August 5, 2008

"The Demon With a Glass Hand."

Yesterday, we were talking about the Bradbury Building in downtown L.A.

Bradbury Building

Someone emailed to say that "The Demon With a Glass Hand" — an episode of "Outer Limits," written by Harlan Ellison — was filmed in the Bradbury Building. I love the Bradbury Building, and I love "Outer Limits," which I watched when it originally aired, back in the 1960s, on Friday nights, just before "The Twilight Zone."

And, look, aren't we lucky? You can watch "The Demon With a Glass Hand" on YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

16 comments:

Richard Fagin said...

Yes, indeed, the wife bought me The Outer Limits original series on DVD. I hadn't seen most of those since I was a kid. What's REALLY creepy is seeing the original broadcast dates on the box: Nov. 1, 1963, Nov. 8, 1963, Nov. 15, 1963, and Nov. 29, 1963.........

Bissage said...

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

I remember being a little kid and “The Outer Limits” frightening me all to pieces. And when I say scared, I mean literally cowering behind my father’s Laz-E-Boy recliner making little wimpering noises.

It had something to do with the new black and white TV set (second-hand from my father’s brother) and monsters on the screen coming to get me. Go figure.

But now I’m a full grown man so I should make it a point to revisit the series to see what it was all about.

*feels onset of panic attack*

*changes mind*

*wipes sweat from brow*

*takes deep cleansing breath*

*telephones Dr. Chomsky*

DaLawGiver said...

Robert Culp stars as Trent. Cool!

Remember "I Spy?"

Anthony said...

That's also where some of the movie Blade Runner was filmed.

Anonymous said...

An episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" was filmed there in 1978.

Group Captain Mandrake said...

I love that episode. The Outer Limits was sort of the poor cousin to the Twilight Zone. Every so often there would be an episode, like this one, which would send shivers down your spine. It's rather cool that you can find these episodes on YouTube.

blake said...

Bissage--

I remember watching "Alien" while chowing down on spaghetti and thinking, "Huh, I guess I'm not really greatly affected by images on screen."

Different generations.

Bissage said...

[B]lake, I agree with Tibore. Everything I need to know in life I learned from cartoons.

Perhaps the most important lesson of all was that, yes, there is such a thing as progress.

In one episode of "The Simpsons", Lisa represented the squeamish sensibility of the media scolds of the 1960s and 70s and she shrinked away from an "Itchy and Scratchy" cartoon because it was too horrible.

But Bart encouraged her: "If you don't watch the violence, you'll never get desensitized to it!"

Ha!

And with that . . . I can face the future secure in the knowledge that things are getting better all the time.

Better. Better. Beeeeeetter.

Getting so much better all the time!

ron st.amant said...

That is probably my favorite episode of the original series (at least of the ones I've seen when they were finally reissued years ago)

George M. Spencer said...

The script writer Harlan Ellison later sued James Cameron, the director of "Terminator," for ripping off his time travel concept, either for this show or for the Outer Limits episode "Soldier."

Qarlo Kobregni, Dee N Dee O!

George M. Spencer said...

Oops, my bad.

Apparently, Ellison never sued, but threatened to, and Cameron settled.

Can't let this go without mentioning three other marvelous episodes...."The Inheritors"—a two-parter; Robert Duvall plays a war vet with a mysterious brain wound. Along with other injured vets, he kidnaps handicapped children for an apparently diabolical purpose. "A Feasibility Study" is a highly coded early 1960s Christian anti-slavery parable whose climax takes place in a church.

Show suffered from the monster-of-the-week syndrome foisted upon it by ABC and a change of producers after the first season. Way ahead of its time.

The most flipped out episode "The Forms of Things Unknown" stars Vera Miles. Shades of 'Diabolique.'

cjm said...

best sci-fi show ever. Twilight Zone is ok but nowhere near as interesting.

one word -- Zandi.

George M. Spencer said...

Misfits.

And still relevant today.

Are these not "The Hundred Days of the Dragon?"

"...candidate for the presidency of the United States, predicted by every poll, survey, and primary to be the certain winner in the forthcoming election..."

But....but! He's a ChiCom double!

You gotta love the Nixonesque VP hero.

blake said...

Unlike "The Twilight Zone", "The Outer Limits" had a pretty good remake in the '90s.

"The Twilight Zone"'s first remake in the '80s was pretty interesting but petered out quickly. The 2002 remake was DOA.

George M. Spencer said...

TZ remade that great episode in which a lady is assaulted (or raped, it's not clear in the original), and she and her husband go looking for the villain.

Finally, she points him out. "There! That's him!" she says. The husband follows him into his hotel room and kills him.

Then, when he goes back to the car and drives away, his wife sees a man on the street and shouts, "There! That's him."

Only then does the husband realize that his wife is insane.

blake said...

George,

Twilight Zone? That sounds more like an Alfred Hitchcock Presents (which was also remade in the '80s, somewhat successfully, with colorized Hitch intros).