| The Outer Limits | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Opening title (2002) | |
| Genre | |
| Starring | Various |
| Narrated by | Kevin Conway (Control Voice) |
| Music by | John Van Tongeren Daryl Bennett Jim Guttridge |
| Country of origin | United States Canada[1][2] |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 152(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Vancouver,British Columbia Victoria, British Columbia |
| Running time | 43–44 minutes |
| Production companies | Alliance Atlantis Communications Atlantis Films Showtime Networks Trilogy Entertainment Group CFCF-TV CanWest Global Communications Global Television Network The Movie Network SuperChannel MGM Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | Showtime |
| Release | March 26, 1995 (1995-03-26) – September 3, 2000 (2000-09-03) |
| Network | Sci Fi |
| Release | March 16, 2001 (2001-03-16) – January 18, 2002 (2002-01-18) |
The Outer Limits is ascience fictionanthology television series that originally aired between 1995 and 2002 onShowtime,Syfy,Channel 7 and in syndication. The series is a revival of the originalThe Outer Limits series that aired from 1963 to 1965.
The Outer Limits is ananthology of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end. The revival series maintained an anthology format but occasionally featured recurring story arcs that were then tied together during season-finaleclip shows.
After an attempt to bring backThe Outer Limits during the early 1980s, it was finally relaunched in 1995. The success of televisionspeculative fiction such asStar Trek: The Next Generation andThe X-Files and anthology shows such asTales from the Crypt convinced rights holderMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer to reviveThe Outer Limits. A deal was made with Trilogy Productions, the company behind such cinema hits asBackdraft andRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The show would run on thepay-TV channelShowtime (Trilogy, a Los Angeles and Canada-based company, is credited with creating the 1995 series).[1][2][3]
The episodes appeared in syndication the following season (the same arrangement as MGM/Showtime seriesStargate SG-1 andPoltergeist: The Legacy). It continued on Showtime until 2001, whenSci-Fi quietly took over production for the seventh and final season. As a result, that season, unlike the previous ones, was completely free of any swearing or nudity. It was canceled in 2002, after a total of 152 episodes – far more than the original incarnation of the show.[4] In the revived show, the Control Voice was supplied byKevin Conway. The new series distanced itself from the "monster of the week" mandate that had characterized the original series from its inception; while there were plenty of aliens and monsters, they dramatized a specific scientific concept and its effect on humanity.[5] Examples of this include "Dark Rain" (biochemical warfare causing worldwide sterility), "Final Exam" (discovery of practicalcold fusion power), "A Stitch in Time" (atime traveler tinkers with history), as well as two episodes ("Unnatural Selection" and "Criminal Nature") revolving around a human mutation known asGenetic Rejection Syndrome (humans mutating into violent creatures) as a result of an outlawedeugenics attempt to create superior children.
The series was filmed inVancouver,British Columbia, andVictoria, British Columbia. Stories byHarlan Ellison,A. E. van Vogt,Eando Binder,Richard Matheson,Larry Niven,Stephen King,George R.R. Martin andJames Patrick Kelly were adapted.
Leslie Stevens was a program consultant for the first four seasons (until his death), whileJoseph Stefano –creator, producer, and head writer of the originalOuter Limits TV series– served as anexecutive consultant and later senior advisor throughout the whole series. Stefano also remade his episode "A Feasibility Study", retitling it "Feasibility Study" for the third season.John Van Tongeren andMark Mancina composed new music different from that ofDominic Frontiere andHarry Lubin. John Van Tongeren scored ten episodes for the first season and continued through season 6. The musical theme for the modernOuter Limits series is credited to John Van Tongeren and Mark Mancina.
In most seasons, there was aclip show that intertwined the plots of several of the show's episodes (see "The Voice of Reason" for an example). At each commercial interval, the Control Voice can be heard saying "The Outer Limits... please stand by". "Please Stand By" had been the planned title for the original series, (probably to match the opening credits' "There is nothing wrong with your television...")
A number of episodes from seasons 1–6 feature nudity and other adult content. Though originally broadcast uncensored, those episodes have been edited for commercial syndication.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| 1 | 21 | March 26, 1995 (1995-03-26) | August 20, 1995 (1995-08-20) | Showtime | |
| 2 | 22 | January 14, 1996 (1996-01-14) | August 4, 1996 (1996-08-04) | ||
| 3 | 18 | January 19, 1997 (1997-01-19) | July 25, 1997 (1997-07-25) | ||
| 4 | 26 | January 23, 1998 (1998-01-23) | December 18, 1998 (1998-12-18) | ||
| 5 | 22 | January 22, 1999 (1999-01-22) | August 20, 1999 (1999-08-20) | ||
| 6 | 21 | January 21, 2000 (2000-01-21) | September 3, 2000 (2000-09-03) | ||
| 7 | 22 | March 16, 2001 (2001-03-16) | January 18, 2002 (2002-01-18) | Sci Fi | |
Between 2002 and 2006, six themed DVD anthologies ofThe Outer Limits, with six episodes each, were released by MGM in the United States:Aliens Among Us,Death & Beyond,Fantastic Androids & Robots,Mutation & Transformation,Sex & Science Fiction, andTime Travel & Infinity. These DVDs all contain the original uncut episodes, as originally aired, and were collected in a box set,The Outer Limits: The New Series (2006). TheAliens &Sex titles were also released by MGM in the United Kingdom and Benelux (2005).
Season 1 was released uncut and with extra features on DVD in the US (MGM, 2005), UK (20th Century Fox, 2007), and Germany (Fox/MGM, 2008). Because sales of the set did not meet expectations, no further seasons were released.
In 2010, Canada'sAlliance Home Entertainment released all seven seasons on DVD. Season 1 mirrored the content of the earlier MGM set, while season 2 was also uncensored, with the exception of one episode, "Paradise".[6] Seasons 3–6 all contain numerous censored episodes, and Season 7 contains the original unedited episodes; unlike the previous seasons, it was produced with no nudity or swearing.
In 2013, TGG Direct released the seventh season in the US, again unedited but of marginally inferior visual quality than the Alliance season 7 DVDs.[7] The 5-disc set is titledThe Outer Limits: The Complete Final Season, and, in 2014, it was split and re-released as a 3-discVolume One and 2-discVolume Two sets.[citation needed]
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 22 | May 4, 2010 |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | May 4, 2010 |
| The Complete Third Season | 18 | June 1, 2010 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 26 | July 6, 2010 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 22 | August 3, 2010 |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 22 | September 7, 2010 |
| The Complete Seventh Season (final) | 22 | October 5, 2010 |
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Final Season | 22 | December 3, 2013 |
Until June 2020, all seven seasons of the series were available uncut onHulu, until January 2021 and selectively edited onAmazon Video,[citation needed] and seasons 1–7 are uncut on "The Roku Channel" onRoku devices.
All seven seasons are onMGM+, although season 2 is missing episodes 5 ("Mind Over Matter"), 19 ("Falling Star"), and 21 ("Vanishing Act"). These three episodes are included on "The Roku Channel".
Between 1996 and 1997,Prima Publishing published three books which served as compilations of mostly prose adaptations for episodes from the 1963 and 1995 series.
Between 1997 and 1999, a series of books based on the show but aimed towards younger readers was published byTor Books, penned bygenre fiction authorJohn Peel. The first,The Zanti Misfits, was a loose adaptation of the eponymous 1963 series episode, while the second was based on the episodeThe Choice from the new series. The other ten books were original stories.[8]
Author Stan Timmons also wrote two tie-in original novels in 2003 entitledAlways Darkest andDark Matters, respectively.
AnMMO for the reboot was planned under the titleThe Outer Limits On-Line. MGM was working withWorlds Inc.[9]
In 2014, it was reported that a feature film directed byScott Derrickson based on the series was in development.[10][11] In April 2019, a revival was in the works at a premium cable network.[12]
Two identical indoorroller coasters namedThe Outer Limits: Flight of Fear opened in 1996 atParamount's Kings Dominion inRichmond, Virginia, andParamount's Kings Island inCincinnati, Ohio.[13] Loosely based on several episodes ofThe Outer Limits, both rides are heavily themed to an alien invasion, with riders entering the fictional Federal Bureau of Paranormal Activity and eventually boarding an alien ship. Although theParamount Parks were purchased byCedar Fair Entertainment Company in 2006, both rides continue to operate with most of their original theming still intact, minus theOuter Limits branding.[14][15]
