The revived interest in science fiction on television in the late 80's and early 90's via shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, & The X-Files prompted MGM, which had absorbed United Artists, to revive The Outer Limits, 30 years after the original series had ended.
Of course, there were changes. For one, the show would be in full color. Two, the series would air on pay cable's Showtime, allowing for the loss of inhibitions, meaning there would be plenty of coarse language and nudity.
At the end, the revival outlasted the original, running for seven seasons in all. As part of the deal, MGM would also distribute an edited, sanitized version for syndication, which is how I managed to catch up to the show. After six seasons, Outer Limits, along with stablemates Poltergeist: The Legacy & Stargate SG-1, left Showtime for Sci-Fi (now SyFy), which moved the rating from TV-14 to TV-PG. The nudity was gone, and the language was toned down. Unfortunately, the change in networks doomed the series.
There was at least one remake from the original, the episode "I, Robot". The common link between the two episodes was sci-fi icon Leonard Nimoy, whose son, Adam, directed the remake, while his father played a different character in the 90's version than in the original. Neither version, however, was directly linked to Isaac Asimov's classic novel.
Other notable guest stars included Josh Brolin, Marlee Matlin, Roddy Piper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Arnold, and Ralph Waite.
Following is a sample season 7 episode:
Rating: B.
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