Season 1, Episode 1 “The Galaxy Being”
This episode first aired September 16, 1963.
The episode was clearly inspired by The Day the Earth Stood Still (1961).
Originally titled “Please Stand By”, it was produced for ABC as a pilot for a series originally named Please Stand By.
The show was picked up by ABC but executives were leery about a sci-fi show, so they requested every episode include some sort of monster, and that the monster would appear in the first five minutes of the episode. Apparently, creature shows were okay.
Several scenes from the original pilot were cut for the broadcast version including scenes where the Galaxy Being warns that his people might destroy Earth and another where Allan attempts to shake his unconscious wife back into consciousness.
The shimmering alien effect was achieved by dressing actor William Douglas in a backwards black neoprene wet-suit slathered with glycerin that would reflect off the hot studio lights. “In post-production, this footage was negative-reversed and then superimposed onto the main footage. The net effect was one of the most economical but effective aliens in film or television.”
The alien’s eyes were glass crow’s eyes acquired from a taxidermist.
Series creator Leslie Stevens, who wrote and directed this episode, would go on to work on Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979). He reflected back on William Douglas’s portrayal of the alien being: “Douglas added a touch of weirdness in the way he walked by using a praying mantis as a model. You can see how he look and turns with his whole body. The creature perceives a world that is to him made of glass.”
Series producer Joseph Stefano adapted Robert Bloch’s novel, Psycho, for the big screen.
Actor Cliff Robertson, who played Alan Maxwell, also appeared in two Twilight Zone episodes (“A Hundred Yards over the Rim” and “The Dummy”). He is best known for his performance in Charly as the character of the same name.
Jacqueline Scott, who played Carol Maxwell, makes a return appearance in season 2’s “Counterweight”. She appeared in The Twilight Zone episode “The Parallel” and had recurring role as Richard Kimble’s sister, Donna, in the r.v. series The Fugitive. She also played chimpanzee scientist Dr. Zira in The Planet of Apes. Commenting on the post three-hour makeup process she had to undergo for the role: “When some of the crew said how pretty I looked, I knew they had been on the show too long!”
Lee Phillips, who played Gene “Buddy” Maxwell, also appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone (“Passage on the Lady Anne” and “Queen of the Nile”). He enjoyed a prolific career as a t.v. director on shows like MAS*H, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Waltons. He directed 60 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.
Bert Metcale, who played DJ Eddie Phillips, was another Twilight Zone alum who appeared in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”. He produced, associate produced, and executive produced MAS*H over its entire 11-year run.
A solid start to the series, this episode establishes the template for episodes to come – the obsessed scientist, the misunderstood alien, the suspicious supporting characters invariably complicating the situation. I thought the alien effect quite well done for the time and the overall performances very good (although the female characters could have been a tad less hysterical). Having grown accustomed to The Twilight Zone’s half hour run time, I did find the one hour format a little more challenging given the story, but interested to see how the ensuing episodes play out.
What did you all think?
Season 1, Episode 2 “The One Hundred Days of the Dragon”
This episode first aired September 23, 1963.
Although this episode was the second to air, it was actually the seventh episode produced for the show’s first season. Creator Leslie Stevens said he was: “delighted to see that go as an early show. It gave the series the impetus and power to get it started and make it do well from the very first . “
A month after this episode, depicting the assassination of a presidential candidate aired, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
The manipulation of Selby’s facial features was a fairly shocking visual at the time of this episode’s airing. The effect was achieved by using a Projected Unlimited clay bust of Shelby that was never shown full-face onscreen because, according to make-up artist Fred Phillips: “Somebody always had their fingers in it.”
Byron Haskin, who directed this episode, helmed Walt Disney’s first live-action film, Treasure Island (1950). He also directed The War of the Worlds (1953), The Naked Jungle (1954), Conquest of Space (1955) and The Power (1968). He is perhaps best known for directing the cult classic Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964).
This was the first script sale for the writing team of Allan Balter and Robert Mintz. Balter would later work on Mission: Impossible. Not surprisingly, this episode as a definite M:I feel.
Tony Award-winning actor Sidney Blackmer, who played the part of Williams Lyons Selby, is best remembered for his portrayal of the warlock Roman Castevet in Rosemary’s Baby (1968).
This marks the second television episode in which a character played by Philip Pine has someone else assume their facial features. The other episode was The Twilight Zone’s “The Four of Us Are Dying”.
If you can get past the silliness of the premise, and the absurdly lax security surrounding a presidential candidate, and the fact that a sudden difference in someone’s teeth would be quite obvious to all, this is a pretty riveting hour of television that clearly drew inspiration from The Manchurian Candidate. Some of the narrative elements are a little…uh…dated, shall we say?…yet “The One Hundred Days of the Dragon” proves highly entertaining all the same.
Season 1, Episode 3 “The Architects of Fear”
This episode was first broadcast September 30, 1963.
This was the last episode of the show to use the extended introduction sequence.
Vic Perrin, the Control Voice, never watched an episode of the show.
The opening shots of people running for their lives was reused footage from It Came from Beneath the Sea and the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
When this episode first aired, some stations considered the alien too scary and cut to black whenever it appeared onscreen. Other stations moved the episode to the 11:00 p.m. time slot out of an abundance of caution.
This is one of only thirteen Outer Limits episodes with an original score by Dominic Frontiere.
The shot of Allan on the operating table partway through his transition was created by actor Robert Culp and makeup artist Fred B. Phillips, surprising director Byron Haskin.
The scientists’ plot is very similar to the final reveal of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. When this was pointed out to Moore, he included a scene of one of the characters, Sally Jupiter, watching The Outer Limits.
Meyer Dolinsky, the writer of this episode, would go on to write “Plato’s Stepchildren” for Star Trek (1968).
Producer Joseph Stefano included the scene in which the hunters encounter “the alien”, while director Byron Hoskin included the dog. According to Hoskin: “I used the dog as the first being to encounter the Thetan. Its reaction was more spontaneous and therefore more real. A dog can’t reason per se, and yet it was scared. ”
In the original ending, the scientists actually attempt to destroy the rampaging Thetan by severing its nitrogen cable and flooding the lab with oxygen.
Actor Robert Culp, who played the doomed Allen Leighton, was best known for his portrayal of Kelly Robinson opposite Bill Cosby in I Spy (1965). He has the distinction of playing five different murders on Columbo. He returns for one of The Outer Limits’ most beloved episodes, “Demon with a Glass Hand” in season 2. Culp reminisced: “I really didn’t understand how they were going to get away with doing this show on the sort of budget they had, but I was game. I went home and pretty soon the script showed up. I have alway adored science fiction, what I didn’t realize was that it was a part of me, and was going to be apart of me for the rest of my life after that.”
Geraldine Brooks, who played Yvette Leighton, received a Tony nomination in 1970 for “Brightover” on Broadway. She’ll return to play William Shatner’s wife in season 2’s “Cold Hands, Warm Heart”.
Janos Prahoska was a talented actor and acrobat who portrayed the Thetan. He built a career playing various creatures in gorilla and bear – and occasionally alien – suits. On The Andy Williams Show, he played a bear who was always trying to get a cookie from Williams. Recalled director Haskin: “When I first met Janos, he came into my office, put a beer bottle on the table, and then stood o his head with his finger in the bottle, supporting himself. He could defy the law of gravity.”
But working in the suit (with all that airplane glue) was tough. According to producer Joseph Stefano: “It was heartbreaking to see him when they finally let him out for air. The man was soaking wet and heaving. I just couldn’t understand why he would it but, you know, you need somebody to play a monster and somebody always says “Okay” and then you’ve got to worry about air-conditioning his suit!”
Janos would, tragically, die in a plane crash along with his son while working on the ABC t.v. series Up From the Ape in 1975.
This one was a pretty terrifying episode. While the scientists’ plan was clever on a conceptual level, I can’t help but feel they didn’t really think it through. In a similar vein, I feel Allan didn’t real think things through either. I mean, wouldn’t it have been a good idea to tell his wife what was going on from the get-go? Certainly before he had sex with her during his transformation? I really did love that shot of Yvette coming down the stairs of the lab, the shadow cast on the wall showing her very (ominously) pregnant.
My favorite episode of the young season to date.
Season 1, Episode 4 “The Man with the Power”
This episode was first broadcast October 8, 1963.
From this episode moving forward, a shorter version of the Control Voice intro is used.
Also from this episode moving forward, the teaser is a flash-forward clip from a later scene.
The operating theatre set used in this episode was the same one used in the previous episode, “The Architects of Fear”.
The Finleys living room was previously occupied by Ted and Anne Pearson in “The Hundred Days of the Dragon”.
The energy cloud is comprised of roiling smoke overlaid with lightning bolts and electrical discharges.
Actor Donald Pleasance, who played Harold J. Finley, is best remembered for his portrayals of Dr. Sam Loomis in the Halloween films and Ernst Stavro Blofeld You Only Live Twice. He also delivered a memorable performance as Professor Ellis Fowler in the Twilight Zone episode “A Changing of the Guard”.
His annoying boss was played by Edward C. Platt, a fellow Twilight Zone alum who gained fame playing the Chief on Get Smart 1965.
This one was a little underwhelming in comparison to the previous episode, although I did love the fact that Harold was as much a victim of his abilities as, well, his victims – and that despite the power bequeathed him, he struggled against his subconscious desires until the very end. Pleasance is terrific here and it was quite a coup for the production to land him. He was apparently wrapping up filming a movie at the time when he was convinced to extend his visa another two weeks to guest on the show.
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