Streaming Sci Fi TV: Tracking down sci fi and fantasy shows of interest available on the streaming services.
What Is It?
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 roll the image, make it flutter. 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. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. 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.
Thus begins each episode of The Outer Limits, one of all-time great sci fi anthologies that often worked around a monster-of-the-week format and that also delivered the expected twist ending.
Aired: ABC, 1963-65, 2 Seasons Totaling 49 Episodes; Showtime/Sci Fi Channel, 1995-2002, 7 Seasons Totaling 152 Episodes
Created By: Leslie Stevens
Notable Guest Stars: Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Shirley Knight, Barry Morse, Adam West
Why Watch It?
The Outer Limits is one of the most iconic sci fi anthology shows, second only to The Twilight Zone which preceded it in 1959. It first hit the small screen in 1963 during the same season when TZ was wrapping up its legendary five-year run. ABC insisted that The Outer Limits follow a monster-of-the-week formula which could have doomed it to routine scare-fest tales with little substance. But the creative team figured out how to use the formula to their advantage and produced a show that delivered some all-time sci fi classics during its all-too-brief run (two seasons totaling 49 episodes, and you can read more about the show at this link). When the series was revived by Showtime in 1995, it did not quite match up to the original, but it stuck around for seven seasons and 152 episodes producing its fair share of gems during its tenure.
Where Is It Streaming?
The original series and the revival are available for streaming on the Roku Channel which is a free service with ads. That is of course available on Roku devices and can also be added to some other streaming devices. That channel actually has quite a lot to offer and other sci fi shows of note available thre include Eureka, Quantum Leap, Sliders, seaQuest DSV, and more. Pluto TV as the original Outer Limits series available to stream on demand (it did have several seasons of the revival for a while, but those are no longer there). That service has multiple live-streaming channels including one dedicated to Classic Doctor Who and another running eps of The Walking Dead. It also has shows and movies available for streaming on demand for free (with ads), and that is how you can watch The Outer Limits. The original series is definitely a classic and the revival has its moments, and these two platforms give you the chance to stream both for free.
Watch the original Outer Limits on Roku
Watch the revival of The Outer Limits on Roku
Watch the original Outer Limits on Pluto TV
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
