15th Anniversary of "The Outer Limits" (2nd series, 1995 to 2002)

[wonderfly]

Creating this for fans of the show: 15 years ago today, the 2nd incarnation of "The Outer Limits" premiered on Showtime. A "PG" version of the series was rebroadcast on Fox, followed by a lengthy syndication on the Sci-Fi channel. And now, in time for the anniversary, the entire series has been made available legally on Hulu.com!!! (http://www.hulu.com/outer-limits)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/TheOuterLimits_%282005%29.jpg/250px-TheOuterLimits_%282005%29.jpg


On March 26th, 1995: "The Sandkings", a 2 hour pilot episode premiered, starring Beau Bridges, in the role of a scientist whose experiments with Martian eggs begin to grow out of control. A classic anthology series, every episode had a different science fiction plot, ranging from modern day government cloning conspiracies, near future android crimes, and distant futures involving alien warfare.

So what is your favorite episode of this classic series? Favorite plot twist endings? Favorite alien or monster?

I used to be agitated that they never did release the entire series on DVD, but hey, having it for free on Hulu is even better, in my opinion!

[Michael24]

I remember everybody always raving about that episode with Beau Bridges, but when I finally saw it I didn't really see the big deal. I never watched The Outer Limits as regularly as Tales From the Crypt, but I liked the episode with Mark Hamill and another one with Tom Arnold called "Family Values," where he finds himself replaced in the family by a robot he bought to initially just help out around the house.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I remember hating this series when it came out. What turned me off was the new version of I Robot (the Eando Binder story is one of my favorites), it just seemed so hateful and dark and cynical to me, and if this was modernization I didn't want it. David J. Schow also wrote a brutal takedown of this series and its producer in Sci-Fi Universe. He really ripped it up with his criticisms.

But I heard it actually got better, so if it was released on DVD I'd check it out.

[wonderfly]

But I heard it actually got better, so if it was released on DVD I'd check it out.

I was always wondering why they hadn't commited to release the whole series on DVD (seems like most anthology series get the shaft, in that regard), but having discovered Hulu.com just a few months back, I'm very pleased to have it as an alternative to owning DVDs. I think unless you have a crappy internet connection, Hulu is now the way to go with a classic show. I also was planning on buying the Incredible Hulk series on DVD, but saw that most episodes of that show were up on Hulu as well, so decided against buying the DVDs.


I remember everybody always raving about that episode with Beau Bridges, but when I finally saw it I didn't really see the big deal. I never watched The Outer Limits as regularly as Tales From the Crypt, but I liked the episode with Mark Hamill and another one with Tom Arnold called "Family Values," where he finds himself replaced in the family by a robot he bought to initially just help out around the house.

"The Sandkings" is noteable for having 3 generations of the Bridges family in it (Beau, his father Lloyd, and Beau's son Dylan). The plot involving the alien bugs is okay, but it's watching Beau and Lloyd interact with each other on screen that's compelling to watch. There's possibly some real world metaphors in how Beau's character feels like he's always in the shadow of his brother (compare Beau to the more well known Jeff Bridges)...

The Mark Hamill episode is fun. Look for the return of Hamill's "That's not true!!! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!" performance at the end of the episode... :D I remember watching that with my best friend when it first premiered in the 90's, and we both laughed as Hamill's character goes insane at the end (he really does conjure up Luke)...

And yes, I know that some of the episodes can be cheesy, or low budget (others are quite masterful, for the time period) but I can even enjoy the bad ones in a mild "Mystery Science Theater" fashion.

[Fool's Gil]

When I was a kid, I saw the series as a spiritual sucessor to the Twilight Zone. It wasn't until years later did I find out the Outer Limits had been around far longer.

[Gatomon41]

I remember hating this series when it came out. What turned me off was the new version of I Robot (the Eando Binder story is one of my favorites), it just seemed so hateful and dark and cynical to me, and if this was modernization I didn't want it. David J. Schow also wrote a brutal takedown of this series and its producer in Sci-Fi Universe. He really ripped it up with his criticisms.

But I heard it actually got better, so if it was released on DVD I'd check it out.

No, it didn't. The new Outer Limits had all the problems of the Twilight Zone, with the most stupid elements turned up to 11. Sure, there were actually a few good episodes, but overall it was preachy. It was as if every episode showed Earth getting blown up, and then saying "We Deserved It".

Worse, was the clip shows. Every season had a clip show which united several unrelated episodes, just so they can justify a clip show! At least the Stargate SG-1 clip shows had something relevant to the plot and a Crowing Moment of Awesome. The Outer Limits just failed.

[Shawn Hopkins]

No, it didn't. The new Outer Limits had all the problems of the Twilight Zone, with the most stupid elements turned up to 11. Sure, there were actually a few good episodes, but overall it was preachy. It was as if every episode showed Earth getting blown up, and then saying "We Deserved It".

Worse, was the clip shows. Every season had a clip show which united several unrelated episodes, just so they can justify a clip show! At least the Stargate SG-1 clip shows had something relevant to the plot and a Crowing Moment of Awesome. The Outer Limits just failed.

I like the Twilight Zone, though. I even liked the New Twilight Zone.

The worst Sci-Fi anthology series is the deservedly short-lived Masters of Science Fiction from a couple of years back. It sounds like you would have hated the hell out of it. The episode I saw was about aliens, who turn out to really be angels, making hostile actions toward earth and then showing how awful humans are for fighting back. Well, specifically those crazy warmongering Americans. Countries like Russia and China and Korea were shown to be measured voices of reason. Yeah, it's just an Iraq metaphor, but a clumsy and stupid one.

[Gatomon41]

I like the Twilight Zone, though. I even liked the New Twilight Zone. I liked the Twilight Zone too, even the original Outer Limits. But even it had its own flaws (Oh, the TWIST! :p) Take those problems, and multiply by 10, and you got the new Outer Limits.


The worst Sci-Fi anthology series is the deservedly short-lived Masters of Science Fiction from a couple of years back. It sounds like you would have hated the hell out of it. The episode I saw was about aliens, who turn out to really be angels, making hostile actions toward earth and then showing how awful humans are for fighting back. Well, specifically those crazy warmongering Americans. Russia and China were shown to be measured voices of reason.
I heard about this, and the Masters of Horror one. The ones I read about makes the new Outer Limits seem likable.