Forget the fireworks this Fourth of July, it’s time to take a trip into The Twilight Zone. Multiple-day marathons of Rod Serling’s classic sci-fi drama are a longstanding and beloved tradition, and this year you have several options if you’re looking to get your TZ fix during the holiday.
The fun kicked off early on Pluto TV, where a four-day marathon of The Twilight Zone started early Wednesday morning and will wrap up on Saturday. Pluto TV is a free ad-supported streaming service featuring a vari. You can watch the Pluto TV app on smart TVs, streaming devices, mobile devices and your desktop. You can also watch directly through your web browser.
The Heroes & Icons channel will feature another four-day marathon with 174 episodes. The “Rod, White, & Blue” marathon begins at 6 am ET/PT on Thursday, July 4, and ends at 6 am ET/PT on Monday, July 8.
Heroes & Icons is available through a number of cable packages, and it’s also available through streaming services such as Sling, Philo and Frndly TV.
SyFy, the marathon’s original home on cable TV, will also be airing its annual marathon, albeit a much shorter version. SyFy’s Fourth of July Twilight Zone Marathon begins at 6am ET and ends at 5:30 am ET.
Serling’s seminal sci-fi series debuted in October 1959 with an episode titled “Where Is Everybody?” The story follows a man who wakes up in a small town and realizes that he’s all alone, but there’s a very good reason for it.
The Twilight Zone ran from 1959-1964 and featured a refreshing mix of science fiction, drama and cautionary tales about the dangers of bigotry, racism and even the threat of machines. (Yes, 1964’s “The Brain Center at Whipple’s” revolves around a factory owner who gets rid of all of his workers in favor of robots, only to find that automation may be cheaper but it’s definitely more hazardous!)
It’s worth noting that these marathons will feature both the 30-minute episodes and the full one-hour episodes that aired during the show’s initial run. An added benefit of watching on Pluto TV and H&I is that the episodes aren’t edited for time the way they are on SyFy, meaning you’ll have a chance to see Serling do his post-episode tease for the next episode. This is a great chance to see the episodes as they originally aired over 60 years ago.
And if you miss the Fourth of July marathons, you can have your own marathon by streaming The Twilight Zone on Paramount Plus.
