1963’s The Outer Limits delivered a classic sci fi anthology that is still well-regarded today, but ABC cut the original series short after only two seasons.
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What Is It?
This anthology series gave us science fiction-focused tales that often worked around a monster-of-the-week format and that also delivered the expected twist ending. It has since been ranked as a classic among sci fi shows and is revered for pushing boundaries and helping the genre to mature on television, all kicked off by that iconic opening narration:
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.
Aired: ABC, 1963-65, 2 Seasons Totaling 49 Episodes
Created By: Leslie Stevens
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Notable Guest Stars: Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Shirley Knight, Barry Morse, Adam West
Why Was It Cancelled?
This series is actually a classic example of the disrespect that networks had for sci fi in the past (and that still exists to an extent today) and also of a promising show killed by poor scheduling. It pulled decent ratings during its first year when it aired on Monday nights, enough to justify a second-season renewal. But ABC had a new entry joining the schedule in Fall of 1964–Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea— and the network decided to give the Monday 7:30 PM EST timeslot to the freshman series while relocating The Outer Limits. It was shuffled to Saturday nights (back when the networks still had new programming on that night and people were tuning in) to compete with the popular Jackie Gleason Show over on CBS. Obviously, the sci fi series took a nose dive in the ratings, and instead of rescheduling the show to a better timeslot, ABC just decided to cancel it at midseason, truncating its run at 49 eps. It still managed to live on in syndication despite a less-than-ideal episode count, but had ABC made any attempt to keep it alive, its classic run could have been extended even further.
Should It Be Revived?
The Outer Limits has already gone through one reboot, but another would certainly be welcome. Three decades after its initial cancellation, the show would get a second chance when Showtime brought it back for a revival run. The second series lasted much longer at seven seasons (the last two on The Sci Fi Channel) and 154 episodes, though the revival never quite matched the reputation of the original (but it did still produce its share of standout episodes).
A modern reboot would certainly work as well, and now might be the perfect time. Like The Twilight Zone, a new adaptation should be pretty seamless because of its anthology format. Plus, it is not a show that requires a massive budget. The Outer Limits has succeeded because of its ability to tell a good story (and throw in some decent scares as well), and if the right creative team is tapped for the revival, the show can do that without breaking the bank. There is no need to go into the sfx-excess that we have seen from the more recent Star Trek revivals, just tell good sci fi stories. And with all of the television networks–linear and streaming–in the midst of cost-cutting, this could offer the perfect property with name recognition and a reasonable budget.
The Outer Limits stands next to shows like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek as the pinnacle of the genre in the 1960’s (what I consider to be the first Golden Age of sci fi television). Both of those other properties have gone through reboots, and OL could certainly hold up well to that treatment in the current environment. But perhaps that should adjust the opening for the control voice to the following:
There is nothing wrong with your ratings results. Do not attempt to adjust the schedule or cancel the show. We are now in control of the transmissions . . .
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, though both are rather pricey. If you keep an eye out (especially around the holidays), sometimes there are some pretty good discounts on those. It has bounced around across several streaming services over the years and it is currently available for free (with ads) on The Roku Channel, FreeVee, and Pluto TV (On Demand). The 1990s revival is available for streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video and The Roku Channel. It is also a regular in CometTV’s rotation of classic shows.
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