The Contest: Imagine a new Twilight Zone episode, and write Rod Serling’s opening and closing narrations. Give it a title. Send us your entry!

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Watch Winner Videos:     2023     2021     2020     2019     2018     2017


Foundation member and actor Stephen Dexter eagerly volunteered to perform the winning entries as Rod Serling. Stephen is proud to be a rabid Rod Serling/Twilight Zone fan and at work on his own Rod Serling project. You can see his passion in his performances. Thank you, sir!

WSKG-TV in Binghamton, New York, kindly donated their facilities to the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, to stage and film the winning narrations. We are in awe of your studios, your people, and your hospitality!

The 2017 winners:

1st place: Split the Difference by Joseph Dougherty
2nd place: Mr. Calagan and the Road Home by Gus Holwerda
3rd place: The Small Stuff by Dale Elster

Read All the Entries

One of the hardest things to do on this project was write a rejection letter to the writers who didn’t win. I’ve received those myself. And so many of the entries were so good! They had originality, cleverness, and an obvious reverence for Rod Serling’s writing. Our judges marvelled at how difficult it was to pare down their favorites to a mere three, and delighted in reading all the entries. So many of them were episodes that we wanted to see.

So here is the second half of our Christmas present to you: dozens of new stories for you to imagine and watch on that little black-and-white screen in your head.

Hey Jordan Peele: Check out these story ideas that you could buy for your Twilight Zone reboot on the new CBS All Access video service!