The Best Episodes Written By Richard Matheson

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   8.3/10(37 votes)

   #1 - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

   S5:E310/11/1963

   A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson
2. 

   7.8/10(51 votes)

   #2 - And When the Sky Was Opened

   S1:E1112/11/1959

   Recovering in the hospital after a space mission, Major William Gart is visited by his co-pilot Lieutenant Colonel Clegg Forbes, who insists on the existence of a third astronaut.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
3. 

   7.7/10(34 votes)

   #3 - Nick of Time

   S2:E711/18/1960

   A superstitious newlywed becomes obsessed by a penny fortune-telling machine when he and his new wife are stranded with car trouble.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
4. 

   7.6/10(35 votes)

   #4 - The Invaders

   S2:E151/27/1961

   An old woman in an isolated farmhouse encounters tiny, hostile aliens.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson
5. 

   7.6/10(33 votes)

   #5 - A World of His Own

   S1:E367/1/1960

   Coming home, Victoria catches her husband Gregory flirting with a beautiful woman in his study. His explanation that characters come to life before his eyes when he speaks into his dictation machine, leads Victoria to question his sanity.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
6. 

   7.6/10(43 votes)

   #6 - Third from the Sun

   S1:E141/8/1960

   With all-out nuclear war about to ignite, a scientist and his pilot friend plot to escape on an experimental spaceship.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
7. 

   7.5/10(15 votes)

   #7 - Death Ship

   S4:E62/7/1963

   A three-man spacecraft lands on a planet only to discover the wreckage of a spacecraft identical to their own. Two of the crew are convinced that they are dead, but the captain refuses to see the truth.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
8. 

   7.5/10(37 votes)

   #8 - The Last Flight

   S1:E182/5/1960

   A World War I flying ace flies through a mysterious cloud - and lands at a modern U.S. air base in the year 1959!

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
9. 

   7.4/10(39 votes)

   #9 - A World of Difference

   S1:E233/11/1960

   Arthur Curtis, a successful businessman sitting in his office discovers that he is on a film set and everyone refers to him as Gerry Reagan, a movie star struggling with alcoholism and a declining career.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Matheson

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   Writer:Richard Matheson
10. 

    7.3/10(69 votes)

    #10 - The Enemy Within

    S1:E510/6/1966

    Split by a transporter malfunction into two beings with very different personalities, the resulting twin Captain Kirk proves that neither a purely evil nor a sweetly good captain can survive without the missing half.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson
11. 

    7.2/10(6 votes)

    #11 - First Anniversary

    S2:E72/16/1996

    As he celebrates his first wedding anniversary, Norman Glass thinks he's the luckiest man alive. His wife Ady, whom he met after the tragic death of her first husband, is stunningly beautiful and talented. She loves him more than anyone alive. They have two great friends, Dennis and Barbara, who were arried on the same day and are just as madly in love as Norman and Ady. But suddenly things start to change. First, Dennis leaves Barbara. Then, Norman must struggle with the strange, growing revulsion he feels when he touches, smells, tastes or sees his lovely wife. Norman thinks he's going crazy, but Barbara and Ady know better. Is love blind? Is beauty only skin-deep? Guess again.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
12. 

    7.2/10(18 votes)

    #12 - Once Upon a Time

    S3:E1312/15/1961

    Woodrow, a janitor living in the year 1890, accidentally activates a time travelling helmet which transports him to 1962.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
13. 

    7.1/10(19 votes)

    #13 - Little Girl Lost

    S3:E263/16/1962

    Awakened by the cries of their daughter Bettina, Chris and Ruth Miller enter her room to find that she has vanished, even though they still hear her crying for help. Chris' physicist friend Bill thinks she moved into another dimension.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
14. 

    7.1/10(12 votes)

    #14 - Night Call

    S5:E192/7/1964

    An elderly, wheelchair-bound lady receives strange anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
15. 

    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #15 - Profile in Silver / Button, Button

    S1:E203/7/1986

    A researcher from the future, a descendent of President John F. Kennedy goes back in time to witness his ancestor's death, and inadvertently changes history by saving the President. The researcher accidentally gives away the fact that he is from the future, as Kennedy is "pursued" by a series of hurricanes. A mysterious man offers a couple a bizarre deal: if they will push a button on a box that will kill one person they don't know, they will get a million dollars. After some contemplation, the couple goes ahead and pushes the button. The man tells them that they will indeed get the money. And somewhere, sometime, another couple will get the same box, and the same offer...

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
16. 

    6.5/10(11 votes)

    #16 - Steel

    S5:E210/4/1963

    A small-time promoter desperately in need of money takes the place of his broken-down robot in a prize fight where humans are barred from participating.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
17. 

    6.4/10(10 votes)

    #17 - Spur of the Moment

    S5:E212/21/1964

    After being chased on horseback by a terrifying, unidentified figure in black, Anne Henderson faces the biggest decision of her life.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
18. 

    6.2/10(12 votes)

    #18 - Mute

    S4:E51/31/1963

    A 12-year-old girl who lost her parents in a fire doesn't speak because she has grown up in a secret telepathic community. The couple who take her in, and her teacher, are determined to help her adapt to their society, no matter the cost.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
19. 

    5.9/10(11 votes)

    #19 - Young Man's Fancy

    S3:E345/11/1962

    When a newlywed couple briefly return to the groom's childhood home, the ties of the past prove too strong to resist.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Writer:Richard Matheson
20. 

    4.6/10(47 votes)

    #20 - Dance of the Dead

    S1:E311/11/2005

    This story revolves around a post-apocalyptic town where re-animated corpses of friends and enemies dance on stage for the few people who survived a nuclear holocaust. Peggy a naive girl learns of the dangers of the outside world and the sacrifices made to guarantee her survival.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson

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    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Matheson