tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post1055482619170470500..comments2024-03-13T23:42:41.022-07:00Comments on We Are Controlling Transmission: The Outer Limits - A Second Season PrimerJohn Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-39161731510810561042018-06-11T12:25:11.102-07:002018-06-11T12:25:11.102-07:00Re: the show’s previous year one "iconoclasti...Re: the show’s previous year one "iconoclastic palette" couldn't get more rebellious than it did in year two (one and a half? pffft!) with Ellison's two episodes. Especially DEMON. As he branded year one, paraphrasing him: the monsters and bogeymen. Hell, it was a virtual parade of grim darkness and silly rubber critters. Year two had DEMON, which alone makes it the better. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-13631713481392399582014-11-14T22:03:19.074-08:002014-11-14T22:03:19.074-08:00As a long timer fan of the OL, who grew up with th...As a long timer fan of the OL, who grew up with the series, I really enjoyed reading this. I just happened to be passing by, for no particular reason and saw this post; many thanks. The OL was one of the most radical and interesting examples of TV at its best that I have or will ever see in my life time. The Outer Limits was, as was the music of its time, light years ahead of anything in today's current sorry state of affairs. I tried to watch the new "Godzilla" movie last week; God it was AWFUL.<br /><br />Von EhmanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-4648462430438810822011-07-08T21:15:48.704-07:002011-07-08T21:15:48.704-07:00@Lisa
There are probably a few reasons you don'...@Lisa<br />There are probably a few reasons you don't find a lot of different folks commenting here. Just off the top of my head (from which many things slip now that there's no hair to for them to latch on to)...<br />1) Demographics: Many of us who were youngsters when we witnessed the initial broadcasts, are getting along in years and responsibilities. We probably spend more time rewatching episodes in our boxed sets than we do surfing the web for discussion groups.<br />2) Other outlets: IMDB has quite a few audience contributions that include reviews of the entire series, reviews of individual episodes (full disclosure, my lone review in the whole IMDB is on The Bellero Shield) and numerous discussion threads.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-44217360705468944512011-03-23T00:17:56.102-07:002011-03-23T00:17:56.102-07:00Gerd Oswald signed 4 episodes of PERRY MASON, not ...Gerd Oswald signed 4 episodes of PERRY MASON, not 30. Are there episodes that he directed without credit?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-89179491381576470312011-02-21T09:45:00.949-08:002011-02-21T09:45:00.949-08:00My first good look at S2 was when the first DVD se...My first good look at S2 was when the first DVD set was released; up 'til then, my memories of Year 2 were pretty dim & dour, excepting for "Demon", "Wolf 359" and "The Inheritors". Getting a good look at the entire season, one finds that overall, it's a pretty solid season of straight Science Fiction. Year 1 is anything BUT straight sci-fi (for the most part, excepting MOONSTONE and SPECIMEN:UNKNOWN) - it's a strange almagamation of sci-fi, gothic horror, noir, character study and psychology that shouldn't have worked as well as it did - but it left a strong impression.Robert H.http://mimezine.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-24087737392579392022011-02-20T14:43:13.507-08:002011-02-20T14:43:13.507-08:00By the way, pages 168 - 182 of my "Outer Limi...By the way, pages 168 - 182 of my "Outer Limits Companion" (GNP/Crescendo First Edition!) have now completely separated from the rest of the book, forming a "Mice/Zzzzz/Don't Open Till Doomsday" TOL-pamphlet of sorts. <br /><br />CURSE THIS BLOG!!!!! How am I gonna get $900 for this thing on Ebay now!?!whitsbrainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18171082058163775614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-36546895584585733622011-02-20T14:36:20.573-08:002011-02-20T14:36:20.573-08:00@Lisa
I am one of the lurkers here. I had posted...@Lisa<br /><br />I am one of the lurkers here. I had posted a bit to this blog early on, but once I realized the caliber of the commenters here, I was overcome with self-doubt about my classic TV and overall grammatical chops...a sort of dysfunction that modern medicine doesn't have a pill for. C'mon! I'm an IT guy! What the Hell do I know about writing?!?<br /><br />I do believe that I will be attempting to comment a bit more as this blog guides us into the generally more lowbrow Season Two. My lack of critical skills will likely be more acceptable now. I can say things like "Did you see the strings on the Venusian puppet?!" or "Did you guys check out Geraldine Brooks in that hot little one-piece!?" with total confidence.<br /><br />And I DO watch the Outer Limits in my basement...On a 50" big screen streamed through my home theater from my two terabytes of networked storage via my Gigabit Ethernet wired house! <br /><br />IT guy FTW!!!whitsbrainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18171082058163775614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-91092714572311797152011-02-20T13:40:40.677-08:002011-02-20T13:40:40.677-08:00May I also say that the most ignominious bit of in...May I also say that the most ignominious bit of info is that TOL was replaced on the ABC schedule by "The King Family"! Yikes! What a 180 degree shift for the network -- going from a young adult demo to grandma and grandpa, in one swift move...Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00345830456539347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-6667320690359101162011-02-19T09:10:57.404-08:002011-02-19T09:10:57.404-08:00OK, Lisa, as I've already pledged to view Seas...OK, Lisa, as I've already pledged to view Season Two, this time around, as more of an ally in the hostile territory of TV Wasteland, I'll even try to give Skip less lip!Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-64698924358245364892011-02-19T08:21:18.336-08:002011-02-19T08:21:18.336-08:00Hey, no shots at Skip Homeier, guys! He's a m...Hey, no shots at Skip Homeier, guys! He's a marvelous, unique actor and I *love* "Expanding Human", which my sister and I simply referred to as "Roy and Peter". <br /><br />Some fun performances in Season 2, also! I'm looking at the series from a general TV aficionado POV, I guess, rather than strictly Science Fiction. You guys are pretty tough on things, sometimes. As someone who worked the "suit" side of TV but had my heart in the "fan" category, I've always said that we are lucky to get anything but complete crap on TV -- it's not there to enlighten or induce wonderment, (ad-supported) TV's supposed to sell toilet paper and toothpaste, THE END. TOL came out pretty well, considering what it was up against.<br /><br />What I really find depressing is that out of the vast audience available on the internet, we've only managed to find maybe a couple dozen who care enough about TOL to come here and comment! And you guys mostly know each other from the good old days! Maybe it does just boil down to a bunch of fans in a basement watching old episodes, maybe a couple of pods of them here and there, but we're in this together, folks, at least. <br /><br />Great website and I can't wait for the snark about to be heaped upon Season 2! :-) I will have to defend my favorites vigorously!<br /><br />Wonderful job, everybody! xoxoxoxoLisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00345830456539347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-56340708116734828812011-02-19T03:32:17.980-08:002011-02-19T03:32:17.980-08:00I'LL SEE YER COLD MEATLOAF AND RAISE YE ...
P...I'LL SEE YER COLD MEATLOAF AND RAISE YE ...<br /><br />Pete has generously and irrevocably raised the specter of parody titles.<br /><br />God, did we ever have them, from the very first: <br /><br />THE HUNDRED DAZE THAT DRAG ON<br />THE HUMAN FUCKED HER<br />COLD GLANDS WARM FART<br />DEMON WITH A BRASS GLAND<br />DEMON WITH A CRYSTAL PISTOL<br />THE INVISI-BALLS<br />THE ZANTI FUCKWITS<br />THE INVIZ-EYEBALLS<br />O.B.I.T.E.<br /><br />and ...<br /><br />THE PRODUCTION AND DECAY OF OUTER LIMITS EPISODES WITH OVERLONG PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC VERBOSE TITLES THAT BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES THANKS TO THEIR STRANGE PRODUCER WHICH DEGENERATED BETWEEN COMMERCIALS INTO MEANINGLESS PARTICLES.<br /><br />Warning: Too many research hours may have adverse effects on your sanity.<br /><br />(Apologies to all. Long week. Spiritually crushing. Forgive a cheap laugh.)DJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-9621507151718129702011-02-19T03:06:04.912-08:002011-02-19T03:06:04.912-08:00In my darker moments I like to imagine the S2 was ...In my darker moments I like to imagine the S2 was actually S1, the series got renewed by the skin of its teeth ... and then Joe Stefano took over for S2.DJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-70650242405640767882011-02-19T00:00:36.991-08:002011-02-19T00:00:36.991-08:00It would have been interesting to see how season ...It would have been interesting to see how season two would have fared by it's own standards, if the threat of imminent cancellation wasn't rearing it's head and we had 32 episodes to view here too. I'm not against the idea of adapting written sci-fi into TOL; perhaps the biggest problem with that is just that many written sci-fi works demand a high budget to realize their potential. For me too, as a kid, I liked season 2 almost as much as 1. Harry Lubin's music is very memorable too, especially the end theme song, some of the Demon/Duplicate Man and Inheritors pieces. I guess what I miss most in season 2 is the way Joe Stefano's voice could be heard in the depth and neurosis of the characters. At very least, the huge differences in seasons makes one fresh to go back to the other. This should be fun!!Jim Barwisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06621993116774388708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-22466368314267154632011-02-18T19:56:57.800-08:002011-02-18T19:56:57.800-08:00Was it Joe Stefano or Rod Serling who said "I...Was it Joe Stefano or Rod Serling who said "I have seen the future of science fiction and his name is Bill Shatner"?<br /><br />Ok, ok, I admit, I couldn't wait and snuck a peak at Cold Meatloaf, Warm Meatloaf. The man does not disappoint, I'll say that.Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-60325113277753311492011-02-18T19:48:38.835-08:002011-02-18T19:48:38.835-08:00Pete — you're Shatnering again, aren't you...Pete — you're Shatnering again, aren't you. Deep breaths. Calm. Zen. OMMMMMMMMMM ....DJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-31149030888979603622011-02-18T19:27:13.743-08:002011-02-18T19:27:13.743-08:00I, for one, just simply can...not...wait!I, for one, just simply can...not...wait!Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-11109932708740326642011-02-18T19:23:56.587-08:002011-02-18T19:23:56.587-08:00Thanks for the call to tolerance and reappraisal, ...Thanks for the call to tolerance and reappraisal, DJS - seems, at the very least, prudent. <br /><br />I await S2 with bated breath (it just happens to look exactly like a burgeoning yawn).David C. Holcombnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-32250585081188348462011-02-18T17:43:59.068-08:002011-02-18T17:43:59.068-08:00That's the way I've always felt, Mark, as ...That's the way I've always felt, Mark, as most of us probably have. The poignant memories are generally from the first year. There's no comparing the two seasons, so it's pointless horse-whipping to try. But after the ensuing decades, which have given us so much trash in expensive packaging, I'm willing to be a bit more generous than I used to be about TOL Season Two. <br /><br />I'm not saying we're going to re-evaluate and raise the pedestrian into classic status---ain't no Zantis crawlin' in THAT woodwork. But I have a feeling we'll find a scary or moving scene here and there, an admirable acting turn (well...maybe not by Skip Homeier), that might evoke some of the nostalgic warmth that was all over the blog while we were extolling Season One. <br /><br />The second season is OUTER LIMITS with an uninspired, unflattering cosmetic makeover, in many ways, but still OUTER LIMITS; still aspiring, as best it could, to court our imaginations. (Though lusting after ratings victories, "by which sin the angels fell") <br /><br />And still surpassing most other sf TV we've seen, which won't amount to (and here I go, paraphrasing Skip Homeier) "the faintest echo of the tiniest whisper in the thunder of time."<br /><br />Let's see what expanding humans we can manage to be...Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-90822318767835993102011-02-18T16:51:07.690-08:002011-02-18T16:51:07.690-08:00After a 30-hour romp in the playground of Stefano&...After a 30-hour romp in the playground of Stefano's raw psyche and Stevens's boundless enthusiasm for all creation, getting tossed into the windowless cubicle of a bean-counter's bean-counter feels downright sadistic. But Brady -- as much a soul-barer as anybody else who takes up a creative trade -- faced the same enemy as his first-season counterparts, and in a few cases his regime exceeded the challenge of ABC's budget-smothering foolishness with similar aplomb.<br /><br />And Hollywoodaholic makes an excellent point -- as a kid I dug it all, and I'll even confess that Lubin's unsubtle theme and cues were way grabbier to me then than Frontiere's. The images that lodged in my head from that time, though, are <i>all</i> from season one, from the shuffling Helosian to the shifty Empyrian to Bruce Dern's agony and terror. I'm weird that way. Even the pushy tumbleweeds and Efferdent toads and slow-steamed Shat in season two didn't stick with me long.<br /><br />But I'm middle-aged now, and game for surprises wherever and whenever I can find them. So --<br /><br />Deep breath...Mark Holcombnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-2343761599709540692011-02-18T15:41:37.816-08:002011-02-18T15:41:37.816-08:00Thank you for that, I can never get enough OL.
A...Thank you for that, I can never get enough OL. <br /><br />As for the second season being more SF, I think the first season had episodes such as 'The Sixth Finger', 'The Man Who was Never Born' and others, that show the influence of SF (Olaf Stapledon, Bradbury, ect), without being based on actual stories. It's the kind of back and forth dialogue on the ideas and themes that goes on between writers in the genre all the time. The most important document for the unleasing of the sophisticated SF concepts unleashed by the writers was Stefano's writers guide, "The Cannons". A brilliantly articulated, highly elegant and literate guide for writers that is full of the Stefano ambition to high art in substance and style. I, personally, think that the first season is more science fictional, especially the first half or two thirds. The last third seems Stefano self-expression.<br /><br />There is a bias in the SF reference books, partly due to the cult of Ellison and partly because SF is a relatively specialised field in which outsiders usually produce "sci-fi" (Glen Larson, Irwin Allan, Gene Roddenberry, ect, ect). TOL is one of the few <br />exceptions, along with a small strand of films.<br /><br />Djs, coming after the fight for 'The Unknown', do you think that ABC's decision to move the time-slot was a deliberate attempt to kill the show? It doesn't seem, to me, like they wanted to kill it - but used it to pay-off Brady's contract time. If they had wanted it to succeed - I don't think they would have reduced the budgets for the second season. <br /><br />It may have had a better chance at NBC...ABC was always the most clueless, even killing off the imported 'The Avengers' by starting to make the creative decisions.<br /><br />I've wondered whether it would have been able to jump ship to NBC, had it been offered to them. They did allow for the 2nd pilot of 'Star Trek' and it's renewal, which seems to have had very little to do with the letter writing campaign that went on. Mind you, they were intent upon on being the first "All Colour" network. <br /><br />Does anyone know what it's ratings were in comparison to 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Star Trek'?bobby jossonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-83261721701318761202011-02-18T15:21:47.092-08:002011-02-18T15:21:47.092-08:00David mentioned "Demon" first in his qui...David mentioned "Demon" first in his quick-sketch breakdown ("the smart dynamism of the Harlan Ellison entries").<br /><br />I think Lubin's work is/was great for ONE STEP BEYOND, but often seems out of place here.<br /><br />Thinking out loud, it's kinda fun to "what if" S2. Like say for music, what if Brady had had the budget to bring Fred Steiner or Bernard Herrmann over from CBS? The colors would be different from Frontiere for sure, but dynamic in their own right. Steiner wrote some powerful and chilling stuff for TZ (like "King Nine Will Not Return").<br /><br />Then there's the tag team of Goldsmith and Stevens from that old THRILLER show. Would have been interesting.<br /><br />And what if Peach had had more time per episode for some of the care and feeding of more inspired setups, a la his S1 work (not to mention more time for creative creative lighting)?<br /><br />Just sayin'.Larry Blamirenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-74055432966604793952011-02-18T14:25:12.089-08:002011-02-18T14:25:12.089-08:00David Schow left out in his second season assessme...David Schow left out in his second season assessment "Demon With A Glass Hand", widely considered the best episode of all Outer Limits, both seasons. I also prefer Harry Lubin's score to Dominic Frontiere's. It's forceful, dynamic, creepy and the closing theme is particularly haunting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-24211194813095561812011-02-18T12:58:52.076-08:002011-02-18T12:58:52.076-08:00As a kid watching the show, I never differentiated...As a kid watching the show, I never differentiated between the two seasons - it was "The Outer Limits;" it was science fiction and horror on television - and I loved it all.<br /><br />Only later, after film school, life experiences, and peeking behind the curtains of the business, did the discrimination set in. <br /><br />I will try to screen these episodes with a newfound degree of innocence, and dismiss the cynical attitude that life is too short to spend seventeen hours on these. I will try.Hollywoodaholichttp://www.hollywoodaholic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-22760186177279786192011-02-18T12:27:53.945-08:002011-02-18T12:27:53.945-08:00Well done! A nicely balanced and thorough introduc...Well done! A nicely balanced and thorough introduction to a season that deserves some appreciation despite the letdown some may feel. For the most part, the gothic-science environment that made season 1 stick so firmly to your imagination is gone, along with the creative camera setups and triple entendre scripts, but to my mind, I think season 2 actually is a little more (just a LITTLE, not a lot) respectful to the "science" in the science fiction. Stefano was openly disdainful of the SF side of things, and we forgive him that because he was on the track of something very innovative and unusual. Stevens disappointed me a little, because he was the acknowledged science fiction fan of the partnership, yet his scripts barely rose above the uninformed "reverse the polarity," "it's going above the red line" level. Season two has a more "science fiction" feel to it, and some of the situations and scientists portrayed are much more credible (again, not ALL).<br /><br />If nothing else, remember that it's still Outer Limits--at that particular time, the only real other option was Irwin Allen. I'll take the sand sharks and the Megasoid any day over The Dr. Smith and the Robot Comedy Hour!David Hornenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-89216990040839402132011-02-18T11:49:39.921-08:002011-02-18T11:49:39.921-08:00Thanks for setting up the game board for the overl...Thanks for setting up the game board for the overly maligned Season Two, Dave. Fans tend to heap scorn on its more homogenized look and standardized commercial approach, while declining to examine the mini-season for diamonds-in-the-rough, of which there are ample nuggets strewn amidst the scree.<br /><br />It's natural for viewers intoxicated with the heady brew of the first season's relative Camelot of creative forces to feel betrayed by the network's new regime for the show. It's easy to view the change of reins as a case of the dreamers and visionaries being supplanted by journeymen and pedagogues: We had grown accustomed to such experimental richness of both form and content.<br /><br />But to dismiss the entire season as a disposable Cracker Jack prize with only the crunchy sweetness of the two Ellisons to support it is to ignore more than a few solid sf moments that earn their keep on their own. <br /><br />We learned the wisdom and fairness of shouting out the admirable points in even the worst episodes Season One had to offer. It's wise, I think, to apply that courtesy to Season Two rather than approach it like spoiled, jaded children. <br /><br />What do we have to be spoiled about? We were graced with one fabulous season of one landmark sf anthology series. How many others have we even seen attempted? <br /><br />And if we look honestly enough, shucking those one-of-a-kind, serendipitous First-Season lenses, we might see, at the very least, some decent, if more prosaically mounted, sf storytelling in TOL's last stand; an idea or two, a bear here and there, a performance or three---to throw a blanket of dismissal over most of Season Two is to side with the mainstreamers.<br /><br />And we all know what they believe: that science fiction has no value beyond "spacey" entertainment. And the only way that can be obtained is via cartoony aliens in "living" color zapping their way across anything-goes, kaleidoscopic CGI starscapes. <br /><br />You know...films with all the cerebral/emotional nutritional substance of a candy-coated pinwheel.Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.com