Au-delà du réel

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.

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+

I don't care what anyone says, this is THE series that changed television and ushered in Sci-Fi and human frailty with excellent, excellent scripts.

Okay, I'll admit, I was three, four and five years old respectively when this series had its first run. And again I will write the words parents don't want to hear or read about: "I remember". Not all, but most. Many of them I caught on re-runs in syndication when I was in my 20's and said, "Oh yeah, this is the one."

But let me tell you about the ones I remember. I remember -- "The Architects of Fear", "The Sixth Finger", "Keeper of the Purple Twilight", "The Zanti Misfits", "Fun and Games", "Demon With a Glass Hand", "The Man Who was Never Born", "It Came from the Woodwork", "Children of Spider County", "I, Robot", "The Invisibles" and the wonderful, wonderful two parter, "The Inheritors".

Those would be the "classics", but there are so many more. What do I remember about those? The Monsters and/or special effects. I didn't quite grasp how well written these were until much, much later. Make no mistake, they are very well written and thought provoking, alot of lessons to be learned/things to ponder even in 2003.

A few notes from me though -- when ABC executive Ben Brady took over, (I guess around 1965?) some of the stories went more "soap opera" than the ones before it. They were still excellent stories but now with Ben Brady leading the helm, you knew his breakthrough night time series "Peyton Place" was rolling around in his mind. Again, this is something I noticed, way later upon syndication views.

I've always had a secret wish, and that was to take a few of these classic Outer Limits series and develop a feature film out of each them. Some are so well written and hit right to the center of your brain to make you take a moment and wonder, seriously, about your world around you and those who are in charge of it.

I am in love with this series. It is classic television, classic Sci-Fi, classic story writing and even though these folks had a nickel and a dime for a special effects budget, they did very, very, well for its time.

Along with the writers, the creators of this 60's series, The Outer Limits, I also have to add that the music was to die for. It added so much to each installment. That and the main Cinematographer, the late, great, Conrad Hall. Wanta see the beginning of excellent work in cinnematography on a less than shoestring budget? Watch these. A must for all film students. You'll be so overwhelmed and wonder how could they do this for the money they had in the 60's no less.

A must for everyone's library. I own every single one of the issues on VHS and started collecting on DVD. A genius of a series. A wonderful collaboration of Producers, Directors, Writers, Network, Actors, Actresses everyone to make a series that will be immortal. This series is beyond excellent.

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".

I was eight when this show first appeared on TV. I can give no greater example of the potential power of television than by saying that when the control voice came on to take over the TV set, I would run out of the room. I couldn't watch a single first run episode of this show. Yet when it was over, I would relentlessly pump my brothers for information on what happened in each episode. And sitting in my room listening to the sounds in the living room and Dominic Frontiere's brilliant and unmatched score would transport me despite myself into realms of imagination and fear that I quite simply had never conceived of before. When I finally was old enough, and brave enough, to watch this show (and yes, I've seen every episode and now have the dozen best episodes on VHS), I discovered that what the camera had captured was, by and large, every bit as wondrous as what I had imagined. This show changed my life. How can any movie or TV show do more than that? Best 10 episodes: "The Architects of Fear", "Nightmare", "Demon with a Glass Hand", "O.B.I.T.", "Corpus Earthling", "The Sixth Finger", "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork", "The Borderland", "The Galaxy Being", and "The Inheritors". And don't miss the great performances by Robert Culp, Robert Duvall, David McCallum, James Shigeta, Jill Haworth, Martin Landau, Jeff Corey, Salome Jens, Martin Sheen, Henry Silva, Ed Asner, Nina Foch, George Macready, Sally Kellerman, Arline Martel, Warren Oates, Michael Ansara, Ivan Dixon, Leonard Nimoy, and Steve Ihnat - among others. The so-called Outer Limits anthology series running now doesn't have a clue of what "The Outer Limits" is all about. I wish the producers would be honest and just not use the title "Outer Limits". Then I could forgive them their mediocrity. And for those who say the original is outdated, I say you're only missing out on what this show really means. And don't be so sure that what we understand about the universe now - IN OUR SOULS - is better than what we understood in 1963. Thank you, Internet Movie Database. I've finally found the forum to get this off my chest.