I've seen references to both Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone, but I can't get the difference between the shows. They seem to be exact duplicates. Both have non-persistent characters navigating a bizarre Sci-Fi universe in the hopes of distilling a virtue in the viewer. Is the only difference name and creator, or is there a real difference?
Having only watched a handful of both episodes, I'm not well-versed in each universe to know the conceptual differences. (Multi-verse).
There is a difference. Having studied these series, I cover three aspects (trying to be as brief as possible). I write with the 1960s versions foremost, including the one-hour TZ (S4).
The difference seems clearest looking at famous TZ episodes: TZ plots are contained, using high-concept to illustrate character. Some are entirely twist-based, such as “Time Enough at Last,” “Third from the Sun” and “The Invaders.” Some lack explanation, such as “Mirror Image” and “Shadow Play”; “It’s a Good Life” is acid satire; “The Masks” and “Kick the Can” are structured for reward and punishment. None of these could be OL, imo, without major revisions.
Ethos: Both shows were conceived and produced by intellectuals, and each has a clear voice, including morally. The answer from Jo452 is generally correct but, for me, a bit overstated. Reviewer Glenn Kenny (TV Guide, June 25 1994):
Even the creepiest T-Zone visions were tempered by Serling's patented brand of liberal humanism, but, generally, no such relief was found in the more paranoid climes of The Outer Limits.
OL is colder, more circumspect (the 1990s version became notorious for dark endings).
Typically, TZ warns of conformity and complacency, OL warns of hubris and conspiracy. With its hard-science focus, OL is less likely to address bigotry. "Nightmare" is a classic exception, although it seems closer to a TZ, as does the relatively sentimental “The Inheritors.”
Accessibility: Both were ambitious, in using: fantastic elements; psychology, philosophy and irony; and (sometimes) ambiguous or downbeat endings. Still, in the early 1960s, TZ was more accessible for American viewers. The shows may seem more similar now than then.
OL was on ABC, a perennial also-ran, and thus could afford to be more experimental (perhaps too much: it was cancelled after two years). TZ was on CBS, the "Tiffany network," and it was the popularizer, and generically diverse. 1990s OL producer Pen Densham (same TV Guide article):
Twilight Zone ... would occasionally go into a more fanciful or surrealistic direction, (but OL) is a pure science-fiction show.
TZ themes were universal. In The Twilight Zone Companion (2nd ed., 1992), Marc Scott Zicree called TZ
possibly (the only) TV series to deal on a regular basis with the theme of alienation.
ABC decreed every OL have a “bear,” meaning a monster or other shock. Per Videohound's Sci-Fi Experience (1997), OL "probably caused more nightmares than any other show."
In character terms: it's been said TZ stories have ordinary people in odd situations, OL is extraordinary people in odd situations. This is paralleled in the narration. For most viewers, the (on-screen) fantastic-anthology hosts were the Other, usually British (Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Karloff), or in Rod Serling's case, Jewish. They represented older cultures, and were guides to the unknown, including the future (e.g., the British being post-imperial). Whereas Serling elegantly introduced the unusual, OL's (unseen) Control Voice seemed to suggest the viewer was unusual.
Influence: TZ's is broader and deeper in both directions. OL stays within s.f./horror; TZ takes in B-movies, fables and parables, and the short story (e.g., "The Lottery," "The Monkey's Paw," O. Henry). TZ featured more prose adaptations (not always remembering credit). OL was more Shakespearean: its protagonists are admirable with a fatal flaw.
In the late 20th century, a disappointing movie with a fantastic premise would be dismissed as "a long Twilight Zone." TZ’s influence can be invisible because vast: it created the audience for Jacob's Ladder, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, The Purge.
Tech noir seems more akin to OL: Alien, Blade Runner, Terminator, Hollow Man, Splice. Joseph Stefano (TV Guide Sept 2, 2000), described his scripts for original OL as
unsuspectingly devising what came to be called Gothic Science Fiction. The sci-fi element gave us monsters, and Gothica provided noirish tales and enigmatic characters
OL used scientific advances to examine morality, as do Contact and the Bourne movies. Alan Moore's Watchmen seemingly lifted a plot element from OL “The Architects of Fear.” James Cameron famously described The Terminator as a ripoff of OL (Harlan Ellison sued and won). TZ is more akin to M. Night Shyamalan, and existential thrillers like Flightplan.
Just like on old time radio, for a while, there were a number of anthology series on TV. (An anthology series does not have a continuing cast and usually every episode is set in its own timeline and story-universe.) On radio, for example, there were anthology shows like "The Whistler," "Inner Sanctum," "Dimension X," "The Witch's Tale," and my favorite, "X Minus 1."
What distinguishes one anthology show from another is the type of stories they tell and the general style and attitude of the series. For example, on radio, "The Whistler" and "Inner Sanctum" tended to deal with mystery and crime. "The Witch's Tale" was more supernatural and the other two were almost all science fiction.
On TV, "The Twilight Zone" dealt with the supernatural, science fiction, horror, psychological drama, and fantasy. It had a broad range of stories and often stories had a moral or there was some social commentary. Out of the five years it was on TV, one year (season 4) had hour long episodes which are rarely seen today and the other four seasons were all half-hour episodes.
"The Outer Limits" was almost always more tightly focused on the science fiction drama and was more about an actual action story than about social commentary.
Both had top science fiction writers of the day (like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison) writing for them.
I mention the radio shows because it helps to understand that up through the 1960s anthology shows were quite common and popular for decades, first on the radio, then on TV. Sometimes it's easier to talk about why shows are similar than why they are different. As many radio shows transitioned to TV, many anthology shows (both dramatic and comedic) showed up on TV. It was often hard to tell an episode of one anthology show from another. As long as the series was entertaining and drew listeners or viewers, it stayed on the air.
Often the focus of the producers was not on, "How are we different?," but on, "How can we get a show done for this week and make sure people like it?"
Twilight Zone was a half-hour show with many episodes adapted from classic sci-fi and horror short stories. Rod Serling being the driving force here.
Outer Limits was an hour-long show which came along a bit later and had a bigger budget, bigger stars, and a stable of writers. I would rate it as "uneven".... Some segments were very good, but many were rather pedestrian.
The original Twilight Zone was a 30 minute show, had a wider variety of subjects, and was more often a strong and clear morality play; the episodes all seemed to meet the Hayes code, as well... Good usually triumphs. Quite often, it's clearly set in an alternate now, instead of a later time.
Outer Limits was an hour, had a more narrowly defined science fiction focus, and often presented a moral quandary rather than a clear moral statement. That is, OL didn't make it clear that the moral message was intended to convince you of its own truth, but instead, to get your thinking. Further, it was more likely than TZ to have the good guys lose. The settings are slightly more often near future rather than now, tho' some are near-now, and a few are alternate history.
The more recent Outer Limits reboot series has season-long metaplots and/or metathemes, as well; the whole season ties together by some common elements.
Well honestly I think it is simple in a grand view, complex in a microcosmic view; but both shows focus on one core theme, humanity. The Twilight Zone(TZ) is a based on a optimistic view of humanity and the state of humnan condition, and on the fantastic, as it relates to modern human society (at the time specifically American); while The Outer Limits(OL) rested primarily, or rather, was grounded in pessimistic view of humanity, and for that matter - the horror, which can lie within. Although both shows included frequent non-human characters, both attempted to demonstrate the very real aspects of human nature, as it is projected through aliens, angels, demons, animals, artificial intelligence, etc. The Twilight Zone featured stories of characters trying, and succeeding despite their limited disposition, knowledge or even moral center. It was, in the TZ, as view of humanity and any humanoid, and human inspired creatures, as being given limitless potential even if liberty and possibility was narrowed, if not captive. However, the OL portrayal of that same limitless potential for humanity was that, humans or even humanoid characters frequently failed by theirs, or the same nature, within their counterparts, in the same story/situation/ episode. Basically in the TZ, "Sky's the limit", in the OL, the "limit is Our sky"; or rather, we're just as likely to doom ourselves, each other and everyone(everything) else, as much as saving all of existence.
I want to try a short answer: Outer Limits was always science fiction and Twilight Zone was either scifi or fantasy. Even when TZ tried a scifi episode, those episodes often bordered on fantasy -- rarely were they "hard" science fiction. There was a time I think when the producers of Outer Limits mandated that each episode had a new "monster" (I think they called it a "bear") but eventually abandoned this.
Details:
I would say that there were a few TZ scifi that could have easily been OL, at least in terms of plot; however, watching a minute or two of the episode often would give you strong indications, based on production values and sets, which it was.
Maybe the difference between a TZ scifi episode and an OL is that for the former, the scifi element was there for the purposes of the story whereas for the latter, the point of the story was the science fiction. So OL worked much harder on the details of the scifi elements than TZ. One good example is that one TZ episode showed one alien species with an extra arm and the other had a third eye -- silliness but that was okay for TZ -- OL would have had a really alien-looking species with an elaborate costume.
I would almost say that the difference between TZ and OL was almost like the difference between Lost in Space and Star Trek although LiS was basically a kids' show while Star Trek was aimed at adults -- both TZ and OL were sometimes too scary and intense for kids.
i have seen both. you know rob Serling does not play in both. the times are different(outer limits 1 hour, twilight zone 30) the Twilight zone had a more complex story. it always made you ask "what happens next" even if you thought you had it right. the outer limits way predictable if you go back and watch the again. the best way to prove this is to chose a ep. that you have not seen. The outer limits had more a a storyline though it would drag its episode out for one hour. now dont get me wrong i like both of them equally its just I would rather watch something that makes me want to watch more of that show and twilight zone got that for me. the outer limits did not.
