We thought we'd take a moment before we launch into Season 2 (please review our updated schedule below) to do a quick review of our favorites from The Outer Limits' first season.
Before we get to our individual picks, we thought we'd start off with a list of the top ten "visited" episodes on the blog:
- Architects of Fear
- The Galaxy Being
- The Invisibles
- It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
- The Sixth Finger
- Nightmare
- A Feasibility Study
- Specimen: Unknown
- The Mutant
- The Zanti Misfits
Our Season 1 Top Ten Lists
- The Man Who Was Never Born
- The Architects of Fear
- Corpus Earthling
- The Sixth Finger
- The Special One
- The Zanti Misfits
- The Forms of Things Unknown
- It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
- The Hundred Days of the Dragon
- The Mutant
- Corpus Earthling
- The Architects of Fear
- Tourist Attraction
- The Zanti Misfits
- The Man who Was Never Born
- The Sixth Finger
- The Invisibles
- Nightmare
- The Mutant
- The Forms of Things Unknown
Season 1 Best Actor
Peter's Pick: Robert Culp "Architects of Fear"
John's Pick: Robert Culp "Corpus Earthling"
Season 1 Best Actress
Peter's Pick: Salome Jens "Corpus Earthling"
John's Pick: Vera Miles "The Forms of Things Unknown"
Season 1 Best Babe
Peter's Pick: Grace Lee Whitney, "Controlled Experiment"
John's Pick: Jill Haworth "The Sixth Finger"
Season 1 Best Bear
Peter and John's Pick: The Zanti Misfits
Be sure to let us know your picks in the comments!
We've got a few more surprises in store for this week, and as a result have decided to push our debut of Season 2 to next Monday, 2/21. Here's the revised schedule so you'll be able to follow along at home:
2/18 Season 2 Primer by David J. Schow
2/21 Cold Hands, Warm Heart
2/22 Soldier
2/23 The Invisible Enemy
2/22 Soldier
2/23 The Invisible Enemy
2/24 Counterweight
2/25 Behold Eck
2/28 Wolf 359
3/1 Keeper of the Purple Twilight
3/2 Expanding Human
3/3 Demon with a Glass Hand
3/4 Cry of Silence
3/7 I Robot
3/8 The Inheritors (Part 1 & 2)
3/9 The Duplicate Ma
3/10 The Brain of Colonel Barham
3/11 The Premonition
3/14 The Probe
3/15 Season 2/Series Wrap Up
2/25 Behold Eck
2/28 Wolf 359
3/1 Keeper of the Purple Twilight
3/2 Expanding Human
3/3 Demon with a Glass Hand
3/4 Cry of Silence
3/7 I Robot
3/8 The Inheritors (Part 1 & 2)
3/9 The Duplicate Ma
3/10 The Brain of Colonel Barham
3/11 The Premonition
3/14 The Probe
3/15 Season 2/Series Wrap Up
And for your continued reading pleasure, we've lined up Spotlights by several of your favorite Season One commentators (Larry Blamire, Peter Farris, Gary Gerani, and Ted Rypel) as well as some newcomers we look forward to welcoming into the fold (Matthew Bradley, Norm Partridge, and Tom Weaver).
Look for all that and, yes, more, as we kick off our reviews of Season Two of The Outer Limits!
Look for all that and, yes, more, as we kick off our reviews of Season Two of The Outer Limits!
Here’s my top ten for season 1. Season 2 will be a very short list.
ReplyDelete1. “The Architects of Fear”
2. “The Man Who Was Never Born”
3. “The Zanti Misfits”
4. “Corpus Earthling”
5. “The Guests”
6. “Fun and Games”
7. “The Bellero Shield”
8. “A Feasibility Study”
9. “Don’t Open Until Doomsday”
10. “Forms of Things Unknown” (surprise!)
Best actor: Robert Culp in “Architects of Fear”
Best actress: Miriam Hopkins in “Don’t Open until Doomsday”
Best babe: Salome Jens in a slip (pre-parasite)
Best bear: The Zanti Misfits
I’m surprised to find the hosts (or me) not too far apart. Except, of course for “The Mutant.” That’s got to be some nostalgic appeal for b-movie cheesy bad acting flat lit sci-fi productions.
I always considered my top ten list as for the whole series, but since nine of them are from the first season, what the heck. I refuse to order them though; I think of them as top five (equal) and second five (equally equal).
ReplyDeleteTop five: Architects of Fear, Forms of Things Unknown, Feasibility Study, Sixth Finger, and Demon with a Glass Hand (the ringer from S2).
Second five: Corpus Earthling, The Invisibles, Zanti Misfits, It Crawled Out of the Woodwork, Don't Open Until Doomsday.
Best Actor: Robert Culp, Corpus Earthling
Best Actress: Miriam Hopkins, Don't Open Until Doomsday
Best Babe: package deal, Barbara Rush and Vera Miles from Forms (but don't let them cook for you)
Best Bear: tie, Zantis and the Thetan
By the way, a question, if Peter and John don't mind answering. Can you give us a rough idea what the average viewership is for this blog? Hundreds? Thousands? Everyone in the Western Hemisphere? Or just correspondents and their parents? Just curious . . .
Greatest Episodes, top ten in order of production:
ReplyDeleteThe Architects of Fear
The Sixth Finger
The Man Who Was Never Born
O.B.I.T.
Corpus Earthling
The Invisibles
Don't Open Till Doomsday
The Bellero Shield
The Forms of Things Unknown
The Zanti Misfits
Best Actor
David McCullum
Best Supporting Actor
Neil Hamilton
Best Newcomer
The soldier engulfed in zantis (whatever happened to him?)
Best Actress
Vera Miles/ Geraldine Brooks/ Sally Kellerman
Best Supporting Actress
Barbara Rush
Best Bear
Zanti
Best Make-up
The Sixth Finger
Best Editing
The Forms of things Unknown
Best SFX
The Architects of Fear
Best Director
Gerd Oswald (if only because he got the plum assignments, more of them and dazzled)
Honourable mentions:
Lenny Horn
John Braham
James Goldstone
Leslie Stevens
Best Writers
1/ Joseph Stefano
Meyer Dolinsky
Ellis St. Joseph
And when on the rare occasions things just didn't quite go right....Rasberry 'Golden Turkey' Awards goes to - in no particular order....
I'm The Tourist – get me out of here
The Production and Decay of Strange Turds
The unSpecial One
The Mutant militant
No Second Chances
Specimen: Unworthy
The Dicey Mice
Borestone
PS: in order for tabulation purposes, I'd put Brooks as best actress, she was first in order of production..
ReplyDeleteInteresting lists, J and P--nice surprise to see "Invisibles" make one list. Lots of big "Corpus Earthling" love.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Culp split between "Corpus" and "Architects". Here's mine, in order:
THE INVISIBLES
CORPUS EARTHLING
OBIT
THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN
DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY
ARCHITECTS OF FEAR
THE GUESTS
NIGHTMARE
THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN
ZANTI MISFITS
Best Actor: Robert Culp, "Architects of Fear"
Best Actress: Miriam Hopkins, "Don't Open Till Doomsday"
Best Babe: Joanna Frank, "ZZZZZ"
Best Bear: tie, Zanti and an Invisible
"Bellero Shield" got nudged out by "Guests" for me this time round, but I'm sure that'll change again.
I think among the pleasures/surprises/discoveries/reassessments of this extremely regimented go-round--particularly in production order--is Kenneth Peach. The look of TOL indeed did not change overnight; his Season One work is largely outstanding. Big props for Peach!
Top 10:
ReplyDelete1. Don't Open Till Doomsday
2. O.B.I.T.
3. The Zanti Misfits
4. The Guests
5. Corpus Earthling
6. The Invisibles
7. The Man Who Was Never Born
8. The Architects of Fear
9. The Galaxy Being
10. It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
Best actor: Jeff Corey, "O.B.I.T."
Best actress: Miriam Hopkins, "Don't Open Till Doomsday"
Best babe: Joanna Frank, "ZZZZZ"
Babe runners-up: Shirley Knight, Salome Jens, Nancy Malone, Luana Anders (I'd take these ladies home to meet Mom; I'd take the bee girl to Vegas)
Best bear (tie): The Zanti reprobates and Cupcake from "Don't Open Till Doomsday"
Happiest surprise: Kenneth Peach
Biggest letdown: "The Sixth Finger" (loved it as a kid, damn near offended by it as an adult)
Favorite cheesy line ("The Sixth Finger"):
ReplyDelete"The whole town must be utterly destroyed. An example must be made."
Not just destroyed, mind you. UTTERLY destroyed.
(Or maybe my inferior brain just heard it that way).
David - In answer to your question we're currently averaging around 800 hits a day. To date, we're in excess of 30K hits for the blog overall. Considering we jumped into A Thriller A Day last summer thinking we'd be lucky to find a dozen followers willing to come along for the ride, the numbers are quite humbling. We also recognize that if not for the insightful comments of the community, we wouldn't see a fraction of the hits we do, so a big thank you to all of you who make WACT what it is.
ReplyDeleteBest of all, as ATAD has shown us, even after we're done with our day to day run, new folks will continue to stumble across the site, adding comments and furthering the discussion.
Best strings accompaniment:
ReplyDelete"The Invisibles" FIRST MOVEMENT
(Well, actually, on ANY movement)
Runner up:
Levitating rock in "Man with the Power"
My top ten:
ReplyDeleteTHE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN
THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN
THE ARCHITECTS OF FEAR
DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY
IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE WOODWORK
THE INVISIBLES
CORPUS EARTHLING
THE BELLERO SHIELD
THE GALAXY BEING
A FEASIBILITY STUDY
Honorable mention:
THE SIXTH FINGER, O.B.I.T., NIGHTMARE
Best director: Gerd Oswald
Best writer: Joseph Stefano
Best director of photography: Conrad Hall
Best actors: Robert Culp, David McCallum, Martin Landau
Best actresses: Geraldine Brooks, Miriam Hopkins, Sally Kellerman, Vera Miles.
Best bear (overall): The Zantis. Best bear (makeup): The Sixth Finger. Honorable mention, kind of in a class by itself: The Galaxy Being.
Best special optical effects (tie): "The Borderland" and "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork."
Least satisfying episodes:
TOURIST ATTRACTION
CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT
PRODUCTION AND DECAY OF UNKNOWN PARTICLES
Most over-hated episode with a powerful premise/lead performance:
THE MUTANT
Best babe (tie): Joanna Frank and Jill Haworth.
Best hunk (tie): Robert Culp and Larry Pennell (LP always seems to wind up in this category).
Best Conrad Hall cinematography: THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN. Honorable mention: CORPUS EARTHLING.
Best Dominic Frontiere score: THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN.
Honorable mention: THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN.
Best "Stevens" episode: THE GALAXY BEING.
Best "Stefano" episode: THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN (out there); NIGHTMARE (character-based).
Most exhausted writer for this blog: Flip a coin, gentlemen!
Best Use of Vaseline:
ReplyDelete"Man Who Was Never Born" Camera Lens (Andro hypnotic episodes)
Runners Up:
Mouths/Lips of Ebonite, Louis Mace (as alien) and Empryan
I just knew we'd be coerced into the rating thing. Nothing is so mutable with me as ratings of my favorite anythings. But lest I be marked down as a social curmudgeon, and earn the scorn of Blamire, I'll take a whack.
ReplyDeleteTop Ten Episodes, in gently descending order (it's like rating your kids):
THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN
A FEASIBILITY STUDY
ARCHITECTS OF FEAR
THE BELLERO SHIELD
THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN
THE ZANTI MISFITS
CORPUS EARTHLING
THE INVISIBLES
DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY
NIGHTMARE
Mine Goes to Eleven Award: THE GALAXY BEING
If It Went to Twelve Award: IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE WOODWORK
Best Actor:
(TIE)
ROBERT CULP with rocks in his head (CORPUS EARTHLING)
ROBERT CULP with calcyx phalexis in his veins (ARCHITECTS OF FEAR)
Best Actress:
MIRIAM HOPKINS (DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY)
Best Director:
GERD OSWALD (multiple citations)
Best Teleplay:
JOSEPH STEFANO (THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN)
Best Babe:
(TIE)
JILL ("Faithful FORWARD and BACKWARD") HAWORTH
JOANNA ("Unapologetically Sexually") FRANK
Best Sardonic Alien Voice-over:
ROBERT JOHNSON (FUN AND GAMES)
Best Alliteration:
(TIE)
"sleek sack of sin" (FORMS)
"piercing pain of panic' (ARCHITECTS)
Best Control Voice Wink:
"Today, finally, they will join the hu--- I almost said the HUMAN race." (INVISIBLES)
Best Reflexive Leg-Crossing Female Name:
KASSIA PAINE (FORMS)
Best Bear:
THE ZANTI GUARD
Worst Bear:
THE ZANTI CLING-ON (THE MUTANT)
Remember that these selections are for topical use only, not for ingestion.
Wondered when Ted was going to cough up here (I once came into possession of the Scorn of Blamire--eBay of all places). You know, I can't help noticing that some of us have expanded on the initial categories that some of us haven't expanded on, thus inspiring me to also expand. On.
ReplyDeleteBest Use of a Chromoite: "The Guests".
Most Overrated Underrated Episode: "The Mutant".
Most Underrated Underrated Episode: "Production and Decay of Man in the Moon Marigolds".
Most Least Special Episode: "The Special One".
Alien I'd Most Like to Have a Beer with: The Empyrian.
Alien I'd Least Like to Have a Beer With: Byron "Sunny" Lomax.
I'm wondering if DJS will spit out a Top Ten as he did with THRILLA? Come on, David, youth wants to know.
Blame (or give credit to) the ever-expanding (non-human) categories on bobby josson, who inspired this insurrection.
ReplyDeleteMost Overused Product Placement Vehicle:
Lincoln Continental (1962? - the black JFK non-convertible one with adjacent doorhandles)
"The Invisibles," "Don't Open Till Doomsday," "The Bellero Shield," and maybe "The Zanti Misfits" (I forget). But many other places as well. Perhaps more so than that popular control panel.
OK, this is contagious:
ReplyDeleteMost Underrated Babe: Gail Kobe, "Specimen: Unknown"
Couple I'd Least Like to Think About Coupling: Ben and Lisa, "The Zanti Misfits"
Special Award for Age-Appropriate Romantic Pairings: Leslie Stevens
Best-Dressed Bear: Aabel, "The Children of Spider County"
Most Bearlike Bear: Calco aliens, "Fun and Games" (also Worst-Dressed Bear)
Bear Most Likely to Sell You a Used Lincoln Continental: Grippians, "Moonstone"
Least Bearable Bear: Empyrian, "Second Chance"
Bear Most Likely to Shit in the Woods: Chromoite, "The Mice"
Will this madness never end?
ReplyDeleteBest Spinoff Series: Love That Gwyllm
Worst Spinoff Series: The Beasleys!
Best Spinoff Series: Love That Gwyllm
ReplyDeleteDon't you mean: Everybody Loves Gwyllm?
What confuses me is how I should categorize. What I mean is that although "Galaxy Being" still remains my favorite after all these years, yet I do Not want to put it under favorite-bear, because I interpret "bear" as being terrifying. Because if you look at GB, it's Not terror but instead wonderment,which is what hooked me into the series in the first place.
ReplyDelete(Orville Smith)
John: Thanks for reminding me--those are two separate series; one from the 1950s, the other from the early 2000s.
ReplyDeleteI think in terms of OL "bears", I don't think it's necessarily terrifying, it's just the nickname for an episode's "alien other" that hooks people in. Which would also include Mr. Bellero's Bifrost.
Hey--another spinoff I used to like: MR. BELLERO'S BIFROST. Wonder what hi-jinx the alien will get Bellero into THIS week?
Okay, what's left... How about expanding the concept of "Don't Open Till Doomsday" into a series called THE NEWLYWED GAME? (Might be a rights issue).
ReplyDeleteI've always been partial to the episode of THE ZANTI GRIFFITH SHOW where Zanti takes Opie and Aunt Bee (Joanna Frank) to the Carnival where they accidentally get on to a real live space ship! That one always makes me laugh my latex head off.
ReplyDeleteSpin-Off Series That Would Most Resemble Today's Network Television: "Controlled Experiment"
ReplyDelete(Let's do that joke again...and again...and again)
My opinion on any given episode can change after repeated viewings, so here are my Season 1 top ten picks for today.
ReplyDelete1. The Forms of Things Unknown
2. The Architects of Fear
3. The Special One
4. The Zanti Misfits
5. The Guests
6. A Feasibility Study
7. Corpus Earthling
8. The Sixth Finger
9. The Chameleon
10. ZZZZZZ
Best Actor: Robert Duvall
Best Actress: Miriam Hopkins
Best Bear: Zanti Misfits
Best Episode Review: ZZZZZZ
Best Spotlight: Spotlight On "ZZZZZZ" by Mark Holcomb
Best Cinematography: The Forms of Things Unknown
Best Episode Ever: The Forms of Things Unknown
Best Best Category: Best Alliteration (Ted Rypel)
Peter, you're killin' us...
ReplyDeleteI always liked that last season of LEAVE IT TO BEE-GIRL, where Wally and Theodore bring home that injured queen bee, nurse her back to health, and then learn that she's not quite what she seems---
"Boy, Wally---I never saw a bee who looked like a clunky girl!"
Hilarious misunderstandings ensue concerning cross-species, er...pollination. Fortunately, Ward Cleaver is there to gently remonstrate with her about controlling her baser impulses. All is well until the Cleavers' new house guest encounters Eddie Haskell, teaches him about the birds and...well, you know---
I never found out what happened after my parents wouldn't let me watch anymore. Any gray-market tapes?
I can’t rank ‘em. I can’t. Interviewers have asked in the past and I was suitably glib. But overall I’m much too close to each individual episode to give thumbs-up-or-down; four stars or no stars. List-making is unavoidable. Subdividing things into groups is the basis of mathematics and human cognition.
ReplyDeleteBest Alien Language: Zantigo.
Best Amorphous Lovecraftian Cloud: “Woodwork.”
Best Single-Serve, Multi-Use Control Panel: You all know that one by now.
Second-Best Mocking Alien (after the Senator): The Luminoid Authority.
Best Troika: Stefano/Oswald/Hall.
Best One-Shot (ie., script by a writer that never did another OUTER LIMITS episode): A tie: “The Chameleon” and “The Guests.”
Best Performance as an Alien or Mutant: Gwyllm (runner-up, Reese Fowler).
Best (only) use of Vasquez Rocks: “The Zanti Misfits.”
Best (only) use of Bronson Cave: “The Mutant.”
Best Gang of Aliens: The Ebonites.
Best Alien Weapon or Device: The climate-control prop from “The Special One.”
Best Spinoff Series: PAWNBROKERS FROM MARS.
Best Performance by Flip Mark: THE FUGITIVE.
Best Single Episode Score: “Nightmare.”
Best Celebrity Chef Spinoff: COOKING WITH CHROMOITES.
Most Hideous OUTER LIMITS Odd Couple: Alex Nicol & Ruth Roman.
BEST BLOB in the Attic -- "The Guests"
ReplyDeleteBEST TURD in the Attic ----"Don't Open 'til Doomsday"
LR
I'm the Clean-up guy again, after another exciting day of musical work.
ReplyDeleteBEST MUSICAL SCORE -- Nightmare
BEST ACTOR --- Robert Culp (either/both episodes)
RUNNER-UP --- Don Gordon (Invisibles)
BEST ACTRESS--Miriam Hopkins
MOST GRACIOUS ACTRESS TO BE MENACED BY A GLOB OF CRAP -- Diana Sands (Mice)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR-- Jeff Corey
BEST BABE-- Joanna Frank
BEST FORMER BABE -- Marsha Hunt
MOST UNDERATED ACTOR --(TIE): Walter Burke, Douglas Henderson
BEST SINGLE SPEECH/SCENE: (3-way TIE): Jeff Corey (OBIT demonstration scene and Final tirade), Bill Gunn--("Heart" speech in Nightmare), Miriam Hopkins (big breakdown scene with alien box)
MOST SHOCKINGLY VIOLENT SCENE -- Selby's murder in "Dragon"
BEST BEAR--- Zantis
BIGGEST TEETH MARKS ON SCENERY -- George MacReady ("Strange Particles")
MOST ABUSED ACTOR WHO SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED OPENING CREDIT -- Barry Atwater (Corpus E.)
MOST AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME ROLE FOR 1963 TV: Richard Dawson/OLiver Fair (Invisibles)
-----------------
My Ratings:
1.) Architects
2.) Obit
3.) Corpus Earthling
4.) Invisibles
In no particular order:
Man Who Was Never Born
Bellero Shield
Nightmare
100 Days of Dragon
Guests
Woodwork
GO AHEAD AND BAN ME FROM THE BLOG:
Episode I most look forward to watching again:
PRODUCTION & DECAY! (Yeah, Baby!!)
LR
Oooops-- Forgot one.
ReplyDeleteBEST SPINOFF SERIES-(aspiring Tennis star):
The Man Who Was Never Bjorn
LR
Oh, yeah.....
ReplyDeleteBEST PERFORMANCE BY A SISTER-IN-LAW OF A MARX BROTHER: Dee Hartford (Invisibles)
Best Blog With Weird Categories: WACT Top Ten, 1st Season (changed a little due to blog transmission viewings) 1) The Guests 2) O.B.I.T. 3) The Man Who Was Never Born 4) Fun And Games 5) The Architects Of Fear 6) The Forms Of Things Unknown 7) It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork 8) The Bellero Shield 9) Second Chance 10) The Children Of Spider County Top Actor: Robert Culp Top Top Actress:Sally Kellerman Scariest Bear: Dr. Temple Snuggliest Bear: The Senator Favourite Ladies (big list): !) Laura Hanley, 2) Teresa Ames, 3) Kassia Payne, 4) Noelle Anderson 5) Mara Mathews, 6) Yvette Leighten 7) Stephanie Linden, 8) Ingrid Larkin
ReplyDeleteSorry to have been a bit behind the curve, but here are my faves. My list is more about impact made on an impressionable fan boy back in the day, than an opinionated old geezer. I speak for both "STEVEs" by the way.
ReplyDeleteMy top Five
ZANTI MISFITS
THE GALAXY BEING
CORPUS EARTHLING
THE ARCHITECTS OF FEAR
THE INVISIBLES
Best Actor - ROBERT CULP
Season Two as well!
Best Actress - SALOME JENS
Best Supporting Actor - WARREN OATES
Ya see, even though I slammed this episode I really liked Oates work, then and now!
Best Supporting Actress - JOANNA FRANK OK...hottest!
Best Director - GERD OSWALD
Best Writer - JOE STEFANO
Best Music - FRONTIERE
Obviously, but his work may have been the best of any series that year!
Best Camera - CONRAD HALL
Another "of course," but I agree with Blamire, that KEN PEACH brought along some high craft to the series which was/is a treat to watch.
Best Bear - THE ZANTIS
Best Underrated Bear - THE INVISIBLES
Like the Zantis, it gave me the heebie jeebies when I was a kid!
Best Fight - CORPUS EARTHING
Best Warm Up for a Future Role - BARRY ATWATER, Corpus Earthling. He had his full "creep" on, and getting up to speed for THE NIGHT STALKER.
Best Performance by a Stunt Man - THE MP FROM THE ZANTI MISFITS, who was covered with our little friends.
Best bear has to be the one that some stations deemed too frightening to show...the Thetan
ReplyDeleteHello. I always come late to these blogs- so instead of watching them chronologically, I bounce around watching the most acclaimed episodes first. Anyways, I'm finding (to my alarm) that I'm agreeing to a much greater extent with John and Peter than I did on Kolchak and Thriller, where I disagreed more than half the time.
ReplyDeleteBut after the first 2 discs (16 episodes), my only disagreements were I really liked The Mice, disliked Tourist Attraction, hated 100 Days of the Dragon, hated Nightmare (I forget which one of you liked that one). Also I actually liked The probe.
My First season awards so far:
ReplyDeleteI'd rank the first 16 episodes like this:
Good episodes:
1. The 6th Finger- 3 1/2 Zantis
2. The Man who Was Never Born- 3 1/2
3. The Architects of Fear- 3 /12
4. The Mice- 3
5. Corpus Earthling- 3
6. The Zanti Misfits- 3
7. It Crawled out of the Woodwork- 3
8. The Galaxy Being-3
The mediocre:
9. The Human Factor- 2 1/2
10. Controlled Experiement- 2
The Bad:
11. Tourist Attraction- 1 1/2- comes closest of these baddies to o.k. but doesn't quite get there.
12. Hundred Days of the Dragon- 1
13. Nightmare 1/2
14. man with the Power 1/2
15. Borderlands 1/2
16. OBIT- 0.
Other Awards:
Actor- Martin Landau, Man who was never Born
(although you'd have to pick Robert Culp as the iconic Outer Limits guest actor- Architects of Fear, Corpus Earthling, and Demon with a Glass Hand make most people's top ten)
Actress-Shirley Knight, Man who was never Born
Supporting actor- tie Ed Asner, It Crawled out of the Woodword, Edward Mulhare, 6th Finger- if I have to pick one I'll go Asner, though no one stands out.
Supporting Actress-Salome Jens, Corpus Earthling
Best bear-The Zantis make the episode- I still have nightmares about one of things crawling across my bedroom floor.
Runner up-Architects of Fear and I really like the bear (although gross) in The Mice.
Best photography- anything by Connie Hall- he's great! I think you can always tell which is an episode directed by Conrad Hall immediately- he goes nuts with low angled shots, shots from above, shadows (especially in Woodwork- so I'll pick that one). For ex. my favorite episode The 6th Finger, is clearly not ph by Hall.
Best Babe: No contest- Sally Kellerman, The Human Factor. Those lips, that voice, those...other things, oh my god.
Runner ups-Barbara Luna, Woodward, really hot.
The blonde in the 6th Finger, the blonde in The
Galaxy Being, I even like Nina Foch.
Peter are you nuts placing 100 Days of the Dragon an your list. Peter are you even more nuts placing Tourist Attraction in your top 3? and Nightmare in your top 8?
ReplyDeleteSorry.
But I'm glad to see Mr.'s Blamire and Gerani liked Doomsday- I always felt that one was underrated.
First season episodes ranked in qualitative order:
ReplyDelete1. The Sixth Finger
2. ZZZZZ
3. Forms of things Unknown
4. The Man who was never born
5. The Architects of Fear
6. Corpus Earthling
7. The Chameleon
8. It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
9. The Mice
10. The Moonstone
11. The Zanti Misfits
12. The Galaxy Being
13. Don't Open Until Doomsday
14. Feasibility Study
15. Second Chance
16. The Human Factor
17. Controlled Experiment
18. Fun and Games
19. Specimen: Unknown
20. The Bellero Shield
21. Tourist Attraction
22. Nightmare
23. The Borderland
24. 100 Days of the Dragon
25. OBIT
26. The Mutant
27. the Children of Spider County
28. Man with the Power
29. The Invisibles
30. The Guests
31. The Special One
32. Production and Decay of Strange Particles
I have 100 Days of the Dragon too low. It's better than the Galaxy Being.
DeleteOBIT while flawed is too low. The idea of a surveillance state or corporations spying on its employees seems even more timely as anyone who has worked for a large corporation can attest to. The idea of the employees lives being made a living hell hit home and I don't know why it didn't register the first time.
DeleteSeason One Awards:
ReplyDeleteBest Episode: The SIxth Finger- narrowly over the tragically underrated ZZZZZ and The Forms of Things Unknown (while a great episode, its more of a Thriller episode in some ways!)
Best Direction: ZZZZ. Runnerup- Forms of things Unknown.
Best Teleplay: The Man who Was Never Born. Runnerup- The Sixth Finger.
Best Actor: Martin Landau, The Man who was Never Born
runnerups: Robert Duvall, The Chameleon
David McCallum, The 6th Finger and Form of things Unknown
Simon Oakland, Second Chance
Best Actress: Shirley Knight, The Man who Was Never Born
runnerups: Joanna Frank, ZZZZZ
Vera Miles, Form of Things Unknown
Nancy Malone, Fun and Games
Miriam Hopkins, Don't Open Until Doomsday
Salome Jens, Corpus Earthling
Best Supporting Actress- Geraldine Brooks, The Architects of Fear.
Runnerups- Barbara Rush, Form of things Unknown
Jilly Hayworth, The Sixth Finger
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Asner, It Crawled out of the Woodwork
Runnerups: Cedric Hardwick, Form of Things Unknown
Edward Mulhare- The Sixth Sense
Carol O'Connor, Controlled Experiment
Philip Abbott, ZZZZZ
Worst Performance by an Actor- George McReady- Production and Decay of Strange Particles
runner ups- Ralph Meeker, Tourist Attraction
Niock Adams, Fun and Games
Worst Performance by an Actress- Ruth Roman, The Moonstone
Best Bear:
1. The Zantis
2. The Architects of Fear
3. The Mice
4. The Sixth Finger
5. Second Chance
6. Don't Open Until Doomsday
Worst Bear:
1. The Special One- the floating feather and the gills breathing-the worst effect in the series.
2. The Invisible-creepy sound effects, but the lobster thing isn't scary, just lays there
3. The Guests- not the best blob monster
4. Specimen: Unknown- flowers aren't scary
Best effects:
1. The Zanti Misfits
r/u- ZZZZZ
It Crawled out of the Woodwork
Tourist Attraction
The Moonstone
Best Cinematography- anything by Conrad Hall (NOT Kenneth Peach), my favorite is Form of Thkngs Unknown, he went completely nuts!
Best Art Direction- Form of Things Unknown
r/u The Mice
The Moonstone
Feasibility Study
Best Makeup-
Corpus Earthling
r/u the eyes in The Mutant- the only good thing about that episode
Feasibility Study
100 Days of the Dragon
Best Costumes: The Architects of Fear
r/u The Man who Was Never Born
The Mice
Fun and Games
Second Chance
Best Babe:
1. Joanna Frank- no contest
2. r/u Barbara Luna
3. Sally Kellerman, Human Factor and Bolero Shield
4. Jill Hayworth, The Sixth Sense
Best Score: Form of Things Unknown
ReplyDeleteMost Underrated episode by Youse Guys: ZZZZZ
Most Overrated episdoe: The Mutant
In the last analysis, dear friends (and it really may be the last if no one else is reading WACT as we near 2014) O.B.I.T. is the Outer Limits at its best and most prescient.
ReplyDeleteA top-5 tip of the insectoid tentacle to Bellero Shield, Man Who Was Never Born, Feasibility Study and Zanti Misfits.
Best cameo appearance before the opening credits: Jason Wingreen -- for O.B.I.T. or The Special One, take your pick.
Fear not! While we don't get new posts every day, we DO get new readers every day. Keep the comments coming!
ReplyDeleteGreat categories !! As an OL fan from French speaking Quebec who first saw the show as a kid in the 70s, lemme add a few :
ReplyDeleteBEST FRENCH TRANSLATION FOR AN EPISODE TITLE : DU FOND DE L'ENFER (meaning IT CAME FROM HELL) for IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE WOODWORK
SCARIEST EPISODE AS A KID WHICH IS STILL SCARY TODAY : CORPUS EARTHLING, WOODWORK
SCARIEST EPISODE AS A KID WHICH IS TOTALLY LAUGHABLE TODAY : THE MUTANT
BEST 'SHOWY' CAMERA WORK BY CONRAD HALL : FORMS OF THING UNKNOWN
BEST SUBTLE CAMERA WORK-LIGHTING BY CONRAD HALL : The light on Robert Culp's face when he lights up a cigarette in his living room in CORPUS EARTHLING (it does NOT come from the match ! ;)
BEST REASON WHY KENNETH PEACH DID GREAT CAMERA WORK ON SOME OF HIS EPISODES : WILLIAM FRAKER ! ;)
BEST EMOTIONAL SPEECH BY A BLIND BLACK ACTOR : Bill Gunn in NIGHTMARE
MOST ENTERTAININGLY ABUSIVE MARRIED RELATIONSHIP : Donald Pleasance and his wife in MAN WITH POWER (runner-ups : Cliff Robertson and Jacqueline Scott in GALAXY BEING, Martin Landau and Sally Kellerman in BELLERO SHIELD,but none of this tops the hilariously (!) abusive and NON-married relationship of Gail Kobe and Warren Stevens in KEEPER OF THE PURPLE TWILIGHT
and now for some seldom-mentioned musical categories (identified according to the fantastic LA LA LA RECORDS triple-CD compilation titles) :
Best use of the DEMENTIA theme : As background music to Dr Block's demented sppech on the creature's origin in WOODWORK
BEST THEME PLAYED BY A 44 PIECE ORCHESTRA THAT YOU COULD NEVER HEAR PROPERLY DURING THE EPISODES IN WHICH IT WAS USED BECAUSE OF ALL THE MACHINE NOISES BUT THAT YOU WERE FINALLY ABLE TO LISTEN TO IN ABSOLUTE AWE WHEN YOU FINALLY HEARD IT PROPERLY ON THE OL CD COMPILATION : THE BIG FINISH (from THE BORDERLAND)
MOST BEAUTIFUL MUSICAL THEME THAT WAS INCREDIBLY USED ONLY TWICE IN THE WHOLE SERIES : DARK CORRIDOR (heard in DOOMSDAY and partially heard in MOONSTONE)
SADDEST THING ABOUT THE END OF SEASON ONE : That it may have all gone to hell because of 'someone's desire to fly solo and launch his own doomed mystery series ...
In my unofficial study of reactions to the first season, it seems like most episodes were ranked in the top 10 in at least several people's lists. I didn't see anyone place Borderlands, Man with the Power, or Specimen Unknown on any top 10 list. Peter is the only one to rank The Special Ones. I placed The Mice and Moonstone in my top 10, but I only noticed one other person placing The Moonstone and The Mice and no one The Mice, which is why I think it's the most underrated season I episode.
ReplyDeleteOther episodes that didn't get a lot of love. The Chameleon - I had it in my top 10 but I only saw 2 other people who did, surprising to me given the Duvall-Towne connection. I think I only saw one or two people placing Tourist Attraction. I saw only one person ranked Children of Spider County.
Other than that, episodes which were placed on many top 10 were the obvious choices- Sixth Finger-, Man who was never born, Corpus Earthling, Architects of Fear, Galaxy Being (pilots are always going to be ranked high), 100 Days of the Dragon, OBIt, Zati Misfits, Form of Things Unknown.
I don't think enough people liked Zzzz, which seems to be one of the more divisive episodes. It shouldn't be. It's great. I counted at least 12 people placing The Invisibles in their top 10, wow, I should watch it again. Doomsday also had 12, not including me, that was surprising since I saw some negative reviews. Bellero Shield had 8, I don't remember that one except a great cast, 8 for The Guests, 7 for Feasibility Study, 7 for Nightmare, only 4 for For Fun and Games, so that's another one that wasn't too popular.