The Outer Limits

   

Created by Leslie Stevens, The Outer Limits was a moody black-and-white American science fiction television show from the mid-1960s, one of the many series ostensibly influenced by The Twilight Zone (though ultimately influential in its own right). Like that show, this one had a momentous opening and closing narration to just about every episode. The pacing, however, was completely different, as the former show was based on a surprise ending built up to in half an hour, while this show had a full hour and had to deal with ordinary people's reactions to the situation. The basis of the show was that every episode there would be a monster, referred to colloquially by the producers of the show as the bear. Usually the monster was a man in rubber mask and gloves, wearing special alien clothes. Sometimes the monster was a prop or puppet; once it was stop-motion animated. Only rarely was it a man or woman in disappointingly minimal make-up.

Like classic television "playhouse" dramas, episodes are unrelated and have no direct "sequels" or consistent characters. However, subtle recurring entities, such as the notable alien creatures seen in most episodes provided a thread of continuity. So did the fictional United Space Agency (a mix of experimental scientists, psychiatrists, and G-men), whose space suits, equipment and other props, set pieces, and models actually came from another program paid for by the United States Air Force, Men into Space, which was presented for one season in 1959. This saved quite a bit of money.

Equally, the show's visual and auditory style lends artful consistency. This was no doubt inspired by the Canadian National Film Board's short film, "Universe", which features special-effects shots of moving nebulae with similar music playing to that shown and played as the closing credits of each episode.

Short-lived, the show originally ran from 1963 to 1965 on the American broadcast network ABC; writers included creator Stevens and Joseph Stefano (screenwriter for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho), the series' first-season producer and energetic guiding force. Firebrand Harlan Ellison wrote two episodes (Soldier and the award-winning Demon with a Glass Hand) for the show's more cautious second season; Ellison later argued that both episodes were the inspiration for the Terminator film series.

A few of the monsters reappeared in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek of the 1960s. A feathered creature was modified to appear in the background of the first pilot of Star Trek, in the zoo. The moving carpet beast in "The Probe" later was used as the "Horta", and operated by the same actor. The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in one episode was reused in Star Trek as well.

The Outer Limits was revived in 1995 by the pay-tv channel Showtime and later sold to syndication. It ran for seven seasons until 2002. In every season there is a clip show attempting to connect the plots of half of the episodes that season. A scene of soft-core sex is frequently featured per episode as well. In fact, the show released a DVD anthology called Sex & Science Fiction. Female top nudity is occasionally featured. Settings are mostly modern on earth, sometimes into the future. Space travel and time travel are sometimes themes as well.

Quote

"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We can reduce the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits." ::—Opening narration ("The Control Voice," vocal artist Vic Perrin)

External links



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