The Outer Limits TV series is an American sci-fi anthology show that aired
1963 to 1965. The series is often compared to The Twilight Zone, but with a
greater emphasis on science fiction (rather than simply bizarre or supernatural)
stories.
“THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR TELEVISION SET. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADJUST
THE PICTURE. WE ARE CONTROLLING TRANSMISSION…
You are about to embark on an unforgettable journey that reaches from the inner
mind to the Outer limits. Presented here is the complete collection of this
landmark series – All episodes are as compelling and relevant today as when
originally broadcast. Dare to walk through the subconscious. Experience the fear
and mystery that lurk just below the surface. Sit back and, once again, let us
control all that you see and hear..”
14 disc complete TOS collection boxed set, over 41 hours of content!
The Outer Limits TV Show Reviews
“On September 16, 1963, a television series entitled The Outer Limits
debuted on the ABC network. For two years, it would entertain and thoughtfully
provoke viewers intelligent enough to appreciate its, for the most part,
finely-written and well-acted episodes. The series owed its initial acceptance
by the network to the prior success of The Twilight Zone, but The Outer Limits
was no clone of that fine series. It was more focused on hard science fiction
than fantasy and it had the benefit of a full hour for each program to develop
characters and plot lines more fully. Unfortunately, as with all really good
science fiction shows, there were not enough perceptive viewers to enable the
series to persist as long as it deserved. Subsequently, the series did very well
in syndication and in the 1990s spawned a new series of shows under The Outer
Limits title. While commercially successful, the new series lacked the artistic
quality and thoughtful content of the original for the most part…Anybody
interested in intelligent science fiction should have no difficulty in finding
plenty to entertain them..Recommended.” DVD Verdict (season 1)
“The creepiest series in TV history combined existential inquiry with a
memorable monster menagerie…while it was nowhere near as long-lived as “The
Twilight Zone” or as much of a fan fave as “Star Trek,” “The Outer
Limits” has nonetheless maintained a small, fiercely dedicated following since
its cancellation…Most intriguing of all, its echoes can be detected in such
disparate cinematic works as each of the four Alien movies, both Terminators,
and arguably the paranoiac oeuvres of David Lynch and Kiyoshi
Kurosawa…” Salon.com
“Obviously, at first blush The Outer Limits is a science fiction
series. However, it shares closer DNA with the horror genre. More often than not
it uses familiar science-fictional tropes — alien invaders, human-ET contact,
time travel, science gone Horribly Wrong, etc. — as the means to tell
stories, not as ends in themselves. These stories are often stark or poignant
excursions into "the human condition.” They're told with bravado via gothic
creepers, Old Dark House mysteries, cautionary tales, taut dramas, and even a
comedy. If you were a kid in that pre-Star Trek age, this was the show that you
recounted with your friends the following day in the schoolyard, even if you
watched it from behind the couch or while clutching Mom's hand. That is, if you
were allowed to watch it at all, because although many episodes play off of
childhood fears, The Outer Limits was that rare and precious TV life-form: a
fantastical series aimed at grown-ups. Even today the best of these scripts
strike us as unusually literate and sophisticated, and while they can be talky
by today's flash-cut standards, they display a refreshing tendency to not talk
down to the audience…So, which was better, The Outer Limits or The Twilight
Zone? Tribal wars have broken out over lesser questions. There's no doubt that
The Twilight Zone has earned its status as one of the all-time high points of
television history. But if The Outer Limits had known Zone's perpetual
syndication status and word-of-mouth PR, would the debate be even more heated
among genre cognoscenti, or might The Outer Limits edge out its famous
competitor on CBS as the more sure-footed of the two series? It's an
apples-and-oranges argument that isn't fairly stacked. ABC's homicidal network
broadcast time-shifting and other interference sliced into The Outer Limits'
hamstrings…No less an aficionado than Stephen King (in his nonfiction book on
the horror genre, Danse Macabre) makes a case for The Outer Limits being the
purer manifestation of its vision, unburdened by Zone's tendency toward
“smarmy,” “simplistic,” or “almost painfully corny” moral tales that
were “really sentimental riffs on old supernatural themes.” Not that the
question is important in any case. The heyday of anthology fantasy/horror
brought us both shows, and television became a better thing because of
them." DVD Journal (season 1)