# Which Outer Limits do you like better? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062 "2004-06-07T05:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/21 "2004-06-08T16:40:40Z")
I’d have to vote for the original **Outer Limit** s as the best, if only for the unforgettably creepy atmosphere so many of the episodes had. The combination of SF and film noir is a strange one, but it worked very well in many episodes. Also, a lot of shows were morality plays, with archetypal characters (the obsessed scientist, the jealous wife, etc.), and that added another bit of surrealism to it. Plus there was the great theme music – I even have the CD, geek that I am – and that unforgettable Control Voice! Yes, they had some real stinkers (ever seen the “queen bee” episode?), but so has the new series, and I haven’t seen any new episodes as memorable as the old classics. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/22 "2004-06-08T17:58:45Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > I can’t believe **Tengu** said the original Outer Limits had bad acting. Believe it ot not, it’s true. It doesn’t matter that they had name actors. Name actors can suck too - either because they suck, or because they don’t particularly care about doing a good job for a given production - and it wasn’t all name actors. Even the best episodes of the original that I’ve seen (which were great) often had actors that overacted or underacted. I was severely disappointed in the original OL when I was finally able to see it. I love the original TZ. I rather consistantly enjoy the new OL. I’d heard great things about the original OL. It…just didn’t live up to the expectations. I enjoy it, and watch it when I manage to catch it, but it gets a lot more praise than it deserves. The best episodes are better than the best of the new series, but the worst are similarly worse, and stand out just as much. The newer series average isn’t really any better than the original’s, but the worst stinkers don’t hit the same level of pain, and consistantly hitting the middle of a range is better than the utter inconsistancy of the original, even if the cost is fewer brilliant episides. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/23 "2004-06-08T23:14:31Z")
:smack: Correct, and I realized this just shortly after posting it. Can I blame it on my medications? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/24 "2004-06-08T23:24:23Z")
Did you bring enough for everyone? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/25 "2004-06-08T23:33:58Z")
You can have my extra Nyquil and the hangover that comes with it. Isn’t that generous? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/26 "2004-06-08T23:35:37Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > What exactly is it about Canadian made tv shows that makes them inferior to Hollywood products? I don’t see what the place where a show is filmed has to do with its quality. I’m not saying they’re necessarily inferior, I’m just saying there’s a kind of factory sameness to some of these show–the camerawork, the music, the supporting actors, the locations, the editing, the writing, the directing. The new _Outer Limits_, _The X-Files_, _Poltergeist: The Legacy_, _The Sentinel_…i have trouble telling which one I’m seeing unitl I check the listings. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/27 "2004-06-09T00:27:17Z")
So the _ **new** _ Outer Limits doesn’t have any painfully bad episodes? Ever see one of their “compilation” episodes? (and there’s been a few). They arbitrarily slosh together clips from about 6 previous episodes and attempt to make one story from that. Something like “Amanda Plummer goes back in time to prevent a murder but then encounters the ‘Sand Kings’, etc.” It is _very_ forced and none of the players from one episode ever physically meets up with the players from another episode. (Gee I wonder why?) These episodes are BAD !!! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/28 "2004-06-09T00:56:59Z")
They do, but they don’t reach the same level of awfulness as the worst episodes of the original. The clip episodes are…lame. The absolute nadir of the new series was a clip show that used clips from the framing story of an earlier clip show. But a few of the clip shows (including that one) could have been salvaged if they’d just said ‘screw the clips, we’ll do two short stories’. Even the ones that were just lame, with or without clip-padding at least had pretty pictures to watch. The bad episodes of the original aren’t usually a matter of ‘too little story to fill an hour’, they just weren’t executed well, on the whole. ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/29 "2004-06-09T05:00:47Z")
The old school Outer Limits sounds really really good. I wonder if they will air repeats one day. (In Canada, more specifically.) I’m sure they could put at least one new episode each day, mon-fri. I literally can see **three** or more different repeated episodes of Star Trek Voyager in one day, so OL shouldn’t be too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/30 "2004-06-09T05:23:28Z")
Space is currently showing the original OL…Saturdays and Sundays, at 7 AM Eastern/4 AM Pacific. ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062/31 "2004-06-09T05:57:51Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Space is currently showing the original OL…Saturdays and Sundays, at 7 AM Eastern/4 AM Pacific. No way. No freakin way! Unfortunately it is too early to check my program guide, thanks Tengu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-outer-limits-do-you-like-better/249062.md?page=1)