The Twilight Zone (2019 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series developed by Simon Kinberg, Jordan Peele, and Marco Ramirez, based on the original 1959 television series created by Rod Serling. Peele serves as narrator, in addition to executive producing through Monkeypaw Productions. The weekly series premiered on April 1, 2019, on CBS All Access, and was renewed for a second season halfway through its first set of 10 episodes. The second season was released in its entirety on June 25, 2020. In February 2021, the producers announced the series would not return for additional seasons.

The Twilight Zone
Genre	Anthology Drama Fantasy Horror Science fiction Thriller
Created by	Rod Serling
Developed by	Simon Kinberg Jordan Peele Marco Ramirez
Narrated by	Jordan Peele
Theme music composer	Marius Constant
Composer	Marco Beltrami & Brandon Roberts
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Simon Kinberg Jordan Peele Win Rosenfeld Audrey Chon Carolyn Serling Rick Berg Greg Yaitanes Glen Morgan
Production locations	Vancouver, British Columbia
Cinematography	Mathias Herndl Craig Wrobleski
Editor	Scott Turner
Running time	31–56 minutes
Production companies	CBS Television Studios Monkeypaw Productions Genre Films
Original release
Network	CBS All Access
Release	April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01) – June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
Related
The Twilight Zone (1959–64) The Twilight Zone (1985–89) The Twilight Zone (2002–03)

Production

Background

As in the original series, each episode in this incarnation of The Twilight Zone deals with a different topic, addressing such subjects as supernatural occurrences, racism, social issues, misinformation in the press, alien invasions, and immigration, with an unusual and an unexpected twist in each program. Notable episodes include Sanaa Lathan as a woman who discovers that her camcorder can turn back time, Chris O'Dowd as an anthropologist who studies a strange gun, Morena Baccarin as a hotel manager who finds everyone around her standing still, and Damon Wayans Jr. as a church handyman who finds that he can change his town by manipulating a smaller model of it. John Larroquette, Donna Dixon, Eric Keenleyside, Kristin Lehman, Ryan Robbins, Peter Kelamis, Ethan Embry, Gil Bellows, and George Takei also worked in these two seasons of the Twilight Zone.

In addition to increasing the altitude, "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" follows a path that is different from that of the iconic 1963 episode starring William Shatner, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". The 2019 episode "You Might Also Like" is connected with the classic episode "To Serve Man". "Blurryman" is a metafictional episode in which Mark Silverman reprises his impersonation of Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Disney attraction. Previous Twilight Zone series had episodes with metafictional elements, notably the original series episode "A World of His Own", where the main character interacts with Serling, and the 1980s revival series episode "Personal Demons", in which Martin Balsam portrays a fictional version of the episode's writer.

Development

In December 2012, it was announced that Bryan Singer had finalized a deal to develop, executive produce, and potentially direct a third revival of The Twilight Zone for CBS Television Studios. At the time of the announcement, the production had yet to hire a writer, begun being shopped to networks and was still finalizing a deal with the Serling estate. On March 7, 2013, it was reported that a writer was in negotiations to join the series. By 2016, Simon Kinberg and Craig Sweeny had joined the production and CBS was weighing whether to shop the project to other networks or streaming services or to place it on their own CBS All Access. Kinberg eventually left the project to write and direct the film Dark Phoenix and Singer and Sweeny soon dropped out as well.

On November 2, 2017, it was announced that CBS was redeveloping the revival for their streaming service CBS All Access. Additionally, it was reported that Jordan Peele was in talks to executive produce the series through his production company Monkeypaw Productions and that Marco Ramirez was in talks to serve as showrunner. On December 6, 2017, it was announced that CBS had given the production a series order. Peele and Ramirez were confirmed to executive produce alongside Simon Kinberg, Win Rosenfeld, Audrey Chon, Carolyn Serling, and Rick Berg. Peele, Ramirez, and Kinberg were also set to collaborate on the series' premiere episode. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of CBS Television Studios, Monkeypaw Productions, and Genre Films.

On August 6, 2018, it was confirmed that the first season would consist of ten episodes. Additionally, it was reported that the production had established a writers' room and completed concepts, outlines, and scripts for the first season in various stages of development. The series was not planned to have a formal showrunner but director Greg Yaitanes was set to be in charge of overseeing continuity among episodes. On September 20, 2018, it was announced that, in addition to executive producing, Peele would serve as the series' narrator and host. On October 2, 2018, it was announced via a promotional video for the series that Gerard McMurray was directing an episode with Mathias Herndl serving as his director of photography. On November 15, 2018, it was reported that Alex Rubens would write an episode of the series.

On April 29, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. In January 2020, CBS All Access revealed episode information on six of the ten episodes of the second season. In May 2020, information on the final four episodes of the season were revealed. On February 24, 2021, CBS All Access announced the series would be ending after two seasons; Peele and Kinberg's companies released a joint statement indicating that although All Access (rebranded as Paramount+) wanted the series to continue, it was "our decision" and that they had "told the stories that we wanted to tell".

Casting

In October 2018, the production company announced that Sanaa Lathan and Adam Scott had been cast in episode-starring roles; Lathan would appear in an episode titled "Rewind" and Scott in an episode titled "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", a remake of the original series episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". In November, Kumail Nanjiani was announced in an episode-starring role. In December, John Cho, Allison Tolman, Jacob Tremblay, Erica Tremblay, Steven Yeun, and Greg Kinnear were announced: Cho, Tolman, and the Tremblays for roles in an episode titled "The Wunderkind", and Yeun and Kinnear in "The Traveler" (broadcast as "A Traveler"). In January 2019, DeWanda Wise, Jessica Williams, Lucinda Dryzek, Jefferson White, Jonathan Whitesell, Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Luke Kirby, Ike Barinholtz, and Percy Hynes White were announced: Wise, Williams, Dryzek, White, and Whitesell would appear in one episode, while Farmiga, Seehorn, Kirby, Barinholtz, and Hynes-White would be featured in another. In February, Ginnifer Goodwin, James Frain, and Zabryna Guevara were announced as cast for "Point of Origin". The full trailer revealed that Tracy Morgan, Glenn Fleshler and Chris Diamantopoulos would make guest appearances. It was revealed through the official Twitter page that Seth Rogen would appear in an episode. In March, the casting of Zazie Beetz and Betty Gabriel for one episode was announced, while Chris O'Dowd and Amy Landecker would appear in "The Blue Scorpion". Damson Idris was then announced to appear in "Replay", the episode previously titled "Rewind".

In January 2020, several cast members for the second season were announced, which included: Morena Baccarin, Tony Hale, Billy Porter, Christopher Meloni, Joel McHale, Jimmi Simpson and Gillian Jacobs. In May 2020, another round of castings were revealed, which included: Topher Grace, Jurnee Smollett and Damon Wayans Jr.

Filming

Principal photography for season one began on October 1, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and concluded on March 20, 2019. The producers chose to make the series in color instead of black and white. Executive producer Simon Kinberg stated that the team "wanted to do something to honor the essence and sensibility and style of the original without going so overboard that we were doing a karaoke version of the original." However, the series was also made available to watch in black and white. For the opening sequence, executive producer Simon Kinberg stated that imagery was chosen that reflected the original television series, something used in place of a black-and-white color scheme. Filming for the second season commenced from October 6, 2019, to March 16, 2020, in Vancouver.

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	10		April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01)	May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30)
2	10		June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Comedian"	Owen Harris	Alex Rubens	April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01)
Struggling stand-up comedian Samir Wassan meets legendary comic J.C. Wheeler, who advises him to include personal material in his routines. After doing a successful routine centered around his dog, Samir returns home and discovers that not only did his dog vanish, but no one seems to remember that it ever existed. He then learns that jokes about the people in his life get laughs but cause them to disappear from existence. After accidentally erasing his nephew, Samir starts erasing people he thinks the world would be better off without, such as a brash comedian who killed two people in a drunk driving incident. He erases his girlfriend Rena's mentor (a relationship he is jealous of), causing her to change from a successful lawyer to a struggling waitress. After another encounter with Wheeler, Samir continues abusing his power, going so far as erasing Didi, a friendly rival comedian. Rena confronts him during a set about his journal containing names of those he's erased. Realizing what he has done, Samir erases himself from existence, causing everyone previously erased to exist again. Now a rising star, Didi meets Wheeler following a set and asks for his advice as Samir appears on an audience member mural. Cast : Kumail Nanjiani, Amara Karan, Diarra Kilpatrick, Ryan Robbins, Tracy Morgan
2	2	"Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"	Greg Yaitanes	Story by : Simon Kinberg, Jordan Peele and Marco Ramirez Teleplay by : Marco Ramirez Based on "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" by : Richard Matheson	April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01)
After accepting a job offer, PTSD-afflicted journalist Justin Sanderson boards Northern Goldstar Airlines Flight 1015. He discovers an MP3 player in his seat pocket and finds it contains a podcast about "the mystery of Northern Goldstar Flight 1015", which disappeared an hour into the flight. As the podcast accurately describes the progressing flight, Justin juggles control of his nerves and confides in Joe Beaumont, a former pilot who lost his job for crashing a previous airplane and seems to be the only person who takes him seriously. Justin tries using clues from the podcast to avert the disaster, but every attempt results in increasing irritation and suspicion towards him. Joe offers to take control of the plane but doesn't know the access code; Justin guesses that it is "1015", coincidentally the same code as when the flight took off. But after Joe overpowers the pilots and takes control of the plane, Justin realizes from the podcast that Joe is the one responsible for the crash. Joe then finishes his conversation with air traffic control before letting go of the yoke, letting the plane fly aimlessly as passengers have fallen asleep due to lack of oxygen. Justin awakens on an atoll the following day. Justin learns via the podcast's next episode that everyone survived the crash, and they were rescued months later, except for him. The other survivors appear, surround him, and begin to beat him to death as he protests that he was trying to save them. Cast : Adam Scott, Chris Diamantopoulos, Dan Carlin, Katie Findlay, Nicholas Lea
3	3	"Replay"	Gerard McMurray	Selwyn Seyfu Hinds	April 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
While at a roadside diner with her college-bound son Dorian, Nina Harrison discovers that her old family camcorder has the power to turn back time when she presses the rewind button and that she is the only one aware of it. A racist state trooper notices them at the diner and later pulls them over for speeding and becoming violent with them. Nina rewinds time and convinces Dorian to pull over before stopping, but Officer Lasky instead menaces them for not pulling over properly. Nina repeatedly attempts to change events. They try taking a different route and stopping at a motel, where Dorian muses about fate before Lasky shows up to menace them. She goes back and tries to befriend Lasky at the diner, but this ends with Lasky shooting Dorian. Setting aside her fierce independence, Nina detours to enlist the help of her estranged brother Neil, who helps her get Dorian safely to his HBCU campus. Lasky arrives with a group of state troopers, but Nina, Neil, and the students stand their ground and record them, prompting Lasky to leave reluctantly. Ten years later, Dorian has become a father, and Nina holds onto the camcorder for security. Dorian's daughter Trinity accidentally breaks the camcorder, and Dorian persuades Nina to let go of it. Nina and Trinity watch him go as he leaves to get ice cream. Nina holds a foreboding look in her face while red and blue flashes. The sounds of a police siren are heard as the screen cuts to black. Cast : Sanaa Lathan, Damson Idris, Glenn Fleshler, Steve Harris
4	4	"A Traveler"	Ana Lily Amirpour	Glen Morgan	April 18, 2019 (2019-04-18)
Alaska police sergeant Yuka Mongoyak has arrested her brother Jack to be the annual recipient of a ceremonial "pardon" from captain Lane Pendleton at his Christmas party, which she, as an Alaskan native, hates. At the height of the festivities, Yuka discovers another inmate has mysteriously appeared in the station's holding cells. His name is "legally" A. Traveler, and he claims he is an extreme tourist who has heard of Pendleton's YouTube-famous Christmas parties. As Traveler becomes friendly with the guests, Yuka grows increasingly suspicious. Pendleton grows suspicious when Traveler reveals information he would have no way of knowing about the townspeople at the party. When Yuka, Jack, and Pendleton glimpse antennas on Traveler's head, Traveler deflects their suspicions by claiming Pendleton is in league with the Russians. Pendleton then leaves to check on the shed that links the town's power with the nearby Air Force base, while Traveler promises Yuka that she will be in charge when "my people" take over. Yuka stops Pendleton and holds him at gunpoint at the power shed as they witness UFOs descend from the sky. Jack shares a piece of pie with Traveler at the station, now in his proper alien form. Cast : Steven Yeun, Marika Sila, Patrick Gallagher, Eric Keenleyside, Andrew Kavadas, Gail Maurice, Greg Kinnear
5	5	"The Wunderkind"	Richard Shepard	Andrew Guest	April 25, 2019 (2019-04-25)
Campaign manager Raff Hanks finds himself in a hospital and recounts the events leading to his hospitalization to a hospital attendant. Years earlier, Raff considered himself a wunderkind and had been a successful campaign manager. However, Raff's career is ruined after he and his partner Maura fail to get then-sitting and unpopular President of the United States James Stevens reelected. While at the bar years later, Raff spots a news about eleven-year-old YouTube star Oliver Foley announcing his candidacy for President. Seizing the opportunity to redeem himself, Raff convinces Oliver's parents about having him run. While the public supports Oliver, he struggles to answer current issues and humiliates himself during a debate. Raff then establishes Oliver's campaign around family after learning his dog is dying of cancer, resulting in Oliver winning the Iowa caucus and subsequently becoming President. Oliver takes control of the White House, prompting Raff to regret his actions. When Oliver catches wind of Raff's "treason", he reveals he lied about his dog dying to get votes before convincing the Secret Service to shoot Raff. In the present, Raff learns from the attendant that the surgeon operating on him is an apathetic child due to Oliver having passed a law forbidding old doctors. Cast : John Cho, Jacob Tremblay, Allison Tolman, Kimberley Sustad, Lane Edwards, Erica Tremblay, John Larroquette
6	6	"Six Degrees of Freedom"	Jakob Verbruggen	Heather Anne Campbell and Glen Morgan	May 2, 2019 (2019-05-02)
The crew of the Bradbury spacecraft, led by Alexa Brandt, decide to head for the planet Mars after nuclear war breaks out on Earth. The crew members soon begin to turn on one another, despite Brandt's attempts to convince them to come together under times of stress. However, she too begins to break, devastating fellow crew member Katherine Langford. Another crewman, Jerry Pierson, goes crazy and starts rambling paranoia to the disbelief of other crew members. Later on, he goes out of the airlock and is evidently killed. The crew successfully lands on Mars. Later evidence reveals that aliens had taken Jerry and that his paranoia was vindicated: aliens have been monitoring the team, trying to determine if they are worth saving to pass through the Great Filter. Cast : DeWanda Wise, Jessica Williams, Jefferson White, Lucinda Dryzek, Jonathan Whitesell
7	7	"Not All Men"	Christina Choe	Heather Anne Campbell	May 9, 2019 (2019-05-09)
Annie Miller is invited by her co-worker Dylan to watch a meteor shower. Dylan picks up one of the meteorites during the event, causing his attitude to change. After Annie leaves early, she witnesses Dylan destroy his record player. The next day, Annie visits her sister Martha who is celebrating her birthday with her husband Mike, nephew Cole, and Phil. Annie witnesses the men around town behaving more violently as the day progresses, culminating in Mike killing a man who followed her and Martha home from a bar. When they meet up with Cole, who seems unaffected, Dylan appears and tries to strangle Annie before she gets free and knocks him back. Annie, Martha, and Cole are later rescued and taken to a quarantine center, where they learn that a virus had infected the town's water supply and affected almost all of the men. Even though he had one of the meteors in his pocket, Cole was healthy, as he could control his rage and revealed that the meteorites were just a placebo for the men's violent behaviors. The three are eventually allowed to leave as the news blames the incident on road rage and late-night crime sprees. Cast : Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Percy Hynes White, Luke Kirby, Peter Kelamis, Ike Barinholtz
8	8	"Point of Origin"	Mathias Herndl	John Griffin	May 16, 2019 (2019-05-16)
Wealthy socialite Eve Martin is approached by her Guatemalan housekeeper and nanny Anna Fuentes asking if her grandson can use her address to attend a charter school in that district. Eve agrees while preparing a party for new parents. However, Anna is taken by ICE. While shopping with her daughters, Eve finds that her credit cards declined. In the parking lot, they are picked up by HSI. Agent Allandale interrogates her and her husband, William. Her family is released, but Eve remains in HSI custody so Allandale can determine her origin. Eve is subjected to a machine that creates a false illusion that HSI later released her and a ruined world. Eve is shocked to discover that she is an illegal alien from another dimension. Eve and Anna formulate an escape plan as they dodge HSI agents. While Anna flees in a different direction, Eve heads home, where William says she can't be here. Agent Allandale arrives with the HSI agents. When Eve tells him to get out of her home, Allandale tells her to get out of "his home". Eve is taken away by the HSI for reimprisonment as William sheds a tear. Her removal is seen by the arriving new parents. Cast : Ginnifer Goodwin, James Frain, Toby Levins, Zabryna Guevara, Karin Konoval, Michael Eklund, Robert Mann
9	9	"The Blue Scorpion"	Craig William Macneill	Glen Morgan	May 23, 2019 (2019-05-23)
Depressed anthropology professor Jeff Storck is about to divorce from his wife despite his pleas for counseling. On top of that, he finds that his father has apparently committed suicide. While in his dad’s house, he finds a gun called the Blue Scorpion with a bullet with his name on it. At the funeral, Jeff questions why his father would kill himself. With all that's going on in his life, Jeff contemplates killing himself with the gun after testing it at a gun range. Meanwhile, Jeff’s estranged wife has begun seeing another man, also named Jeff, which gets Jeff to thinking about killing the man due to his feelings for his wife. Jeff goes to her house, intending to shoot his wife’s boyfriend. While parked in front of her house, he is attacked in his car by a stranger. Jeff manages to shoot the man, also named Jeff, and learns he was responsible for several break-ins in the area. In the aftermath of this, and after being praised for stopping the burglar, Jeff decides to rid himself of the gun that has caused him his misfortune. He throws it into the lake and leaves. Later, the gun is found by two kids with the bullet now reading the name "Kyle" after the kid who picked it up. Cast : Chris O'Dowd, Amy Landecker, Alex Diakun, James Morrison, Adam Korson, Luisa D'Oliveira
10	10	"Blurryman"	Simon Kinberg	Alex Rubens	May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30)
After rewriting the opening narration for an episode of The Twilight Zone starring Seth Rogen and Betty Gabriel for Jordan Peele, screenwriter and Twilight Zone fan Sophie Gelson discovers someone changed it to be about her. She later notices a mysterious blurry figure appearing in the background of several scenes as well as scenes from previous episodes. While searching for Jordan, Sophie encounters the Blurryman, who chases her through the studio and triggers a flashback to her childhood. After a brief encounter with Jason Priestley, she hands a new version of the narration to Jordan before finding herself in the world of the iconic episode "Time Enough at Last". When she finally encounters the Blurryman and agrees to hear it out, the Blurryman reveals himself as original series host Rod Serling. Claiming that they have "a lot of work to do", Serling escorts Sophie through a door into the Twilight Zone. Cast : Zazie Beetz, Betty Gabriel, Zibby Allen, Caitlin Stryker, Seth Rogen, Jason Priestley, Mark Silverman (as the voice of Rod Serling)

Season 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"Meet in the Middle"	Mathias Herndl	Emily C. Chang & Sara Amini	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
A socially awkward single man named Phil begins hearing the voice of a woman in his head. His therapist suggests he is suffering from dissociative identity disorder; however, being able to talk to the voice, Phil leaves his therapist. Over the course of a few weeks Phil and the putative woman, named Annie, strike up a friendship which turns into a relationship. Phil decides to meet up with Annie in a location halfway between his city and hers. On the way there, Annie says she was abducted and she gives Phil directions to the isolated house she is kept at and a description of her abductor. Phil arrives and pummels another man to death in front of that man's young daughter and wife, Annie. A frightened Annie claims to have never met Phil before and he is arrested at the scene. He believes his therapist was right about being insane until the voice comes back and thanks him saying that she never lied to Phil, he just believed what he wanted to, to the point of being prepared to murder, and that by killing her husband, Phil has been the "escape hatch" for her unhappy marriage. Phil starts to go mad as the police car drives off. Cast : Jimmi Simpson, Kristin Lehman, Mike Dopud, Gillian Jacobs
12	2	"Downtime"	J. D. Dillard	Jordan Peele	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
Michelle Weaver, an overachieving hotel clerk, gets promoted to manager. The same day, she is startled by a giant orb that appears in the sky, causing everyone but Michelle to stand still and enter a seemingly catatonic state. Running home, she encounters a police officer who advises her to "wake up". At home, her husband inexplicably begins speaking in an unfamiliar accent before he too walks outside and enters into the same state. Two young men with skateboards enter her house and introduce themselves as "customer service". They explain that she is in a virtual reality game called SleepAway that people enter when sleeping and that she is actually a man named S. Phineas Howell who had a heart attack while using SleepAway and is in a coma explaining why she has no memory of her real life as Phineas. They introduce her to Ellen, a woman who claims to be Phineas' wife and asks Michelle to wake up with her. Michelle agrees, but runs away when Ellen wakes up. Hiding on the roof of her hotel from the customer service people, she encounters a man named Tom who explains that Phineas has passed away and warns her that waking up will cause her to die. Despite having reservations about living in a virtual world, she agrees to remain awake as part of a deal to become an NPC. Sometime later, Michelle is enjoying her life as a manager of the hotel. Ellen shows up asking to have a room for a few weeks which pleases Michelle. Cast : Morena Baccarin, Colman Domingo, Serinda Swan, Tony Hale
13	3	"The Who of You"	Peter Atencio	Win Rosenfeld	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
Harry Pine is an out-of-work actor trying to get another gig. After an argument with his girlfriend about money, he decides to rob a bank. During the heist, he makes eye contact with the bank clerk and swaps bodies with her just as the police burst in. Confused and disoriented, the clerk is arrested in Harry's body while he tries to escape out the back in hers. Confronted by a patrol officer named Luntz, he swaps places with him and escapes with a bag of money. Detective Reece, the officer in charge of the case, interviews Luntz in Pine's body and becomes convinced that Luntz is telling the truth when Luntz says that "I know your secret." After another encounter with the police, Harry ends up hiding in a psychic's parlor where he briefly swaps places with the proprietor Keith. In Harry's body, Keith tells Reece where to find him. When Harry swaps back into the body he walked into the parlor with, Keith kicks him out without the bag of money. Harry tries to get two policewomen to help him retrieve his bag, but they become suspicious and ask him about the bank robbery. Jumping through a series of people, Harry ends up in the body of a 10 year old boy, which he uses to get through the psychic's skylight to retrieve his bag. However, he finds Detective Reece and the boy in his body waiting for him. He agrees to give the boy his body back, but swaps places with Reece at the last minute and draws his gun on Reece in his original body. Reece gets a hold of the gun right before the police burst in and gun down Reece in Pine's body. Pine, in Reece's body, goes back to his apartment, where his girlfriend apparently recognizes him as, unbeknownst to Pine, Reece's secret was that he was having an affair with her. Some time later, Pine excels at an audition in Reece's body. Cast : Ethan Embry, Daniel Sunjata, Mel Rodriguez, Billy Porter
14	4	"Ovation"	Ana Lily Amirpour	Story by : David Weil Teleplay by : Emily C. Chang & Sara Amini	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
Fiji, a disgruntled pop star, commits suicide after giving Jasmine, a street performer, a medallion. Upset, Jasmine begins to write and perform music at the scene of Fiji's suicide and is later told to appear in a singing competition series called Ovation. She manages to win the show, her popularity grows exponentially but the sudden success makes Jasmine uneasy. She begins to think that everything is caused by the medallion but her sister Zara reassures her that people love her just because of her talent. When things start to get really out of control, Zara, who now believes Jasmine, throws the medallion in the harbor. Jasmine's popularity declines and another star rises, a new artist named Mynx. Upset at her lost fame, Jasmine stabs Mynx who turns out to be Zara who dies with the medallion in her hand while the crowd erupts in applause. Cast : Jurnee Smollett, Tawny Newsome, Sky Ferreira, Dan Martin, Paul F. Tompkins, Thomas Lennon
15	5	"Among the Untrodden"	Tayarisha Poe	Heather Anne Campbell	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
An awkward teenage girl named Irene transfers to Saint Mary's Boarding School in the middle of the school year. A clique of popular girls at the school led by a girl named Madison immediately conspire to harass and bully Irene. While working on her school science fair project, Irene becomes convinced that Madison has psychic abilities and sets out to convince her. Eventually it appears that Madison does have several powers, including some ability to read minds, and to materialize needed objects which then disintegrate after they have served their purpose. As Madison becomes more confident in her psychic powers, she and Irene become closer. Irene, Madison and her friends end up on the roof, drinking and smoking marijuana where Irene loses her footing and falls three stories, hitting the ground. When Madison runs to her, it appears Irene is dead but she then wakes up and believes Madison has saved her. Madison's old friends then befriend Irene while Madison distances herself from all of them. Events escalate at the school science fair where Madison's old friends have set up a project called "Anatomy of a Loser" with several displays bizarre looping video and glitching, distorted images of Irene. Irene recoils in horror and lets out a primal scream, causing the displays to break and Madison's old friends all drop dead on the spot. Madison confronts Irene, accusing her of having psychic powers, and of using them to control her and kill the other girls, all of which Irene denies. Madison admits when Irene walked in their classroom the first time, she just wanted her to be normal so she could have a real friend but then her odd behavior caused her to lash out. Irene convinces Madison that she actually cares for her and isn't using her just to be popular. Madison embraces Irene, recognizing her as a friend, causing Irene's body to disintegrate into ashes now that Madison's desire to find a friend is fulfilled. Sometime later, a new girl enrolls at Saint Mary's as Madison plans to befriend her. Cast : Sophia Macy, Abbie Hern
16	6	"8"	Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead	Glen Morgan	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
A team of scientists is investigating the depletion of ice shelves and searching for new Antarctic species. Team member Doug resurfaces from diving, prevailing against an unknown hostile being. Meanwhile, a giant octopus kills one team and hides near a diving hole. Although the team desires to seek revenge, a scientist named Ling insists on sparing the creature and taking it to the lab for observation. Later, when another scientist recovers the body of a fellow team member, most of the group believes the octopus is responsible for the array of recent deaths. However, Ling continues to insist the creature be kept alive and well. Later she covertly overhears a plot to locate the species to use its chemicals for medical application. Simultaneously the octopus escapes its confinement and kills two. Eventually, it comes to light that Ling was also searching for this species to use research data to "change what a human being can be" through gene editing. Ethical questions arise, prompting one scientist to argue about releasing the creature back into the environment. Later, the scientists observed a sequence of gene mutations created by the creature that would eventually lead to ocean life evolving to live on land, thus ending the human species. Cast : Joel McHale, Nadia Hilker, Michelle Ang, Tim Armstrong, Brandon Jay McLaren
17	7	"A Human Face"	Christina Choe	Alex Rubens	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
Robert and Barbara's daughter Maggie has recently died. While Robert is taking apart Maggie's bed frame, the radio plays, warning of an impending cosmic flare. Suddenly, the radio glitches and the lights flicker out. They hear a noise downstairs and investigate. In their basement, they find a strange alien creature. The creature screeches at the couple and they run upstairs. Barbara asks Robert if he saw "her eyes", and exclaims that she felt Maggie in that creature. Robert denies this, arguing that the alien came from the cosmic flare. Barbara insists that the alien is, or is somehow connected to, their dead daughter. The alien begins to morph into different shapes, taking the form of a human body, and eventually taking the form of Maggie. The creature teleports to Maggie's bedroom and looks through her belongings, including her diary. Later, the creature explains to Robert and Barbara that it came to their house with the purpose to manipulate, but after adapting to become Maggie, it turned off its directive for conquest. Barbara agrees to go along with "Maggie" and Robert is eventually convinced. The three leave the house with an unknown destination and purpose, as other groups of families leave their homes and are seemingly on the same path. Cast : Jenna Elfman, Christopher Meloni, Tavi Gevinson
18	8	"A Small Town"	Alonso Alvarez-Barreda	Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
In the town of Littleton, a church handyman who was the husband of the late mayor finds a model of the town in the church attic. Whatever he does to the model affects the town. Cast : Damon Wayans Jr., David Krumholtz, Natalie Martinez, Paula Newsome, Keegan Connor Tracy, Andrew Alvarez
19	9	"Try, Try"	Jennifer McGowan	Alex Rubens	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
A woman meets a man stuck in a time-loop who attempts to profess his love for her. His approach borders on stalking when she discovers what happened on these loops. Cast : Topher Grace, Kylie Bunbury
20	10	"You Might Also Like"	Osgood Perkins	Osgood Perkins	June 25, 2020 (2020-06-25)
In a connection with "To Serve Man", a woman named Mrs. Warren who is known to get everything finds that she is losing time during the day, as are her neighbors – who are expecting the arrival of a mysterious egg that is advertised as "something they need". As she plans to obtain an egg of her own, she has an encounter with the Kanamits. When asked to be taken to their supervisor, Mrs. Warren meets the Kanamit Queen who soon explains to her that the egg is actually going to be used to destroy the human race, as it was laid by the Kanamits. One neighbor has her egg hatch an alien that kills her. When Mrs. Warren is returned to Earth, she sees that the egg is on sale and proceeds to take part in its big sale as UFOs fly overhead. Cast : Gretchen Mol, Greta Lee, Gil Bellows, Colleen Camp, Donna Dixon, George Takei

Release

On January 30, 2019, it was announced during the Television Critics Association's annual winter press tour that the series would premiere on April 1, 2019. A black-and-white version of the first season was released on May 30, 2019. The second season was released in its entirety on June 25, 2020. In February 2023, the series, among other Paramount+ and Showtime original series was removed from the service.

Marketing

On February 3, 2019, a teaser trailer for the series aired during the telecast of Super Bowl LIII. The commercial played as though it was interrupting CBS' feed of the game and it featured host Jordan Peele standing in an empty Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Another trailer was released on February 21.

Reception

Critical response

Season 1

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 70% based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 7.39/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Twilight Zone explores the strangeness of the modern world through Rod Serling's winning formula, creating a thought-provoking—if not always spine-tingling—showcase for Jordan Peele and his exceptional crop of collaborators." Metacritic assigned the first season a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

The BBC gave it a positive review and said: "It's possible that ... Rod Serling and Jordan Peele switched places. As co-creator and on-screen host of the new version, he [Peele] updates the series while capturing the original's essence." The Week was more mixed in its review, calling the first episodes "unforgivably long", but also saying that the series stays "true to the ethos of The Twilight Zone" and that "the episodes are free-standing and timeless". The Verge also gave it a mixed review, praising Peele as the narrator, but saying the series should try to step away from the original. The Atlantic was more critical, comparing it to the original series, stating, "[w]ith the exception of one superior episode, 'Replay', it's hard to conceive that an artist as prodigiously talented and thoughtful as Peele is creatively involved at all."

Season 2

The second season—based on three episodes sent to critics ("Meet in the Middle", "The Who of You" and "You Might Also Like")—has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 63% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.39/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Twilight Zone sophomore season shines when it dares to be bold, but long runtimes and predictable plotting hold it back from reaching its full potential." Metacritic assigned the second season a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Kristen Lopez of IndieWire gave the three episodes a collective grade of "B−" and wrote, "These episodes certainly feel more strongly written than Season 1, and if the editing tightens up like it did before, these new entries could be amazing. It'll be hard for any other episode to be better than 'You Might Also Like', though, which is a pure masterpiece." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote that "every episode in this trio disappoints to varying degrees".

Accolades

At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Kumail Nanjiani received a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for "The Comedian", the first episode of season one.

External links

• Official website
• The Twilight Zone at IMDb