Budgets.
In the beginning of the Cathode Ray era, they were small yet effective and memorable television was made. Yet at this time, budgets for shows exceed one million dollars and they are merely shadows of their former greater selves. Sure, they cover more mature topics in more voyeuristic ways--posing these as being 'realistic'--but all and all television isn't as great as it was because it is more of a business run by men who want to make money other than dedicated writers, directors, and producers who wanted to make something of their vision.
The money came later. *rimshot*
Within the past, you can find gems that amuse. Hell, why are you here if there wasn't? But this time, this review is different. It's my first review of 2002, and one of the first of a series that I have neglected for a very long time. You see, I suppose my fascination with the original Outer Limits (not that backbacon one that now airs on Fridays on the Sci-Fi Channel) began with Stephen King. Or rather, his factually challenged Danse Macabre. It described the show as being better than the Twilight Zone and one of the best shows in the history of television itself. And it was an hour, damn it, a full freaking hour!!
Needless to say, I don't need some self-inflated 'Master of Horror' telling what is scary or not. Especially when the said author hated Kolchak the Night Stalker to such an extent that he mixed up show titles and plots. While this may seem a minor nitpick, let me hasten to add that Kolchak only ran 20 episodes. Surely it isn't hard for a man who writes reams and reams of paper describing minutiae to do a little studying? And as if he is the one to tell anybody how to make cinema. Ever seen his version of The Shining with a croquet mallet replacing the axe or Steven Weber pretending how to be an actor? And Maximum Overdrive, anybody? Anybody??
Where was I? Oh, yes...
The Outer Limits quickly because one of my favorite shows waaay back in 1994 when I spent the entire summer renting and watching them for the princely sum of $1 American per episode. I practically devoured them and I was fortunate to have a nearby Video Watch (now Hollywood Video) that was stocked in nearly every episode. Through the good and the bad and the ugly (the latter two being a ghastly episode called 'Don't Open Until Doomsday'), I watched them all. Thus began my love for the unknown TV series that continues to this very day.
"Controlled Experiment" begins with Deimos (Carroll O'Connor) and Phobos (Barry Morse) meeting in Deimos' pawn shop. Both of these men are Martians whose mission is to examine a murder in order to learn more about the human race. Using this machine, they make wild guesses about human love, logic, and emotion while all the while sampling human rarities as coffee, cigarettes, and other vices. And by using the remarkable effects of reversing the film, fast-forwarding it, and slowing it down with humorous voice effects, they spend half the episode making observations and playing off each other. Then, the conflict hits: if they save the man's life when his ill-fated and pregnant lover puts a bullet into him, their child will grow up with the mistaken knowledge that if his father was so lucky, so will he be...and thus, become a mad dictator who will rule and destroy the Earth. So, our two faithful and morally conscious Martians must both complete their experiment, somehow resolve the resolution, and stop their machine from overheating and ruining all chances for mankind. All while buzzed on coffee.
If the plot seems simplistic, it is. The Outer Limits Companion Guide states that producer Leslie Stevens wrote this episode as a 'bottle show'--a story that is designed to keep the entire series within budget yet produce a requisite amount of episodes--and it was pure luck that it came together as strongly as it did. While the special effects were easy to realize (being simple fast motion and slow motion that comprise the majority of the show), the show's strongest asset is the teaming of Barry Morse and Carroll O'Connor. The show isn't really about a lover's spat that somehow gets resolved, it is more the interaction between Deimos and Phobos who share nothing really in common besides their fascination about Earth. And without this interaction that is portrayed excellently by these two very skilled actors, the show would fall apart underneath itself, much like Stevens' other 'bottle show' for Outer Limits called "The Production and Decay of Strange Particles." But that is another story for yet another time.
BOTTOM LINE: One of the best episodes of the best season of the series. Why MGM is holding putting the series on disc (hint!) is beyond me. Certainly, three or four episodes a disc would be a true godsend. Four stars out of Four, very highly recommended.