The Outer Limits

I was a fan of this show from the premier episode of "The Galaxy Being" which I saw when I was ten years old. I just recently was given the DVD set of both seasons. It's great to be able to see THE UNCUT episodes the way they were originally broadcast. It's true that the special effects of the early 60's are rather crude compared to what can be done with CGI today, however, the original Outer Limits made up for it by two things which often are missing in todays science fiction movies and series:excellent story lines with equally excellent acting. Another thing which always stood out for me was the music score which accompanied each episode. I was surprised when my teenage daughter watched some of the episodes with me and like them. One episode which resonated with her was "Don't Open Til Doomsday" It was weird having her discuss the episode with me and express the same feelings that I had 42 years ago when I saw it for the first time. I have to say that when the technology allowed for more realistic and fantastic special effects it seemed to take the heart out of good story telling. Even though I watched The new Outer Limits on Showtime and enjoyed it I feel that it still was inferior to the original series.

I was among the lucky ones who saw this series when first it aired; was lucky enough to find myself going to bed afterward feeling... uneasy... It was somewhat unnerving at the time to see the familiar test pattern flutter and roll and to hear a voice solemnly intone, "There is nothing wrong with your television set..." That feeling must be akin to the gut-wrenching dread people felt when The Mercury Theater broadcast WAR OF THE WORLDS in 1938. Orson Welles, his distinctive voice calmly modulated, told a tale of terror that panicked the nation. Vic Perrin, who did The Control Voice at the start of each episode, spoke calmly and lucidly as he told us not to adjust our television sets: "There is nothing wrong..." In many respects, he was right: we were now in the hands of perhaps the most talented group of innovators in television history. Had Val Lewton (who pioneered "thinking man's horror" with movies like CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, ISLE OF THE DEAD and -my favorite- THE BODY SNATCHER, during the 1940's) turned his talents to science fiction, he might well have produced something along the lines of THE OUTER LIMITS. I won't bother to list the responsible parties by name here in these comments (that's what the IMDb is for), but for the brilliant creator, Leslie Stevens, writer-producer Joseph Stefano (who had adapted Robert Bloch's novel PSYCHO for mastermind Alfred Hitchcock), cinematographer Conrad Hall, and composer Dominic Frontiere (whose music has haunted more than one sleepless night).

From the opening moments of THE GALAXY BEING, it was clear that this was not going to be just another run-of-the-mill show. It was creepy, but in a dramatic, thoughtful way that most TV never is. (Now, of course, we have THE X FILES- but there was a very, very long time when viewers looking for something of genuine worth on television were left wanting.) The fact that the series was being shot in black and white (which always puts the viewer at one remove), with LOTS of shadows and an overall Gothic sensibility underscored (pun intended) by the theme music, marked this as a series of no small consequence; in fact, I've stated before, in print, that THE OUTER LIMITS is the greatest anthology series ever aired. The first season provided some, er, stellar episodes. Among my personal favorites are: THE GALAXY BEING, THE ARCHITECTS OF FEAR, THE SIXTH FINGER, THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN, CORPUS EARTHLING, NIGHTMARE, THE ZANTI MISFITS, THE MICE, THE INVISIBLES, THE BALLERO SHIELD, THE CHILDREN OF SPIDER COUNTY, THE MUTANT, THE GUESTS, FUN AND GAMES, THE SPECIAL ONE, A FEASIBILTY STUDY, THE CHAMELEON, and THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN. Not a bad percentage for the first season alone...

The second season provided its share of memorable moments, beginning with Harlan Ellison's adaptation of his short story, SOLDIER. (The audio track from this episode would make a great "audio book;" it's THAT well written.) There was also EXPANDING HUMAN, DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND (an award-winning episode and another potential "audio book," again written by Harlan Ellison), CRY OF SILENCE, I,ROBOT, THE INHERITORS, KEEPER OF THE PURPLE TWILIGHT and THE DUPLICATE MAN. Argue the merits of each and every episode I've listed here, but rest assured of one thing: you won't be BORED.

If you wanted to know what really good,really spectacular effects along with a good story for maximum effort,then this show set the standard for all science fiction shows as we know it today. And for good reason. For one the stories were based on science fiction subjects ranging for nuclear explosions,aliens and extraterrestials from another world(and some of the most scariest monsters on TV back then!),and creatures from beyond the depths of imagination,and secondly humans who tried to communicate beyond the point of other dimensions and other lifeforms. This show came along with the status of other science fiction shows that domination TV sets throughout the 1960's,with titles like "The Twilight Zone", "Boris Karloff's Thriller","Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea","Lost in Space","Star Trek",and the UFO series "The Invaders". In my opinion about this show it scares the daylights out of me every time I see it. The new version doesn't have a clue to what the original was like,and to me the original rules. Point Blank. Even though it ran for two astounding seasons and producing a total of 49 episodes running in prime-time for ABC-TV from September 16,1963 until January 16,1965,the science-fiction/horror anthology series "The Outer Limits" brought some of the most electrifying special effects ever devised for TV(it would have really fantastic if the original series would have stayed around for another season to make its transition to color but the entire series was shown in black and white). During its first season, the series brought in astounding ratings then toward its second season the powers that be at ABC torpedoed it when it moved from Monday nights to Saturday nights opposite "The Jackie Gleason Show",and "Flipper" which clobbered it in the ratings. Several episodes do stand out as brilliant that made up the guest star roster ranging from future "Star Trek" cast members William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Grace Lee Whitney, James Doohan and DeForest Kelley. Other guest stars were Donald Pleasence, Adam West, Arlene Martel, David McCallum, Barbara Luna, Jill Haworth to Martin Sheen, Sally Kellerman, Robert Culp, Michael Ansara, Eddie Albert,Cliff Robertson and future Oscar winner Robert Duvall. There were 32 episodes for Season 1 of this series that aired from September 16, 1963 until May 4,1964. For its second and final season when ABC moved the series from Monday nights to Saturday nights in an earlier time slot opposite "The Jackie Gleason Show" and "Flipper" a total of 17 episodes aired from September 19,1964 until January 16,1965 when it was canceled in mid-season. The show that replaced "The Outer Limits" on January 24,1965 was the variety family series "The King Family Hour".

Let me take you back. Let me pull you there. A male human child of 6 cycles. It is 1963. Dad was cool and suggested we watch this new 'weirdo' show. We did that sort of thing together - bonding, don't you know? From the very first second the show was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The set up? We just lost control of our TV sets and 'they' were going to show us something - 'awe and mystery'. I'm all for that. 'The Twilight Zone' had already done this...yet this was something different. The visuals combined with the truly subversively semi-subliminal (I hope) sound effects - very compelling. It pulled you right in, teased and hypnotized. Then, that gut wrenching music slowly wanders in and disorients. Hurry up, commercial! Get over already! (Commercials were somewhat shorter back then as I recall)

I believe the first episode, which I haven't seen in years, segued right from the sine-wave intro. I also recall the intro as being a bit longer with the first few episodes. I could be wrong. These were on TV and - you know - TV takes liberties. Later episodes started right in on the action...a prologue to tease you for what's to come. Then - a crescendo note of surprise, awe and mystery - the 'sine-wave- intro. I want to watch this! This same technique was later adopted by such peers as 'The X-files'.

Folks! The original Outer Limits intro was fun! It was almost art...the first season anyway. I do like the 'new' Outer Limits on occasion - but that intro of theirs? Ugh, I can't wait til it's over and the show starts. The intro of the original series came as a part of the package.

Then we have those stories. A child of 6 expects monsters to be monsters. Many of these monsters - each horrific in a surprisingly memorable way - turned out to be well-meaning or benign. That will certainly screw with the perceptive 6 year old mind. So, the monster under my bed might not be a monster at all? Wow!

Yes, those stories were assisted by the most symbiotic music I had heard at the time. Those dirges piped in at just the right moment, working the mood into a niche, and making the plot point. You know, we, the audience, were being seduced by the notes to 'listen up! You might learn something'. The second season unfortunately lost these tunes and were replaced by this wavering 1950-ish B-movie ilk. I shouldn't bash it. It wasn't bad - it just wasn't the Frontiere-groove anymore, man.

I could adorn each episode with praises. Even a bad one was better for me than anything else on TV then. If they were on today I would still watch a bad episode. They still made you consider your place in the Universe. Sometimes they even scared the crap out of you. But the good episodes were gems! Those creatures were fantastic. At the time our local station edited 'Architects Of Fear' so we never got to see the creature since it was deemed too scary. The story still held together even without the extra boost a fearsome face would provide. Many years later I finally saw what the creature looked like. I can see why the stations did what they did for that innocent era. I probably would have screamed myself to sleep. 'Zanti Misfits' had me doing that anyway. The 'Bellero Shield' had me upset for years. I think I actually understood the ending at 6 years old.

So, I am not going to keep listing episodes. I like them all and will be owning them in my library.

Bottomline, folks! If you haven't seen any of these - DO! Unfortunately short-lived, these early episodes are a one-of-a-kind example of good TV. Rare and perhaps extinct. A series that didn't underestimate its audience and nearly always challenged them. Giving this an 8 because of the poor second season - though the first season is frequently easily a 9 or above.

This science fiction anthology series that lasted for 2 seasons and 49 episodes, great acting, superb set design, and wonderful stories made this in some ways better than even "the Twilight Zone". I know that statement could very well be considered close to heresy to some, and don't get me wrong I do love Twilight Zone and hold it among my favorite shows, I merely find the endlessly thought-provoking and wonderous episodes of Outer Limits to edge out the great, but reallying on last-minute twists episodes of Twilight Zone. Followed in the mid '90's by a revival show on Showtime that while good in it's own right, just couldn't hope to hold a candle to the original series.

My Grade: A+