UPDATE: The show's producer's released a statement clarifying that the series ended on their terms and was not prematurely canceled. "After 20 unique episodes, we have told the stories that we wanted to tell, and CBS All Access was gracious in their understanding of our decision. It was an honor and a privilege to bring audiences a modern re-imagining of Rod Serling’s iconic creation," their statement said.
The Twilight Zone has been canceled by CBS All Access after two seasons. Premiering in April 2019, the anthology series was based on the original 1959 program created by Rod Serling. Developed by Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez, along with John Peele, who served as the anthology’s narrator, the reboot consisted of 20 episodes and frequently focused on examining societal problems with a genre twist.
According to THR, although CBS All Access wanted The Twilight Zone to continue on Paramount+, the companies for executive producers Kinberg and Peele were both ready to walk away from the project. Julie McNamara, the head of programming at Paramount+, praised the reboot in a statement by noting that the show upheld the legacy of the original while continuing to provide thought-provoking and topical themes for audiences.
The reboot, which featured appearances by Kumail Nanjiani and Steven Yeun, among many others, got off to a rough start. In its first season, the series was criticized for failing to strike the right balance between its topicality and the eerily unsettling sci-fi elements that viewers would expect from the Twilight Zone revival.
But returning for its second season, the reboot saw a significant uptick in quality. Episodes like “Try, Try” and “Among the Untrodden” corrected some of the anthology’s earlier missteps and showed the potential for an interesting third installment. While it’s a shame that won’t happen, considering the anthology’s capacity for new stories, fans can still discover the different iterations of The Twilight Zone at any time.