September 16, 1963: “The Outer Limits” Premieres

September 16, 1963: The Outer Limits premieres. It was ABC's attempt to copy CBS' The Twilight Zone. It had its moments, and ran for 2 seasons.

ABC had actually preceded The Twilight Zone by 9 months in 1959, with One Step Beyond. That also lasted 2 seasons, but is not as fondly remembered as either The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits.

Each installment began with a narration, provided by Vic Perrin, a character actor who had previously narrated the 1960 film Spartacus, over visuals of an oscilloscope:

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. 

If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. 

For the next hour, sit quietly, and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

A similar but shorter monologue capped each episode:

We now return control of your television set to you, until next week at this same time, when the Control Voice will take you to... The Outer Limits.

Season 1 combined science fiction and horror, while Season 2 was more focused on "hard science fiction" stories, dropping the recurring "scary monster" motif of Season 1. 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. This kind of story element became known as "the bear." This device was, however, mostly dropped in Season 2 after Stefano left.

Several creatures, masks, costumes, etc. were used again on Star Trek. So were some people involved, including producer Bob Justman and stuntman Janos Prohaska. Science fiction writer Harlan Ellison wrote for both shows.

The Outer Limits was revived in 1995, running for 7 seasons on Showtime, and then in 2001-02 on the Sci-Fi Channel.

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September 16, 1963 was a Monday. Singer Richard Marx was born. There were 3 baseball games played:

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Veale allowed only 2 hits, outpitching Larry Jackson. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4. Willie Stargell went 3-for-4. Ernie Banks did not play.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Juan Marichal outpitched Tony Cloninger. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Willie McCovey went 2-for-4. So did Orlando Cepeda, and he added a home run and 2 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4. Eddie Mathews went 0-for-4. Joe Torre went 2-for-4.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 at the 1st Busch Stadium (which had been the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Johnny Podres outpitched Bobby Shantz. The only Cardinal run came on a home run by Stan Musial, the 475th of his career. It turned out to be his last.