CBS had previously aired Jackson County Jail in prime time to respectable ratings, and Miller pitched the network on an alternate storyline for Mimieux's character, envisioning a potential series for her in the vein of The Fugitive.
The story initially follows the same trajectory as Jackson County Jail, with protagonist Dinah Hunter (Yvette Mimieux) traveling cross-country from Los Angeles, having her car and possessions stolen near a small town, arrested for vagrancy, and assaulted by the night jailer, whom she beats to death afterward.
Dinah proceeds to have several unusual interludes with others, including a brief intimate encounter with a concert pianist (John Lawlor), as she goes about her long-term quest to elude the police and prove her innocence.
According to a review by frequent Roger Corman chronicler Todd McCarthy, "Except for the loss of Tommy Lee Jones, Outside Chance beats its predecessor on almost all counts, as funnier, subtler, more textured and evenly toned, and less predictable.
"[4] A capsule review in People's "Picks and Pans" section read, "During the lurid course of this made-for-TVer, Yvette Mimieux gets robbed, knocked unconscious, raped, jailed, forced to murder an attacker and caught in a fire.