Outer Limits versus the Twilight Zone!

[bromstaker]

I tried to watch season 1 of AHS but the sexual elements put me off. Same thing with True Blood. Tennessee Williams meets Dark Shadows meets Skinamax!

[BigShadow]

Since I was a youngin, I loved watching the Twilight Zone, especially when the marathons were on TV.  In high school I even read a book of TZ short stories then wrote my own for a speech class.  The teacher, also a fan of the TZ and OL, really enjoyed my story and the fact that a young kid new and even watched such "older" shows.  I remember people in class not having a clue as to these shows.....what a shame.  When I entered the military after high school, I was introduced to the OL, which was the first time I watched it. 

Over the years, I've watched both shows with an open mind and an appreciation for what they were to me personally.  But in the end, I still have to go with the show that haunted my mind first, the Twilight Zone.  Although the entertainment aspect of the Outer Limits keeps me entranced, I just love the stories and morals that the TZ give the viewer. 

Just my humble opinion.

[Haunted hearse]

I prefer Twilight Zone, but I honestly can't think of a Outer Limit episode that I didn't enjoy.

[Scatter]

Stick with Hanna Montana, bro.

I can't. I gave up when I discovered that stocky white guys should never twerk.

[Hepcat]

The Twilight Zone has now nosed out in front! I wonder if that might be due to its superior logos?

[McDougals House of Horror]

Outer Limits rules! I'm in the midst of watching the entire 49 episodes and last night I watched #s 33 and 34 which were the start of the second (and final) season. Because ABC foolishly decided to switch the series from Monday night (where it had good ratings) to Saturday night (up against the well-established and broadly popular Jackie Gleason show), head writer Joseph Stefano left OL at the end of the first season. But more importantly (and obviously) composer Dominic Frontiere also left, and along with him went all of the show's iconic music, even in the famous intro. Although the stories were still great, the music lost a lot causing the episodes to lose some of the "awe and mystery" they had in Season 1. One of the OL episodes I watched ("Cold Hands, Warm Heart") featured William Shatner and reminded me of his famous Twilight Zone "flight".

Shatner's nemesis at 20,000 feet in The Twilight Zone...



And Shatner's Venusian nightmare in The Outer Limits...

[Mord]

I love them both. I will never pit one against the other (there hasn't been anything that incredible since).

[Monsters For Sale]

The question is a little like asking, "What is the superior animal, the horse or the cow?"

I quote myself from "The Outer Limits" thread:



I like Twilight Zone and Outer Limits EQUALLY WELL.

I was there to greet them both as new, fresh shows at their inceptions and got to experience them before their re-run phase. 

But I am unable to compare them side-by-side.  The shows are as basically different as sitcoms and crime shows.  The Outer Limits really is a monster-of-the-week anthology that relied very heavily on science fiction.  The Twilight Zone is a series of morality tales that very often postulate, "What if you really DID get what you want?'

Sure, there were some cross-over plots but each show had its own, definite outlook on story-telling and what it wanted to convey to the viewer.  While either show could do a credible adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "I Sing the Body Electric", variations on W.W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw" fit more comfortably in the Twilight Zone catalog - while Harlan Ellison's "Demon with a Glass Hand" is more appropriate for the Outer Limits collection.

No.  I can't pick a favorite child from these two.  I gotta love 'em both.

[Wolfman]

Always preferred TZ over OL. The OL had cooler monsters for sure, but TZ was more believable, and the more believable something is, the scarier it is, imo. Both great shows either way.

JP

[Majere]

The Twilight Zone for me, especially season 1.  TZ just had so many classics that are still part of the culture today.

[mjaycox]

I have more fondness for Twilight Zone, because I am a lover of the short story as an artform... and every TZ felt that way to me.

But OL has better monsters, by far, and lets be honest-- far better merchandise. The OL board game was WAAAAAAAAAAY better than the TZ game, for instance.

Matt