My Top 13 Favorite 1980's Twilight Zone Episodes

[@WookieeMonster1]

"Paladin of the Lost Hour", by far is my favorite. Heartwrenching, bittersweet, and (as you noted) the performance by Glynn Turman is utterly amazing. The ending frequently brings me to tears, and it's a great piece that shows this monumental trust (the titular "Lost Hour") whose safety hinges on the character of two strangers. It's an excellent story brought to life by two very good actors.

[@joseluisherreralepron9987]

Great video. I vividly remember watching "To See the Invisible Man" on TV one night while doing Geometry homework; I was a sophomore in high school. The other episode, a short one, that scared the hell out of me was one where two men go into what looks like a brownstone; a scientist had been working there on, I think, some kind of super food and when they ascend the elevator they walk into a sort of overgrown, fungal nightmare world...they go back down and the elevator goes up, comes down and there is what is implied to be a giant spider grabs them and you see their flashlight covered in blood. I just don't remember the name!

[@TheAdorkableRJ]

I believe the spider episode's title was ''The Elevator''.

[@joseluisherreralepron9987]

heh...thanks...pretty obvious, I guess...I need to look it up and see if it's around...@@TheAdorkableRJ

[@scotthewitt258]

Yes, that was "The Elevator" I'm pretty sure.

[@scotthewitt258]

"To See the Invisible Man" is so great. It and the Christmas episode of "Tales From the Darkside", "Season of Disbelief" tie for my favorite episode of all the anthology series.....

[@jimbear62]

Thank you, I couldn't remember what anthology series it was from. The two men were brothers and their father was a scientist, who had disappeared years before. They went to his underground laboratory . They find he was working on a growth serum. The giant spider in the elevator shaft was the result of it feeding on the dead lab animals. I remember the ending with the one brother getting into the elevator and the spider dropped down and grabbed him and the final shot was his flashlight hitting the ground and blood dripping on to it My apologies for being long winded

[@Aussie1276]

Terry Farrell and Andrew Robinson were also in the Hellraiser Film Franchise

[@samuelgates5935]

My favorite 80's Twilight Zone episodes. The Card, Acts of Terror, Aqua Vita, Examination Day😢, Nightcrawlers, Kentucky Rye, Need to Know, Button Button, A small talent of war, A little peace and quiet, I of Newton, The Elevator, Shelter Skelter. Honorable mentions. The Hellgrammite Method, The Hunters, Children's Zoo and A Day in Beaumont. I have the Box Set.

[@pamelahall517]

Thanks for your favorite list of 1980's TZ. It was a good show. My favorites from TZ1980 are: Dreams for Sale, Examination Day, But Can She Type, and After Hours.

[@kelleyceccato7025]

"I'm just a highly paid fashion model, but I've always wanted to be a secretary!" (But Can She Type? is awesome for that line alone.)

[@pamelahall517]

@@kelleyceccato7025 so true!

[@kristennelson3190]

I LOVE "Gramma"!!!! And it's never mentioned by Anyone, certainly not in a top episodes list. The original short story in "Night Shift" is creeeeppyy - one of the few stories that actually freaks me out (the short story "1408" is another). I'm so glad to see it on your list. Though I agree about the narration. Sometimes, it's just painful😆😆...

[@scotthewitt258]

Thank you!!!!! I was trying to remember what "To See the Invisible Man" was called and where it was from!!!!! One of my absolute favorites from ALL the anthology shows. And, yes. The uplifting final scene does hit the feels HARD.

[@michaelharrington7656]

Her Pilgrim Soul is a life changer.

[@princesscaroline198]

I absolutely LOVE the 80s TZ & wish more ppl would give it props. Invisible Man blew me away when I first saw it. A couple others I love that no one ever mentions is the one where the protagonist is a drunk businessman that dies in a drunken car crash & then is doomed to spend the afterlife in a bar that he purchased after he died. Also the one where the English language gradually changes & only one man seems to notice to the point that every existing word has a new meaning & he has to relearn how to speak

[@MisterTutor2010]

The Necronomicon is no scarier than a quantum mechanics textbook :)

[@scotthewitt258]

That eight year old little girl up to something.....

[@noka79]

currently half way through a 110 episode playlist of this show on here..love the80s version as it is very nostalgic for me. I used to catch an episode here and there growing up in the 80s.. Our local station showed them randomly, late at night. Absolutely love it ❤

[@FeverDreamlandTheater]

Hey AdorkableRJ! Awesome picks here with lots of variety. It's great to see some love for that 'After Hours' remake. I dug it too, it was much more about the general horror of that odd concept of mannequins coming to life. I agree, the alternate approach was interesting and the nightmare fuel gave the remake a unique spin. 'A Little Peace & Quiet' as you noted is just a fun watch and the twist ending is amazing. 'Profile in Silver' is top-notch as well. I don't want to spoil all of your choices here, but again, great list man. Be well! 🤜🤛

[@TheAdorkableRJ]

Funny timing, I was just watching your Critters 2 Review(which was great, by the way) a few minutes ago. Glad you enjoyed my list! You be well too!

[@starckie]

This is an excellent video. While I haven’t made a top 13 of the show, I’d bet 9 or 10 of my favorites are on your list. Especially like your inclusion of a Message from Charity, by far my favorite romantic episode of any TZ. I feel like Her Pilgrim Soul gets all the praise, but a Message from Charity is loads better in my opinion.

[@michaelmorgan7893]

Charles Aidman narrated the 80's TZ episodes. Charles Aidman was in two or three of the original series episodes, in the first season, he played an air force officer who thought he had came home with his crew, only to find his two buddies disappeared. Then in the second season, he was the neighbor in "Little Girl Lost" where he helped his neighbor get his daughter back from the other dimension.

[@ericdabronze151]

Imo, the 1959-1964 and 1985-1989 series was the best shows to bear The Twilight Zone name

[@MAXXWORX]

Ah, skipped 2 years and reached the 80s Twilight Zone Favorits. Very nice. Great picks again. The Private Channel episode, while you were talking i was thinking the same things you said later about the story, haven't seen it since the 90s, if at all, can't say for sure, that i saw it. But yes, this thing seems to work on the minimal level, and it is absolutely enough for entertainment. The two episodes that stuck with me the most from this era are the one with John Glover als Alien representative, that wants to destroy the world if the don't come to an agreement or something. All the nations come together and make a peace treaty, and he laughs in their faces... The other with with Adam Arkin, where he is stuck between time with his wife and those spandex characters build the next "scene in time" for usw... not sure how to describe it.

[@antonmassopust568]

Great video I also love the episode which was sort of like King Arthur I think you mentioned it Worcester Lancelot is forced to just wander the Earth

[@charlesbritzman501]

I never watched the revival series much, nor much of the Outer Limits reboot, because it’s just another marketing move that I’ve seen repeated all down thru my pre-internet career as a nerd (I’m 71) There’s a call for content and someone in a meeting snaps their fingers and yells,”I’ve got it ! A Twilight Zone reboot !” But still. I was impressed with the insight shown in your narration. I hope you pursue writing. BTW, one of your Honorable Mentions is close to MY heart, too : “Rendezvous In A Dark Place”

[@ryancoulter4797]

I've often wondered about this 80s series and Stephen King stories published after. He published The Langoliers four years after the 80s TZ aired A Matter Of Minutes about people stuck in between the past present and future, each minute being a seperate constructs. And then 11/22/63 about a guy who time travels to the Kennedy to era to follow and stop Oswald, becomes a hero and talks to JFK and Jackie, only for his history altering actions to have horrible consequences (which is also like a Red Dwarf episode).

[@gargoylestories]

This is a really interesting list. I haven't seen all of the 80's ones, so you gave me some ones to check out. Thanks!

[@007thematrix007]

".....in the twilight zone."

[@charlesvan13]

This was much better than that later 90s revival series.

[@TV-Tony]

Finally, a good 80s Twilight Zone series list. Only one missing IMO is Her Pilgrim Soul, but other than that damn strong list RJ. Liked and subscribed.

[@theanimationcommendation]

Great list! I recently finished this series after finishing the 60s series for the first time. Overall, I feel this series doesn't have a Twilight Zone-y feeling throughout its run, but there are a good number of episodes I like. I feel everyone will feel different about it as is evident in the fact that the only episode both you and I share in our top 13 is A Message from Charity, lol! My top 13 counting up to my #1 are: 13) Special Service 12) Button, Button 11) Children's Zoo 10) Grace Note 9) The Cold Equations 8) The Storyteller 7) Wordplay 6) Examination Day 5) Little Boy Lost 4) Her Pilgrim Soul 3) Shadow Play 2) A Message from Charity 1) The Call

[@giarhymes4461]

I really used to come on Channel 9 when I was a kid in 89

[@devastator5607]

Doeth!!! 😂😂😂 i remember that Simpsons episode,

[@jphilb]

A message from Charity and The Star were my favorites. And I saw these when they came out. This series was so much better than the 2019 reboot. Could not even finish watching that one.

[@romeoalpha68]

I know this is just your opinion but the Episode Nightcrawlers by Robert R McCammon is IMO the best Episode of the 1980s Twilight Zone . McCammon is a pretty damn good author too . Several of his novels are best sellers .

[@johnporter9073]

Swan Song is a classic from him.

[@antonmassopust568]

Great video just a little peace and quiet also starred the same woman that was in the mom and the Christmas story

[@Anon26535]

Help, I'm stepping into the Twilight Zone Stuck here in this house With a dead old crone The UN met with arms dealers from the stars I made the Shadow Man kill, now have I gone too far? Soon you will come to know When the rotor hits the bone Soon you will come to know When they let Landis go home

[@TheMikester307]

OMG! "Private Cannel" was one of my favorites! Saw it first-run!

[@kelleyceccato7025]

"A Message from Charity" is a beautiful love story; the only flaw I can find in it is Charity's very 1980s hair, which a Puritan bonnet can't disguise. I've always had a preference for the more poignant Twilight Zone episodes over the more disturbing and cynical ones (hence my fondness for the original series' "Walking Distance," "Changing of the Guard," and "The Trade-Ins"), so I'm glad to see the recognition for both "Charity" and "Paladin of the Lost Hour."

[@redskinStu]

shadow play was brilliantly done

[@natehardy3311]

Watching Halloween 2024

[@TheMikester307]

Abso-bleeping loved "Profile In Silver!" I will say the very, very ending is a kicker that i didn't see coming! Even though I speak a little Chinese!

[@Ravangers]

nice, I gotta watch through the 80s version sometime, seen the original way too many times lol

[@benderbendingrodriguez420]

Great list!

[@goldenboy82]

One of my favorites "A Message from Charity" made the list. Great story.

[@TheMikester307]

And I loved "A Message From Charity." I read it in High School about ten years before they made this---and i saw a movie they made of it a year or so later!

[@g.mitchell7110]

"The Cold Equations" is by far my favorite 80s era Twilight Zone episode. "To See the Invisible Man" is a close second, and "A Small Talent for War" comes in third, if only for being a faithful adaptation of one of my favorite short stories.

[@leastlikedcritic7529]

Gramma should have been a Tales from the Darkside episode.

[@ClutchCargo001]

To this day, To See the Invisible Man still makes me tear up a bit. And I of Newton is, indeed, funny as hell. (See what I did there?) I'm a bit surprised neither Button, Button, Dead Run nor A Small Talent for War made this list. But it speaks well of the series that different episodes speak strongly to different people. I think Serling would give the series a thumbs up. Sadly, the 2019 TZ is borderline unwarchable.

[@dimebagdave77]

I highly recommend J.D.'s Revenge, many thanks!

[@90hatter90]

There is an episode I seen as a kid that I somewhat recall the premise of but don’t remember the show it come from . I’m not sure if it was Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits or just some other show like these. All i remember is a man taking his daughter to a doctor because she wasn’t acting right nor feeling well. He was told to remain in the waiting room while the doctor helped the little girl. The father heard constant screams and yells coming from the room and couldn’t take it anymore and burst it in to see the doctor pulling or trying to pull some kind of mucus looking booger monster out of the girls body. Idk what the monster thing was but it wasn’t completely out of the girl and when the father burst it in it made the doctor lose concentration, got distracted and the monster booger thing went back inside the girl so the father helped the doctor afterwards to extract the mucus monster. I wish i could know which show it was and the title so I could look it up and watch it again.

[@cleverlydevisedmyth]

because the boy in "Gramma" is Bastian Bux, I imagine that somehow then the Necronomicon is also the Never-ending Story. LOL

[@cleverlydevisedmyth]

that would mean Falcor is a Great Old One!

[@MsBackstager]

Anything with the JFK assassination still fascinates me.

[@scotthewitt258]

The Stephen King story about the guy who time travels to try and save Kennedy is good, as well. And explores similar themes. Most people do not realize we came very close to Armageddon at least once during his presidency. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, aircraft carriers in the exclusion zone actually had A-4s on the flight deck, with "special ordnance" on the pylons and arming kits at hand......

[@vickiwhite7748]

My favorite 80's episodes are Button, Button, The Children's Zoo, Shadowman and The Card Game.

[@LoafRock]

Morgan Freeman was already a household name at that time. He was the Easy Reader on the Electric Company & had been nominated for an Academy Award.

[@AnthonyMason-ur8zw]

A little piece and Quiet was the 80 remake of a Kind Of A StopWatch( A powerful classic).❤❤❤😮

[@weegie18]

The fantastic Melinda Dillon in #10. Reprising her role ad harried housewife from A Christmas Story

[@devastator5607]

In the Morgan Freeman episode the devil dude and the other guy playing card were in that Coen brothers 80s movie Blood Simple 😅

[@jjmfrees]

Awe man…no mention at all of my favorite episode-A Small Talent For War

[@boomieboo]

One of the actresses in the first episode you mentioned plays Elvira.

[@chamilton4577]

No, Ann Wedgeworth is not Cassandra Peterson.

[@billblaski9523]

My dude hasnt uploaded in 2 years and just decided to upload a new video out on nowhere

[@DGemme1000]

I remember Grandma being quiet. Maybe, someone put that in after.

[@meimei8718]

Good video

[@TheAdorkableRJ]

@@meimei8718 Thanks!

[@mummra7]

the elevator. quick and to the point.

[@susandaniels9733]

And yes Peter is another star trek alum.

[@sallykohorst8803]

I never saw these shows.

[@sird2333]

The Control Voice was the Host of the New Twilight Zone.

[@IamSimonForReal]

Is there anywhere I can watch this series?

[@pyenapple]

Re: the blindness. They might’ve found the equating of blindness itself with selfishness grotesque. There’s no need to make blind people feel worse about lacking a sense the non-blind have. It could be as simple as a sensitivity to that among the showrunning staff.

[@jeanines_channel3246]

Shadow man is awesome, but I thought the end was bogus.

[@tikielvis]

The Bradbury giant spider one wasn't good, but super creepy.

[@66cuda]

The 80's game pf pool did piss me off, i loved the original

[@cherylcampbell9369]

No It's Still A Good Life? I would mention an omission of Sand Kings, but it botches up G.R.R. Martin's story so badly, that it's almost laughable. Even Beau and Lloyd Bridges, and Helen Shaver couldn't save it. I guess it's ok, if a person isn't familiar with the original story (which is awesome).

[@TheAdorkableRJ]

@cherylcampbell9369 It's Still A Good Life is from the short-lived 2002 Twilight Zone series, not the 80's series. And Sand Kings was the premiere episode of the 1995 Outer Limits series.

[@Jimmersaunt]

Button,Button and Examination Day.

[@nealrepetti2396]

There were a couple of good episodes but, it was nothing like the original.

[@OconByrd519]

Good video, thanks for posting. Nothing personal, but you sound a lot like Ben Shapiro.

[@rjdub8455]

Too young

[@fluffygonzo7358]

A task the demon can’t complete Ask it to accept Jesus Christ as its lord and savior.

[@sumthingwikked4257]

It would, but point out the logic in accepting without viable proof in this day and age a lord and savior long dead, thus making that order pointless.

[@Astianax27]

Loved « Wordplay » in this series for some reason.