The Outer Limits (1995)

After an attempt to bring back The Outer Limits during the early eighties, it was finally relaunched in 1995. The success of television science fiction such as Star Trek sequels, The X Files, and anthology shows such as Tales from the Crypt convinced the rights-holders, MGM, to revive it. A deal was made with Trilogy Productions, the company behind such cinema hits as Backdraft and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and the show would run on the pay-tv channel Showtime. The episodes appeared in syndication the following season (the same arrangement as MGM/Showtime series Stargate SG-1 and Poltergeist: The Legacy). It continued on Showtime until 2001, when the U.S. Sci Fi channel quietly took over production. It remained in production until 2002 before finally being cancelled, after a total of 154 episodes — far more than the original incarnation of the show. In the revived show, the Control Voice was supplied by Kevin Conway. The new series distanced itself from the "monster of the week" mandate that had characterized the original series from its inception; while there were plenty of aliens and monsters, they dramatize a specific scientific concept and its effect on humanity. Some episodes illustrating this difference include "Dark Rain" (biochemical warfare causes world-wide sterility), "Final Exam" (discovery of practical cold fusion power), "A Stitch in Time" (a time traveler tinkers with history), as well as several episodes revolving around a human mutation known as Genetic Rejection Syndrome (humans mutating into violent creatures) as a result of a government experiment.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Stories by Harlan Ellison, A.E. van Vogt, Eando Binder, Larry Niven, Richard Matheson, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, and James Patrick Kelly were adapted with varying degrees of success, and some of the original series' episodes were remade as well. The revived series contained more violent and sexual content (including occasional female nudity in the Showtime episodes, though this was edited out for syndication in some markets, but kept in others) than the original, including open-ended storylines. Leslie Stevens was a program consultant for the first season while Joseph Stefano was an executive consultant. Stefano also remade his episode "A Feasibility Study" and retitled it "Feasibility Study" for the third season. He later served as a senior advisor on the episode "Down to Earth" during the sixth season. Mark Mancina and John Van Tongeren composed new music different from that of Dominic Frontiere and Harry Lubin. They also scored ten episodes for the first season.

In every season there is a clip show that connects the plots of several of the show's episodes (see "The Voice of Reason" for an example). At each commercial interval, the Control Voice can be heard saying "The Outer Limits...please stand by". The voice also repeats this phrase upon return from the television ads. The series is now aired in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel.

The surreal images from the opening are mostly the work of Jerry Uelsmann.

The theme for the "Modern" Outer Limits series is credited to Mark Mancina and John VanTongeren. However, the same music is used in the Westwood Studios' video game Dune 2000.