Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond
Series host John Newland
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(s)	Harry Lubin
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	96
Production
Producer(s)	Collier Young
Running time	30 mins.
Production company(s)	ABC Films Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises
Distributor	Worldvision Enterprises Paramount Domestic Television CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) – July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04)
Chronology
Followed by	The Next Step Beyond

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (also known as One Step Beyond) is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.

Overview

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 presented tales that explored paranormal events and various situations that defied "logical" explanation. Unlike other anthology programs, the ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward thirty-minute docudramas, all said to be based on true events. Initially, the program included the corporate name of sponsor Alcoa as part of its full title.

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 Lincoln Assassination") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); astral projection ("The Long Call"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Time"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("The Glider", "Death on the Mountain", etc.).

"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. On camera, 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 made up all other episodes. Although the subject matter (the enhancement of psychic powers) was in line with the rest of the series, this episode was somewhat controversial and was omitted from the syndication package; it has been seen only rarely since its original broadcast. However, according to Newland, it was the most popular episode of the series.^[1]^[2] A complete transcript of this episode is reproduced in chapter seven of The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico by Brian Akers.

Guest stars

Many famous and some not-yet famous actors appeared in episodes of the series, including the following:

John Beal ("The Lovers"),
Warren Beatty ("The Visitor"),
Whit Bissell ("Brainwave"),
Robert Blake ("Gypsy"),
Charles Bronson ("The Last Round"),
Walter Burke ("The Front Runner"),
Veronica Cartwright ("The Haunting"),
Louise Fletcher ("The Open Window"),
Arthur Franz ("The Call from Tomorrow"),
Nancy Hadley ("The Captain and His Guests"),
Werner Klemperer ("The Haunted U-Boat"),
Robert Lansing ("The Voice"),
Cloris Leachman ("The Dark Room"),
Christopher Lee ("The Sorcerer"),
Robert Loggia ("The Hand"),
Jack Lord ("Father Image"),
Patrick Macnee ("The Night of April 14th"),
John Marley ("The Night of the Kill"),
Ross Martin ("Echo"),
Ann McCrea ("Night of the Kill"),
Yvette Mimieux ("The Clown"),
Elizabeth Montgomery ("Death Waltz"),
André Morell ("The Avengers"),
Donald Pleasence ("The Confession"),
Suzanne Pleshette ("Delusion"),
Pernell Roberts ("The Vision"),
William Schallert ("Tidal Wave" and "Epilogue"),
William Shatner ("The Promise"),
Torin Thatcher ("Doomsday"),
Yvette Vickers and Mike Connors (together in "The Aerialist"),
Robert Webber ("The Captain and His Guests"),
Patty McCormack ("Make Me Not A Witch"),

Production Notes

The last 13 episodes of the third season were filmed at MGM Studios in Borehamwood, England, following 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."^[3]

Music

Harry Lubin composed the music for the series with a soundtrack album ("Music from 'One Step Beyond'") released by Decca Records in 1959. The most well-known tracks of the series were "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 "Fear" on their highly acclaimed 1964 Dolton Records release The Ventures in Space. The second season of The Outer Limits used a variation of "Fear" for the end titles.

Episodes

Season 1: 1959

Episode #	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original AirDate
1	"The Bride Possessed"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20)
A bride's body is taken over by a murdered woman.
2	"Night of April 14th"	John Newland	Collier Young / Larry Marcus	January 27, 1959 (1959-01-27)
A woman has a nightmare that her fiancé (Patrick Macnee) dies by drowning. The next day he announces that the couple will honeymoon aboard the Titanic.
3	"Emergency Only"	John Newland	Collier Young	February 3, 1959 (1959-02-03)
Coming out of a hypnotic trance, Ellen Larrabee predicts a dangerous train trip for a skeptical witness.
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).
5	"Twelve Hours to Live"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	October 30, 1959 (1959-10-30)
After an argument with his wife, a man drives away in a storm and she suddenly receives signs that he is in danger.
6	"Epilogue"	John Newland	Don M. Mankiewicz	February 24, 1959 (1959-02-24)
Carl Archer, a recovering alcoholic travels to Nevada to try to patch things up with his wife. His wife Helen and son Stevie visit a nearby silver mine when the mine collapses.
7	"The Dream"	John Newland	John Dunkel	March 3, 1959 (1959-03-03)
Herbert Blakely is on night patrol in the coastal town on lookout for Nazis when he dreams about bombs destroying his home where his wife is.
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 stars as Martin.
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 reconnect with her dad.
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	"The Devil's Laughter"	John Newland	Alfred Brenner	March 31, 1959 (1959-03-31)
Authorities are having trouble with convicted killer John Marriott: they can't seem to execute him.
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 he has never visited. Soon, he too remembers being there before, but he was in the hospital at the time of the supposed visit.
13	"The Navigator"	John Newland	Don M. Mankiewicz	April 14, 1959 (1959-04-14)
A stowaway sends a ship off course to the China Seas and refuses to say why.
14	"The Secret"	John Newland	Michael Plant	April 21, 1959 (1959-04-21)
An unhappy woman is befriended by a man who lived and died long before she was born.
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.
16	"The Burning Girl"	John Newland	Catherine Turney	May 5, 1959 (1959-05-05)
Wherever teenager Alice Denning (Luana Anders) goes, fires start.
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 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	"The Image of Death"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	May 19, 1959 (1959-05-19)
A French nobleman kills his wife but he can't get rid of her ghost, who's haunting his new marriage.
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 a very unhappy place.
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	"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 reaches out from beyond the grave.
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.

Season 2: 1959-1960

Episode #	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original AirDate
23	"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 he gives blood transfusions to. Having a vision of the murder of a woman be gave to (Suzanne Pleshette), he tries to prevent it.
24	"Ordeal on Locust Street"	John Newland	Michael Plant	September 22, 1959 (1959-09-22)
A woman enlists the aid of a hypnotist to cure her deformed son.
25	"Brainwave"	John Newland	Charles Beaumont and Larry Marcus	October 6, 1959 (1959-10-06)
An inexperienced medic is guided by the ghost of his brother.
26	"Doomsday"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	October 13, 1959 (1959-10-13)
In 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.
27	"Night of the Kill"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	October 20, 1959 (1959-10-20)
Little Davey Morris, lost in the woods, is protected by giant furry friend.
28	"The Inheritance"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	October 27, 1959 (1959-10-27)
A seemingly sentinent diamond necklace strangles its wearers.
29	"The Open Window"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	November 3, 1959 (1959-11-03)
Time and again, a struggling artist witnesses the vision of a woman (Louise Fletcher) attempting suicide through a open window of his Greenwich Village apartment.
30	"Message From Clara"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	November 10, 1959 (1959-11-10)
The gift of a broach causes a woman teaching English to immigrants to write messages in a foreign language from a dead woman.
31	"Forked Lightning"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	November 17, 1959 (1959-11-17)
A premontion of death causes a desperate man to fulfill his own demise.
32	"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.
33	"Dead Ringer"	John Newland	Catherine Turney	December 1, 1959 (1959-12-01)
A woman sees a vision of her twin sister committing arson.
34	"The Stone Cutter"	John Newland	Gail Ingram	December 8, 1959 (1959-12-08)
A gravestone cutter writes people's death date (correctly) before they die.
35	"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	"Make Me Not a Witch"	John Newland	Gail Ingram	December 22, 1959 (1959-12-22)
A girl with psychic powers has to prove she is not an evil witch.
37	"The Hand"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	December 29, 1959 (1959-12-29)
A murderer can't seem to wash the blood off his hand.
38	"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	"Earthquake"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	January 12, 1960 (1960-01-12)
A lowly busboy tries to convince people of his vision of an earthquake that destroys San Francisco.
40	"Forests of the Night"	John Newland	Catherine Turley	January 19, 1960 (1960-01-19)
Three friends play a Chinese game using Confucius' "Book of Changes". Ted Dolliver's symbol is a tiger.
41	"Call from Tomorrow"	John Newland	Gabrielle Upton	January 26, 1960 (1960-01-26)
An actress hears the sounds of a crying child while performing Desmodera in Othello.
42	"Who are You?"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	February 2, 1960 (1960-02-02)
Laurie recovers from an illness, claiming her name is Alice.
43	"The Day the World Wept: The Lincoln Story"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	February 9, 1960 (1960-02-09)
Several people have premontions that Abraham Lincoln (Barry Atwater) will be assassinated, including Lincoln himself.
44	"The Lovers"	John Newland	Joseph Petracca, Russell Beggs	February 16, 1960 (1960-02-16)
Comical love story about a older man, young woman, and a poltergeist.
45	"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.
46	"The Mask"	John Newland	Joseph Petracca, Russell Beggs	March 1, 1960 (1960-03-01)
A pilot believes he is possessed by an Egyptian prince.
47	"The Haunting"	John Newland	Gabrielle Upton	March 8, 1960 (1960-03-08)
In the Swiss Alps, a paranoid man kills the best man of his upcoming wedding. A strange chill surrounds him and anyone he associates with.
48	"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 a year ago.
49	"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	"I Saw You Tomorrow"	John Newland	Merwin Geràrd	April 5, 1960 (1960-04-05)
A man staying at a British bed-and-breakfast, sees a vision of a murder. Later the same couple arrives.
51	"Encounter"	John Newland	De Witt Copp	April 12, 1960 (1960-04-12)
A plane disappears and the pilot turns up a thousand miles away claiming he was kidnapped by a UFO.
52	"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	"The Peter Hurkos Story (Part II)"	John Newland	Jerome Gruskin	April 26, 1969 (1969-04-26)
Dissatisfied with being a carnival freak, Hurkos undergoes testing to proves he is genuine, and assists in solving a terrible murder.
54	"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	"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	"Gypsy"	John Newland	Gail Upton	May 17, 1960 (1960-05-17)
After a prison escape, a young kid (Robert Blake) is convinced by one of the other convicts to turn himself in. But the gypsy convict was killed in the attempt and never made it over the wall.
57	"Contact"	John Newland	Paul David	May 24, 1960 (1960-05-24)
A gift of a pocket watch from his wife causes a man (Ron Randell) to foresee a murder and attempt to prevent it.
58	"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	"The House of the Dead"	John Newland	Don M. Mankiewicz	June 7, 1960 (1960-06-07)
A Chinese girl fears her ethnicity will harm her British fiancé's military career. She runs away to the title dwelling, while he searches for her.
60	"Goodbye Grandpa"	John Newland	Gabrielle Upton	June 14, 1960 (1960-06-14)
Before Grandpa passes on, he promises his grand children he will signal them with his special train whistle.
61	"The Storm"	John Newland	Michael Plant	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: 1960-1961

Episode #	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original AirDate
62	"Tidal Wave"	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	"Anniversary of a Murder"	John Newland	Larry Marcus, Jane Anna Pritchard	September 27, 1960 (1960-09-27)
Couple having an illicit affair accidentally run down a bicyclist. Not wanting to expose their affair, they conceal their crime.
64	"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." rings true.
65	"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	"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, runs away from home. Finally forgiven, she tries and tries to return home, even after death.
67	"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	"To Know the End"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	November 1, 1960 (1960-11-01)
In 1939 a woman has a vision of losing her husband (who she has not met) in the war. In 1943, it begins to come true.
69	"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	"The Voice"	John Newland	Charles Larson	November 22, 1960 (1960-11-22)
In 1902 a reporter (Robert Lansing) covers the trial of some villagers who burned down a barn trying to kill a demon.
71	"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	"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 plane crashing through her roof.
73	"Where Are They?"	John Newland	Larry Marcus, Merwin Gerard	December 13, 1960 (1960-12-13)
Two stories of strange disapearnces. In the first a man calling himself The Ghost causes stones to rain daily on Chico, California, before vanishing. In the second, Charles Elton invented a pellet that turns water into gasoline, but disappeared, taking the secret with him.
74	"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	"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	"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	"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	"Dead Man's Tale"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard, C.V. Trench	January 17, 1961 (1961-01-17)
A former reporter in hard times spontaneously writes a story of two brother's greed.
79	"The Sacred Mushroom"	John Newland	Larry Marcus, Collier Young	January 24, 1961 (1961-01-24)
See section above.
80	"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	"Persons Unknown"	John Newland	Larry Marcus, James Crenshaw	February 7, 1961 (1961-02-07)
In Mexico, a doctor is accused of a murder actually committed by an invisible ghost with huge hands.
82	"Night of Decision"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	February 9, 1960 (1960-02-09)
George Washington in 1777, considering surrendering, has a vision of the future.
83	"The Stranger"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	February 28, 1961 (1961-02-28)
A prison convict, dead for 20 years, appears to help those in need.
84	"Justice"	John Newland	Guy Morgan	March 7, 1961 (1961-03-07)
In England, a policeman falls under suspicion of murder because the banker who confessed, was asleep in church at the time.
85	"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	"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 a apparition of a sick child in their upstairs sewing room.
87	"Signal Received"	John Newland	Derry Quinn	April 4, 1961 (1961-04-04)
In WWII, three British sailors receive premontions about their ship, the HMS Hood.
88	"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 won't go away.
89	"The Avengers"	John Newland	Martin Benson, Rosamunt Harcout-Smith	April 25, 1961 (1961-04-25)
A ruthless Nazi general (Andre Morell) and his girlfriend celebrate at a chateau notorious for its vengeful ghosts.
90	"The Prisoner"	John Newland	Larry Marcus	May 2, 1961 (1961-05-02)
In 1943, a refugee from the Warsaw ghetto finds herself in control of a wounded German soldier (Anton Diffring).
91	"Blood Flower"	John Newland	Merwin Gerard	May 16, 1961 (1961-05-16)
A parasitc flower, grown from the blood of a South American revolutionary, turns a pacifist scholar into a dictator.
92	"The Sorcerer"	John Newland	Derry Quinn	May 23, 1961 (1961-05-23)
In 1915, so German officer (Christopher Lee) insists he murdered his unfaithful lover, despite the fact that he was 800 kilometers away at the time.
93	"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	"The Tiger"	John Newland	Ian Stewart 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.
95	"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.
96	"Eye Witness"	John Newland	Derry Quinn	July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04)
One night in1883, the night editor of the Boston Star has a seizure, and writes about the eruption of Krakatoa, weeks before it could be confirmed.

Syndication

Following its first run cancellation in 1961, the series continued to be shown throughout the United States in off-network syndication until the early 1980s. It was revived by Gerard and Young, this time for first-run syndication in 1978, as The Next Step Beyond, once again hosted by Newland (who also directed most of the episodes). It ran for one season.

For its re-release to television on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s, the opening and end titles were brought up to date with 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 on most episodes, the series' remaining copyrights and format 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 shown on the over-the-air Retro Television Network available as a digital subchannel in some US markets. Full episodes are also available for digital streaming on several web sites at no cost, and on the Hulu and Hulu Plus applications.

DVD Release

In 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 (the picture is often jittery), and many of the episodes fail to play properly at all.

On September 15, 2009, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount) released One Step Beyond - The Official 1st Season on Region 1 DVD.^[4]

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 will release the series in a six Disc Collector's Box on April 7, 2015.^[5] The box features only 70 Episodes of the series.^[6]

A number of bootlegged box sets exist that contain all three series complete, but the quality varies from episode to episode (as the episodes all seem to have been copied from varied sources, and don't even have the same opening titles from show to show.)

The Next Step Beyond

In 1978, John Newland produced and hosted a revival of One Step Beyond titled The Next Step Beyond. The series ran for one year, 25 episodes, 14 of which were remakes of One Step Beyond episodes.

References

↑ Muir 2001, pp. 190–192.
↑ 1999 interview with John Newland
↑ 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.
↑ 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. 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.

Bibliography

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.

External links

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond at the Internet Movie Database
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond at CVTA with episode list
One Step Beyond Intro on YouTube; accessed October 31, 2014.
One Step Beyond, archive.org; accessed October 31, 2014.
John Newland interview; accessed October 31, 2014.

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