Shark Bytes

its so good to have a newer version of the Twighlight Zone. my favorite is the Dead Mans Button

To this day, it remains the best science fiction series ever produced for television. Thank God for DVD's!

The original Outer Limits was one of the greatest anthology series that ever flickered to life on television!
The first season was excellent! Not to say that the second season didn't have it's bright spots, it most certainly did! What really disappointed me about the second season is that the network fired composer Dominic Frontier and replaced his truly atmospheric music scores with Harry Lubin's recycled tracks from "One Step Beyond"! The episodes seemed to lose something after that. They actually became "depressing". That's network execs for ya'!

What are the words to the opening!

worst show of all time!

I cant even begin to understand why my favorite channel (sci fi) airs this pos all the time. i have yet to see a show have worse acting and scripting. when i watch this show i feel like someone is bashing me in the head with a hammer and saying "it will make you smarter."

I was raised by my grandmother(who introduced me to the original Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, but still watched newer stuff like V and Star Trek: TNG with me- I miss you, grandma!) to respect my elders, but I have no idea where alot of these old fogies (yes, old fogie!) posters are coming from complaining about the new(er) Outer Limits! Liberal Agenda? Come on- a criticism of the United States government working with ALIENS to torture OUR TROOPS sure as hell isn't conservative! And while I think it is quite possible to appreciate one series without mocking the other(I certainly appreciate both), I feel that for the most part, the people complaining about newer version are more mocking it more for its relative youth than it's content. Come on- the "we are all friends" episode with the aliens "attacking" earth? It was amazing. Where was the "Liberal Bias" in that?

I absolutely LOVED this series, but I thought it JTS when William Shatner saw that cruddy puppet 'alien' on Venus and proceeded to freeze stiff.

The original Outer Limits was the greatest science fiction show in TV history. Everything about it, the scripts, acting, direction, and (especially) the creepy music, made this an instant classic. It never came close to jts. In fact, it was ahead of its time, to cite one episode in particular, the one with Martin Sheen, where the "friendly" aliens cooperated with the US gov't to mentally torture US soldiers. Sound familiar?

I will not address the newer version of the OL, which only has the name in common.

You know it's nice to hear so many of you when we were growing up that we got so scared that we couldn't sleep from this show. I remember asking the kids the next day "Did'ja see??" and of course yeah..everyone thought it was cool..nobody mentioned that they couldn't sleep but we all own up to it years later. I thought I was the only one. I feel so much better. Cancel my appointment doctor, I'm off to TVland.

First I want to start by addressing the people who compare 'The Outer Limits' to 'The Twilight Zone'. Though they may APPEAR similar on the surface, to me they were completely different shows. Outer Limits was almost pure sci-fi, whereas Twilight Zone was a combination of drama, fantasy, and suspense, with a dash of sci-fi on some occassions. True, there WERE some shows that were definitely sci-fi oriented. The episode 'To Serve Man' comes to mind, but most of the Twilight Zone episodes were mostly a combination of suspense, drama, and fantasy. Personally I like BOTH shows, but would probably give the edge to Twilight Zone if I had to choose just one. It's a personal thing but I just love shows with a lot of irony, and IMO Rod Serling (genius that he was) was the undisputed master of irony. Now, on to 'The Outer Limits'. I was just a kid of 5 or 6 when the classic 'Outer Limits' first premiered, and though the special effects might be considered cheesy by today's standards they gave me more nightmares than any show of the time, including that creepshow classic 'One Step Beyond' or 'Dark Shadows'. Something about the monsters on this show made me afraid, very afraid, to go to bed at night. In retrospect I didn't realize just how well done these shows were. I watch them now, some 30 or more years later, and am in awe of the writing. This show had some of the best writing (and writers) of it's time. Like the writers on Twilight Zone, many of these guys were brilliant. To me this show NEVER jumped though they may have aired a few clinkers now and then, but the near-consistent quality ranks it as perhaps the BEST sci-fi program ever to appear on television. When the remake of this show aired I was more than sceptical since most remakes are pure garbage (Twilight Zone anyone?) so it took me awhile to warm up to this show, but when I did I was amazed at the quality. I enjoyed this new Outer Limits almost, and in some cases, MORE than the old show. No, they don't hit a homerun with every episode but I've seen far more good to great episodes than stinkers. The final verdict IMO is that the new Outer Limits hasn't jumped yet either, and if you check out most of the reviews on Amazon where the DVD's are being sold, most would agree.

Never jumped -- simpy the best sci-fi show ever. (I can't even consider that new version the same show; about all it had in common was the name, and it was just another sorry attempt to rip-off a classic TV show). True, the 2nd Season had more duds than the 1st, but even so it was better than anything else, including the Twilight Zone. Like many classic horror & sci-fi movies, this was a show that just wouldn't have been half as effective in color. The crisp B&W photography certainly added to the eerie and oppressive mood of the show. What amazes me is how well TOL has stood the test of time. I was too young for the network run, but watched in religiously on a local LA station Saturday afternoons during the latter Sixties. Of course, as a kid, what attracted me to TOL was those great, funky aliens and monsters! A few weak ones (such as the fish in "Tourist Attaction"), but in addition to those greats already mentioned by previous posters, the aliens in "Keeper of the Purple Twilight", "The Children of Spider County" and "The Mutant" were classics...and of course "The Zanti Misfits"! I can sympathize with the poster who expressed disappointment with William Shatner's "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" when viewed as an adult. It was certainly nothing special, and the alien now looks cheesy. But as a kid that Venusian menacingly floating thru the murky atmosphere towards the spaceship porthole scared me most of all. The only OL alien I remember having nightmares about. Aside from the aliens, there were quite a few episodes with good storylines and acting. Some have already been mentioned, but shows like "The Guests", "Fun and Games", "Corpus Earthling", and "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" have to be included. In fact, sometimes a quality story and production could make up for a cheesy alien, such as in "The Invisibles". That scene in the room where the aliens are stored in little cabinets with screens, and we are looking from the alien's point-of-view (and hearing their strange roaring sounds) is very effective. Though not the most "cerebral" OL show, my favorite is still "The Zanti Misfits"! Builds up great suspense, with Bruce Dern and his floozy girlfriend invading the Zanti restricted area (driving right over a guard in the process), and the first we see of the Zantis is their segmented legs only, squeaking across the inside of their penal ship's window. Also effective is the device of having the Zantis broadcast in a strange, foreboding language (the only OL aliens who speak something other than English!), and watching the tense faces of the humans as their words are translated. Then there's some excellent stop-motion photography of the Zantis, accompanied by a creepy insectile buzzing sound. True, the Zantis aren't very big, but I think we'd all run like hell if confronted by one!

The original Outer Limits never really jumped the shark. It’s among my top two favorite shows of all time. It got a little disappointing in the second season when (a) they moved it from Monday night to Saturday night (b) the music was different. It wasn’t bad, but I thought it sounded more sad than scary. (c) the stories were different. You didn’t have that many monsters like you did in the first year. Still, the second year had some good stories, “I Robot” was a good one. The pilot “Soldier” for the second season was pretty good, too. I also liked “Human Expansion”, a great Jekyll and Hyde story, and the last one I remember seeing in its original run. I now have both seasons on DVD. From the first year, the only one that gave me nightmares was “Galaxy Being”. “The Mice” and “A Feasibility Study” (which happens to be my favorite) scared the hell out of me, but didn’t give me nightmares. Go and figure.

Yes, I also think that the original OUTER LIMITS was the best sci-fi show in TV history, complete with one of the all-time great opening theme songs. The new version proves once again that shows cannot be re-created to their former standard.

The original Outer Limits contained some of the best TV ever. Take the "Zanti Misfits" for example. Those are still one of the scariest monsters you will ever see, truly enough to give you the creeps when you watch it in the dark.

The most amazing thing about the old Outer Limits episodes was how they were able to create such cool looking special effects on an obviously limited budget. Take "Zanti Misfits" for example. Those creatures resembled little dime store toys yet somehow the Outer Limits people pulled it off to make the creatures seem BOTH real and menacing. They obviously were aided by good acting as well. In this case I would point out the episode where Martin Sheen was one of six guys supposedly taken prisoner. I mean, the Outer Limits people didn't even bother trying to create a realistic looking prison and yet, again somehow it still worked. As for the new episodes, I still think that they're a cut above the average sci fi you see. In some cases, they are well above. As one for instance I would point out the episode where Alyssa Milano became infested with an alien presence and then basically went around having sex with guys until they died. Then again, maybe the new shows aren't that great but I do know that when it's my time to die, my preferred method would be by having too much sex with Alyssa Milano.