The Outer Limits (TV Series)

TV Series (1963-1965). 49 episodes. Information from wikipedia.org: 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 will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits." — Opening narration – The Control Voice – 1960s The Outer Limits originally ran from 1963 to 1965 on the U.S. broadcast network ABC, and a total of 49 episodes. It was created by Leslie Stevens and was one of the many series ostensibly influenced by The Twilight Zone and Science Fiction Theatre, though it was ultimately influential in its own right. In the unaired pilot, the series was titled Please Stand By but this was rejected by ABC, so Stevens quickly changed the title to The Outer Limits. With a few other minor changes, the pilot aired as the premiere episode "The Galaxy Being". Writers included creator Stevens and Joseph Stefano (screenwriter for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho), the series' first-season producer and energetic guiding force. 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 in the courts that both episodes were the inspiration for the Terminator film series; he was awarded several hundred thousand dollars of damages and the closing credits of the first movie the creators "wish to acknowledge the works of Harlan Ellison". He also won the right to have a notice acknowledging his work added to all versions of the film going forward. Like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits had an opening and closing narration to almost every episode -- known as the "Control Voice" (vocal artist Vic Perrin) -- and distinctive music, in this case by Dominic Frontiere. The dramatic thrust of the two shows was different. The Twilight Zone made frequent use of irony, in which the chief character would achieve his goal, but not in the manner desired. The Outer Limits was often straight action, but also delved into deep philosophical problems within the context of a sci-fi setting. Many of the stories dwelled on the triumph of the human spirit, often in a confrontation with some dark or existential force from within or without (hence the "...mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits" from the opening narration). The program sometimes made use of techniques (lighting, camerawork, even makeup) associated with film noir or German Expressionism (see for example, Corpus Earthling), and a number of episodes were noteworthy for their sheer eeriness. This is largely due to the early work of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who would go on to win three Academy Awards (and many more nominations) for his work in film. A few of the monsters reappeared in Gene Roddenberry's 1960s Star Trek show. A feathered creature was modified to appear as a zoo animal in the background of the first pilot of Star Trek; a prop head from "Fun and Games" was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature. The moving carpet beast in "The Probe" later was used as the "Horta", and operated by the same actor (Janos Prohaska). The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in Star Trek as well. In fact Gene Roddenberry paid a lot of attention to what the Outer Limits team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. Later he hired several Outer Limits alumni for the production of Star Trek. (Source: The Outer Limits Official Companion, Schow & Frentzen, page 361.)