The Galaxy Being

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“The Galaxy Being”
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 1
Written by Leslie Stevens
Directed by Leslie Stevens
Guest stars Lee Phillips
Jacqueline Scott
Cliff Robertson
Photographed by John M. Nickolaus
Production no. 1
Original airdate September 16, 1963
Episode chronology
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– "The Hundred Days of the Dragon"
List of The Outer Limits episodes

"The Galaxy Being" is the first episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 16 September 1963.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

Allan Maxwell, an engineer for a small radio station, somehow makes contact with an alien creature.

[edit] Opening narration

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!

Alternate version: (...) You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to outer space... please stand by.

[edit] Plot

The engineer of radio station KXKVI (sic), who is researching microwave background noise, inadvertently gets an alien from the Andromeda Galaxy on his three-dimensional television screen. Both are conducting illicit experiments; the human being should not be using the radio station's power, and the alien is forbidden to contact Earth "because you are danger to other galaxies." Despite warnings from the alien about applying excessive power to the communication, an undisciplined disc jockey turns it up whilst the engineer is being feted at a banquet. The power surge causes the microwave creature to be pulled through the communications apparatus and to appear on Earth. Although it has no desire to cause harm, its unearthly composition wreaks havoc by radiation, electrical blackouts, atmospheric disturbances, and overloaded-circuit explosions. While authorities quickly mobilize to attack the "hostile" alien, the engineer desperately tries to find a way to get it back to its home planet.

[edit] Closing narration

The planet Earth is a speck of dust, remote and alone in the void. There are powers in the universe inscrutable and profound. Fear cannot save us. Rage cannot help us. We must see the stranger in a new light- the light of understanding. And to achieve this, we must begin to understand ourselves, and each other.

[edit] Control Voice's Sign-off

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

Alternate version: We now return control of your television set to you, until next week, at the same time when the Control Voice takes over... until then... please stand by .

[edit] Appearance of the alien

The alien is, like many of the later aliens encountered in the series, played by a man in a rubber suit. However, to give it a more outlandish appearance the suit is rendered as a negative image. It is also notable that the alien is only ever seen from the waist up, presumably because only the upper part of the suit was made.

[edit] Cast

  • Cliff Robertson – as Allan Maxwell
  • Jacqueline Scott – as Carol Maxwell
  • Lee Phillips – as Gene Maxwell
  • Bert Metcalfe – as Eddie Phillips
  • Allyson Ames – as Loreen
  • James Frawley – as Trooper
  • Bill Catching – as National Guard Major
  • Allan Pinson – as Policeman
  • Roy Sickner – as Collins
  • Charles MacQuarry – as Being #2

[edit] External links