Hi! I just wanted to ask if I should watch the Outer Limits being a die-hard Twilight Zone fan. I just adore these kind of shows (One Step Beyond is another favorite of mine) and I was wondering if OL fans are also TZ fans?? Do you think I'll like it? What episode's the best for you? An answer would be appreciated.
shareWell there are some difference between the two, the most important is that TOL is mainly rooted in science fiction although there is also a fair bit of gothic horror in Season 1. TZ is more in the realm of fantasy and often featured a twist ending. Both series had some great episodes and some not so great but overall they both were classics mainly because they were intelligent and imaginative shows that would have no chance on getting on the air today. So unless you have a bias against science fiction, you should be able to appreciate TOL.
shareThanksss! =)
shareI am a die hard TZ fan also. I grew up watching both of them but probably more familiar with TZ. They tend to show TZ more(ESPECIALLY around New Years,lol)But as someone else pointed out there are differences and that's why I like both. The same way I like Family Guy and The Simpsons,lol
Certain people on imdb STINK!
Outer Limits is a vastly underrated show. I liked it every since it was first on. Some things date it, such as the opening, which I guess may not even make sense to those grown up in the age of digital cable.
It's always taken a second fiddle to TZ in terms of critique (and I liked TZ too), but it seems like it is rarely spoken of in the same breath anymore. It used to be at least kind of arguable (remember the scene in the 80s TZ remake movie) that it was of similar worth.
Even if one thinks TZ is better, OL is still a dang good show.
The wikipedia section says a lot I agree with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits_(1963_TV_series)#Reception
Thanks for your answer! So far I've only seen the pilot but I am looking frwd to seeing more.
shareWhat? You don't have to fiddle with the vertical and horizontal hold? "There's one for brightness, but it don't work!"
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Ahh, I remember Gallagher....
shareGood catch! Not many people remember him, let alone know his stuff. If they remember him at all, it's as the watermelon guy.
Now the question is; is you knowing this a good thing or a bad thing? ;-)
"I once got an F on a question that asked for my opinion."
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Absolutely a good thing. Probably just means I like comedy and was the right age at the right time. Monty Python, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Gallagher. That was a good portion of my record collection. Gallagher reminded me a lot of George Carlin. He mostly just "thought about stuff." Watermelons were just his gimmick. Like Steve Martin's banjo and arrow-through-the-head, and Howie Mandel's rubber glove.
shareThat sounds very familiar. You can find tons of their stuff on youtube. No Pryor or Cheech and Chong?
Gallagher really got a bad rap, people equating him with the likes of carrot top. Although he's kind of gone off the deep end, lately, into dice clay territory.
And i really do have a pet cat named Erik. The second.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Really? Are all your pets called Eric? Kemal Ataturk had an entire menagerie called "Abdul."
Anyway... Cheech and Chong my latino friends down the street had so I listened there. I suspect my parents wouldn't have appreciated my buying their records. A bit 420ish.... George Carlin was hard enough to get in the house. And what I heard of Richard Pryor's standup was actually too vulgar for me! Which is pretty tough. It just seemed gratuitous and repetitive. Vulgarity with a brain behind it like George Carlin was cool.
I always watch them -- rather have them on when avail: a local station replays them ??6-8 times a week latenight - so they (whole series) repeat ALOT. Today early SAT morning they play 3. Up to ZZZZZ 1.18 now.
Sadly - they drag - because of the 1 hour format - i have thought about this alot. They seemed not to always have enuf story for 40min - so lots of slow pans of ppl walking, camera panning thru a room, etc.
The 1hour TZs also drag abit more for the same reason. I recall the 1 hour TZs were an attempt to save on production costs - i presume same here.
There's onlg one way to find out.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
As someone who considers The Outer Limits to be superior to The Twilight Zone (although I would agree that at his best Rod Serling was unmatched as a writer) I think the original Outer Limits series would be good for any Twilight Zone fan to watch.
But honestly, I think it's always best for people like the OP to find out for themselves how good The Outer Limits is. And I wouldn't expect someone starting out as a Twilight Zone fan to change their high opinion of that series, no matter what else they watched. The original Twilight Zone was an excellent series in it's own right.
Absolutely,though the trouble is that "The Outer Limits" doesn't get annual marathons like "The Twilight Zone" is getting today! A real shame that.
shareTHIS network had the 2nd OL episode on last night: 100 Days of the Dragon. EXCELLENT. Reminded me of the original movie, Manchurian Candidate, 1962. This is one wild episode and would recommend it to any newbie to OL. Great writing, great acting (never over-acting) and very believable plot.
shareAgree, great episode, but somewhat out of character for the direction Joe Stefano took for the rest of the season. The script was from Alan Balter who later made a name for himself with Mission Impossible, and you can see lots of similarities between this story and the basic premise of the MI series.
shareThe main difference between the two shows is that most TZ episodes ended with some kind of twist, while the OL episodes were more conventional stories, often with a happy ending.
This is a THREADED message board. Please reply to the proper post!
Happy endings? More conventional stories? Total nonsense!
As far as happy endings, let's look at the first season's episodes:
The Galaxy Being Was this a happy ending?
The Hundred Days of the Dragon Happy ending? Perhaps
The Architects of Fear This is a happy ending?
The Man With the Power This has a happy ending?
The Sixth Finger OK
The Man Who Was Never Born This is a happy ending?
O.B.I.T. This has a happy ending?
The Human Factor OK
Corpus Earthling This has a happy ending?
Nightmare This has a happy ending?
It Crawled Out of the Woodwork OK I suppose this does have a 'happy ending'
The Borderland OK
Tourist Attraction This has a happy ending?
The Zanti Misfits OK, I suppose so
The Mice OK
Controlled Experiment OK
Don't Open Till Doomsday This has a happy ending? Well, I guess so
ZZZZZ Happy ending? Perhaps
The Invisibles Perhaps you could say this has a happy ending
The Bellero Shield Don't know you could call this a happy ending
The Children of Spider County OK
Specimen: Unknown OK
Second Chance OK
Moonstone OK, I guess
The Mutant OK, I guess
The Guests This has a happy ending?
Fun and Games OK
The Special One OK
A Feasibility Study Happy ending? In a way I guess
The Production and Decay of Strange Particles OK, happy ending I guess
The Chameleon OK
The Forms of Things Unknown Happy ending?
I am sort of glad you made this [false] observation. Because I have always wanted to point out one of the things I love about The Outer Limits. And that is, its very substantial use of dark, non-happy endings.
I really appreciate you going into depth on this nonsense about "happy endings" to The Outer Limits. In fact, I could go further on some of these:
The Sixth Finger: are we sure the unfortunate subject of the experiment is alive at the end? I think it's left up in the air.
The Zanti Misfits: Earth now becomes the future dumping ground for more Zanti Misfits. Not a terribly happy ending.
It Crawled Out of the Woodwork: Sure, they've contained the monster. For now. Not so "happy", I think.
A Feasbility Study: Every protagonist condemned to a horrible existence at the end? Inspiring, yes. Happy, no.
The Chameleon: The protagonist's only hope of happiness is to no longer be human. Again, sobering rather than cheering.
Basically, every episode has a sobering lesson about our place in the universe. Even by today's standards, not a traditional "happy ending" to hardly any of them. Of couse, mickeyone, you basically already said that yourself. So maybe I'm just reinforcing your point even more. Which I'm fine with.
I'm a fan of both shows, grew up with TZ, thus I'm emoitonally biased toward it. On the other hand, I find that TOL plays better today. Both were wonderful shows. I love the black and white photography, the anthology format(i.e. no regular characters, with each episode faturing different characters in different situations).
Even now I watch both, even as I've seen them, most of the episodes of each, more than a few times. Yet there's a sophisticatedness of approach in TOL that seems more modern, as if it was an evolutionary step forward of some kind for TV science fiction. If I wanted to be cruel, make an invidous comparison, I would say that TOL made TZ look old-fashioned by comparison, rendering it and its style nearly obsolete.
That sounds a bit mean, I know, but TOL took TV sci-fi to another level (with Star Trek, a while later taking it to yet another level). None of this takes away from the excellence of the TZ but it does lock it into its time (the other two series are locked in their times, too, but in a diffetent way. TZ was more emotional, sentimtnetal, often backward looking; while the other two were, for their, state of the art.
But yes, TOL should please TZ fans. It's a step forward but not really a better show. As to favorite episodes, I'm too fond of both series to pick just one, or even a handful.
The Outer Limits was a definite and strong influence on Star Trek, although the philosophies could certainly be said to be different. A lot of people moved on to Star Trek from TOL. Even Vic Perrin did voice work on Star Trek (also showing up in on-camera roles). Can't really say the same thing for the Twilight Zone's influence on Star Trek.
shareYes you can. Star Trek borrowed a lot from the Twilight Zone.
share