The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling . The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy , science fiction , absurdism , dystopian fiction , suspense , horror , supernatural drama , black comedy , and psychological thriller , often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist , and usually with a moral . A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes . The first series , shot entirely in black and white , ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.