Alcoa_Presents:_One_Step_Beyond
Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond
American TV anthology series
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (also known as One Step Beyond) is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series was broadcast for three seasons by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from January 1959 to July 1961.
| Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | One Step Beyond |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Created by | Merwin Gerard |
| Directed by | John Newland |
| Presented by | John Newland |
| Theme music composer | Harry Lubin |
| Opening theme | "Fear" |
| Composer | Harry Lubin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 97 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Collier Young |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | ABC Films Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) – July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04) |
Created by Merwin Gerard and produced by Collier Young, One Step Beyond was hosted by John Newland, "your guide to the supernatural" (also credited as "Our guide into the world of the unknown"). Newland, who also directed every episode, presented tales that explored paranormal events and various situations that defied "logical" explanation. One Step Beyond purported only to tell stories based on "human record" (documented historical events).
Unlike other anthology programs, the ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward 30-minute docudramas, all said to be based on "human record" (implying historically factual events); however, the incidents depicted were closer to popular urban legends dramatized for the screen. The program included the corporate name of sponsor Alcoa in its title for its initial run. In syndication, the program title became simply One Step Beyond.[1]
One Step Beyond filled the time slot at 10 p.m. Tuesday vacated by the crime/police reality show Confession.
Among its varied tales, One Step Beyond dealt with premonition of death ("The Day the World Wept: The Lincoln Story") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Round", "The Death Waltz"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("Reunion"). Paula Raymond appeared in the third episode of the first season, initially broadcast on February 3, 1959, in the episode titled "Emergency Only," which also featured Jocelyn Brando as a screaming fortune teller at a party. Joan Fontaine and Warren Beatty play husband and wife in the episode "The Visitor."
"The Sacred Mushroom"
A January 1961 episode, "The Sacred Mushroom," deals with the discovery of mind-altering drugs. Newland traveled to Mexico where he met with a local shaman who was an initiate in ritual use of magic mushrooms. The then-unknown mushrooms were purportedly able to increase the user's psychic powers. Newland ingested several mushrooms and allowed his reactions to be filmed for broadcast. This was the only episode of the entire series to have a relatively reality-based "documentary" tone, rather than the scripted docudramas that comprised all other episodes. Although the subject matter (the enhancement of psychic powers) accorded with the rest of the series, this episode was somewhat controversial and was omitted from the syndication; it has been seen only rarely since its original broadcast. However, according to Newland, it was the most popular episode of the series.[2][3] A complete transcript of this episode is reproduced in chapter seven of The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico by Brian Akers.
Writing staff
The show used a large number of writers. Larry Marcus was the most prolific contributor, with over 30 episodes to his credit. Marcus would later win an Emmy for his work on Route 66, and receive an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for The Stunt Man.
Other relatively frequent contributors included show creator Merwin Gerard; Don M. Mankiewicz (who would later write for Star Trek); Gabrielle Upton (who wrote for a wide range of anthology shows, including The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and was later head writer of The Guiding Light); and Howard Rodman (later story editor of Route 66 and creator of Harry O).
Charles Beaumont wrote two episodes of One Step Beyond just before jumping over to The Twilight Zone, to which he was a major contributor. Francis Cockrell also wrote two episodes; he was a frequent writer on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and would later contribute to the second season of The Outer Limits.
Guest appearances
- Luana Anders in "The Burning Girl"
- Tod Andrews in "Brainwave"
- John Beal in "The Lovers"
- Warren Beatty and Joan Fontaine together in "The Visitor"
- Edward Binns in "Vanishing Point"
- Whit Bissell in "Brainwave"
- Robert Blake in "Gypsy"
- Charles Bronson in "The Last Round"
- Alfred Burke in "The Sorcerer"
- Walter Burke in "The Front Runner"
- Paul Carr in "Reunion"
- Veronica Cartwright in "The Haunting"
- Don Dubbins in "The Navigator" 1st Mate
- Louise Fletcher in "The Open Window"
- Byron Foulger in "Hong Kong Passage"
- Arthur Franz in "The Call from Tomorrow"
- Skip Homeier in "The Bride Possessed"
- Ronald Howard in "The Haunting"
- Werner Klemperer in "The Haunted U-Boat"
- Robert Lansing in "The Voice"
- Wesley Lau in "The Haunted U-BOat" in "The Mask"
- Cloris Leachman and Marcel Dalio together in "The Dark Room"
- Christopher Lee in "The Sorcerer"
- Robert Loggia in "The Hand"
- Jack Lord in "Father Image"
- Patrick Macnee in "The Night of April 14th"
- John Marley in "The Night of the Kill"
- Ross Martin in "Echo"
- Patty McCormack in "Make Me Not a Witch"
- Ann McCrea in "Night of the Kill"
- Yvette Mimieux in "The Clown"
- Elizabeth Montgomery in "The Death Waltz"
- André Morell in "The Avengers"
- Patrick O'Neal in "The Return of Mitchell Campion"
- Maria Palmer in "The Secret"
- Edward Platt in "The Burning Girl"
- Donald Pleasence in "The Confession"
- Suzanne Pleshette in "Delusion"
- Paula Raymond in "Emergency Only"
- Pernell Roberts in "The Vision"
- Albert Salmi in "The Peter Hurkos Story" Part I & Part II
- William Schallert in "Tidal Wave" and "Epilogue"
- William Shatner in "The Promise"
- Olan Soule in "The Navigator" Stowaway/Deadman
- Warren Stevens in "The Riddle"
- Torin Thatcher in "Doomsday"
- Harry Townes in "The Bride Possessed"
- Yvette Vickers and Mike Connors together in "The Aerialist"
- Robert Webber in "The Captain and His Guests"
- Peter Wyngarde in "Nightmare..."
The last 13 episodes of the third season were filmed at MGM Studios, Borehamwood, England, due to a suggestion by Newland. According to Newland, "I thought it would give a little boost to the show because Great Britain offered good actors, good situations, and good settings. We sought permission from Alcoa, and they okayed it."[4]
Music
Harry Lubin composed the music for the series with a soundtrack album, Music from 'One Step Beyond' released by Decca Records (DL 8970) in 1960. The most well-known tracks of the series were entitled: "Weird" (originally composed by Lubin for the score of an April 1955 Loretta Young Show episode, "Feeling No Pain"), usually played when the supernatural aspect of the episode was being discussed, and "Fear" that became the musical theme of the series.
The Ventures included a cover version of the show's main theme music "Fear" in their highly acclaimed 1964 Dolton Records album The Ventures in Space. The second season of The Outer Limits used a variation of "Fear" for the end titles. A heavy metal cover of the title song was recorded by the band Fantômas on their album The Director's Cut in 2001.
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 22 | January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) | June 16, 1959 (1959-06-16) | |
| 2 | 39 | September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15) | June 21, 1960 (1960-06-21) | |
| 3 | 36 | August 30, 1960 (1960-08-30) | July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04) | |
Season 1 (1959)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Bride Possessed" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) | |
| On her honeymoon a bride (Virginia Leith) is possessed by a murdered woman, who reveals her murderer and the murder weapon. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Night of April 14th" | John Newland | Collier Young / Larry Marcus | January 27, 1959 (1959-01-27) | |
| A woman (Barbara Lord) has a recurring nightmare of drowning in cold, dark water. The next day her fiancé (Patrick Macnee) announces that the couple will honeymoon aboard the RMS Titanic. Other premonitions of that disaster are also revealed. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Emergency Only" | John Newland | Collier Young | February 3, 1959 (1959-02-03) | |
| In a hypnotic trance at a cocktail party, Ellen Larrabee (Jocelyn Brando) predicts a dangerous train trip for a skeptical witness, thereby preventing a collision. With Paula Raymond. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Dark Room" | John Newland | Francis Cockrell | February 10, 1959 (1959-02-10) | |
| A photographer (Cloris Leachman) on assignment in the south of France is almost strangled by one of her subjects (Marcel Dalio), who turns out to be the ghost of a murderer. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Twelve Hours to Live" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | October 30, 1959 (1959-10-30) | |
| After an argument with his wife (Jean Allison), a man drives away in a storm and suffers a car accident. She suddenly feels that his life is in danger. The telepathic clues she receives from him, and her determination, result in his rescue. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Epilogue" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | February 24, 1959 (1959-02-24) | |
| Carl Archer (Charles Aidman), a recovering alcoholic travels to Nevada to reconcile with his wife, Helen (Julie Adams). She and son Stevie visit a nearby silver mine when the mine collapses. Helen dies and her ghost leads Carl and others to rescue Stevie. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Dream" | John Newland | John Dunkel | March 3, 1959 (1959-03-03) | |
| In World War II, Herbert Blakely (Reginald Owen), on night lookout near a coastal British town, dreams about bombs falling on his wife, and she dreams of German commandos attacking his outpost. They both awaken in time to be saved as the double dream proves true. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Premonition" | John Newland | Paul David | March 10, 1959 (1959-03-10) | |
| Lisa Garrick has everything including a premonition of her own death. Skip Young of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet guest features as Martin. Beverly Washburn is young Lisa. Pamela Lincoln is older Lisa. With Julie Payne (actress, born 1940). | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Dead Part of the House" | John Newland | Michael Plant | March 17, 1959 (1959-03-17) | |
| After the death of her mother, a haunted nursery and three dolls help a young girl reconcile with her dad. With Joanne Linville. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Vision" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | March 24, 1959 (1959-03-24) | |
| French troops stop fighting and desert their trenches during World War I. | ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "The Devil's Laughter" | John Newland | Alfred Brenner | March 31, 1959 (1959-03-31) | |
| In late 19th century London, prison authorities are having trouble with convicted killer John Marriott: they cannot seem to execute him. | ||||||
| 12 | 12 | "The Return of Mitchell Campion" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | April 7, 1959 (1959-04-07) | |
| A man (Patrick O'Neal) is known by everyone on a small Mediterranean island that he has never visited. Soon he, too, remembers being there before, but he was in the hospital at the time of the supposed visit. With Lilyan Chauvin. | ||||||
| 13 | 13 | "The Navigator" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | April 14, 1959 (1959-04-14) | |
| A stowaway sends a ship off course. Because of the ships' altered position, it is able to save some of the crew of a sunken vessel. It later transpires that the stowaway was on the sunken vessel and died shortly after it sank. | ||||||
| 14 | 14 | "The Secret" | John Newland | Michael Plant | April 21, 1959 (1959-04-21) | |
| An unhappy woman (Maria Palmer) is befriended by a man who lived and died long before she was born. | ||||||
| 15 | 15 | "The Aerialist" | John Newland | Jack Mills / Larry Marcus | April 28, 1959 (1959-04-28) | |
| A distraught and depressed circus performer (Mike Connors) is protected from a fall by an unlikely savior. With Yvette Vickers. | ||||||
| 16 | 16 | "The Burning Girl" | John Newland | Catherine Turney | May 5, 1959 (1959-05-05) | |
| Wherever teenager Alice Denning (Luana Anders) goes, fires start. With Sandra Knight and Olive Deering. | ||||||
| 17 | 17 | "The Haunted U-Boat" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | May 12, 1959 (1959-05-12) | |
| While transporting a Nazi official (Werner Klemperer), a German U-boat captained by (Wesley Lau), attempts to evade detection from the sonar of the American and British ships. But their location is repeatedly betrayed by the noise of a rhythmic banging sound coming from the submarine. | ||||||
| 18 | 18 | "The Image of Death" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | May 19, 1959 (1959-05-19) | |
| A French nobleman kills his wife but he cannot get rid of her ghost, who is haunting his new marriage. Starring Max Adrian and Doris Dowling. | ||||||
| 19 | 19 | "The Captain's Guests" | John Newland | Charles Beaumont | May 26, 1959 (1959-05-26) | |
| A married couple (Nancy Hadley and Robert Webber) from New York rent an old house along the New England coast that the locals consider to be a very unhappy place. | ||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Echo" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | June 2, 1959 (1959-06-02) | |
| A man (Ross Martin) is found innocent of his wife's murder. Her brother arrives from New Zealand and precipitates the real culprit's capture. | ||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Front Runner" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | June 9, 1959 (1959-06-09) | |
| With the death of his rival (Walter Burke) during a race, a jockey is stricken with an unknown ailment as revenge acts from beyond the grave. | ||||||
| 22 | 22 | "The Riddle" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | June 16, 1959 (1959-06-16) | |
| An irrational hatred in an American tourist on the Bombay-Calcutta Mail Railroad train is considered in terms of metempsychosis -- the transmigration of souls. Starring Warren Stevens and Bethel Leslie. | ||||||
Season 2 (1959–60)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Delusion" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15) | |
| A man with a rare blood type (Norman Lloyd) has a psychic connection with people that he gives blood transfusions to. Having a vision of the murder of a woman he gave blood to (Suzanne Pleshette), he tries to prevent it. | ||||||
| 24 | 2 | "Ordeal on Locust Street" | John Newland | Michael Plant | September 22, 1959 (1959-09-22) | |
| A woman enlists the aid of a hypnotist in order to cure her deformed son. | ||||||
| 25 | 3 | "Brainwave" | John Newland | Charles Beaumont and Larry Marcus | October 6, 1959 (1959-10-06) | |
| A ship's medic, haunted by his brother's death, must save the captain's life. | ||||||
| 26 | 4 | "Doomsday" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | October 13, 1959 (1959-10-13) | |
| During the 1600s an innocent woman, before being burned as a witch, curses the Earl's family so that each generation the eldest son dies before the father. Starring: Don Harron, Torin Thatcher and Patricia Michon. | ||||||
| 27 | 5 | "Night of the Kill" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | October 20, 1959 (1959-10-20) | |
| Little Davey Morris, lost in the woods, is protected by a giant furry friend. | ||||||
| 28 | 6 | "The Inheritance" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | October 27, 1959 (1959-10-27) | |
| A seemingly sentient diamond necklace strangles its wearers. Starring Sean McClory and Jan Miner. | ||||||
| 29 | 7 | "The Open Window" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 3, 1959 (1959-11-03) | |
| A struggling artist witnesses a recurring vision of a woman attempting suicide through an open window of his Greenwich Village apartment. | ||||||
| 30 | 8 | "Message From Clara" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 10, 1959 (1959-11-10) | |
| The gift of a brooch causes a woman (Barbara Baxley) teaching English to immigrants to write messages in a foreign language from a dead woman. | ||||||
| 31 | 9 | "Forked Lightning" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | November 17, 1959 (1959-11-17) | |
| A premonition of death causes a desperate man to fulfill his own demise. Starring Frank Maxwell, Ralph Nelson, Roberta Haynes and Candy Moore. | ||||||
| 32 | 10 | "Reunion" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 24, 1959 (1959-11-24) | |
| A six-year-old murder is exposed at a reunion of friends after WWII in a bizarre manner. Starring Paul Carr, Betsy von Furstenberg and Rory Harrity. | ||||||
| 33 | 11 | "Dead Ringer" | John Newland | Catherine Turney | December 1, 1959 (1959-12-01) | |
| A woman (Norma Crane) sees a vision of her twin sister committing arson. With Grant Williams (actor). | ||||||
| 34 | 12 | "The Stone Cutter" | John Newland | Gail Ingram | December 8, 1959 (1959-12-08) | |
| A gravestone cutter writes people's death dates (correctly) before they die. | ||||||
| 35 | 13 | "Father Image" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | December 15, 1959 (1959-12-15) | |
| A man (Jack Lord) inherits an old burlesque theater, and learns more about his father than he expected. | ||||||
| 36 | 14 | "Make Me Not a Witch" | John Newland | Gail Ingram | December 22, 1959 (1959-12-22) | |
| A young farm girl (Academy Award-nominated actress Patty McCormack) suddenly acquires the psychic power to read minds and, despite warnings from her parents that others will call her a witch, she sneaks off at night and assists a priest in reading the mind of an elderly stroke victim who knows the location of two missing children. | ||||||
| 37 | 15 | "The Hand" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | December 29, 1959 (1959-12-29) | |
| A murderer cannot seem to wash the blood off his hand. | ||||||
| 38 | 16 | "The Justice Tree" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | January 5, 1960 (1960-01-05) | |
| A dangerous criminal threatens a widow and her son, but they have an unlikely protector. | ||||||
| 39 | 17 | "Earthquake" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | January 12, 1960 (1960-01-12) | |
| A lowly bellhop (David Opatoshu) tries to convince people of his vision of an earthquake that destroys San Francisco. | ||||||
| 40 | 18 | "Forests of the Night" | John Newland | Catherine Turney | January 19, 1960 (1960-01-19) | |
| Three friends play a Chinese game using Confucius' Book of Changes. Ted Dolliver's symbol is a leopard. | ||||||
| 41 | 19 | "Call from Tomorrow" | John Newland | Gabrielle Upton | January 26, 1960 (1960-01-26) | |
| An actress hears the sounds of a crying child while performing Desdemona in Othello. Starring: Arthur Franz and Margaret Phillips. | ||||||
| 42 | 20 | "Who are You?" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | February 2, 1960 (1960-02-02) | |
| Laurie (Reba Waters) recovers from an illness, claiming her name is Alice. With: Philip Bourneuf, Anna Lee, Phyllis Hill and Jacqueline DeWit. | ||||||
| 43 | 21 | "The Day the World Wept: The Lincoln Story" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | February 9, 1960 (1960-02-09) | |
| Several people have premonitions that Abraham Lincoln (Barry Atwater) will be assassinated, including Lincoln himself. | ||||||
| 44 | 22 | "The Lovers" | John Newland | Joseph Petracca, Russell Beggs | February 16, 1960 (1960-02-16) | |
| Comical love story about an older man, a young woman, and a poltergeist. | ||||||
| 45 | 23 | "Vanishing Point" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, J.G. Ezra | February 26, 1960 (1960-02-26) | |
| A couple go to a summer house to try to repair their marriage. The wife vanishes, and the husband is accused of murder. Edward Binns and June Vincent. | ||||||
| 46 | 24 | "The Mask" | John Newland | Joseph Petracca, Russell Beggs | March 1, 1960 (1960-03-01) | |
| A pilot (Wesley Lau) believes that he is possessed by an Egyptian prince. | ||||||
| 47 | 25 | "The Haunting" | John Newland | Gabrielle Upton | March 8, 1960 (1960-03-08) | |
| In the Swiss Alps, a paranoid man (Ronald Howard) kills the best man of his upcoming wedding. A strange chill surrounds him and anyone that he associates with. With Christine White and Veronica Cartwright. | ||||||
| 48 | 26 | "The Explorer" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | March 15, 1960 (1960-03-15) | |
| An explorer in the Sahara desert is led to water by a man who died the year before. | ||||||
| 49 | 27 | "The Clown" | John Newland | Gabrielle Upton | March 22, 1960 (1960-03-22) | |
| After murdering his wife (Yvette Mimieux, in her debut), a man continually sees the image of Pippo the Clown (Mickey Shaughnessy), whom she befriended, in reflections, trying to strangle him. | ||||||
| 50 | 28 | "I Saw You Tomorrow" | John Newland | Merwin Geràrd | April 5, 1960 (1960-04-05) | |
| An American diplomat staying at an Englishwoman's 'stately home' experiences a vision of a murder. Later, as fellow guests, the murderer and his victim wife arrive. | ||||||
| 51 | 29 | "Encounter" | John Newland | De Witt Copp | April 12, 1960 (1960-04-12) | |
| A plane disappears and the pilot turns up 1,000 miles away, claiming that he was kidnapped by a UFO. | ||||||
| 52 | 30 | "The Peter Hurkos Story (Part I)" | John Newland | Jerome Gruskin | April 19, 1960 (1960-04-19) | |
| Coming out of a coma after a 50-foot fall, Peter Hurkos (Albert Salmi) develops psychic powers, and goes into show business. | ||||||
| 53 | 31 | "The Peter Hurkos Story (Part II)" | John Newland | Jerome Gruskin | April 26, 1960 (1960-04-26) | |
| Dissatisfied with being a carnival freak, Hurkos undergoes testing to proves he is genuine, and assists in solving a terrible murder. | ||||||
| 54 | 32 | "Delia" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | May 3, 1960 (1960-05-03) | |
| A man spends eight years searching for a girl who vanished from an island. | ||||||
| 55 | 33 | "The Visitor" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | May 10, 1960 (1960-05-10) | |
| A bitter wife (Joan Fontaine) is visited by a younger version of her husband (Warren Beatty), who wants to rekindle their failing marriage. | ||||||
| 56 | 34 | "Gypsy" | John Newland | Gail Upton | May 17, 1960 (1960-05-17) | |
| After a prison escape, a young man (Robert Blake) is convinced by one of the other convicts to surrender himself. But the gypsy convict was killed in the attempt and never made it over the wall. | ||||||
| 57 | 35 | "Contact" | John Newland | Paul David | May 24, 1960 (1960-05-24) | |
| A gift of a pocket watch from his wife (Catherine McLeod) causes a man (Ron Randell) to foresee a murder and attempt to prevent it. | ||||||
| 58 | 36 | "The Lonely Room" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | May 31, 1960 (1960-05-31) | |
| Shy Henri wants to date Therese, but his biggest competition is, a more confident version of himself! | ||||||
| 59 | 37 | "House of the Dead" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | June 7, 1960 (1960-06-07) | |
| A Chinese girl fears that her ethnicity will harm her British fiancé's military career. She absconds to the title dwelling, while he searches for her. | ||||||
| 60 | 38 | "Goodbye Grandpa" | John Newland | Gabrielle Upton | June 14, 1960 (1960-06-14) | |
| Before Grandpa dies, he promises his grandchildren that he will signal them with his special train whistle. | ||||||
| 61 | 39 | "The Storm" | John Newland | Jerome Gruskin | June 21, 1960 (1960-06-21) | |
| "The Storm" is a new painting done in the style of a painter who died in the Korean War. | ||||||
Season 3 (1960–61)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 1 | "Tidalwave" | John Newland | Charles Larson | August 30, 1960 (1960-08-30) | |
| A wheelchair-bound woman is helpless on an island with an approaching tidal wave. | ||||||
| 63 | 2 | "Anniversary of a Murder" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, Jane Anna Pritchard | September 27, 1960 (1960-09-27) | |
| A couple having an illicit affair accidentally hit a bicyclist while driving. Not wanting to expose their affair, they conceal their accident. | ||||||
| 64 | 3 | "The Death Waltz" | John Newland | Charles Larson, Amanda Ellis | October 4, 1960 (1960-10-04) | |
| Lilly (Elizabeth Montgomery), a manipulative general's daughter, arranges for one of her suitors to go on a dangerous mission so she can go to a ball with the other. When he is killed, his remark "I would come back from Hell to be with you.", becomes true. | ||||||
| 65 | 4 | "The Return" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | October 11, 1960 (1960-10-11) | |
| During the Korean War, a wounded soldier makes his way back, despite being blind. | ||||||
| 66 | 5 | "If You See Sally" | John Newland | Howard Rodman, Roberta Martin | October 18, 1960 (1960-10-18) | |
| Sally Ellis, unjustly blamed for the death of her brother, absconds from home. Finally forgiven, she tries and tries to return home, even after death. | ||||||
| 67 | 6 | "Moment of Hate" | John Newland | Charles Larson, David Peltz | October 25, 1960 (1960-10-25) | |
| Bad-tempered dress designer Karen Wadsworth (Joanne Linville) can, when angry, literally wish someone to death. | ||||||
| 68 | 7 | "To Know the End" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 1, 1960 (1960-11-01) | |
| During 1939 a woman has a vision of losing her husband (whom she has not met) in the war. During 1943, it begins to come true. | ||||||
| 69 | 8 | "The Trap" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 15, 1960 (1960-11-15) | |
| Dominic is in Chicago, dehydrated and suffocating, unaware his twin brother is trapped in a mine shaft in Arizona. | ||||||
| 70 | 9 | "The Voice" | John Newland | Charles Larson | November 22, 1960 (1960-11-22) | |
| During 1902 a reporter (Robert Lansing) covers the trial of some villagers who burned down a barn trying to kill a demon. | ||||||
| 71 | 10 | "The Promise" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | November 29, 1960 (1960-11-29) | |
| In London after WWII, a former German soldier (William Shatner) redeems himself defusing bombs, with a baby on the way. | ||||||
| 72 | 11 | "Tonight at 12:17" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, Jane Anna Pritchard | December 6, 1960 (1960-12-06) | |
| Every night at 12:17, expectant mother Laura Perkins (Peggy Ann Garner) hears the sound of a small airplane crashing through her roof. | ||||||
| 73 | 12 | "Where Are They?" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, Merwin Gerard | December 13, 1960 (1960-12-13) | |
| Two stories of strange disappearances. In the first a man calling himself the Ghost causes stones to rain daily on Chico, California, before vanishing. In the second, Charles Elton invents a pellet that turns water into gasoline, but disappears, taking the secret with him. | ||||||
| 74 | 13 | "Legacy of Love" | John Newland | Howard Rodman | December 20, 1960 (1960-12-20) | |
| A couple who have never met before are inexplicably drawn together and begin to experience memories of another life. | ||||||
| 75 | 14 | "Rendezvous" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard, Josefina Seiler | December 27, 1960 (1960-12-27) | |
| A widow is protected from harm by her husband's ghost. | ||||||
| 76 | 15 | "The Executioner" | John Newland | Bob and Wanda Duncan | January 3, 1961 (1961-01-03) | |
| A Confederate soldier is protected by the ghost of his loyal dog. | ||||||
| 77 | 16 | "The Last Round" | John Newland | Don M. Mankiewicz | January 10, 1961 (1961-01-10) | |
| Yank Dawson (Charles Bronson) is an aging boxer in a haunted auditorium in WWII England. | ||||||
| 78 | 17 | "Dead Man's Tale" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard, C.V. Trench | January 17, 1961 (1961-01-17) | |
| A former reporter having bad times spontaneously writes a story of two brothers' greed. | ||||||
| 79 | 18 | "The Sacred Mushroom" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, Collier Young | January 24, 1961 (1961-01-24) | |
| See section above. | ||||||
| 80 | 19 | "The Gift" | John Newland | Charles Larson | January 31, 1961 (1961-01-31) | |
| A fake psychic suddenly has genuine powers and sees a vision of her son committing murder. | ||||||
| 81 | 20 | "Person Unknown" | John Newland | Larry Marcus, James Crenshaw | February 7, 1961 (1961-02-07) | |
| In Mexico, a doctor is accused of a murder that was actually committed by an invisible ghost with huge hands. | ||||||
| 82 | 21 | "Night of Decision" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | February 9, 1961 (1961-02-09) | |
| George Washington during 1777, considering surrendering, has a vision of the future. | ||||||
| 83 | 22 | "The Stranger" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | February 28, 1961 (1961-02-28) | |
| A prison convict, dead for 20 years, seems to help those in need. | ||||||
| 84 | 23 | "Justice" | John Newland | Guy Morgan | March 7, 1961 (1961-03-07) | |
| In Wales, a police officer is suspected of murder because the banker who confessed was asleep in church at the time. | ||||||
| 85 | 24 | "The Face" | John Newland | Derry Quinn | March 21, 1961 (1961-03-21) | |
| Stephen Bolt has a reoccurring nightmare of a bearded man (Roger Delgado) stabbing him to death. He decides to kill him first. | ||||||
| 86 | 25 | "The Room Upstairs" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard, Larry Marcus | March 28, 1961 (1961-03-28) | |
| Esther Hollis (Lois Maxwell) is afraid of family madness affecting both her and her unborn baby when she sees an apparition of a sick child in their upstairs sewing room. | ||||||
| 87 | 26 | "Signal Received" | John Newland | Derry Quinn | April 4, 1961 (1961-04-04) | |
| During WWII, three British sailors receive premonitions about their ship, HMS Hood. | ||||||
| 88 | 27 | "The Confession" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | April 11, 1961 (1961-04-11) | |
| An innocent man is hanged because barrister Harvey Lawrence (Donald Pleasence) destroys a confession that would have cleared the man he was prosecuting for political reasons. Later, that confession just will not go away. | ||||||
| 89 | 28 | "The Avengers" | John Newland | Martin Benson, Rosamunt Harcout-Smith | April 25, 1961 (1961-04-25) | |
| A ruthless Nazi general (André Morell) and his girlfriend celebrate at a chateau notorious for its vengeful ghosts. | ||||||
| 90 | 29 | "The Prisoner" | John Newland | Larry Marcus | May 2, 1961 (1961-05-02) | |
| During 1943, a refugee from the Warsaw ghetto finds herself in control of a wounded German soldier (Anton Diffring). | ||||||
| 91 | 30 | "Blood Flower" | John Newland | Merwin Gerard | May 16, 1961 (1961-05-16) | |
| A parasitic flower, grown from the blood of a South American revolutionary, turns a pacifist scholar into an assassin. | ||||||
| 92 | 31 | "The Sorcerer" | John Newland | Derry Quinn | May 23, 1961 (1961-05-23) | |
| During 1915, a German officer (Christopher Lee) insists that he murdered his unfaithful lover, despite the fact that he was 800 kilometers away at the time. | ||||||
| 93 | 32 | "The Villa" | John Newland | Derry Quinn | June 6, 1961 (1961-06-06) | |
| A flashing strobe light causes a woman to see a vision of someone dying in a lift in a dark villa. | ||||||
| 94 | 33 | "Midnight" | John Newland | Martin Benson & Hendrik Vollaerts | June 13, 1961 (1961-06-13) | |
| Walking across a foggy London Bridge one night, a writer falls in love with a beautiful woman he meets. Howewver, she isn't quite what she seems to be. | ||||||
| 95 | 34 | "The Tiger" | John Newland | Ian Stuart Black | June 20, 1961 (1961-06-20) | |
| A cruel governess locks little Pamela in a "punishment room" where her only friend is an imaginary tiger. | ||||||
| 96 | 35 | "Nightmare" | John Newland | Martin Benson | June 27, 1961 (1961-06-27) | |
| No matter how hard he tries, Paul Rollins (Peter Wyngarde) can only paint a woman named Claire, much to the dismay of his fiancée, Jill. | ||||||
| 97 | 36 | "Eyewitness" | John Newland | Derry Quinn | July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04) | |
| One night during 1883, the night editor of the newspaper Boston Star has a seizure, and writes about the eruption of Krakatoa, weeks before it could be confirmed. | ||||||
After its cancellation during 1961, the series continued to be shown throughout the United States in off-network syndication until the early 1980s.
For its re-release to television for the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s, the initial and end titles were given new theme music and graphics designed for the time, as if the show had continued into the 1990s. These episodes were also edited for time from 25 minutes to 22 minutes.
Despite the public domain status for most episodes, the series' remaining copyrights belongs to its distributor CBS Television Distribution. CTD is the successor to the series' previous distributors, which include ABC Films successor Worldvision Enterprises and CTD's predecessor Paramount Domestic Television.
Episodes are currently broadcast by the Retro Television Network available as a digital subchannel in some US markets. Full episodes are also available for digital streaming on Amazon Prime (charge per episode as of 2021), FMC Movie Classics (free), Tubi (free), and Amazing Classics (free).
In May 2021 the UK nostalgia channel Talking Pictures TV began to broadcast the series, with the first episode airing on 11 May.[5]
During 2007, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 4-disc Region 1 DVD set entitled The Very Best of One Step Beyond. The set contains 50 episodes. The quality varied drastically from episode to episode.
On September 15, 2009, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount under this label) released One Step Beyond - The Official 1st Season on Region 1 DVD.[6]
One Step Beyond is the first pre-1973 in-house production of ABC to get a DVD release from CBS/Paramount. Other shows once distributed by ABC Films (which became Worldvision Enterprises) were either released by CBS/Paramount because the company owns the libraries of the actual producers of the shows (such as The Fugitive or The Mod Squad), or were released by different companies because ancillary rights are owned by other entities (such as George of the Jungle).
The Film Chest Media Group released the series in a six-disc Collector's Box on April 7, 2015.[7] The box features only 70 episodes of the series, however (mostly episodes from the first two seasons). Very few of the third-season episodes are on this set.[8]
Delta Entertainment Corporation in 2005 released a collection of 33 (presumably public domain) episodes on eight region-free DVDs.
During 1978, the series was revived partly by Gerard and Young, with John Newland hosting and directing most of the episodes; the new series was named The Next Step Beyond. The series was broadcast for one year with 25 episodes, 14 of which were remakes of One Step Beyond episodes.
- Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
- "John Kenneth Muir's Retro TV Files: One Step Beyond". Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- Muir, John Kenneth (5 July 2006). An Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond, 1959-1961. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-5534-8.
- "NEWS: Coming to Talking Pictures: One Step Beyond". Old Time Review. Apr 7, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- Lambert, David (2009-06-15). "One Step Beyond - CBS/Paramount Goes Above and Beyond with DVDs of The Official 1st Season **UPDATE: Package Art is Now Included!". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ""One Step Beyond" Series (1959-1961) Gets Home Video Release". BD. 2009-06-15. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- "Go One Step Beyond on DVD". DC. 2009-06-15. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- Muir, John (2001). An Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond, 1959-1961. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0969-3. OCLC 45743343.
- Remington, Fred (February 15, 1959). "One Step Beyond". The Pittsburgh Press. p. TV6
- Gerard, Mervin (July 1988). The Big Trouble". WGA West Newsletter. pp. 27–28
- Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond at IMDb
- One Step Beyond Intro on YouTube; accessed October 31, 2014.
- John Newland interview; accessed October 31, 2014.
