Syfy Announces 2016 Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon Schedule, Now With Fan Voting

The Twilight Zone CBS via Getty Images

There might not be any better way of sending off the surreal year that was 2016 than by watching the ultimate in surreal television: The Twilight Zone. This year, Syfy will be airing the 22nd annual installment of its programming favorite Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon from Dec. 31 through early morning of Jan. 3. Like many episodes of the show it honors, the 2016 Syfy Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon will be featuring a surprise twist this year: For the first time in the marathon’s history, Syfy will let fans program the New Year’s Day primetime block. Ultimately, the 2016 Syfy Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon will feature 128 classic episodes.

Episodes in the New Year’s Day primetime block airing from 8pm-11pm ET will be determined by fan voting beginning at 7:30pm ET. Viewers can cast their votes for one of two competing episodes by tweeting the specially created episode hashtags to the official Syfy Twitter handle, @Syfy (no, we don’t yet know what episodes will be up for voting, but I assume they are some of the more classic offerings from the series). In all, 12 episodes will be in contention for six slots, with the winning episodes airing immediately following a 15-minute voting window.

Beyond what’s airing in primetime on New Year’s Day, we do know what other episodes will be airing through the 2016 Syfy Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon, including the fact that the marathon will kick off with the 1983 feature film Twilight Zone: The Movie. The film featured four vignettes: An original tale called “Time Out,” directed by John Landis; “Kick the Can,” directed by Steven Spielberg; “It’s a Good Life,” directed by Joe Dante; and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” directed by George Miller.

It also looks like there are a number of lesser-seen episodes populating this year’s marathons; at least, episodes that I don’t recall having been in the marathon in quite a while, so that’s a nice change of pace.

2016 Syfy Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon Episodes (All Times ET)

Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016
6am: Twilight Zone: The Movie
8am: One for the Angels
8:30am: Mr. Denton on Doomsday
9am: The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine
9:30am: Escape Clause
10am: Perchance to Dream
10:30am: Judgment Night
11am: What You Need
11:30am: The Four of Us Are Dying
12pm: Mirror Image
12:30pm: Execution
1pm: The Big Tall Wish
1:30pm: A Nice Place to Visit
2pm: The Chaser
2:30pm: A Passage for Trumpet
3pm: Mr. Bevis
3:30pm: The Mighty Casey
4pm: A World of His Own
4:30pm: King Nine Will Not Return
5pm: The Obsolete Man
5:30pm: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
6pm: Night Call
6:30pm: The Encounter
7pm: Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
7:30pm: A Game of Pool
8pm: Number Twelve Looks Just Like You
8:30pm: Where Is Everybody?
9pm: The Hitch-Hiker
9:30pm: The After Hours
10pm: Long-Distance Call
10:30pm: A Penny For Your Thoughts
11pm: A World of Difference
11:30pm: Little Girl Lost

Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017
12am: The Long Morrow
12:30am: And When the Sky Was Opened
1am: The Man in the Bottle
1:30am: Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room
2am: A Thing About Machines
2:30am: The Howling Man
3am: Mute
4am: Jess-Belle
5am: Death Ship
6am: The Lateness of the Hour
6:30am: The Trouble With Templeton
7am: A Most Unusual Camera
7:30am: Dust
8am: Back There
8:30am: The Whole Truth
9am: Mr. Dingle, the Strong
9:30am: Static
10am: The Prime Mover
10:30am: A Hundred Yards Over the Rim
11am: The Rip Van Winkle Caper
11:30am: Shadow Play
12pm: The Mind and the Matter
12:30pm: Two
1pm: The Arrival
1:30pm: The Passersby
2pm: The Mirror
2:30pm: The Grave
3pm: Death’s Head Revisited
3:30pm: The Midnight Sun
4pm: Still Valley
4:30pm: Once Upon a Time
5pm: The Old Man in the Cave
5:30pm: The Odyssey of Flight 33
6pm: I Shot an Arrow into the Air
6:30pm: Person or Persons Unknown
7pm: The Bewitchin’ Pool
7:30pm: The Dummy
8pm: Viewers Choice
8:30pm: Viewers Choice
9pm: Viewers Choice
9:30pm: Viewers Choice
10pm: Viewers Choice
10:30pm: Viewers Choice
11pm: Nick of Time
11:30pm: Nothing in the Dark

Monday, Jan. 2, 2017
12am: A Stop at Willoughby
12:30am: The Shelter
1am: Miniature
2am: The Jungle
2:30am: A Quality of Mercy
3am: Valley of the ShadowZ
4am: He’s Alive
5am: Printer’s Devil
6am: One More Pallbearer
6:30am: Dead Man’s Shoes
7am: The Hunt
7:30am: Showdown With Rance McGrew
8am: Kick the Can
8:30am: A Piano in the House
9am: The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank
9:30am: The Fugitive
10am: The Gift
10:30am: The Little People
11am: Four O’Clock
11:30am: The Trade-Ins
12pm: I Sing the Body Electric
12:30pm: The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross
1pm: Black Leather Jackets
1:30pm: From Agnes, With Love
2pm: Spur of the Moment
2:30pm: Stopover in a Quiet Town
3pm: Queen of the Nile
3:30pm: What’s in the Box?
4pm: I Am the Night — Color Me Black
4:30pm: Sounds and Silence
5pm: Caesar and Me
5:30pm: The Jeopardy Room
6pm: Nightmare as a Child
6:30pm: Ring-a-Ding Girl
7pm: Third From the Sun
7:30pm: The Silence
8pm: TBD
8:30pm: TBD
9pm: TBD
9:30pm: TBD
10pm: TBD
10:30pm: TBD
11pm: The Lonely
11:30pm: People Are Alike All Over

Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017
12am: The Fever
12:30am: In Praise of Pip
1am: The Thirty-Fathom Grave
2am: Mr. Garrity and the Grave
2:30am: The Brain Center at Whipple’s
3am: Come Wander With Me
3:30am: The Fear

29 Comments

  1. I have noticed this year that some small segments have been edited out of a number of the many episodes I have watched. Has anyone else notice some of this. My favorite is coming up in a bit tonight. It’s The Lonely, but many others are great and I still enjoy them time and time again.

  2. The Masks & Eye of the Beholder are my favorite episodes – that I’ve watched annually every year for over 17 years. It is a tradition my Dad started with me when I was in high school. I had planned to start that tradition with my daughter this year. It totally sucks that Eye of the Beholder didn’t win – I really hope The Masks wins so I can at least watch that one with her. NOT A FAN OF VIEWER CHOICE.

  3. It sucks that only people who tweet will be allowed to vote for the episodes they want to see on New Year’s Day during prime time. I would vote if there were another voting method (I don’t tweet, and I’m not about to create a twitter account just to be able to vote for a Twilight Zone episode).

  4. TZ is the best show ever made! I watch every marathon and grew up watching all the episodes…they never get old for me. Rod Serling was a genius, a true visionary, and it’s a shame we lost him too young. I don’t think anyone could do justice with creating a new series based on the original. It would be all hi-tech and probably more violent…not like the classics. And probably not the same lessons. I’ll stick with the TZ classics. There must be many other TZ fans out these since SyFy continues to show the 4th of July and New Year’s marathons. Glad to know that!

    • TZ was way ahead of it’s time! Even today, the messages from some of the stories, like “I Am the Night-Color Me Black” still resonate. I love watching Twilight Zone and never get tired or bored with it.

  5. Remember this is a bi-annual tradition. They do it July 4th as well every year. They really mixed it up this year, episodes they don’t usually air.

    • Sorry, but everyone knows that smart people don’t tweet. Consequently, this attempt at being “hip” ala Donald Trump (need I say more) is a colossal bust. Wake up Syfy and just air the best episodes of the best TV series ever without any distractions!

      • Please don’t join the imbeciles and bring politics into the TZ
        Oy vey. (So please,don’t say more)

  6. Well, I don’t TWEET so looks like I can’t vote. Not one of my Top #5 episodes are listed and this sucks.

  7. have made this my NYE for several years. I don’t know names of episodes but enjoy them all as I grew up watching TZ in the 60’s. like seeing B&W shows 😀

  8. This year’s voting choices is a nice new twist. Too bad I don’t tweet. Some of the choices aren’t even a contest. I bet that Monsters due on Maple St crushes It’s a Good Life. Monsters should have been matched against Will the real Martian please stand up. Nightmare at 20,000 ft will overwhelm Living Doll. The Invaders will beat out 5 Characters in search of an exit even though that’s not my choice. The battles will be Walking Distance vs. Time enough at Last. I prefer Walking distance doesn’t everyone fantasize about going back in time to see your young self. Time enough at last is a very popular episode but never really appealed to me. The Eye of the Beholder vs. To Serve Man. I’m a serve man fan but the Eyes is a powerful contender. The Masks vs. 22. My guess is the Masks but I like 22 as well.

    • I too do not tweet and we should be able to vote using another method. I totally agree with the choices that you listed, also some of my favorites.

  9. I wait for The Twilight Zone Marathon every year. It’s been a tradition for 20+ years and I love it…there are not many episodes that are not my favorites! I’m counting down the hours!!

  10. Look forward to it every year! Great way to start a new year.Thanks Syfy.Keep it going.

  11. The “Twilight Zone” is a very frightening reality for every “aging” woman who has begun the initial injection of Botox. “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You” and “Queen of the Nile”,are no longer just entertaining but a reflection of our own nightmare to look young. All it takes now is “vanity” and a whole lot of “money”!

  12. The “Twilight Zone” is a very frightening reality for every “aging” woman who has begun the initial injection of Botox. “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You” and “Queen of the Nile”, to name a few, are no longer just entertaining but a reflection of our own nightmare to look young. All it takes now is “vanity” and a whole lot of “money”!

  13. The “Twilight Zone” is a “reality”, a very frightening reality for every “aging” woman who has begun the initial injection of Botox. “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You” and “Queen of the Nile”, to name a few, are no longer just entertaining but a reflection of our own nightmare to look young. All it takes now is “vanity” and a whole lot of “money”!

  14. I wait for this marathon every year. Although I am disappointed in this years line-up. My two favorite episodes are not on the list. “To Serve Man” and “Time Enough at Last.”

    • I bet they are saving some of those classic episodes for the fan voting on New Year’s Day night. That might be your chance to vote to see them! 🙂

    • Both of those episodes will be among the ones being voted on in prime time on New Year’s Day. “To Serve Man” will be up against “Eye of the Beholder” at 8:30 PM. “Time Enough at Last” goes against “Walking Distance” at 9:30.

  15. i will not be watching the twilight zone done seen this enough every yr the same thing time for something new i love syfy but it is time for something new

    • @Ronella White – you are definitely in the minority. So many of us look forward to this annual tradition and just love it! Keep it coming SyFy!

  16. Been watching since childhood. Best program ever. Love the surprise endings and general lessons. Wish they’d start a new series. Nothing like the good days, including Alford Hitchcock.

  17. My mom and me have been watching since I was 6. Even though were in different places this year were still gonna watch the whole thing. Super excited.

    • The “Twilight Zone” is a very frightening reality for every “aging” woman who has begun the initial injection of Botox. “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You” and “Queen of the Nile”,are no longer just entertaining but a reflection of our own nightmare to look young. All it takes now is “vanity” and a whole lot of “money”!

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