20 TV Shows That Are Practically Flawless
10. The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone's first run (before it was reworked in 1985, 2002, and 2019), aired between 1959 and 1964, and remains the industry blueprint for following anthology series such as Black Mirror, Night Gallery and American Horror Story. Each episode was self-contained, and alternated between sci-fi, horror and surreal fantasy.
Rod Serling created the series because he wanted to explore the complexities of human nature with a narrative format few were using. He used its episodic structure to comment on issues facing American society, using a wide range of actors, writers and genres to create stories that scare as much as they make you think.
Whether it was focussed on a man confronting a monster on the wing of a plane, some scheming alien invaders or an unrequited romance, The Twilight Zone always ended with a moral, bookended by Serling's iconic narration, and it remains leaps and bounds ahead of the shows it inspired in both creativity and timelessness.