The Twilight Zone is a nationally syndicated radio drama series featuring radio play adaptations of the classic 1959–1964 television series The Twilight Zone. The series was produced for the British digital radio station BBC Radio 4 Extra airing for 176 episodes between October 2002 and 2012. In the United States, it aired on nearly 200 radio stations including WCCO, KSL, KOA, WIND, XM Satellite Radio channel 163 and Sirius XM Book Radio. Most of the stations aired two episodes each week, usually on the weekends and many times back to back.
Many of the stories are based on Rod Serling's scripts from the original Twilight Zone series, and are slightly expanded and updated to reflect contemporary technology and trends and the lack of a visual component. In addition to adapting all of the original episodes aired on the TV series, the radio series also adapted some Twilight Zone TV scripts that were never produced, scripts from other Serling TV productions, and new stories written especially for the radio series. Taking Serling's role as narrator is Stacy Keach.
Different Hollywood actors, such as Blair Underwood and Jim Caviezel, take the lead role in each radio drama. In addition, several stars who appeared on the original TV series, such as H.M. Wynant, Orson Bean and Morgan Brittany, appear, although purposely not in the roles they originated on television. The series features a full cast, music and sound effects and is produced in the flavor of classic radio dramas but using today's technology. In addition to being an homage to the original Twilight Zone TV series, the radio dramas pay tribute to the era of classic radio drama, including allusions to radio dramas such as Gunsmoke, the presence of radio legend Stan Freberg in many episodes, and the sons (Stacy Keach, Ed Begley Jr.) of radio drama personalities Stacy Keach Sr. and Ed Begley as stars in the series.
Licensed by CBS Enterprises and The Rod Serling Estate, The Twilight Zone radio series is produced by Carl Amari, CEO of Falcon Picture Group who hosts his own weekly nationally syndicated radio series, featuring classic radio, called Hollywood 360. The scripts from the original Twilight Zone were adapted by Dennis Etchison and others, including one episode by Chas Holloway and several by British writer M. J. Elliott. New stories by Etchison and others that are not based on the original TV series are also featured.
The sound mix was produced at Falcon Picture Group studios and later at the Cerny Sound-to-Picture studio at Cerny American Creative in Chicago. The sound engineers that worked on the series include Roger Wolski, Bob Benson, Craig Lee, Tim Cerny and Jason Rizzo. The episodes were produced and directed by Carl Amari.
Episodes
The following episodes include stories that were adapted for radio from the original Twilight Zone television scripts, as well as original stories produced exclusively for this radio series.
Volume 1 (2002) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 1 1 "A Kind of a Stopwatch" Lou Diamond PhillipsDennis Etchison Rod Serling 2 2 "The Lateness of the Hour" Jane Seymourand James KeachRod Serling 3 3 "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" Blair Underwood 4 4 "The Man in the Bottle" Ed Begley Jr. 5 5 "The Night of the Meek" Christopher McDonald 6 6 "The After Hours" Kim Fields 7 7 "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" Tim Kazurinsky 8 8 "A Stop at Willoughby" Chelcie Ross 9 9 "The Lonely" Mike Starr 10 10 "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" H. M. Wynant Rod Serling
Volume 2 (2003) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 11 1 "The Obsolete Man" Jason AlexanderDennis EtchisonRod Serling 12 2 "The Bard" John Ratzenberger& Stacy Keach 13 3 "Back There" Jim Caviezel 14 4 "A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain" Adam West Rod Serling 15 5 "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" Adam BaldwinRod Serling 16 6 "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" Frank John Hughes 17 7 "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" Christopher McDonald Rod Serling 18 8 "Escape Clause" Mike Starr Rod Serling 19 9 "Four O'Clock" Stan Freberg Rod Serling 20 10 "Uncle Simon" Peter Mark Richman& Beverly Garland Rod Serling
Volume 3 (2003) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 21 1 "The Fear" Jane Seymourand James KeachDennis EtchisonRod Serling 22 2 "The Parallel" Lou Diamond Phillips 23 3 "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" Jim Caviezel 24 4 "One for the Angels" Ed Begley Jr. 25 5 "The Midnight Sun" Kim Fields 26 6 "The Rip Van Winkle Caper" Tim Kazurinsky 27 7 "A Most Unusual Camera" Mike Starr 28 8 "Twenty Two" Andrea Evans Rod Serling 29 9 "Walking Distance" Chelcie RossRod Serling 30 10 "The Passersby" Morgan Brittany
Volume 4 (2004) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 31 1 "The Dummy" Bruno KirbyDennis Etchison Rod Serling 32 2 "No Time Like the Past" Jason Alexander Rod Serling 33 3 "Still Valley" Adam West Rod Serling 34 4 "King Nine Will Not Return" Adam BaldwinRod Serling 35 5 "I Am the Night—Color Me Black" John Ratzenberger 36 6 "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" Mike Starr Reginald Rose 37 7 "One More Pallbearer" Chelcie RossRod Serling 38 8 "The Little People" Daniel J. Travanti 39 9 "Cavender Is Coming" Andrea Evans 40 10 "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby" Shelley Berman Rod Serling
Volume 5 (2004) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 41 1 "Living Doll" Tim KazurinskyDennis Etchison Jerry Sohl 42 2 "The Big Tall Wish" Blair UnderwoodRod Serling 43 3 "The Fever" Stacy Keach andKathy Garver 44 4 "The Last Night of a Jockey" Bruno Kirby 45 5 "A Thing About Machines" Mike Starr 46 6 "Mirror Image" Morgan Brittany andFrank John Hughes 47 7 "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" Richard Grieco 48 8 "The Long Morrow" Kathy Garver 49 9 "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" Richard Kind Chaz Holloway andDennis Etchison 50 10 "The Trade-Ins" H. M. Wynant andPeggy Webber Dennis Etchison
Volume 6 (2005) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 51 1 "Time Enough at Last" Tim KazurinskyDennis Etchison Rod Serling 52 2 "A Passage for Trumpet" Mike Starr Rod Serling 53 3 "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air" Chelcie Ross Rod Serling 54 4 "The Brain Center at Whipple's" Stan Freberg Rod Serling 55 5 "The Grave" Michael Rooker Montgomery Pittman 56 6 "The Hitch-Hiker" Kate Jackson Rod Serling 57 7 "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" Adam BaldwinRod Serling 58 8 "Sounds and Silences" Richard Kind 59 9 "The Odyssey of Flight 33" Daniel J. Travanti 60 10 "The Changing of the Guard" Orson Bean
Volume 7 (2005) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 61 1 "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" Jason AlexanderDennis Etchison Rod Serling 62 2 "The Arrival" Blair Underwood Rod Serling 63 3 "Queen of the Nile" Kate Jackson Jerry Sohl 64 4 "I Dream of Genie" Hal Sparks John Furia Jr. 65 5 "It's a Good Life" Mike Starr Rod Serling 66 6 "The Masks" Stan FrebergRod Serling 67 7 "Mr. Bevis" Bruno Kirby 68 8 "Showdown with Rance McGrew" Christopher McDonald Rod Serling 69 9 "The Old Man in the Cave" Adam Baldwin Rod Serling 70 10 "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" Bill Erwin Richard DeRoy
Volume 8 (2006) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 71 1 "The Howling Man" Fred WillardDennis Etchison Charles Beaumont 72 2 "Caesar and Me" Jason Alexander Adele T. Strassfield 73 3 "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" Luke Perry Jerry McNeely 74 4 "The Time Element" Bobby SlaytonRod Serling 75 5 "The Mind and the Matter" Hal Sparks 76 6 "People Are Alike All Over" Blair Underwood Rod Serling 77 7 "What You Need" Bruno Kirby andBruce Kirby Rod Serling 78 8 "Dead Man's Shoes" Bill Smitrovich Charles Beaumontand Ocee Ritch 79 9 "What's in the Box" Mike Starr Martin Goldsmith 80 10 "Deaths-Head Revisited" H. M. Wynant Rod Serling
Volume 9 (2006) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 81 1 "To Serve Man" Blair UnderwoodDennis Etchison Rod Serling 82 2 "A World of Difference" Luke Perry Richard Matheson 83 3 "From Agnes—With Love" Ed Begley Jr. Bernard C. Schoenfeld 84 4 "Perchance to Dream" Fred Willard Charles Beaumont 85 5 "The Purple Testament" Michael Rooker Rod Serling 86 6 "Printer's Devil" Bobby Slayton Charles Beaumont 87 7 "Dust" Bill SmitrovichRod Serling 88 8 "The Jeopardy Room" Stacy Keach 89 9 "The Fugitive" Stan Freberg Charles Beaumont 90 10 "The Silence" Christopher McDonald Rod Serling
Volume 10 (2007) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 91 1 "Miniature" Lou Diamond PhillipsDennis EtchisonCharles Beaumont 92 2 "The Jungle" Ed Begley Jr. 93 3 "The Mighty Casey" Paul Dooley Rod Serling 94 4 "Ring-a-Ding Girl" Sarah Wayne Callies Earl Hamner Jr. 95 5 "Mute" Wade Williams Richard Matheson 96 6 "Black Leather Jackets" Marshall Allman Earl Hamner Jr. 97 7 "A Quality of Mercy" Robert Knepper Rod Serling 98 8 "Where Is Everybody?" John Schneider Rod Serling 99 9 "A Nice Place to Visit" Hal SparksCharles Beaumont 100 10 "In His Image" John Heard
Volume 11 (2007) No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 101 1 "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" John SchneiderDennis Etchison Richard Matheson 102 2 "Elegy" Blair Underwood Charles Beaumont 103 3 "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" Robert Knepper Montgomery Pittman 104 4 "Spur of the Moment" Sarah Wayne Callies Richard Matheson 105 5 "He's Alive" Peter Mark Richmanand Marshall Allman Rod Serling 106 6 "Long Distance Call" Hal Sparks Charles Beaumontand William Idelson 107 7 "The Gift" Danny Goldring Rod Serling 108 8 "Gentlemen, Be Seated" Stan Frebergand Mike Starr Charles Beaumont 109 9 "You Drive" John Heard Earl Hamner Jr. 110 10 "In Praise of Pip" Fred Willard Rod Serling
Volume 12 No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 111 1 "The Last Flight" Charles ShaughnessyDennis Etchison Richard Matheson 112 2 "Long Live Walter Jameson" Lou Diamond PhillipsCharles Beaumont 113 3 "Person or Persons Unknown" John Schneider 114 4 "The Whole Truth" Henry Rollins Rod Serling 115 5 "Stopover in a Quiet Town" Stephnie Weir Earl Hamner Jr. 116 6 "Judgment Night" Chelcie Ross Rod Serling 117 7 "The Chaser" Stephen Tobolowsky Robert Presnell Jr. 118 8 "Shadow Play" Ernie Hudson Charles Beaumont 119 9 "Nick of Time" Marshall Allmanand Jamie Brown Richard Matheson 120 10 "Static" Stan Freberg Charles Beaumont
Volume 13 No. inoverall No. inseason Title Starring Adapted for radio by Originally written by 121 1 "Death Ship" John SchneiderDennis Etchison Richard Matheson 122 2 "Pattern for Doomsday" Henry Rollins Jerry Sohl 123 3 "Nightmare as a Child" Bonnie Somerville Rod Serling 124 4 "And When the Sky Was Opened" Barry Bostwick Rod Serling 125 5 "Little Girl Lost" Stephen Tobolowsky Richard Matheson 126 6 "Jess-Belle" Stephnie Weir Earl Hamner Jr. 127 7 "The Encounter" Stacy Keach& Byron Mann Martin Goldsmith 128 8 "A World of His Own" Charles Shaughnessy Richard Matheson 129 9 "The New Exhibit" JoBe Cerny Dennis Etchisonand JoBe Cerny Jerry Sohl andCharles Beaumont 130 10 "Valley of the Shadow" Chelcie Ross Dennis Etchison Charles Beaumont
Volume 14 This collection was only released as an online digital download, rather than on CD.