The Outer Limits poster

TV series

The Outer Limits

1995TV-MA7 seasons7.7 / 10

Anthology series composed of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end, with occasional recurring story elements that were often tied together during season-finale clip shows.

Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Jul 22, 2026

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Synopsis

Anthology series composed of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end, with occasional recurring story elements that were often tied together during season-finale clip shows.

Season 5 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

← Season 4

Episode 1

Alien Radio

45m4.0 / 10

Stan Harbinger (Joe Pantoliano) is a top-rated talk show host with a flair for the outrageous and a reputation as a skeptic's skeptic. Assisted by his producer Trudy (Cynthia Nixon), Stan takes special delight in shooting down callers who claim to have alien encounters, especially people like Eldon DeVries (Alan Zinyk), who believes his body has been taken over by aliens. However, when Eldon commits suicide by setting himself on fire in front of Stan, things begin to go wrong for Stan. A plan to syndicate the show is threatened by protests from UFO believers, angry at Stan's role in Eldon's death.

Episode credits

Directed by Neill FearnleyWritten by A L KatzGuest stars Joe Pantoliano, Leslie Hope, Malcolm Stewart, Alex Diakun, Barry W. Levy, Eric Keenleyside, Cynthia Nixon, Daryl Shuttleworth

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Episode 2

Donor

45m7.3 / 10

Dr. Renee Stuyvesant and her protege Dr. Vance Ridout have perfected the full-body transplant in which a patient's entire disease-riddled body is replaced and Renee has convinced the hospital board to allow her to perform the first such procedure on Dr. Peter Halstead.

Episode credits

Directed by Jimmy KaufmanWritten by Sam EganGuest stars Robert Hays, Wendel Meldrum, Tom Cavanagh, Lorraine Landry, Chantal Conlin, Rice Honeywell, BJ Harrison, Kimberly Unger

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Episode 3

Small Friends

45m6.0 / 10

When he was young, Gene Morton killed a man who tried to steal the credit for his brilliant research. Now working on a prison assembly line fixing the busted tape decks of fellow inmates, his chances at parole have been sabotaged by his own honesty and sense of guilt. Although it's a lonely life, late at night, after lights-out, Gene brings out his small friends, a swarm of microscopic machines that he made from prison scrap and keeps in a matchbox.

Episode credits

Directed by Neill FearnleyWritten by Tom SzollosiGuest stars Ralph Waite, Tim Progosh, Richard Yearwood, Roddy Piper, Benz Antoine, Ingrid Torrance, Andrew Johnston, Joel Palmer

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Episode 4

The Grell

45m6.5 / 10

The Grells were rescued from their dry and dying planet by humans, only to be turned into slaves on earth. Now the aliens are rebelling against their masters, fighting a guerilla war against a government lead by men like High Secretary Paul Kohler (Ted Shackleford).

Episode credits

Directed by Jorge MontesiWritten by Jeff F. KingGuest stars Ted Shackelford, Maurice Dean Wint, Britt McKillip, Blair Slater, Roger Cross, Marina Sirtis, David McNally, Jane Spence

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Episode 5

The Other Side

45m6.5 / 10

Dr. Neal Eberhardt (Ralph Macchio), a former boy genius gone bitterly toseed, studies brain-damaged and comatose patients hoping to learn how the brain reroutes itself. Despite having a revolutionary new machine to work with - the Neural Intercortex Stimulation Array or NISA - Dr.Eberhardt is getting nowhere. To make matters worse, his valued assistant Vince Carter has just quit. But suddenly, Neal has a breakthrough.

Episode credits

Directed by Jeff WoolnoughGuest stars Ralph Macchio, Susannah Hoffmann, Aaron Smolinski, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Alec Willows, Anthony Ulc, Michael Sarrazin, Trevor White

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Episode 6

Joyride

45m6.0 / 10

Theodore Harris (Cliff Robertson) first time in space, in 1963, didn't go quite as planned. Alone in his Mercury capsule, he panicked and aborted the mission when a mysterious violet light penetrated the cockpit and began to envelop his body. In the investigation that followed, no evidence could be found to support his story, leaving a blot on Harris NASA record and his life in ruins. Now at age 63, he knows he can never make amends with his estranged wife Madelaine (Pamela Parry), but he feels that he could clear his name if he could just get back to where he saw the light.

Episode credits

Directed by James HeadWritten by Dan Wright, Sam Egan, David AlexanderGuest stars Barry Corbin, Mackenzie Gray, Andrea Martin, Cliff Robertson, Erin Daniels, Adam J. Harrington, Peter Bryant, Scott Hylands

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Episode 7

The Human Operators

45m5.7 / 10

For as long as Man (Jack Noseworthy) can remember, he has lived aboard Ship as it floats through space. And for just as long, Ship has been his master, instructing him to do the repairs that keep Ship working and torturing him whenever he shows any signs of free will. But when Ship orders him to repair the Artificial Intelligence module Man's Father (Noah Heney) smashed years earlier in a final, fatal act of defiance, Man learns Ship's secrets...

Episode credits

Directed by Jeff WoolnoughWritten by Naren ShankarGuest stars Malcolm McDowell, Jack Noseworthy, Polly Shannon, Noah Heney, David A. Kaye

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Episode 8

Blank Slate

45m4.2 / 10

Hope Wilson (Robbie Chong) knows there's something different about the bruised and breathless man who stumbles into the homeless shelter she runs with her mentor, Jack Parsons (Larry Musser). He looks like a junkie, but his hands are soft and his fingernails manicured. Tom Cooper (Dale Midkiff) doesn't know who he is, where he is and why two well-dressed men, Vincent (Michael Tiernan) and Cole (Brian Jensen), are chasing him. He only knows that the small metal case that he defends so fiercely contains five vials that hold all his memories, reduced to crystal form, as well as a specially designed injector that can delete or restore those memories.

Episode credits

Directed by Lou Diamond PhillipsGuest stars David Palffy, Robbi Chong, Dale Midkiff, Larry Musser, Brian Jensen, Michael Tiernan, Dean Mckenzie, Carmen Aguirre

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Episode 9

What Will the Neighbors Think?

44m7.3 / 10

Mona Bailey (Jane Adams) lives with her husband Ned (Peter Outerbridge) in the Clackson Arms, an old apartment building that is being taken over, apartment by apartment, by a mysterious developer called KM Inc. Mona is a hypochondriac, an able-bodied woman who rides a wheelchair, who treats the Physician's Desk Reference like a personal bible and who has not left the building in six months for fear of catching a disease. One day she backs her wheelchair into an electrical box and gets a shock, leaving her hearing strange voices and seeing bodies dropping out of windows...

Episode credits

Directed by Helen ShaverWritten by A L KatzGuest stars Jane Adams, Jill Teed, Tabitha St. Germain, Brent Stait, Peter Outerbridge, April Telek, Bruce Harwood, Sheila Paterson

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Episode 10

The Shroud

45m5.5 / 10

When Marie Wells (Samantha Mathis) and her husband Justin (Robert Wisden) can't have a child on their own, they turn to the fertility clinic at the Tilford Institute for help. There, Dr. Gail Cowlings (Sara Botsford) uses in-vitro fertilization to implant an embryo in Marie's uterus. What Marie doesn't know, but Justin does, is that the embryo was actually created from DNA lifted from the Shroud of Turin...

Episode credits

Directed by Stuart GillardWritten by Scott PetersGuest stars David Ogden Stiers, Robert Wisden, Sara Botsford, Samantha Mathis, Nathaniel DeVeaux, John Innes, Jennifer Sterling, Ben Eberhard

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Episode 11

Ripper

45m6.3 / 10

In Victorian London, someone is killing prostitutes, someone the police have dubbed "Jack the Ripper." On the face of it, John C.V. York (Cary Elwes) is a likely suspect. A once-respected doctor who sunk to absinthe and laudanum addiction after his misdiagnosis killed the young daughter of a Duke. He retains a connection to polite society thanks to the devotion of Lady Ellen Chamberlain (Clare Sims), who loves him and hopes to marry him. But, he is also a habitue of the seedy district where the killings have taken place and has the medical knowledge to make the precise, surgical cuts that are the Ripper's modus operandi...

Episode credits

Directed by Mario AzzopardiWritten by Chris RuppenthalGuest stars Frances Fisher, Cary Elwes, France Nuyen, Clare Sims, Eliza Norbury, Robert Saunders, David Warner, Deni DeLory

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Episode 12

Tribunal

45m7.6 / 10

In 1944, young Leon Zgierski (Roman Danylo), an inmate in the Birkenau concentration camp watches as First Lieutenant Karl Rademacher shoots his wife and sends his daughter to the gas chambers. The murder is witnessed by a mysterious figure, time-traveler Nicholas Prentice (Alex Daikun), who grabs Radermacher's SS jacket and, after eluding guards, pulls out an antique watch and vanishes into a glowing orange circle...

Episode credits

Directed by Mario AzzopardiWritten by Sam EganGuest stars Jan Rubeš, Roman Danylo, Alex Zahara, Kyra Azzopardi, Lindsay Crouse, Peter Boretski, Holly Ferguson, Saul Rubinek

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Episode 13

Summit

45m6.5 / 10

Deep space. A small planetoid. The sight of an intergalactic summit between two warring worlds. Diplomats from both Earth and Dregocia, a distant planet, are dispatched to the neutral ground to work out a peace accord.

Episode credits

Directed by James HeadWritten by Scott PetersGuest stars Marcia Cross, Michael Ironside, John Spencer, Kevin Conway, Andrew Airlie, Jonathan Walker, Eric Schneider, Dave Adams

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Episode 14

Descent

45m6.5 / 10

Dr. Arthur Zeller is the doormat of the anthropology department, a mild-mannered professor who is the butt of his colleague's jokes and who never gets the respect he deserves. After the department head, Prof. Martin Stansfield passes over his cutting-edge research into evolutionary psychology and funds the project of his rival, Dr. James Feind, Zeller takes matters into his own hands.

Episode credits

Directed by Steve AnkerWritten by Erik SaltzgaberGuest stars Leland Orser, Jenny Cooper, Benita Ha, Robyn Driscoll, Greg Thirloway, John Novak, Frank C. Turner, John 'Bear' Curtis

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Episode 15

The Haven

45m5.5 / 10

Caleb Vance lives on the 52nd floor of The Haven, a high-tech marvel of an apartment building that is driven by a supercomputer named Argus and filled with machines and appliances that respond to the orders of The Haven's residents. The building's design almost completely eliminates the need for human contact, a desirable feature in an age in which all communication is mediated by one form of technology or another and a strong selling point for the residents of The Haven. But things begin to go wrong...

Episode credits

Directed by Jimmy KaufmanWritten by James CrockerGuest stars Kim Hawthorne, Chris Eigeman, Torri Higginson, Jody Racicot, Brenda McDonald, Gerard Plunkett, Madeline Elder

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Episode 16

Déjà Vu

45m6.7 / 10

Dr. Mark Crest (Kevin Nealon) has built a teleportation device that uses tactical nuclear weapons to open a wormhole in the space-time continuum. The device is intended to transport some animals eight miles across the desert, but during a test, the wormhole grows out of control and Mark finds himself hurled back in time, to the day before the test took place.

Episode credits

Written by Naren Shankar, A L KatzGuest stars Kevin Nealon, David James Lewis, Ronny Cox, Terri Hawkes, Jennifer Copping, Dean Marshall, Angela Moore

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Episode 17

The Inheritors

45m5.5 / 10

Musician Jacob Hardy (Nicholas Lea) is strolling with his fiancee Kara Delaney (Stacy Grant) when a meteor explodes over the city. One of the tiny fireballs which rain down seems to chase Jacob, striking him down and penetrating his skull, instantly killing him. Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Michaels (Tom Irwin) conducts the autopsy with the help of his assistant, Ollie Gibb (Don MacKay). He finds an unusual bullet-like projectile lodged in the victim's brain.

Episode credits

Directed by Mike RohlWritten by Sam EganGuest stars Nicholas Lea, Bill Smitrovich, Tom Irwin, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Rachel Victoria, Stacy Grant, Don MacKay, Michael Kopsa

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Episode 18

Essence of Life

45m6.0 / 10

Eleven years after a viral epidemic wiped out most of the world's people, the population is beginning to rebound. The world is ruled by The Code, which bans outward displays of emotion, particularly the mourning of lost loved ones.

Episode credits

Directed by Brad TurnerWritten by Scott PetersGuest stars Joel Grey, Daphne Zuniga, Daniel Baldwin, Jessica Steen, Robert Moloney, Doris Chillcott, Ron Halder, John Moore

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Episode 19

Stranded

45m6.5 / 10

Thirteen-year-old Kevin Buchannon (Adam Hann-Byrd) lives at the bottom of the high-school food chain, scorned by other geeks, picked on by the jocks. At home, he lives in the shadow of his older brother Josh, a football star whose every accomplishment is celebrated by the boys' father, Alex (Daniel Hugh Kelly). Then one day, Kevin sees a plane crash in the woods near his house. He rushes to the scene with his dog Cody to find a mysterious ship occupied by the severely injured Captain Turner (Chris Potter).

Episode credits

Directed by Steve AnkerWritten by Tom Szollosi, Chris Ruppenthal, Naren ShankarGuest stars Adam Hann-Byrd, Daniella Evangelista, Chris Potter, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Lynda Boyd, Myles Ferguson, David Kopp, Will Sanderson

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Episode 20

Fathers & Sons

45m5.7 / 10

From the outside, the Golden Sunset looks like any other rest home, but Dr. Benton Adler's facility is different in a few unsettling ways. The residents seem to develop Alzheimer's almost overnight and after they do, they live - or are stored - in tiny chambers in a human warehouse.

Episode credits

Directed by Brad TurnerWritten by A L KatzGuest stars Peter Williams, Eugene Byrd, Bob Morrisey, Anthony Sherwood, Julie Patzwald, Lesley Ewen, Bill Cobbs, Eleana Johnson

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Episode 21

Starcrossed

45m4.7 / 10

It is 2056, six years after the Hing, a humanoid race, invaded Earth. While America fights on, Russia has reached an uneasy truce with the aliens, leaving some regions under their control and others declared neutral. In the neutral city of Archangel on the Barents Sea, cynical American expatriate Michael Ryan (Nathan Fillion) runs Heaven, a small coffee bar and music club, where shady Russians mingle with Hing soldiers and other dubious characters.

Episode credits

Directed by Helen ShaverWritten by Chris RuppenthalGuest stars Nathan Fillion, Angeline Ball, Derek de Lint, Louis Ferreira, Robbi Chong, Natasha Vasiluk, Zoran Vukelic, Jim Shield

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Episode 22

Better Luck Next Time

45m5.5 / 10finale

In a warehouse, two men are fighting for possession of a gun. During the struggle, they mention various connections to earlier struggles between them. One of the men is finally able to get the gun, declaring himself the winner, and then promptly shoots himself. While he is dying, a blue energy being comes out of his chest. Before the surviving man can escape, the police show up and arrest him.

Episode credits

Directed by Martin CumminsWritten by Naren ShankarGuest stars William McNamara, Martin Cummins, Michael Riley, Megan Gallagher, Nicholas Campbell, Gillian Barber, Benz Antoine

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Episode information updated Jul 23, 2026

More about The Outer Limits

Cast

Amanda PlummerDr. Theresa Givens
Bruce HarwoodDr. Norris
Barry W. LevyJules Mason
Robert LewisGould
Scott SwansonKyle Haller
Joanna PirosNews Anchor
Tom HeatonJim
William deVryBen

Credits

Created by
Leslie Stevens

Production details

Status
Ended
Series type
Scripted
Episodes
153
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • ShowtimeUnited States
  • SyfyUnited States
  • Alliance AtlantisCanada
  • Atlantis FilmsCanada
  • Showtime NetworksUnited States
  • Trilogy Entertainment GroupUnited States

Themes

anthologyhorror anthologymysterious forcetime travel