The Outer limits / Joanne Morraele.

Author
Morreale, Joanne, 1956- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • Detroit, Michigan : Wayne State University Press, [2022]
  • ©2022
Description
viii, 132 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks PN1992.77.O983 M67 2022 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Series
    • Contemporary approaches to film and television series. TV milestones [More in this series]
    • TV milestones series
    Summary note
    "In this TV Milestone, author Joanne Morreale highlights the differences of The Outer Limits (ABC 1963-65) from typical programs on the air in the 1960s. Morreale argues that the show provides insight into changes in the television industry as writers turned to genre fiction-in this case, a hybrid of science fiction and horror-to provide veiled social commentary. The show illustrates the tension between networks who wanted mainstream entertainment and the independent writer-producers, Leslie Stevens and Joseph Stefano, who wanted to use the medium to challenge viewers. In five chapters, The Outer Limitsmakes a case for the show's deployment of gothic melodrama and science fiction tropes, unique televisual characteristics, and creative adaptation of many cultural sources to interrogate the relationship between humans and technology in a way that continues to influence contemporary debate in such shows as Star Trek, The X-Files, and Black Mirror. Underlying the arguments is the eerie notion of The Outer Limits as a disruptive force on television at the time, purposely making audiences uncomfortable. For example, in its iconic opening credit sequence a disembodied "Control Voice" claims to be taking over the television as images mimic signal interference. Other themes convey Cold War paranoia, ambivalence about the Kennedy era "New Frontier," and anxiety about the burgeoning military-industrial-governmental complex. The book points out that The Outer Limits presaged what came to be known as "quality" television. While most episodes followed the lowbrow tradition of televised science fiction by adapting previously published stories and films, the series elevated the genre by rearticulating it through themes and images drawn from myth, literature, and the art film. The Outer Limits is lucid yet accessible, well researched and argued, with enlightening discussions of specific episodes even as it gives attention to broader television history and theory. It will be of special interest to scholars and students of television and media studies, as well as fans of science fiction"-- Provided by publisher.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-125) and index.
    ISBN
    • 9780814347454 ((pbk.))
    • 0814347452 ((pbk.))
    OCLC
    1264458942
    Statement on language in description
    Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...
    Other views
    Staff view

    Supplementary Information