Science Fiction Theatre

Did You Know?

• In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Science Fiction Theatre is mentioned as George McFly's favorite television program, inspiring Marty McFly to dress as an alien.
• Timeless Media Group released the complete series on Region 1 DVD on May 12, 2015, with new video transfers using a one-light system that made episodes appear slightly darker.
• Garco the Robot, used to publicize the Rocky Jones, Space Ranger series, appeared in the episode 'Time is Just a Place'.

General

The series placed an emphasis on science before fiction, presenting challenges such as mental telepathy, robots, man-eating ants, killer trees, space flight, and time travel. Stories were original concepts based on articles from recent issues of Scientific American, which could be seen on Bradley's desk. The first season was filmed on 35mm Eastmancolor negative, which often faded due to vinegar deterioration. For the second season, producer Ivan Tors agreed to produce in black and white to offset expenses. The show had no fixed cast, but recurring actors included Michael Fox (7 episodes), Dick Foran (4), Marshall Thompson (7), and others. Notable guest stars included Basil Rathbone, Vincent Price, and DeForest Kelley. Edmund Gwenn and Ruth Hussey were the highest-paid actors, earning $2,500 each for a three-day filming.

Intro and outro

Each episode began with a brass, string, and woodwind fanfare composed by David Rose under the pen name Ray Llewellyn, while the camera panned over a science laboratory. Bradley always noted that the story was fictional. The pilot was filmed in July 1954, but Bradley's hosting segments were not filmed until September 11, 1954, which also included off-screen narration for the pilot and the second episode. Bradley's hosting duties were often filmed in batches of two to four episodes in a single day. After the first two episodes, an oversight was discovered: Bradley wore a different tie on the two filming dates; thereafter he wore the same suit and tie for every episode. Due to limited budgets, many scientific props were reused across episodes, including a fake computerized chess game with magnets and a technician under the table. An anti-gravity device from the episodes "Beyond" and "Y-O-R-D" was later used in the film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).

Broadcast

The program never aired over a network; all 78 half-hour episodes were syndicated in packages of 39 episodes each, allowing different stations to air it on different days. Regional sponsors hired host Truman Bradley to film local commercial inserts. The series was retitled Beyond The Limits for later syndication in the 1960s. From 1996 to 1998, it aired weekly on the Sci-Fi Channel in abbreviated form (21.5 minutes instead of 26). PBS had previously aired the episodes uncut and unedited.