4 Episodes of The Twilight Zone That Need a Modern Reboot

The Twilight Zone has been getting the remake treatment for decades now. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” showed up in the 1983 movie and got another go in Jordan Peele’s 2019 series. “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” was reworked for the 2002 revival. “Eye of the Beholder” has been referenced and remade so many times you’d think it was Rod Serling’s magnum opus. But plenty of classics from the original run have been sitting on the shelf for far too long.

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It’s a shame so many great episodes are gathering dust, because some themes Serling explored, like tech turning against us, social isolation, and nostalgia, are things we’re now reckoning with daily. Additionally, major advancements in special effects have been made since the 60s, and it would be incredible to see these stories given a contemporary facelift. Thankfully, whispers about a Ben Stiller Twilight Zone reboot film are already floating around Warner Bros., but whether they will include the following episodes remains a mystery.

4) “The Invaders”

Agnes Moorehead delivered a gripping performance in this nearly dialogue-free Season 2 episode about a woman defending her isolated home from tiny alien invaders. The twist ending reveals that she’s actually a giant alien, and the “invaders” are human astronauts from Earth. It’s a fantastic bait-and-switch that uses our own incorrect assumptions against us, and it would greatly benefit from a modern reimaging.

The original episode relied on miniatures and forced-perspective shots that still hold up for the most part, although they may now seem a little dated. A modern version could use a combo approach, capturing in-camera FX and blending them seamlessly with digital tools. It might help to make the invaders feel genuinely threatening instead of funny or adorable.

Following Serling’s lead, a modern reboot might also take the themes of xenophobia and probe them further by once again flipping the script on who we consider the “other.” The original’s message could be updated to reflect cultural invasion fears. And as modern acting techniques have also evolved, a recast would likely bring a sense of hyper-realism to the lead role, evoking the isolation of the modern world.

3) “Living Doll”

Telly Savalas played a stepfather tormented by his stepdaughter’s talking doll named Talky Tina, one of the best TZ monsters, who eventually kills him in this Season 5 episode. The OG story tapped into fears about tech becoming too lifelike as well as the breakdown of family dynamics. But imagine this concept updated for the age of chatbot therapy and smart refrigerators. The original doll is still creepy in a mid-century way, but modern toy design could take this concept from campy to genuinely disturbing.

In order to keep the reboot from becoming M3GAN 3.0, the updated Twilight Zone version would need to play up on a unique angle: Talky Tina isn’t programmed to be protective, necessarily. She responds to a child’s emotions, resentment, and all, then acts on them. A modern version could be a learning algorithmic doll that is trained on the whims and petty complaints of a child. Perhaps a Squishmallow with embedded AI, one that is a master manipulator.

The toy could then start learning the family’s patterns, picking up on tensions between the stepparent and child, and puppeteering dangerous situations. The episode could explore how AI might influence, reflect, or reinforce a child’s negative view of the world. It’s the perfect time and theme to examine our relationship with technology and the implications we don’t yet fully understand.

2) “Time Enough at Last”

Burgess Meredith’s bank teller, Henry Bemis, survives a nuclear apocalypse and finally has all the time in the world to read all the books he wants. Until his glasses break in the final twist, leaving him helpless and alone. It’s a Season 1 fan favorite that concludes with one of the most tragic and yet somehow slightly funny Twilight Zone endings of all time. But in today’s reality, where we’re overworked and constantly inundated with annoying media we didn’t necessarily choose to see, don’t we all just want a little extra time to unplug?

The irony of a character who is annoyed with the constant barrage of media finally getting a chance to read a good old-fashioned book would be pretty relatable. The cruel twist could remain a classic spin on the broken glasses, or could involve the hero realizing they’ve literally lost their ability to read after years of digital overload, playing more like a cautionary Black Mirror episode.

Instead of a simple “careful what you wish for” tale, the update would look closer at our digital dependencies and what happens when we lose touch with the tangible aspects of our lives. Nuclear destruction is still a fear living in many people’s minds, but the writers could take their pick of any impending apocalypse scenario: pandemic, water wars, meteor, natural disaster, AI takeover… You get the idea.

1) “Walking Distance”

In one of Serling’s most personal episodes, a weary advertising exec named Martin Sloan stumbles back into his childhood hometown, only to realize he’s traveled into the past. Unlike the others on this list, it’s a profoundly human story and universal journey of the ache for simpler times, and the painful truth that you can’t really go home again.

A modern version of this story could take many forms, but the only way it would work is if another talented writer were willing to probe their own pasts and display the same vulnerability as Serling. Instead of a carousel and soda shop, we might get a man stepping into an abandoned shopping mall, only to find it bustling again with the life he remembers from his youth. Many of us today are waist-deep in nostalgia, living with a romanticized view of the past, which would make the core of this story extremely potent.

At the same time, it’s hard to imagine any update capturing the same stunning melancholy of the original. Serling’s script is tender, haunting, and timeless in its exploration of longing for lost innocence. “Walking Distance” is often ranked among the best Twilight Zone episodes of all time, and there’s certainly a case to be made for leaving it alone. However, I think that if someone were to approach it with the same care as Serling, in honor of his legacy, it just might be brilliant.

Would you watch Ben Stiller’s version of these episodes? Let us know in the comments below.