TV Review — The Outer Limits

Any anthology series is going to be fairly uneven, and this one definitely is. Created by Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter of Psycho, and running for two seasons from 1963 to 1965, this series at its best was intelligent, thought-provoking science fiction, and at its worse, mildly amusing schlock.

Stefano’s a great writer, of course, and episodes from his pen tend to be among the best. But there just aren’t enough of them. I count only 12 writing credits to his name, and he doesn’t even show up as a scriptwriter until the tenth episode, “Nightmare.”

And he doesn’t have any script credits in the second season, which is certainly a drop in quality, though probably due more to budget cuts than declining script quality.

One thing that really stands out about this series (even in some lesser episodes) is the cinematography. It’s really creative, and sort of noir-ish.

It generally impresses, and seems so far ahead of most television back in that day. But I suppose it can only carry you so far. Sometimes you just have some very uncompelling stories, and some wooden acting (though for the most part, the acting is decent, even employing such talented guest stars as Martin Landau, Robert Culp, and Robert Duvall [all multiple times]).

So I liked this series, but when I watch a show like this, I’m looking for another Twilight Zone. And this isn’t that. Its heights are never as good, and given that it only ran for two seasons, it just doesn’t have the same amount of classic episodes.

Rating: 7/10