Way Out
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Way Out is a 1961 science fiction television anthology series hosted by horror writer Roald Dahl. The 30-minute shows remain disturbingly macabre and are bookended by Dahl's dry delivery of a brief monologue, usually patiently explaining a different (and actually effective) method of murdering a spouse without getting caught to presumably attentive national audiences each week. The shows themselves ranged from a disembodied brain in a jar with a floating eyeball attached to an electric woman with no head. CBS had suddenly needed a replacement series for a short-lived Jackie Gleason talk show that network executives were going to cancel and producer David Susskind contacted Dahl to help mount a show quickly. The series was paired by the network with the similar but less dark and edgy The Twilight Zone for Saturday evening broadcasts, running from March to July 1961. Critical notices at the time were extremely good, especially for Dahl's comedic monologues, but while the show garnered high ratings in urban areas, the series fared poorly in the hinterlands and was canceled after only 14 episodes. The show is believed to have been the last dramatic network television series filmed in New York City, and its entire run is available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York and Los Angeles. As of January 2008, only five episodes have been released on videocassette and none on DVD.
Dahl later hosted a different anthology series called Tales of the Unexpected on British television beginning in 1979.
[edit] Episode list:
Episode 1: William and Mary, 31 March 1961 (written by Roald Dahl)
Episode 2: The Down Car, 7 April 1961
Episode 3: The Sisters, 14 April 1961
Episode 4: Button, Button, 28 April 1961
Episode 5: I Heard You Calling Me, 5 May 1961
Episode 6: The Croaker, 12 May 1961
Episode 7: False Face, 26 May 1961 (written by Larry Cohen)
Episode 8: Dissolve to Black, 2 June 1961
Episode 9: Death Wish, 9 June 1961
Episode 10: The Overnight Case, 16 June 1961
Episode 11: Hush-Hush, 23 June 1961
Episode 12: Side Show, 30 June 1961 (written by Elliott Baker)
Episode 13: Soft Focus, 7 July 1961
Episode 14: 20/20, 14 July 1961
