Long before gore and sleaze infested the sci-fi and horror genre, some of the industry's best writers, directors and actors came of age through their involvement with classic TV series. One of the most respected series was The Outer Limits. Whereas it's better known rival, The Twilight Zone tended to rely on the human elements of its stories, The Outer Limits stressed special effects - though never at the expense of providing a compelling storyline. The show premiered in 1963 and did not have the longevity or acclaim that was accorded to Twilight Zone,but over the years it has built a substantial and loyal following. One of the great joys is seeing "up and coming" stars of the future making early appearances in the series. Those of you who have been following our interviews with David McCallum in the print edition of Cinema Retro will recall that he made two appearances on the series. MGM has now re-issued first season episodes of the series, though rather surprisingly, the company has not gotten on the bandwagon with other series releases and put all episodes from that season in one set. Instead, this is a reissue of the set that was originally released in 2002 consisting of two discs with 4 episodes on each disc. On the upside, this season features David McCallum's best-remembered appearance in The Sixth Finger episode that provides one of the most iconic makeup achievements in TV history. The Outer Limits has been called "the best program of its type ever to run on network TV" by none other than Stephen King, who knows a thing or two about this genre. If nothing else, it will bring back a more innocent time when the only debate about illegal aliens concerned beings from another planet!- Lee Pfeiffer
CONTINUE READING TO VIEW CLIPS FROM THE ACTUAL EPISODES AND READ THE OFFICIAL MGM PRESS RELEASE
TO ORDER THE OUTER LIMITS SEASON 1 DISCOUNTED FROM AMAZON, CLICK HERE