The Twilight Zone is an American
television anthology series created by
Rod Serling. It is a series of unrelated stories containing
drama,
psychological thriller,
fantasy,
science fiction,
suspense, and/or
horror, often concluding with a
macabre or
unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common
science fiction and
fantasy tropes. The program followed in the tradition of earlier shows such as
Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53), which also dramatized the short story "
What You Need", and
Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57), and radio programs such as
The Weird Circle,
Dimension X, and
X Minus One, and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations,
Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to
a feature film, a
radio series, a
comic book, a magazine, and various other
spin-offs that spanned five decades, including two "revival" television series. The first ran on
CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, the second ran on
UPN from 2002 to 2003. In 2013,
TV Guide ranked it #5 in its list of the 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.