The Outer Limits (The Classic Series) A Review

The Outer Limits was (and is) a total rarity in the crowded halls of Science fiction. Produced on a very low budget by Daystar Productions (the production company owned by the series creator Leslie Stevens) and broadcast in America by ABC between 1963-65 as a contender to the hugely successful Rod Serling fantasy anthology series 'The Twilight Zone', the series explored some fascinating concepts (usually deep routed in a science fiction context) and was admirably non conformist in its execution. Far more intelligent and thought provoking than other enjoyable mainstream science fiction fare such as Lost in Space or even Star Trek, The Outer Limits challenged dominant ideologies beautifully in a number of episodes, 'Nightmare' being the finest example. 

The first season's production team of Leslie Stevens, Joseph Stefano (the man behind the screenplay for 'Psycho', and largely responsible for the series Gothic style) and Dominic Frontiere (whose chilling music characterised the Gothic nature of the series) the show was extremely well made. This was largely helped by a fantastic line up of directors, such as Byron Haskin, James Goldstone, Gerd Oswald and Laslo Benedek, and also Leslie Stevens himself who was responsible for the iconic opening, which has been parodied in so many series, even The Simpsons! Due to the flexible format of the series it could be almost anything, from a typical science fiction plot line to one of a Gothic horror (like the deservedly celebrated The Forms of Things Unknown). 

Like most series, however, there were some poor episodes along the way, such as the very poor and confusing 'Production and Decay of Strange Particles', 'The Hundred Days of the Dragon' and 'Specimen: Unknown' but all in all the first season of The Outer Limits was breathtakingly new and exciting, well written and well made. It is very hard to achieve this level of quality in any television series, but Leslie Stevens and his team had succeeded with relative ease. 

James Shigeta encounters the Ebonite Interrogator, played by the late John Anderson in the classic first season episode 'Nightmare'.

The most notable episodes from the first season include 'A Feasilibility Study', 'Fun and Games', 'Nightmare', 'The Galaxy Being', 'The Man Who Was Never Born', 'The Chameleon', 'Corpus Earthling' and 'The Guests'. Unfortunately like most things that are bold, new and most importantly non conformist the first season failed to live up to the expectations of the ABC executives and when a Second Season was commissioned the budget was drastically cut and the programme makers were ordered to make the show a more generic/mainstream fare. Joseph Stefano (who had worked extremely hard on achieving the look and quality of the first season) was understandably outraged by these suggestions and left immediately. He was followed by Dominic Frontiere and a number of the original production team that had all been crucial in the originality and success of the first season. This had a very negative effect on the following season.

Bizarrely, ABC chose Ben Brady (producer of Perry Mason) to replace Joseph Stefano for the new season and implement the desired changes. Brady turned the series into an unusual combination of Science fiction and Perry Mason, with the episodes 'The Expanding Human' and 'I. Robot' being the most blatant examples. The one excellent choice Brady did make was hiring Seeleg Lester as Story Consultant for the second series. Lester was an extremely talented television writer, and had a notable understanding of what The Outer Limits was all about. Perhaps because of him a number of the episodes are of fantastic quality. Some other benefits of the second season was that Brady was able to keep many of the original directors, including Byron Haskin and Gerd Oswald and a number of new writers were drafted in to provide scripts. The most notable of these is of course Harlan Ellison who provided two top notch stories 'Soldier' and 'Demon With A Glass Hand', the latter of which won two prestigious awards including 'Best Script for an Anthology Series'. Lester himself would also provide the excellent 'Wolf 359' and other classic episodes include 'The Dupicate Man', 'Cold Hands, Warm Heart', 'The Inheritors' and 'Keeper of the Purple Twilight'. Also, composer Harry Lubin produced some excellent, mysterious and moody music for the new season, and a memorable new theme (incorporating the eerie vibrations of the theremin (the ultimate electronic instrument) - even if a certain percentage of the music was recycled from his scores for the earlier anthology series 'One Step Beyond'.

Ikar from the second season classic 'Keeper of the Purple Twilight' 

Despite these successes however the series had lost its visual intensity and moral drive. Put in competition with the hugely successful 'Jackie Gleason Show' (in another attempt by ABC officials to kill the programme) the second season was axed after 17 episodes, ending on the mediocre episode 'The Probe'. Thus, one of the finest science fiction series ever produced had come and gone in a very short space of time. Maybe if the impatient ABC officials had waited a little longer when the programme was under the control of Stevens and Stefano the show would have lasted, but like so many television series, this was never allowed to be. 

Thankfully though, once the show entered syndication it picked up many new fans and gathered a cult status. Due to this, today the series has a considerable fan following, and a 1990's revival to keep its spirit alive. This is all thanks to the creative talent and genius of Leslie Stevens, Joseph Stefano and later Seeleg Lester for making a totally different series, one with many moral messages and one that was beautifully told, from the gothic art house film feel of 'Forms of Things Unknown', the fairytale like execution of 'The Guests' to the claustrophobic and shadowy 'Demon With A Glass Hand' each episode has something to offer. Truly television at its very best. The Outer Limits is a fine example of an era in television we may never see again.

Taking a left turn from television Science fiction my next blog review will be looking at 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes' the last Granada series featuring the great detective to star the late Jeremy Brett in the lead role. This review originally posted on the Internet Movie Database in 2009 is being posted as a reflection on the increased interest in the character since his stories were re-imagined by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss for the digital age. A review of their Sherlock stories, the most recent series having received its début at the beginning of this year will be posted later in 2014. 


NOTE: I don't own the copyright to the pictures used in this blog post and all pictures are copyright to Daystar Productions and MGM.

The first seven of my Screenprick reviews are edited and embellished versions of reviews I have previously written and posted on IMDb (The Internet Movie Database) under the account name 'The Valeyard'. Review Eight will be a brand new review published on this blog first!