"Button, Button" is the second segment of the twentieth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. The episode is based on the short story of the same name by Richard Matheson; the same short story forms the basis of the 2009 film The Box. The original idea might be taken from passage 1.6.2 of The Genius of Christianity (1802) by François-René de Chateaubriand, in which the authors asks the reader what he would do if he could get rich by killing a mandarin in China solely by force of will, which had already inspired the novella The Mandarin (O Mandarim) by Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós.

Arthur and Norma Lewis are a couple slowly descending into abject poverty. One day, they receive a mysterious locked box with a button on it and a note that says Mr. Steward will come visit. Then, just as the note says, a smartly dressed stranger who introduces himself as Mr. Steward comes to their door while Arthur is out. He gives Norma the key to the box and explains that, if they press the button, two things will happen: they will receive $200,000 and someone "whom [they] don't know" will die.

After the stranger leaves, the Lewises wonder whether Steward's proposal is genuine, and they agonize over whether to press the button. Norma rationalizes that they could make good use of the money and that the one who dies might be an old Chinese peasant or a person with cancer. Arthur takes the side that pressing the button may cause the death of an innocent baby. They open the box and discover no mechanism inside; it is simply an empty box with a button on it. Arthur throws the box in the trash but Norma retrieves it. The next day, Arthur leaves for work and sees Norma sitting at the kitchen table, her gaze transfixed on the button. When he returns from work that night Norma is still sitting and concentrating only on the button. Time passed and Norma remains fixated on the box. Finally she decides to push the button, much to her husband's disgust.

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