Having lately commented on The (original) Twilight Zone I would be remiss to not mention the other Stateside television series that premiered on another network during the original Zone's final season and carried the torch ever so briefly.
The (original) Outer Limits was an anthology series of one-hour episodes that ran for only two seasons. You could argue its second, truncated season was vastly different from the first—but the same. Study the credits of its producers and directors. A bevy of proved actors and upcoming stars. Joseph Stefano in charge of scripts; Robert Towne and Harlan Ellison contributors. The principal DP later won three Oscars. For their time fairly exotic visual FX filmed in glorious black-and-white. Music and sound FX that did not get out of your head. Makeup artists who doubtless had a sparkling wit.
What TOL lacked in the heightened insight and occasional subtlety provided by the original Zone was more than made up for with style, passion, and the tease of each episode's "bear." Not quite as ahead of its time as pitched, for the extrapolated science it appeared to rely on was always suspect. In hindsight the episodes are even less prophetic, except perhaps for "O.B.I.T." It's as easy to tick off a list of episodes I disliked. (Another user correctly points out some episodes take their sweet time getting to the end.) Some first came across as pretty d'd strange by any standard. But the ones that connected did so quite viscerally. If you keep an open mind they still do.
The pilot episode, "The Galaxy Being," and "The Architects of Fear" remain truly unique treatments of First Contact. "The Inheritors," a two-parter, is the cleverest and most thoughtful episode and probably the best introduction for anyone who frightens easily. "A Feasibility Study," "Corpus Earthling," "Cry of Silence," "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork," "The Man Who Was Never Born," "Specimen: Unknown" and "The Zanti Misfits" kept me awake long after viewing.
I commend the performances of John Hoyt in "The Bellero Shield" and David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" as brilliant in more ways than one. Watch the first five or so minutes of George Macready's performance in "The Invisibles" and you won't think quite the same way about him ever again. You see a lot of Robert Culp and Robert Duvall; one could creep you out simply by flaring his nostrils and the other just by keeping a straight face.
The Nineties successor series only proved it's all too easy now, and that's probably the best reason I still appreciate the original.
The (original) Outer Limits was an anthology series of one-hour episodes that ran for only two seasons. You could argue its second, truncated season was vastly different from the first—but the same. Study the credits of its producers and directors. A bevy of proved actors and upcoming stars. Joseph Stefano in charge of scripts; Robert Towne and Harlan Ellison contributors. The principal DP later won three Oscars. For their time fairly exotic visual FX filmed in glorious black-and-white. Music and sound FX that did not get out of your head. Makeup artists who doubtless had a sparkling wit.
What TOL lacked in the heightened insight and occasional subtlety provided by the original Zone was more than made up for with style, passion, and the tease of each episode's "bear." Not quite as ahead of its time as pitched, for the extrapolated science it appeared to rely on was always suspect. In hindsight the episodes are even less prophetic, except perhaps for "O.B.I.T." It's as easy to tick off a list of episodes I disliked. (Another user correctly points out some episodes take their sweet time getting to the end.) Some first came across as pretty d'd strange by any standard. But the ones that connected did so quite viscerally. If you keep an open mind they still do.
The pilot episode, "The Galaxy Being," and "The Architects of Fear" remain truly unique treatments of First Contact. "The Inheritors," a two-parter, is the cleverest and most thoughtful episode and probably the best introduction for anyone who frightens easily. "A Feasibility Study," "Corpus Earthling," "Cry of Silence," "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork," "The Man Who Was Never Born," "Specimen: Unknown" and "The Zanti Misfits" kept me awake long after viewing.
I commend the performances of John Hoyt in "The Bellero Shield" and David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" as brilliant in more ways than one. Watch the first five or so minutes of George Macready's performance in "The Invisibles" and you won't think quite the same way about him ever again. You see a lot of Robert Culp and Robert Duvall; one could creep you out simply by flaring his nostrils and the other just by keeping a straight face.
The Nineties successor series only proved it's all too easy now, and that's probably the best reason I still appreciate the original.