The Twilight Zone is a series.
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling . The original series , shot entirely in black and white , ran for five seasons from 1959 to 1964 . The Twilight Zone followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as Tales of Tomorrow ( 1951 -- 53 , which also dramatized the short story `` What You Need '' ) and Science Fiction Theatre ( 1955 -- 57 ) ; radio programs such as The Weird Circle , Dimension X , and X Minus One ; and the radio work of one of Serling 's inspirations , Norman Corwin . The success of the series led to a feature film , a radio series , a comic book , a magazine , and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades , including two revival television series . TV Guide ranked the original TV series # 5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest dramas of all time .