The Best TV Anthologies Ranked According To IMDB

The television anthology show is almost as old as television itself. Presenting a different story each week, the best of these mixed-premise series would have a host — usually in the form of a charismatic singular personality — that would introduce each episode. In some cases the show would be built around an acclaimed filmmaker, or framed around the stories of a revered author who might also act as the narrator.

But in the early days there were few anthologies that were all that memorable, let alone anything as compelling as what we are used to today. They usually amounted to a short "movie of the week" with predictable stories, designed simply to distract you for 25 or 50 minutes once a week. Since that time, the anthology genre has seen a plethora of high quality shows, ranging from the fascinating to the truly bizarre — and often shocking — and some have found themselves sitting amongst the best television shows in history.

They are high concept series penned by some of the industry's best writers, whether original or adaptations; they attract high profile, award-winning talent in front of and behind the camera. The stories are richer, deeper, and intended to thrill, excite, or scare, and — at their best — leave you with something to think about before the next episode. From "The Outer Limits" to "Black Mirror," we've compiled a list of the best anthologies ever seen on television. 

Hollywood has long recognized the brilliance of noted science fiction author Philip K. Dick. A number of his stories and novels have been adapted to the screen, with a few — including "Blade Runner," "Minority Report," and "Total Recall" — considered all-time greats. So it's no surprise that in the aftermath of the success of "Black Mirror," Amazon Studios chose Philip K. Dick as the author around which to center a new science fiction show. Its title was inspired by the same novel that became "Blade Runner" ("Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep") and while it wasn't the first TV series to be adapted from his short stories — that would be Showtime's 1997 effort "Total Recall: 2070" — it was the only one with his name in the title.

The series adapted 10 stories by the author, while its cast was filled with big names including Bryan Cranston, Benedict Wong, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Anna Paquin, Richard Madden, Vera Farmiga, and Juno Temple, among others. Episodes like "The Hood Maker" and "Autofac" are standouts, the latter of which is an ironic send-up of an Amazon-like corporation that torments the remnants of society after an apocalypse. The show dips even more into true futurist, cyberpunk, and dystopian science fiction concepts than its rivals, but is less cynical as well. Despite strong writing and some trippy stories, it was largely overlooked upon its release, making this one of the most underrated anthology gems of the last decade.

After the success his anthology movie "Creepshow," it's said that George A. Romero sought to bring the film to the small screen as a weekly series, but couldn't acquire the rights, leading him to start his own series under another name. Whatever the origins are, "Tales From The Darkside" was one of the most shocking and genuinely terrifying shows to air on television to that point, even if it did air in syndication and very late at night. 

Like it's anthology forebearer "The Twilight Zone," Romero's "Tales From The Darkside" includes a chilling opening narration spoken in deep, ominous tones over a series of unsettlingly vague images that Felix Vazquez Jr. of horror outlet Bloody Disgusting recalled vividly even in 2020: "I was absolutely terrified of the opening credits ... When I say terrified, I mean running for cover and hysterically crying whenever the credits opened."

Premiering on Halloween weekend in 1983, the series delivered genuine frights in stories often adapted from works by horror icons like Stephen King, Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, and Romero himself, cast with a number of solid actors recognizable as '80s TV mainstays. It was clearly made on a budget, but it wears it flaws on its sleeve; at the end of the day its primary goal was to shock, scare, and disturb the audience, and at that it thoroughly succeeded.

The early 2000s were not a great time for TV anthologies. A "Twilight Zone" revival in 2002 failed to deliver thrills or chills, and the long-running '90s "Outer Limits" reboot had come to a close after being shuffled off to the Sci-Fi Channel (which at that time was known more for low quality knockoffs). But Showtime had one gem that went under the radar for two seasons in 2005 and 2006: "Masters of Horror." It delivered just the kind of high quality stories that anthology fans were looking for, and if you were lucky enough to discover it, you were in for a real treat.

More about well-crafted and disturbing stories than mindless scares, "Masters of Horror" delivered some of the best-made horror on TV at the time. It had some of the most noted names in the genre behind the camera too, including John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Dario Argente, and Joe Dante. It also included a tale by Takeshi Miike, who had yet to see American shores but who was a legend in his native Japan for his own brand of stylish horror movies like "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer." Miike's episode in fact proved so upsetting to the American studio that it was held back from broadcast, and wasn't seen until the DVD release. To this day, "Imprint" has never aired in the United States.

If you're a horror fan looking for a true forgotten treasure on this list, this is the one to look for. You won't be disappointed.

In 1985, the biggest name in the genre saw a revival with a new version of "The Twilight Zone" debuting that year. Brought back to television thanks to the success of "The Twilight Zone: The Movie" two years before, it was a surprisingly worthy successor to the original.

Kicking off its run with the impressive mind-bending psychological thriller "Shatterday," based on the short story by legendary sci-fi author Harlan Ellison, it tells the story of a man whose life is slowly taken over by an increasingly sinister doppelganger. The series grabbed audiences with smart writing and interesting stories, and though nobody had expected it to equal the original, it came darn near close. The series also included remakes of classic episodes like "Shadow Play" and "The After Hours," while creating its own gems like "A Little Peace And Quiet," "A Matter Of Minutes," and "Button Button," the latter also the basis for the 2009 film, "The Box." Also notable were the six episodes directed by Wes Craven, and writing contributions from the likes of J. Michael Straczynski, George R.R. Martin, and Richard Matheson, among many others.

In 2002 another relaunch of the "Twilight Zone" hit the airwaves, lasting two seasons. It had a few fine entries, but no "Twilight Zone" reboot has ever quite been able to come anywhere close the heights of the first two series. A fourth version, hosted by Jordan Peele, debuted in 2019 on CBS All Access and also ran for just two seasons. 

Just four years after the sudden and surprising cancellation of the legendary CBS anthology "The Twilight Zone," series creator Rod Serling would develop a new show for rival NBC. In addition to hosting duties, the TV icon Serling also contributed many scripts, so it should come as no surprise to learn that "Night Gallery" proved to be a worthy follow-up. 

With an opening set in an art museum full of unusual paintings, Serling would begin each episode by approaching a piece and using it as the entry into the episode. It was a unique way of drawing in the viewer each week, giving it a signature starting point that helped set it apart from his former show. But with the kind of stories it offered and Serling acting as host, it might have been easy for audiences at home to view the series as an extension of "The Twilight Zone," with the biggest difference being that it was in color.

Like many shows on this list, "Night Gallery" was swimming in Hollywood stars, but what may be most noteworthy is that the pilot episode included the first professional credit for a young director named Steven Spielberg. Though "Night Gallery" was never quite as clever as Serling's prior beloved masterpiece, there were many episodes with such imaginative premises as a clairvoyant diary and a soul-stealing magician.

Alfred Hitchcock had one of the most impressive careers in Hollywood, and his groundbreaking films forever changed the way movies were made. He had similar impact on television too, with "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." More than 65 years after its debut, it's not hard to see why it was one of the highest rated shows of its day, and ran far longer than any other series on this list. 

Hosted by Hitchcock himself, who was already one of Hollywood's most famous directors, the series was one of the first to be named solely in honor of its host rather than a product sponsor (a common tactic that included "Buick-Electra Playhouse" and "Colgate Theater"). With its iconic opening and Hitchcock's famous "good evening" greeting, the writer-producer-director as host would be repeated by many shows that would follow.

The half-hour episodes spanned a variety of tones and subject matter, but were mostly mystery and suspense stories — Hitchcock's bread and butter — with the director helming 17 segments himself. Stories took standard plots and tropes and managed to elevate them, putting a new spin on stories the audience thought would be safe and familiar. The show also took the subject matter a lot more seriously than many of its contemporaries, delivering intense drama rather than what usually amounted to a short televised play. In its own way, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" was as groundbreaking as many of the master's films.

Author, screenwriter, producer, and satirist Charlie Brooker had been a newspaper columnist for years and had appeared all over British television on comedy panel shows like "8 Out of 10 Cats," "The Big Fat Quiz of the Year," and "Would I Lie To You?" A gifted comic and astute social commentator (think a UK Jon Stewart if you've never seen his prior work), Brooker took a surprise turn in 2011 when he created the science fiction anthology series "Black Mirror."

Described by GQ magazine as "if Hitchcock made 'The Twilight Zone,'" the series was set apart from other similar shows past and present by having a clear thematic focus on technology. Dripping with social commentary, "Black Mirror" is appropriately titled, as stories like "White Bear" and "Nosedive" hold up a mirror to society that reflects our darker impulses when it comes to technological progress. Since its debut the show has recruited some serious Hollywood talent, from Anthony Mackie and Miley Cyrus to Jon Hamm and Bryce Dallas Howard. Actors and audiences alike are drawn to the show thanks to its intelligence, wit, and just plain brilliant writing that challenged viewers with thoughtful scripts and unique ideas.

Tragic, foreboding, maybe even a little sardonic, "Black Mirror" stories "are not warnings" about the dangers of technology, said Brooker to The Independent, but a statement: the kind of progress seen in the series, he says, "is inevitable."