The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)

Did You Know?

• An MMO for the reboot was planned under the title The Outer Limits On-Line, with MGM working with Worlds Inc.
• In 2014, it was reported that a feature film directed by Scott Derrickson based on the series was in development.
• Two identical indoor roller coasters named The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear opened in 1996 at Paramount's Kings Dominion and Paramount's Kings Island.

History

The 1995 revival of The Outer Limits followed an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to bring it back in the 1980s. The success of speculative fiction shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and The X-Files, along with anthology series such as Tales from the Crypt, convinced MGM to try again. The studio partnered with Trilogy Entertainment Group, the production company behind films like Backdraft and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The series premiered on Showtime, and episodes entered syndication the following season, a model also used for MGM/Showtime's Stargate SG-1 and Poltergeist: The Legacy. The show aired on Showtime until 2001, when the Sci-Fi Channel took over production for its seventh and final season. This shift meant the last season had no swearing or nudity, unlike earlier seasons. The series was canceled in 2002 after 152 episodes, far more than the original run. Kevin Conway provided the new Control Voice. The revived series moved away from the original's "monster of the week" approach. While it still featured aliens and monsters, each episode typically explored a specific scientific concept and its impact on humanity. Examples include "Dark Rain," about biochemical warfare causing global sterility; "Final Exam," about the discovery of practical cold fusion; and "A Stitch in Time," about a time traveler altering history. Two episodes, "Unnatural Selection" and "Criminal Nature," dealt with Genetic Rejection Syndrome, a mutation turning humans into violent creatures, resulting from a banned eugenics program to create superior children.

Production

The 1995 revival of The Outer Limits was shot on location in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. Its episodes adapted stories from a range of authors including Harlan Ellison, A. E. van Vogt, Eando Binder, Richard Matheson, Larry Niven, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, and James Patrick Kelly. Leslie Stevens served as a program consultant for the first four seasons until his death, while Joseph Stefano—the creator, producer, and head writer of the original 1960s series—acted as an executive consultant and later senior advisor for the entire run. Stefano also remade his own earlier episode "A Feasibility Study" under the new title "Feasibility Study" for the third season. The music for this version was composed by John Van Tongeren and Mark Mancina, replacing the original scores by Dominic Frontiere and Harry Lubin. Van Tongeren scored ten episodes in the first season and continued working on the series through season six; the show's theme music is credited to both Van Tongeren and Mancina. Most seasons included a clip show that wove together plots from multiple episodes. During commercial breaks, the Control Voice announced "The Outer Limits... please stand by," a phrase that had originally been considered as the title for the first series. Several episodes from seasons one through six contained nudity and adult material. While these episodes aired uncut during their original broadcasts, they were later trimmed for syndication.

Home media

From 2002 to 2006, MGM put out six themed DVD collections of The Outer Limits in the US, each containing six episodes. These sets were titled Aliens Among Us, Death & Beyond, Fantastic Androids & Robots, Mutation & Transformation, Sex & Science Fiction, and Time Travel & Infinity. Every disc featured the original uncut episodes as they first aired, and in 2006 they were gathered into a box set called The Outer Limits: The New Series. The Aliens Among Us and Sex & Science Fiction collections also saw releases from MGM in the UK and Benelux in 2005. Season 1 came out uncut with bonus features on DVD in the US in 2005, in the UK in 2007, and in Germany in 2008, but poor sales prevented any further season releases. In 2010, Alliance Home Entertainment in Canada brought out all seven seasons on DVD. The first season matched the earlier MGM set, and season 2 was also uncensored except for the episode "Paradise." Seasons 3 through 6 all include many censored episodes, while season 7 contains the original unedited episodes, though unlike earlier seasons it was produced without nudity or swearing.

Tie-in books

From 1996 to 1997, Prima Publishing released three volumes collecting prose adaptations of episodes from both the 1963 and 1995 versions of the show. Then, between 1997 and 1999, Tor Books issued a twelve-book series aimed at younger readers, all written by John Peel. The first book, The Zanti Misfits, loosely adapted the 1963 episode of the same name; the second, The Choice, was based on a 1995 series episode. The remaining ten books were original stories. In 2003, author Stan Timmons contributed two original tie-in novels, Always Darkest and Dark Matters.