The Forgotten Twilight Zone Reboot That’s Just As Good As The Original

The Twilight Zone is one of those shows that invites imitation. From The Outer Limits to Black Mirror, countless sci-fi/horror anthologies have taken the show’s twist-ending format and tweaked it just enough to make it their own. So it should come as no surprise that a few of those copycat series have been reboots of The Twilight Zone itself. What is surprising is that the best of these reboots, the one that comes the closest to capturing the true spirit of the original Twilight Zone, is also the most forgotten. A series that doesn’t exist in HD, isn’t streaming anywhere, and anyone Gen Z or younger has probably never heard of. We are talking, of course, about the ’80s revival of The Twilight Zone.

Unlike the most recent Twilight Zone reboot spearheaded by Jordan Peele, the ’80s series didn’t try to use fan nostalgia for the original to sell itself. Right from the jump, the ’80s Zone established that it was its own beast with a brand new logo and a new theme (written by the Grateful Dead of all bands). But if you’re picturing an edgy, in-your-face Twilight Zone for the MTV generation, you won’t find it here.

The ’80s Twilight Zone Recruited Icons of the Era

Instead, the ’80s Twilight Zone hewed close to the original in tone but presented new stories written by some of the most esteemed science-fiction authors of the day — writers such as Harlan Ellison and a pre-Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin contributed to it. On top of that, many of these brand-new detours into the Twilight Zone were brought to life by legendary directors from he film world, including Scream‘s Wes Craven and The Exorcist auteur William Friedkin. Whatever your opinion of the ’80s reboot, The Twilight Zone certainly had an impressive pedigree.

The new Twilight Zone debuted in 1985 with Shatterday, a story written by Ellison, directed by Craven, and starring Bruce Willis. The chilling tale about a man who accidentally dials his own telephone number and calls an alternate version of himself set a precedent for the series that most episodes, though admittedly not all, lived up to. Further episodes in the show’s first season boasted stories by Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, acted out by stars like Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Martin Landau, Danny Kaye, Jonathan Frakes, Frances McDormand, and Adrienne Barbeau, among others.

Some of the series highlights include “A Small Talent for War,” about an alien race that threatens to destroy Earth based on humanity’s violent tendencies — or lack thereof — and “Gramma,” a Lovecraftian fever dream and one of the better Stephen King adaptations. While the series did adapt a handful of episodes from the original Twilight Zone, it never went for the obvious homeruns like “To Serve Man” or “Time Enough at Last” instead preferring to put its own spin on lesser known gems like the gender-swapped “Dead Woman’s Shoes,” an adaptation of “Dead Man’s Shoes” starring Helen Mirren.

The ’80s Twilight Zone Evaded Cancellation for Years

The series ran on CBS for two seasons, with a third Canadian-produced season created solely to beef up the number of episodes for syndication. Throughout its short run, the series was plagued by timeslot and format changes that made it hard for The Twilight Zone to maintain an audience. Ultimately, however, The Twilight Zone failed for exactly the same reason the original Star Trek did, the audience for social commentary told through thoughtful science fiction is only so big.

Even the original Twilight Zone wasn’t the runaway hit that CBS wanted it to be. The network tried to cancel the show twice during its initial run, and finally, after five seasons, they succeeded. If the original Twilight Zone was cancelled for low ratings, what hope did the revival have?

Sadly, as we mentioned above, the ’80s iteration of The Twilight Zone isn’t available to stream anywhere online and probably won’t be any time soon. A combination of poor picture quality — the series was shot on film but converted to video for editing purposes — and lack of interest has damned the series to a life of obscurity. There are still a few ways to watch it, though.

The complete series is available on DVD for around $30, though unfortunately, the transfers suffer from the aforementioned poor picture quality, and the special features are sparse. Still, if you have any nostalgia whatsoever for VHS, the picture quality shouldn’t be a dealbreaker.

However, if you’re curious about checking out the ’80s Twilight Zone revival, there is an even cheaper method: YouTube. Several channels have uploaded the entire series, though we can’t vouch for their quality; chances are, it’s not much worse than the DVDs. If you’re a fan of the original Twilight Zone, we highly recommend watching the ’80s reboot, and if you do, let us know what you think in the comments.