Why Does ‘The Twilight Zone’ Marathon Play on New Year’s? A History of America’s Strangest Annual Tradition

Certain holiday traditions in America just do not translate to international audiences. Some folks might be baffled by the notion of leaving out milk and cookies all night, while others are bewildered by the concept of a Christmas Pickle, devouring a turkey to show gratitude, or the drunken revelry of SantaCon. But the annual Twilight Zone marathon is perhaps the most uniquely American of them all, a black-and-white ritual that turns the final days of the year into a communal plunge into paranoia, irony, and cosmic dread.

Created by Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone was an anthology series that ran on CBS for five seasons between 1959 and 1964. Each episode explored existential themes such as racism, nuclear annihilation, institutional corruption, and mainstream validation, all hidden beneath the veneer of sci-fi and fantasy that allowed Serling to smuggle social commentary past network censors.