horror tropes over its original 156-episode run, including everything from alien invasions to mischievous genies in several daring and subversive plotlines. In addition to offering some of television’s most memorable twists,The Twilight Zonewasoften remarkably precisewhen it came to predicting the future
This sense that the show’s writers could see the future perhaps explains why trips into the eponymous Twilight Zone often involve time travel. Over a dozen episodes of the series focus on characters who find themselves cast adrift in history and either learn from their past or suffer its eternal curse.
Updated June 27, 2025, by Kristy Ambrose:The Twilight Zone’scautionary tales, moral lessons, and mysterious parables stand the test of time. The whole series could be an example of time travel because it continues to resonate with modern audiences. Every story is different, and the time-travel feature might be described as hallucinations, visits from ghosts,alien technology, or a character that literally travels through time using a device or machine. Any of the above and more is possible in the Twilight Zone.
12The Trouble With Templeton, S1E26
IMDb Rating: 7.1
The typical theme of aTwilight Zoneepisode is often a dark one, concerning a deeply flawed character who refuses to learn a lesson and suffers the consequences. “The Trouble With Templeton” is the story of an actor nearing the end of his career who pulls himself back from the brink after learning a valuable lesson from a brief visit to his past.
Booth Templeton is unhappy in his second marriage and is reminiscing about how happy he was with his former wife in the earlier years of his acting career. When he’s late to rehearsal, the new and younger director doesn’t recognize his talent and pushes Booth to be more committed to the production. Templeton leaves the theater, upset at the confrontation, and finds himself 30 years in the past.
Of course, Booth immediately goes to the old speakeasy to find his former wife and friends, and he does, but the reception isn’t exactly what he dreamed it would be. However, they don’t send him back to the present empty-handed, and when he returns to the theater he not only asserts himself with the new director but uses his clout to dismiss the producer, changing his future for the better.
11Execution, S1E26
IMDb Rating: 7.2
“Execution” opens with outlaw Joe Caswell, played by Albert Salmi, being sentenced to death. The remorseless murderer is offered a surprise reprieve when a time travel experiment inadvertently transports him from 1880 to 1960.
Caswell is overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the modern world, but he nonetheless chooses to resume his criminal spree. His actions result in the death of the naive scientist responsible for Caswell’s extraction, but the killer nonetheless learns an importantTwilight Zonelesson: Karma has a tendency to catch up with you.
With its memorably ruthless villain and fish-out-of-water protagonist, “Execution” is a solid installment in the classic anthology series. Caswell, who ranks among the series' most psychopathic villains, meets his match in the future with ironic consequences. Justice eventually finds its mark, even if it misses its initial target.
9Of Late I Think Of Cliffordville, S4E14
William Featherstone, played by Albert Salmi is a cruel businessman and is given the chance to start from scratch in his hometown of Cliffordville after he makes a deal with the satanic Miss Devlin, who also happens to beBatman’s Julie Newmar. Arriving in Cliffordville in 1910, Featherstone uses his remaining money to purchase land that he knows will be found to contain oil.
However, he overlooks the fact that the drills needed to access the oil deposits will not be invented for nearly thirty years, by which time he will likely be dead. The episode was one of thoseremade as a radio drama, but its original iteration is perhaps the best take on the material. Featherstone’s journey shows that pride comes before a fall.
8Once Upon A Time, S3E13
The Twilight Zonecovers a range of genres, from mind-bending surrealism tospine-tingling horror. However, the show rarely indulges in pure comedy, and even more rarely does so successfully. That “Once Upon a Time” is such a hidden gem is no doubt due to its star famous silent movie actor Buster Keaton gives an impressive performance as Woodrow Mulligan, a disgruntled janitor who is sent from 1890 to 1961 thanks to an experimental “time helmet.”
While much of the episode’s charm can be attributed to Keaton’s trademark slapstick, efforts are also made to make the episode’s “historical” sections as authentically retro as possible—complete with speech cards in place of spoken dialogue. The result is a quirky departure fromThe Twilight Zonenorm, but one that remains an entertaining oddity.
7A Kind of Stopwatch, S5E4
IMDb Rating: 7.5
The main character of this story is an unfortunate person named Patrick McNulty, and his superpower is being the dullest, most mind-numbing, and utterly boring person. Still, he’s oblivious to how he makes other people feel, which makes him annoyingly self-important. Even when his attitude costs him his job, he doesn’t learn.
McNulty’s incessant chatter is so annoying it clears out a whole bar, except for one drunken patron, who speaks in strange, archaic phrases. He gives McNulty his stopwatch, which stops time for everyone but the person using it, and McNulty thinks that he can use this power to get his old job back. The wheel of fortune never stops turning in the Twilight Zone, however, and a time-travel adventure gone wrong puts McNulty in his place when the watch breaks mid-stop, and our hero is left alone on Earth and frozen in time.
6Back There, S2E13
Following a hypothetical discussion about time travel, Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) slips a century backward in time. Finding himself in Washington just hours beforethe assassination of President Lincoln, Corrigan is desperate to thwart the infamous murder. Unfortunately, his pleas appear to fall on deaf ears. Is it really possible for a man to change the course of history, or are Corrigan’s efforts in vain?
Rod Serling’s script couples a literal race against time with themes of free will, predetermination, and destiny. Ultimately, “Back There” is a story about mankind’s general impotence when faced with the tides of time. However, as the episode’s climax shows, Corrigan’s intervention may have borne fruit, albeit in an unexpected and trivial way.
5The Rip Van Winkle Caper, S2E24
IMDb Rating: 7.6
After stealing a million dollars of gold bullion, a criminal gang engages in one ofThe Twilight Zone’s most elaborate methods of time travel. Hiding in a Death Valley cave, the crooks attempt to evade arrest by placing themselves in suspended animation for a century. Once the heat has died down, they will reawaken and be able toprofit from their audacious heist. Naturally, this bold plan is far from foolproof because not all criminals survive their one-way trip to the future.
A power struggle ensues between the remaining criminals, although the future isn’t quite what they expected. “The Rip Van Winkle Caper” has an ending that suitsThe Twilight Zone’s reputation for neatly ironic twists, plus a cameo from a retro-futuristic car borrowed from the 1956 movieForbidden Planet. If this episode has a moral, it is as follows: budding time travelers should be careful what they wish for, especially when moving throughThe Twilight Zone.
3The Odyssey Of Flight 33, S2E18
IMDb Rating: 7.8
No time travel series is complete without little plastic dinosaurs.Doctor Whofeatured them in 1974’s “Invasion of the Dinosaurs,” whileThe Twilight Zoneused the charming technique in 1961’s “The Odyssey of Flight 33.” While this filmmaking method is unlikely to convince modern CGI-savvy audiences, it enhances rather than detracts from Rod Serling’s tale of a passenger jet that zooms out of control and into the distant past.
Strong performances and true-to-life dialogue, thanks to Serling running the script past his brother, an aviation writer, make the episode one ofThe Twilight Zone’s most iconic installments. Viewers will root for the passengers and crew of the displaced Boeing 707 as it makes its troubled voyage through time. Dinosaurs are a classic trope of fantasy and science fiction, even if their inclusion doesn’t always result in a successful end product, but in the case of this episode, it’s safe to say that the series delivers.
