The Architects of Fear

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Architects of Fear
Series = The Outer Limits


Caption =
Season = 1
Episode = 3
Airdate = September 30, 1963
Production = 5
Writer = Meyer Dolinsky
Director = Byron Haskin
Photographer = Conrad Hall
Guests = Robert Culp
Leonard Stone
Martin Wolfson
Geraldine Brooks
Episode list = List of "The Outer Limits" episodes
Prev = The Hundred Days of the Dragon
Next = The Man with the Power

"The Architects of Fear" is an episode of the original "The Outer Limits" television show. It first aired on 30 September, 1963, during the first season.

Introduction

Certain that the Cold War will lead to mankind's destruction, a cabal of scientists decide that they must act to save the world.

Opening narration

Plot

Although no specific era is indicated within the story, the plot revolves around a Cold War setting in which a nuclear holocaust appears to be imminent. In an attempt to stave off a confrontation between military superpowers through uniting the world against a common enemy, a group of scientists decide to physically transform one of their own members into an alien being and stage a fake invasion of Earth. This transformation is achieved by genetic alteration of scientist Allen Leighton, using genetic material from a rather small and non-threatening alien lifeform which the scientists have in their possession. Complications arise when the physical alteration also affects Leighton's mind, and is compounded by his strong attachment to his expectant wife.

Closing narration

Legacy

* This episode is similar to the ending of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic book mini-series, "Watchmen". According to Moore, while he was around issue 10, he came across a guide to cult television that featured this episode and was surprised by its similarity to his already planned ending. A belated nod to "The Architects of Fear" is made near the end of "Watchmen". [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120854_3,00.html]
* Theodore Sturgeon's story "Unite and Conquer," published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1948, turns on a similar gag, humans uniting against a fake alien threat.
* The "bear" in this episode, the monstrously-altered Leighton, was judged by some local stations to be so frightening that the creature's eyes were obscured on some prints at the time of broadcast.
* The Showtime series Outer Limits revisited this episode with Afterlife, using a more alien approach to the main character, played this time by Clancy Brown. The ending in this case saw the aliens coming to retrieve their new 'brother'.
* According to "Newsweek", at the 1986 Reykjavik Summit, President Ronald Reagan allegedly assured Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that, if aliens invaded Earth, the U.S. and Soviet Union would make common cause to defend humanity.

Film Adaptation

* According to film-maker Kevin Smith (detailing the story on his college-tour DVD, "An Evening with Kevin Smith"), during the mid-1990s, Warner Bros. had briefly flirted with the idea of resurrecting "The Outer Limits" as an anthology film series, just as Universal Pictures attempted to do with the "Tales from the Crypt" spin-off, "Demon Knight". In 1996, Smith was brought in to the Warner Bros. offices and offered the chance to rewrite a tentative script for the first "Outer Limits" movie: "The Architects of Fear". He declined, but the meeting led to his involvement on the defunct film "Superman Lives".

Cast

* Robert Culp – as Allen Leighton
* Leonard Stone – as Dr. Phillip Gainer
* Geraldine Brooks – as Yvette Leighton
* Martin Wolfson – as Dr. Herschel
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0376415/ Douglas Henderson] – as Dr. Paul Fredericks
* Janos Prohaska – as Allen-as-Thetan
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956634/ Lee Zimmer] – as Carl Ford
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0849623/ Clay Tanner] – as Fred
* Hal Bokar – as Bert Bolsey
* William Bush – as Tom

External links

*
* MovieMorlocks.com: Movie Blog, [http://moviemorlocks.com/2007/03/13/remembering-janos-prohaska/ Remembering Janos Prohaska]
* David J. Schow website, [http://www.davidjschow.com/limits/front.html The Outer Limits]