The Outer Limits is turning 50.... (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

I love this show. My grandkids... not so much. They'll sometimes watch an episode with me but more often than not go somewhere else if this is what I'm watching. I truly believe this one is a borderline "You had to be there" type show. It speaks to us 60s kids in a way that's hard to describe from the iconic open all the way to the end credits. I prefer this one over The Twilight Zone and not just for the "monster" episodes. Frankly, some of those "great" episodes just don't work for me and never have, Soldier in particular but there are others.

(On a tangent).

I think you make a very good point here.

This is the primary reason why I have fond memories and nostalgia for the original Battlestar Galactica. It was the first non-cartoon show I latched onto when I was a kid/preteen.

In contrast if I had never seen Battlstar Galactica back then in its first-run, most likely I wouldn't think much of it. Without the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, it's basically another cheesy space opera.


In the case of the original Outer Limits, I only ever saw a few random episodes when I was a kid/teenager. In those days I sometimes mistaken Outer Limits episodes as Twilight Zone episodes, from not knowing any better. It was only many years later when I realized Outer Limits and Twilight Zone were actually two different shows. So I never really had much nostalgia for either show. They were just two black and white shows/movies out of the hundreds which I saw on reruns during weekend afternoons or late at night when I was a kid.

Frankly I have more precise memories of the 1990s revived Outer Limits, than I do of the original. This was from watching reruns on a "scifi fridays" block on a basic cable channel. Another show which they had on the fridays block was Total Recall 2070, which I also had precise memories until I picked up the complete series dvd set and came to the realization it was a rather mediocre detective show in the future.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, it’s been over a week since I got an email from Kino that they are sending me a replacement disc for a Soldier. I still have not received it. I’m tempted to email them again, but i’ll Wait a few more days. Seemed like you guys got your discs faster.

 

[BobO'Link]

Guys, it’s been over a week since I got an email from Kino that they are sending me a replacement disc for a Soldier. I still have not received it. I’m tempted to email them again, but i’ll Wait a few more days. Seemed like you guys got your discs faster.

Did they follow up with a tracking email? I got one of those less than an hour after the "We'll send you one" email.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Howie, no tracking email follow-up!

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Hey Howie, no tracking email follow-up!

Any luck getting your Season Two replacement disk yet?

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Wayne, I was about to post here. I haven’t received the disc yet. I even emailed back Kino a week ago to say I haven’t received the disc. I have not heard back. I’m not sure what to do next.

 

[Flashgear]

Nelson, don't lose hope...you've done everything right and I'm sure you'll get your replacement Blu eventually. I'm in Canada and I got my replacement disc quite awhile ago, shipped with no tracking info or email contact with me beforehand...and I only contacted them the one time (@ the Bell South address) just after we got news about the replacement program actually happening.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Randall. I’ll be patient a little longer.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, some good news. I came home tonight to find a Manila padded envelope from Kino, New York. The replacement disc did arrive! Nice they placed it in a clamshell plastic case. I’ll check it out tonight or tomorrow.

The bad news, because my original order was for two sets, I requested two discs. I only received one disc. I’m grateful I got the disc! But the second set I bought was a gift. So I was hoping to be able to get that disc for that gift.

 

[BobO'Link]

Guys, some good news. I came home tonight to find a Manila padded envelope from Kino, New York. The replacement disc did arrive! Nice they placed it in a clamshell plastic case. I’ll check it out tonight or tomorrow.

The bad news, because my original order was for two sets, I requested two discs. I only received one disc. I’m grateful I got the disc! But the second set I bought was a gift. So I was hoping to be able to get that disc for that gift.

If you're married put in a 2nd request in your wife's name. Or use a friend who's not interested in the set. Tell them "Proof of purchase available on request" in the request. I used that phrase as I purchased mine from Amazon, not KINO directly.

It might work to just put in another request yourself and tell them it's for a 2nd set you purchased as a gift and don't want to have the recipient have to deal with the replacement themselves.

Worst case, give it as is and put in the replacement request for them using their name and email address letting them know about the situation and that a replacement should be arriving.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Howie for the advise. I think I’ll try a second request as you suggest and say it’s for my second copy that was a gift. I’ll see if they respond. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Fret it! Fret it! CO, CO, CO!

After waiting this long, I watched Soldier just now. Up till now, I don’t think I’ve read anyone online whose actually watched the replacement disc. You guys may have seen it, but I hadn’t seen anyone post a report. I did watch it and compared to the old disc. What a huge difference, the music is really garbled during the padded cell sequences. I’m really happy that Kino has sent out the replacement discs with the corrected music audio. This is one of my favorite episodes. Glad to finally get to see it.

Hard to believe that helmet Quarlo wore was used on Mork and Mindy and it survived those years between the 60’s and the 70’s appearances.

I might watch The Day of the Dove next.

 

[Harry-N]

For anyone who cares about such things, THE OUTER LIMITS 60s episodes are available to stream on Amazon prime.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Harry. I wonder if the videos are from the same source as the Kino blu rays.

 

[Harry-N]

It looks like it to me.

 

[Craig Beam]

It looks like it to me.

I checked 'em out. They're definitely the new masters... unlike Hulu, who continues to offer the tremendously inferior DVD masters from the 1990's.

 

[Nelson Au]

A quick post, last night I resumed viewing The Outer Limits S2 set with Keeper of the Purple Twilight. It’s not an episode I could get into before, but somehow I was very much into the story this time. While I read Craig’s less then enthusiastic post about it after I watched it, and I would agree it’s not top level, there is somehow still working for me. I thought it was kind of fun that Ikar just pops in and makes contact with Eric Plummer and they make their deal and get to it. I was surprised as I forgot that Ikar reveals himself to Janet. I liked how she was able to turn Ikar. It’s not very unlike the Star Trek episode, By Any Other Name also guest starring Warren Stevens.

I skipped the Inheritors because I wanted to find the time to watch both parts in one sitting. Coming up on the last two episodes which I guess some people don’t like, but I really like them for their conviction and ideals. I haven’t seen them in a while, so maybe I’ll change my mind. But somehow I don’t think I’ll change.

 

[Sadsack]

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I had all those Dell TOL comics, I had the board game, I still have the bubble gum cards; but none of them had anything really to do with actual tone or storylines, or style from the show, LOL. But someone enjoyed some licensing fees. There were also comic books for Thriller, and The Twilight Zone, from Gold Key, and which had about as much to do with those shows as this. I just hope Boris Karloff and Rod Serling at least got something for their images appearing on each issue.

 

[Sadsack]

A quick post, last night I resumed viewing The Outer Limits S2 set with Keeper of the Purple Twilight. It’s not an episode I could get into before, but somehow I was very much into the story this time. While I read Craig’s less then enthusiastic post about it after I watched it, and I would agree it’s not top level, there is somehow still working for me. I thought it was kind of fun that Ikar just pops in and makes contact with Eric Plummer and they make their deal and get to it. I was surprised as I forgot that Ikar reveals himself to Janet. I liked how she was able to turn Ikar. It’s not very unlike the Star Trek episode, By Any Other Name also guest starring Warren Stevens.

I skipped the Inheritors because I wanted to find the time to watch both parts in one sitting. Coming up on the last two episodes which I guess some people don’t like, but I really like them for their conviction and ideals. I haven’t seen them in a while, so maybe I’ll change my mind. But somehow I don’t think I’ll change.

People like/dislike things for a variety of reasons, and their taste changes over time. There's no reason to defer to someone else's opinion, but it helps to be intellectually honest when you like something that isn't objectively "good" in terms of production values, acting, etc.

When I was a kid, I didn't enjoy PURPLE TWILIGHT because the plot was contrived, cliche, rubber monster masks, too talky or silly, lackluster production compared to season one. I still think that's accurate, but as an adult, this has become a favorite Season Two episode. They offer some alien backstory (albeit a communist caricature) which is usually never discussed, there's some cool disintegration FX, the hair down the back of the alien heads (ala Season 1), what seemed like wooden acting is intentionally emotionless, Ikar's tragic ending, etc. The point is I became less judgemental about what was important to me back then, and can appreciate things I wasn't aware of, or just didn't care about. But in 10 years, I might say it's all junk again. In terms of art, I'm not sure anything is "true" for the viewer when experience is subjective. The art is permanent, but the audience is always in flux.

 

[Nelson Au]

David, Yes, this episode didn’t really speak to me before. But this time I had fun with it.