The New The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone (80's version) discussion appreciation (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

A recent thread in the SD TV and TV Movies software section asking about The Outer Limits (New) got me thinking about this series and The Twilight Zone (The 80's version). I finally got off my butt and ordered Season 1 of The Outer Limits (New) and all 3 seasons of The Twilight Zone (The 80's version).

I'm a huge fan of the originals of both series and I think the original Limits stands on it's own as a terrific series. Of course Rod Serling's Twilight Zone was highly innovative and nothing has compared. Both original series were very different, but had an appeal that was similar.

I enjoyed most of the new The Outer Limits whenever I could see it as broadcast got sporatic and The Twilight Zone (80's version) and thought it might be interesting to discuss them.

I seem to have stronger memories of The Twilight Zone (80's) as two episodes stick in my mind and affected me as strongly as the original "Time Enough At Last". I am fan of John F. Kennedy and admired him, or the image of him. So "Profile in Silver" really had an effect on me. I remember when I first saw it, it was a terrific idea. I have not seen it since it aired, so I look forward to seeing it again. I think Andrew Robinson was terrific in the role of JFK, well before he was on DS9! I think Victor Garber was in there too as the historian.

The second episode that stuck is "The Once and Future King". I really liked the idea behind this show, if you can accept the idea that this guy somehow could go back in time. I have not seen this one in 20 years as well, so I look forward to seeing it. I still remember it clearly and I liked how the Estate of Elvis Presley approved the story credit at the end.

The New Outer Limits also had 2 shows I remember from the first year. Valerie 23 and I, Robot. I was curious how the remake of the original I, Robot would play. I have very little memory of it so it may not have been as good as the original. With Leonard Nimoy back to play the lawyer Cutler, being the prime draw for me. If Valerie 23 is the episode I remember, that one struck a cord as the main character falls for the robot. I think the original Twilight Zone did a similar story exceptionally well and you really felt for the female robot in that episode. So I'm really curious to re-view this new Outer Limits version.

It's too bad the later seasons are not out yet. There was one show I remember where the Preseident of The United States has to make a choice to either accept an alien visiting space ship or listen to advisors who believe they are not friendly and coming to invade Earth. It's a vague memory, so I might be mis-remembering. I recall the ending was quite good, without giving it away. Perhaps its in one of the compilation sets called about alien stories. There was another similar story of humans on an asteroid where they are fighting to get a long with some aliens or the result will be the destruction of both races.

If I recall correctly, I think I only saw a small number of The New Outer Limits because it went to cable and I never had cable and relied for some of the shows to come to syndication. I also happen to recently catch a remake of "A Feasibility Study" with David McCallum in the lead role. That was okay actually. The original was a true classic and affected me as a kid. Always wondered if I should drive into fog! So I might have to get the compiliation sets to see some of the shows that I missed! I think one had David Hyde Pierce too, though I don't remember the story. And another show had a story of a guy who was electrocuted while working on a power pole and survived and somehow transformed into a monster! Could have been a Twilight Zone.

Overall though, I don't have as strong memories of both of the new series, only a few episodes that really struck chords for me. I am fond of both remakes and I'd like to see them again to see if they still hold up! Any interest to discuss these two series?

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,

Great idea for a thread.

I picked up Season One of The Outer Limits a couple of years ago. I think my favorites are Valerie 23, Virtual Future (I love the concept in this one), Dark Matters (I love Annette O'Toole), Quality of Mercy (yeah Ezri! ), The Voyage Home (the return of Worf--although more seriously, the sabotage angle was quite chilling in this one), The New Breed (science gone awry?), and The Choice (I thought Thora Birch was excellent in her role--very, very creepy). I also liked Sandkings, although that pilot really gets under my wife's skin--it reminds her in some ways of The Zanti Misfits. I will discuss a few of these episodes later in the thread.

I haven't ever seen an episode of the new The Twilight Zone, so I can't really comment on that series yet.

If subsequent seasons of The Outer Limits are ever released, I will be picking these up. Standard DVD would be fine with me, but the holdup on these makes me wonder about future releases. I'm looking forward to seeing the handful of remakes (including A Feasibility Study--I loved that one in the original series, with one of our favorite TOS guest stars); I've seen I, Robot, and while I liked that one, I prefer the original. I'm also looking forward to seeing the remake of Nightmare one day.

 

[Nelson Au]

Great post Scott. I look forward to your thoughts on The New Outer Limits and specific episodes. The first season box set arrives at my doorstep next week. If you have any other titles in the series you thought were topnotch episodes, I eagerly await to read about it.

I found that new Outer Limits episode about an armada of Alien ships heading to Earth and the question for a new President of if they are friends or invaders, it's called "Trial by Fire". I recall that one being pretty good!

I'm also curious to hear other people's opinion of the 80's Twilight Zone, what was good or bad and stand out episodes.

This will keep my occupied till November and Star Trek's 3rd Season Remastered set!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I can't really recall much of any of the 80s Twilight Zone episodes.:frowning:

The Outer Limits had some good episodes - but again specifics elude - I only remember hazy plot points plus the aforementioned Nimoy episode.

 

[Nelson Au]

Perhaps the appeal of both series are limited, which is why we don't have anymore DVD releases of the New Outer Limits later seasons.

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson and Lou,

Yes, Trial By Fire--nice memory there. The plot you described, Nelson, reminds me somewhat of The Man With the Power (original series).

A couple of other good ones:

The Conversion. This is the one about an ex-con who murders three people at a party and then flees into the mountains. He eventually meets a stranger who can see into the future.

If These Walls Could Talk. A research scientist investigates a house that is believed to be haunted. There, he works with a woman whose son has disappeared, and who believes (I think) that this house is somehow responsible. I believe this is the one where walls suck people into them.

BTW guys, I have a couple of fun trivia question over in the Trek trivia forum.

 

[JoshuaB.]

I grew up watching the 80s Twilight Zone and have fond memories of it. The one episode that scared the hell out of me was "Nightcrawlers", a very scary and effective story directed by William Friedkin. "Red Snow", a story involving Soviets and vampires, was another great episode. Even when the series churned out some bad episodes, I always thought the writers were very respectful of Rod Serling's legacy, unlike those responsible for the 2001-02 Twilight Zone series.

 

[Nelson Au]

Joshua, cool, I'll look for those episodes after I get my sets!
Scott, I'll rewatch The Man with the Power, but I didn't think it had any resemblance to Trial By Fire. I recall it had Donald Pleasence who becomes a very unpleasant man! If I can see those other new Outer Limits, I'll watch for them.

 

[TravisR]

I think the first season of The Twilight Zone series was fairly good (especially Wes Craven's episodes and the aforementioned Nightcrawlers). I think the problem after that first year is that they cut the budgets and I believe that the third season was relegated to syndication and it looks like a cheap syndicated show at that.

 

[Ockeghem]

Nelson,

My fault. I meant Hundred Days of the Dragon--duh. The taking over of the President angle is the comparison I was trying to make. Sorry about that.

 

[RickER]

Dont forget the first season had Harlan Ellison as story editor/ creative consultant. he did some great stuff on that show!

 

[Nelson Au]

That's interesting about Ellison on the new Twilight Zone, I didn't know that. He was involved in the original Outer Limits and came back to do TZ.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Nelson Au wrote (post #1):


As well you might. Of the so-called New Outer Limits, mostly, the less said, the better. Every now and then there was a really good fantastic idea buried among the great muck, but, even then, the realization was almost uniformly mediocre. It nowhere even near lived up to its original namesake. No "awe" or "mystery" here.

The one episode I've seen in syndication that is (almost) top-flight is the filmic translation of Richard Matheson's "First Anniversaryhttp://www.tv.com//first-anniversar...q=first anniversary&tag=search_results;more;2". Now, that is a good, old-fashioned "sci-fi/horror" episode ("scare story"), and is quite well done, in my opinion. The only thing vitiating it is the casting of Matt Frewer, whom I've never been able to stand one iota from the time I first saw and heard him on the obnoxious Max Headroom (1987) up till now (on, e.g., the silly, bland Eureka).

 

[Ric Easton]

I loved the 80's version of TZ. At the time I was a big Harlan Ellison fan and "Shatterday" and "Paladin of the Lost Hour" were two of my favorites. However, I think my favorite was "To See the Invisible Man" I just loved the lesson learned at the end.

The whole first season was great and I'd say they had more hits than misses.

I have had season one of The Outer Limits sitting on my shelf for a while now, but have only seen a couple of episodes. Guess I better get crackin'!

 

[RickER]

Rex, i hate to say it, but i agree with you on the new Outer Limits. I have only seen the first season, but it couldnt have been done with less style, and i am sure even less money. Try as i may, the stories didnt even interest me. At least with the classic show, you had fun stories, with more style than money! But it worked, the newest one didnt. IMO

 

[Darcy Hunter]

I remember watching the first season of the 80's TZ religiously as a kid. The "Nightcrwaler" episode directed by William Friedkin was one I really liked. It involved a drifter with some kind of psychic/mental projection abilities who shows up at a small diner one rainy night. It had a really creepy vibe and some nice direction.

The episode "Button, Button" (written by Richard Matheson) was another stand out. This story is now being made into a feature film called "The Box" by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for that additional replies everyone. Rex, I'll take note of those shows you listed.

I am getting the vibe that a lot of the new Twilight Zone was veering towards horror then Sci Fi. And it's not the kind of Sci-Fi that Serling did with the twist at the end. Well, I'll find out soon enough and judge for myself. The shows that I remember the most and mentioned above from TZ was the Elvis show and the JFK show that felt like Serling may have done.

And I'm sorry to hear that the new Outer Limits didn't live up to the original! I think I confused some NTZ episodes with those of OL which could be why I had more fond memories of it.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Nelson Au wrote (post #17):


"A Small Talent for War" (episode #37) with John Glover fits that bill quite well, actually, but most of the others on my list do not.

"The Elevator" (based on a Ray Bradbury story?) has a science-fictional premise (as do "Monsters!" and "Nightcrawlers" (I believe)), as I recall, but the ending is horrific.

"A Little Peace and Quiet" with Melinda Dillon (who played the mother of the young boy in Close Encounters), is a piece of "speculative fiction", more than science fiction per se, with quite a surprising and ironic ending. (Hint: it was the "Reagan era".)

"Button, Button" is more Hitchcockian than the rest I've named, which means it involves psychological horror---if there is such a thing---and human ethics. (I recommend Mr. Matheson's original story, as well.)

The premise of "Need to Know" is just indescribably weird. I believe there's some kind of scientific explanation to it, but one readily disregards it. It's just creepy, but, oh, sooooo simple---and clever!

The rest I named are, to the extent they can even be pigeonholed into any genre category at all, just horrific fantasy or straight supernatural horror.

This is all from memory, since I do not think I've seen any of these since the early 90's, at the latest. I do so much want to own the first-season set of that show, but that is not yet to be.

For the sake of "full disclosure", it should be pointed out to people who have never seen this series that the episodes vary in length---from 5-10 minutes to up to 40 minutes (give or take a few commercial breaks)---, and, so, in many ways, it's like comparing apples and oranges when one relates them to episodes from other shows (including those from the program's namesake). That can be a strength and a weakness for a show (cf. Rod's Serling Night Gallery). I think it was at times one or the other here, as well.

 

[Nelson Au]

I got my DVD sets of The New Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits (1995 version) 2 days ago and I had a chance to watch a couple of episodes of each.

What I didn't realize till after I ordered and learned more about the The New Outer Limits set, since I never had cable before, is that they have nudity. It's nice to look at , but I wasn't so sure it really adds anything to the stories. I can see in watching Valerie 23, it helped to sell the idea of a realistic female robot. I watched that episode because I only saw it once on syndication in 1995 and I remember that it had this interesting twist of the robot becoming like Fatal Attraction, so I was curious to see it again. It seemed to have a similar storyline to an original Twilight Zone called The Lonely where Jack Warden plays a prisoner sent to a desolate asteroid to serve his sentence all alone and a compassionate supply spaceship captain brings him a female robot for companionship. I thought that was a compelling episode and had a very strong story with great acting. The New Outer Limits Valerie 23 was actually pretty good I thought, I didn't remember the part where the guy felt some affection for Valerie after she first went coo-coo and he wasn't so sure it was right they were going to dissaemble her. It was like killing her. So the end was a little more sad for Valerie, but happy as he got Nancy Allen.

On the New Twilight Zone, I did see Shatterday and that was really pretty good! Fun to see young Bruce Willis and those awful 80's fashions. An interesting way to look at someone's internal struggles taking place externally as the guy changes his bad ways.

I also saw Wordplay, that was interesting, but there was no reason for the sudden change in language that everyone around Robert Klein was doing. I thought it was connected to his son getting sick. So when his son got better, I expected everyone to start talking normal English again. Fun to see a young Annie Potts! Nice these have audio commentary, so I'll be interested in what they say about the story.

Rex, I saw A Little Peace and Quiet last night. That was good, and very similar to a TOS Twilight Zone, A Kind of Stopwatch. When I first saw this new Twilight Zone episode in the 80's, I was not super familiar with all the TOS TZ episodes and I had confused the ending of A Kind of Stop Watch with A Little Peace and Quiet. I thought the ending of A Little Peace and Quiet was how A Kind of Stop Watch ends. Though the way A Kind of Stop Watch ends has it's own twist too that was appropriate for the main character who likes to talk a lot and now has no one to talk too!

And I saw Dreams for Sale. Wasn't what I expected at first and had a very cool twist, though very much like the film, Total Recall which came out later.

And I had to skip ahead and watch Profile in Silver. It was the one episode I remembered the most from the first airings. It's still a favorite for me and it still works for me. Though I forgot about the last twist at the end that, without giving it away, what happens to the Kennedy relative.

The DVD's are a bit confusing, as has been mentioned each segment varies in length, so I wasn't clear what was on what episode, so the included booklet of episodes is handy!

One last comment, in terms of video quality, it's watchable. But rewatching these two series reminds me of when I first saw these. They have a look to them in terms of the cinematography. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it looks low budget. And I think they were all filmed in Canada to save on cost, so what's cool is the exteriors look new and different from typical Los Angeles exteriors. That was a real plus for these shows as that helps them a lot due to the look of the shows. TOS TZ was low budget too in how some of those shows looked, but to me they look okay as perhaps you forgive them because of the times they were made and the limits of make-up and optical effects allowed. I suppose it's what they call cheesy on TOS Star Trek.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

The Paladin of the Lost Hour episode of TZ had the greatest impact on me for that series. Danny Kaye and Glynn Turman were really, really good in that episode.

So many good episodes in that series compared to the Amazing Stories show that TZ was up against at the time.

As for the n OL ... I enjoyed many shows but after a while, it became a game between myself and my brother to guess the twist ending because there were just so many of them that it literally was a formula.

About half the shows had happy endings while the other half had the twist ending that often ended with the destruction of humanity as the cost. Man how many times did mankind buy it in that series?

Can't remember the title of the episodes but there was the space war episodes with Robert Patrick ... the second one also has Wesley Crusher from Trek. The episode was enjoyable in a silly silly way. Mankind pitted against a vastly superior alien race ... no chance ... but at least the aliens had a penchant for irony.

On Showtime ... where the OL episodes were shown, we could always pick out the episodes with nudity in them based on their running time. always a minute or two longer than the other episodes.

regards