# The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 3

The third season of The Twilight Zone aired Fridays at 10:00–10:30 pm (EST) on CBS from September 15, 1961 to June 1, 1962. There are 37 episodes.
Continuing with Marius Constant's theme music, a different set of graphics was used for the opening, consisting of a rotating cone with concentric circles suggesting a spiral, receding into a star field. Rod Serling's narration from the second season was used, with the verse "That's the signpost up ahead" taken out:
"You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop—The Twilight Zone." Some subtle changes in the opening's acoustics were made beginning with "Little Girl Lost".

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Music by | Original air date | Prod. code |
| 66 | 1 | "Two" | Montgomery Pittman | Montgomery Pittman | Van Cleave | September 15, 1961 (1961-09-15) | 4802 |
| Two soldiers, a man (Charles Bronson) and a woman (Elizabeth Montgomery), are the only inhabitants of a deserted city, and both are soldiers from opposing sides. ||||||||
| 67 | 2 | "The Arrival" | Boris Sagal | Rod Serling | N/A | September 22, 1961 (1961-09-22) | 4814 |
| An FAA inspector (Harold J. Stone) and members of the airport staff (Noah Keen, Fredd Wayne, Robert Karnes, and Bing Russell) investigate a plane that arrives without a single person onboard – and each sees it differently. ||||||||
| 68 | 3 | "The Shelter" | Lamont Johnson | Rod Serling | N/A | September 29, 1961 (1961-09-29) | 4803 |
| An alert is issued for an imminent nuclear attack, prompting neighbors to unite against the physician (Larry Gates) whose bomb shelter has room enough only for his family. ||||||||
| 69 | 4 | "The Passersby" | Elliot Silverstein | Rod Serling | Fred Steiner | October 6, 1961 (1961-10-06) | 4817 |
| At the end of the American Civil War, wounded soldiers pass by the house of a woman (Joanne Linville). ||||||||
| 70 | 5 | "A Game of Pool" | Buzz Kulik | George Clayton Johnson | N/A | October 13, 1961 (1961-10-13) | 4815 |
| A legendary pool player (Jonathan Winters) returns from the dead to meet the challenge of a pool shark (Jack Klugman) with the shark's life at stake. ||||||||
| 71 | 6 | "The Mirror" | Don Medford | Rod Serling | N/A | October 20, 1961 (1961-10-20) | 4819 |
| In Central America, a mirror allows a dictator (Peter Falk) to see the faces of his enemies. ||||||||
| 72 | 7 | "The Grave" | Montgomery Pittman | Montgomery Pittman | N/A | October 27, 1961 (1961-10-27) | 3656 |
| A hired killer (Lee Marvin) is challenged to visit the grave of the outlaw (Dick Geary) who died swearing vengeance against him. ||||||||
| 73 | 8 | "It's a Good Life" | James Sheldon | Based on a short story by : Jerome Bixby Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | November 3, 1961 (1961-11-03) | 4801 |
| A six-year-old boy (Bill Mumy) terrorizes the residents of Peaksville, Ohio, with special powers that control reality. In 1997, TV Guide ranked this episode #31 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. Note: A remake, directed by Joe Dante, was Segment III of Twilight Zone: The Movie. A sequel, "It's Still A Good Life" also starring Mumy, was broadcast on February 19, 2003 as part of the 2002 revival series. ||||||||
| 74 | 9 | "Deaths-Head Revisited" | Don Medford | Rod Serling | N/A | November 10, 1961 (1961-11-10) | 4804 |
| A former SS Captain (Oscar Beregi, Jr.) visits the now-deserted concentration camp he commanded where he is tried for his crimes by the ghosts of his prisoners. ||||||||
| 75 | 10 | "The Midnight Sun" | Anton Leader | Rod Serling | Van Cleave | November 17, 1961 (1961-11-17) | 4818 |
| A landlady (Betty Garde) and her tenant (Lois Nettleton) struggle to survive when the Earth changes its orbit and begins moving toward the Sun. ||||||||
| 76 | 11 | "Still Valley" | James Sheldon | Based on a short story by : Manly Wade Wellman Teleplay by : Rod Serling | Wilbur Hatch | November 24, 1961 (1961-11-24) | 4808 |
| During the American Civil War, a Confederate scout (Gary Merrill) enters a town to find Yankee soldiers frozen in place. ||||||||
| 77 | 12 | "The Jungle" | William F. Claxton | Charles Beaumont | N/A | December 1, 1961 (1961-12-01) | 4806 |
| An engineer (John Dehner) building a dam in Africa is cursed by natives who object to his plans. ||||||||
| 78 | 13 | "Once Upon a Time" | Norman Z. McLeod | Richard Matheson | William Lava Ray Turner | December 15, 1961 (1961-12-15) | 4820 |
| A janitor (Buster Keaton) travels from 1890 to 1962, courtesy of a time helmet built by a scientist (Milton Parsons). ||||||||
| 79 | 14 | "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" | Lamont Johnson | Based on a short story by : Marvin Petal Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | December 22, 1961 (1961-12-22) | 4805 |
| An Army major (William Windom), a clown (Murray Matheson), a hobo (Paul Wexler), a ballerina (Susan Harrison) and a bagpiper (Clark Allen) find themselves in a cylinder with no memory of how they got there. ||||||||
| 80 | 15 | "A Quality of Mercy" | Buzz Kulik | Based on an idea by : Sam Rolfe Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | December 29, 1961 (1961-12-29) | 4809 |
| During World War II, a U.S. lieutenant (Dean Stockwell) gets a unique opportunity to see the conflict from the Japanese point of view. ||||||||
| 81 | 16 | "Nothing in the Dark" | Lamont Johnson | George Clayton Johnson | N/A | January 5, 1962 (1962-01-05) | 3652 |
| An elderly recluse (Gladys Cooper) facing imminent eviction refuses to allow anyone into her apartment, fearing that any visitor might be Death incarnate; her resolve is tested when a young police officer (Robert Redford) is seriously wounded outside her door. ||||||||
| 82 | 17 | "One More Pallbearer" | Lamont Johnson | Rod Serling | N/A | January 12, 1962 (1962-01-12) | 4823 |
| Staging a fake nuclear war, a millionaire (Joseph Wiseman) offers shelter to three people (Katherine Squire, Trevor Bardette, Gage Clark) he believes wronged him in the past if they will only beg his forgiveness. ||||||||
| 83 | 18 | "Dead Man's Shoes" | Montgomery Pittman | Charles Beaumont | N/A | January 19, 1962 (1962-01-19) | 4824 |
| A homeless man (Warren Stevens) literally walks into another life when he steals the shoes from a corpse. ||||||||
| 84 | 19 | "The Hunt" | Harold Schuster | Earl Hamner, Jr. | Robert Drasnin | January 26, 1962 (1962-01-26) | 4810 |
| A mountain man (Arthur Hunnicutt) goes hunting for raccoons with his dog. When he returns, he comes to realize that something is much changed. ||||||||
| 85 | 20 | "Showdown with Rance McGrew" | Christian Nyby | Based on an idea by : Frederic Louis Fox Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | February 2, 1962 (1962-02-02) | 4812 |
| The egotistic star (Larry Blyden) of a western TV series comes face to face with the real Jesse James (Arch Johnson). ||||||||
| 86 | 21 | "Kick the Can" | Lamont Johnson | George Clayton Johnson | N/A | February 9, 1962 (1962-02-09) | 4821 |
| The dispirited residents of a nursing home are urged by one of their number to believe that they can recapture their youth by playing a children's game. Note: Steven Spielberg remade this as Segment II of Twilight Zone: The Movie, showing the nursing-home residents being offered a second chance at youth by their new arrival, Mr. Bloom (Scatman Crothers). ||||||||
| 87 | 22 | "A Piano in the House" | David Greene | Earl Hamner, Jr. | N/A | February 16, 1962 (1962-02-16) | 4825 |
| A cynical theater critic (Barry Morse) takes advantage of a player piano that reveals people's hidden selves. ||||||||
| 88 | 23 | "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" | Montgomery Pittman | Montgomery Pittman | Tommy Morgan | February 23, 1962 (1962-02-23) | 4811 |
| When a "dead" man (James Best) sits up in the coffin at his funeral during the mid-1920s, the townsfolk become suspicious whether it's really him, especially when he doesn't behave the way he used to. ||||||||
| 89 | 24 | "To Serve Man" | Richard L. Bare | Based on a short story by : Damon Knight Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | March 2, 1962 (1962-03-02) | 4807 |
| Representatives of a 9 ft. tall alien race (Richard Kiel) come to Earth and offer mankind cures for all earthly ills. In 1997, TV Guide ranked this episode #11 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. ||||||||
| 90 | 25 | "The Fugitive" | Richard L. Bare | Charles Beaumont | N/A | March 9, 1962 (1962-03-09) | 4816 |
| A fugitive (J. Pat O'Malley) from another world befriends a handicapped girl (Susan Gordon). ||||||||
| 91 | 26 | "Little Girl Lost" | Paul Stewart | Richard Matheson | Bernard Herrmann | March 16, 1962 (1962-03-16) | 4828 |
| When a little girl (Tracy Stratford) disappears from her bedroom without a trace, her parents (Robert Sampson, Sarah Marshall) call their physicist friend (Charles Aidman) to help investigate her disappearance. ||||||||
| 92 | 27 | "Person or Persons Unknown" | John Brahm | Charles Beaumont | N/A | March 23, 1962 (1962-03-23) | 4829 |
| A man (Richard Long) discovers that all traces of his identity have been erased when no one, including his own wife, recognizes him. ||||||||
| 93 | 28 | "The Little People" | William F. Claxton | Rod Serling | N/A | March 30, 1962 (1962-03-30) | 4822 |
| When two astronauts (Claude Akins, Joe Maross) land on a distant planet, one of them becomes a "God" to a race of tiny people. ||||||||
| 94 | 29 | "Four O'Clock" | Lamont Johnson | Based on a short story by : Price Day Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | April 6, 1962 (1962-04-06) | 4832 |
| A fanatical one-man moral crusader (Theodore Bikel) decides to shrink those he deems evil to a height of two feet at four o'clock. ||||||||
| 95 | 30 | "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby" | Lamont Johnson | Based on a story by : Frederic Louis Fox Teleplay by : Rod Serling | Tommy Morgan | April 13, 1962 (1962-04-13) | 4833 |
| A teller of tall tales (Andy Devine) attracts unwanted attention from aliens. ||||||||
| 96 | 31 | "The Trade-Ins" | Elliot Silverstein | Rod Serling | N/A | April 20, 1962 (1962-04-20) | 4831 |
| An elderly couple (Joseph Schildkraut, Alma Platt) want new young bodies for the two of them, but can pay for only one. ||||||||
| 97 | 32 | "The Gift" | Allen H. Miner | Rod Serling | Laurindo Almeida | April 27, 1962 (1962-04-27) | 4830 |
| A visitor from outer space (Geoffrey Horne) tries to present a gift to a Mexican village that greets him only with suspicion. ||||||||
| 98 | 33 | "The Dummy" | Abner Biberman | Based on a story by : Lee Polk Teleplay by : Rod Serling | N/A | May 4, 1962 (1962-05-04) | 4834 |
| A ventriloquist (Cliff Robertson) believes his dummy is alive ... and is beginning to take over not just the act. ||||||||
| 99 | 34 | "Young Man's Fancy" | John Brahm | Richard Matheson | Nathan Scott | May 11, 1962 (1962-05-11) | 4813 |
| A newlywed husband (Alex Nicol) refuses to give up his childhood home. ||||||||
| 100 | 35 | "I Sing the Body Electric" | William F. Claxton and James Sheldon | Ray Bradbury | Van Cleave | May 18, 1962 (1962-05-18) | 4826 |
| A widower (David White) buys a robot grandmother (Josephine Hutchinson) to care for his children. ||||||||
| 101 | 36 | "Cavender Is Coming" | Christian Nyby | Rod Serling | N/A | May 25, 1962 (1962-05-25) | 4827 |
| A clumsy theater worker (Carol Burnett) meets her equally bumbling guardian angel (Jesse White). ||||||||
| 102 | 37 | "The Changing of the Guard" | Robert Ellis Miller | Rod Serling | N/A | June 1, 1962 (1962-06-01) | 4835 |
| A professor (Donald Pleasence) left despondent after being forced into retirement is visited by the ghosts of his former students. ||||||||