Original "Outer Limits" coming to DVD from MGM ! (1 Viewer)

[Bill Huelbig]

Thanks, Brian W., for sharing this news with us. I've been taping the show every day on the Sci-Fi Channel and reliving a lot of fond childhood memories. They look great on Sci-Fi and will look even better on DVD! Thanks again.

--Bill

 

[Craig Beam]

Right on! I'm a huge Outer Limits fan (I bought most of the episodes when they were released on VHS back in the 80's and early 90's). I'll be picking these dvds up for sure....

"We now return control of your television set to you, until next week at this same time, when the Control Voice will take you to... The Outer Limits!"

 

[Justin Lane]

Great News!!

I wonder if MGM is going to do these by season, or just one big set? Either way, I will be picking them all up.

J

 

[Patrick McCart]

MGM has been using keep cases for roughly 4 years now.

The only MGM snappers I've seen are the Turner reissues by WB. (Poltergiest, Gone With The Wind, Maltese Falcon, Casablanca) I have the old MGM 2001 in a keepcase...

 

[Ryan L B]

when and how much would you pay for the entire sereis

 

[Jay E]

One of my boxed set of Lasers is suffering from Laser Rot so I'm really excited by this news, especially since MGM did not release the entire series on Laser.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Actually the snapper-case bit was a joke (sarcasm, har har). But knowing out luck with DVD (Full-frame only, editied for content, original theatrical cut AWOL, etc etc etc...) they just might do something stupid like give us snapper cases. Or even worse..nausea inducing latex "Book of the disembodied stratoscope (I believe the term for the "wave-line" used in the programs intro)" edition.

 

[Lloyd White]

Hmm, maybe MGM will release the new Outer Limits show. The first 2 or 3 seasons were very good with their what if sci fi stories. I remember trying to tape them when they were first shown on Showtime. YOu know a show is good if a whole tape worth of episodes (I can fit 9 on a 6 hour and 30 minute tape on slp mode) and all of them are interesting and topnotch.

 

[Jack Briggs]

To this day, I still consider the original version of The Outer Limits quite possibly the best science-fiction series ever to grace the tube.

When this set comes out, I'm there. Seriously.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

When DVD first started, MGM was distributed by Warner, and so used Snappers. They later figured out that almost no one liked them, and went to keepcases. Now since Warner has a large chunk of the MGM library, those titles are now snappers

 

[Frank]

I loved the original series when it first aired back in the 60s and I never missed an episode.

I seem to remember that in virtually every episode there was at least one actor wearing a latex mask of some kind.

The masks made me chuckle but the writing and acting were top notch.

The newer series was/is also great with excellent writing and production values.

I will buy every episode from the old and new series.

Please release the new version soon.....

 

[Brian W.]

Uhh... you guys are gonna kill me, but I looked at the schedule wrong. I guess we've only got episodes 1 through 16 scheduled for DVD. The remaining episodes were something we did last year that are still in the computer. Sorry. :b

But one would assume the whole series is coming. Why would they release half a season? We probably just haven't gotten them in yet.

 

[Mark Lungo]

First, let me agree with the people who have already said that this is great news! Just try to keep me away from the store when these discs come out.

I think MGM's release plans makes sense. Since the original Outer Limits produced 49 episodes, 16 adds up to approximately a third of the show. MGM is probably going to release two boxes covering the first season (which ended at episode 32), and a third box including the complete second season.

So Brian, do you know if the Outer Limits DVD's will have any extras, like commentary by David Schow and/or the surviving filmmakers? How about scenes that were filmed but edited out of the finished episodes, like the original ending of "The Man Who Was Never Born" or the brief appearance by Vera Miles' father in "The Forms of Things Unknown"?

 

[John Henry]

Brian, you say you're working on #11 NIGHTMARE, but NIGHTMARE is actually episode #10, so I wonder if there is an extra episode in there... perhaps the original pilot PLEASE STAND BY?

 

[Jodee]

I was always a fan of the "new" Outer Limits on Showtime, having never seen the old. I probably would have ordered these discs sight unseen. However, the Sci-fi network recently started showing re-runs of the original series and I dutifully taped them and watched them all.

I must say I was pretty disappointed. I'd always read online from people how great this series was, so maybe my expectations were too high.

But I thought the writing on most of these episodes was pretty bad. A lot of episodes I kept expecting some cool twist to occur at the end (as often is the case with the newer show) but I was always let down. I can forgive the bad special effects as products of the era, but to me the stories just weren't very compelling.

I watched every sngle episode and I would be hard-pressed to think of one I'd really like to see again.

Now I know some people will say the new Outer Limits is horribly inconsistent and I'd agree. There have been some really bad episodes, especially the ones made after the show left Showtime for the Sci-Fi Channel.

But I can think of at least 15 episodes of that show I would love to own and watch over and over again.

So what exactly did I miss about the original series? Other than seeing some cool guest spots by then-young actors, I wasn't very entertained.

 

[Nelson Au]

Wow, I just found this thread. This is one of the most wanted DVD's on my list! I was fortunate enough to pick up the laserdisc box sets of this show, but it was stopped in partial release, so the entire series never came out.

Jodee, I think the attraction to a lot of us is we saw these shows as kids. They made a huge impact on my life. The film noir quality of them, and I mean the black and white film and lighting aspects, the cool music and strong story line are so well done. Sure, not everyone was a zinger and some drag, but there sure were a lot of great stuff to screw up our young minds.

Off the top of my head, my favorites are: Demon with a Glass Hand, Galaxy Being, Behold, Eck!, Warm Heart, Cold Hands, The Zanti Misfits, The Bellero Shield, The Man Who was Never Born and A Feasibility Study. There are more, but my mind fails me!

Great news!

Nelson

 

[Mike Friedrich]

Absolutely fantastic news, I have had every episode of TOL for quite some time, 4 volumes box sets on LD, and the remainder episodes I purchased from Columbia House on Vhs even though it caused some duplicates, I wanted to have every episode. Well I guess it's time to start watching every episode again as I start listing them for sale, thanx for the heads up Brian !
bodymov'n

 

[Jay E]

I second the purchase of the Outer Limits Companion book. An informative, detailed and highly enjoyable read.

My brother has bought me, for my birthdays, a lot of cool memorabilia from the original series such as the trading cards (which have completely made-up plots on the backs of the cards), comic book & board game. I grew up with this show and I still remember the terror such episodes as "The Invisibles" & "Nightmare" struck in me.

And yes, as a kid, I was hoping to see a monster in every episode (which is why the network kept on asking for one in every show, much to the chagrin of the producers).

 

[Jack Briggs]

Jodee: Respectfully, I say you couldn't be more wrong in your assessment of the writing in this excellent and sometimes brilliant series. Harlan Ellison scripted the show's zenith: "Demon With a Glass Hand." This is filmed science fiction at nearly its best--I'd include the episode in a list of the ten best science-fiction films ever made.

In addition to the music, there was the series' evocative moodiness and eeriness, and the superb music which matched that atmosphere so effectively.

Brian: Any idea of a release date? I can't tell you "there" I am. I want this series on DVD something awful.

 

[Matt_Marlow]

I agree with Jack on the quality of the writing. Another excellent episode written by Harlan Ellison was 'Soldier'. It's actually sort of a precursor to the movie 'The Terminator'. I believe there was even some type of lawsuit after The Terminator was released because the storylines were so similar. And if you watch the ending credits of 'The Terminator', it says something about "acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison" or something like that. I'm sure someone else can chime in here with more specific details. I'm just going by memory...