The Outer Limits is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from September 16, 1963, to January 16, 1965, at 7:30 PM Eastern Time on Mondays.

Writers included creator Stevens and Joseph Stefano (screenwriter of the film Psycho), who was the Season 1 producer and creative guiding force, and who wrote more of the series' episodes than anyone.

Future Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown) wrote "The Chameleon," the final Season 1 episode.

Writer Joseph Stefano was recruited in a late night phone call from Leslie Stevens; the two men had known each other for years.

Each episode in Season 1 was to have a monster or creature as a critical part of the story line in a villain of the week format.

Season 1 writer and producer Joseph Stefano believed this element was necessary to provide fear, suspense, or at least a center for plot development.

Actor Barry Morse, who starred in "Controlled Experiment," states that it was made as a pilot for an unrealized science fiction/comedy series.

"Bears" appear near the conclusion of the Season 2 episodes "Counterweight," "The Invisible Enemy," and "Cold Hands, Warm Heart."

The "bear" in "The Architects of Fear," the monstrously altered Allen Leighton, was judged by some of ABC's local affiliate stations to be so frightening that they broadcast a black screen during the "Thetan's" appearances, effectively censoring most of the show's last act.

[citation needed] The program sometimes made use of techniques (lighting, camerawork, even make-up) associated with film noir or German Expressionism (see for example, "Corpus Earthling").

Season 1's monsters and creatures, and most props, were developed by a loose-knit group under the name Project Unlimited, whose members included Wah Chang, Gene Warren and Jim Danforth.

The season 2 episode Wolf 359 featured a "bear" consisting of a piece of latex rubber, eight wooden tongue depressors and a styrofoam ball.

However, the second season fared rather poorly in the Nielsen ratings after moving from Monday to Saturday night, where it competed with Jackie Gleason.

Originally scheduled to air on November 25, 1963, the episode "Nightmare" was delayed until December 2 due to television coverage of the state funeral of President John F. Kennedy.

The Outer Limits was also known for the moody, textured look of many episodes (especially those directed by Byron Haskin or Gerd Oswald, or photographed by Conrad Hall) whereas The Twilight Zone tended to be shot more conventionally.

The moving microbe beast in "The Probe" was modified and used as the 'Horta' in "The Devil in the Dark," operated by the same actor, Janos Prohaska.

The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in Star Trek too.

Roddenberry was often present in The Outer Limits' studios, and hired several of its staff, including Robert Justman and Wah Chang, for Star Trek.

[9] Michael Ansara, who appeared in the Outer Limits episode "Soldier," guest-starred as Klingon commander Kang in the original and spin-off Star Trek series.

Joseph Ruskin, who appeared with Nimoy in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles," later went on to play Galt, the lead Thrall in the Star Trek Season 2 episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion."

[11] In 2001, MGM made plans with Mark Victor and Michael Grais to produce a film adaptation of The Outer Limits.

[12] Development began a year later with Gerald Di Pego co-writing with his sons Justin and Zachary, and Rupert Wainwright directing.

[14] On June 20, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter said Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was developing a film version of The Outer Limits based on the "Demon with a Glass Hand" episode, with Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill writing and Mark Victor producing.

[21] On Jun 24, 2020, Australia's Via Vision Entertainment released The Outer Limits: Complete Original Series Collector's Edition 11-disc Blu-ray set.

It's coded for region B and comes in a hard box case with a 60-page Illustrated booklet, with essays by leading Outer Limits expert and author David J.