
The enduring popularity of the concept has also allowed several continuations of its own.

HOW MUCH EPISODES IN NIGHTMARE TEACHER TV
Since the original came to an end in 1964, fans have debated the best The Twilight Zone episodes (with worst Twilight Zone episodes largely ignored in syndication or TV marathons).
HOW MUCH EPISODES IN NIGHTMARE TEACHER SERIES
For instance, its first copycat, The Outer Limits, was so successful its own right that it already enjoyed a seven-season reboot in the 1990s, and it would be impossible to imagine the popular Black Mirror series without The Twilight Zone’s influence.

Perhaps the only detriment to being a hardcore Twilight Zone fan is the knowledge that even the most “original” high-concept movie, TV series, or novel can often be traced back to at least one episode of the series, which premiered in 1959: After all, its central themes-fear, paranoia, prejudice, greed, ego, and so on-are timeless. This made certain that “genre” fare could no longer be dismissed as mere child’s play.

In the introduction to his invaluable book The Twilight Zone Companion, Marc Scott Zicree calls Rod Serling’s game-changer a “flower booming in a television desert.” It’s hard to overstate the series’ impact on our understanding of TV’s potential for telling bold, complex stories, not to mention the genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy: In addition to defining the anthology series form, top Twilight Zone episodes embody Serling’s vision for weekly short stories with complex moral and existential quandaries.
