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There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt
to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. We
will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical.
For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all you
see and hear. You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches
from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits...
Season
two of this classic 1960s sci-fi/horror anthology series contains
only around half the number of episodes of season
one. The reason why we only get seventeen is because
it was decided to abandon the show partway through due to
reduced viewing figures. A tad short-sighted, methinks. You
might say that Joseph Stephano was partly responsible for
this. This superb scriptwriter and style-setter for the show
had opted to leave the production at the end of season one,
after being repeatedly refused permission to direct some episodes.
Given today's attitudes that virtually any actor on a long-running
series is given the opportunity to try their hand at directing,
this is rather ironic.
The
programme did suffer as a result of his missing influence.
Although remaining of generally high standard, season two
did wander from its original format. The music became more
melodic, rather than eerie, and moral tales exploring every
facet of the human condition were forgotten.
Having
said that, season two does contain two classic episodes: Soldier
(which was the root of James Cameron's idea for The Terminator)
and Demon With a Glass Hand. Both were written by seasoned
SF writer Harlan Ellison and both won the coveted Hugo Award.
The former has two soldiers from the far future, bred only
to hate and kill the enemy, being forced by an accident back
to the past of the 1960s, where a psychologist attempts to
teach one of them the concepts of love and family. In the
latter, a future Earth is invaded by another race, only to
discover the entire population has vanished. The answer lies
with the last remaining man and his glass hand computer.
Another
great episode is I, Robot, about a machine falsely
placed on trial for murdering his creator. It explores whether
an intelligent robot should have human rights, and is taken
from an Isaac Asimov story, right down to the title. However,
just like The Invisibles from season one, the original
writer outrageously receives no credit. This idea has been
used many times since, most notably on Star Trek: The Next
Generation's The Measure of a Man, where the subject
was the android officer Data. And talking of Trek,
guest stars for this season included William Shatner, Robert
Culp (again), and Leonard Nimoy.
While
true that this set of episodes is not as strong as season
one's, the divide is not as wide as you might expect. The
quality remains true, so it is well worth picking yourself
up a copy of this set. The retail price reflects the reduced
content.
Ty
Power
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