The Galaxy Being

"The Galaxy Being"
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Written by	Leslie Stevens
Directed by	Leslie Stevens
Photographed by	John M. Nickolaus
Production no.	1
Original airdate	September 16, 1963
Guest stars
Lee Phillips Jacqueline Scott Cliff Robertson
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List of The Outer Limits episodes

"The Galaxy Being" is the first episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 16 September 1963. In it, Allan Maxwell, an engineer for a small radio station, somehow makes contact with a peaceful alien creature, who gets transported to Earth by accident. The Galaxy Being inadvertently kills several people with its natural radiation, and is met with violence and hysteria from the people of Earth.^[1]

Plot

Cliff Robertson, who had already appeared in episodes of The Twilight Zone, plays Maxwell, an engineer who has dedicated himself to researching microwave background noise using a device powered from a nearby radio station. He inadvertently gets an alien from the Andromeda Galaxy on his three-dimensional television screen. Using his computer, Maxwell is able to translate the alien's thought patterns into English. Both are conducting illicit experiments; Maxwell should not be using the radio station's power, and the alien is forbidden to contact Earth "because you are danger to other galaxies." Maxwell and the alien have further enlightening conversation, in which Maxwell learns that "Infinity is God. God, infinity, all the same."

In the evening, Maxwell leaves the radio station to be feted at a banquet, while leaving the channel to the alien open. A disc jockey turns up the power, causing the alien to be transmitted to Earth as a three-dimensional electromagnetic being. The Galaxy Being wreaks inadvertent havoc, killing the disc jockey and injuring several other people by burning them with natural radiation. The alien encounters Maxwell, who convinces it to turn down the heat, and then guides it back to the transmitter shed. They are soon cornered by local authorities, who accidentally shoot Maxwell's wife. The alien then uses beneficial radiation to heal the wound.

When the alien emerges, the authorities attempt to kill it, but it protects itself by destroying the bullets in flight, again with radiation. As a warning demonstration (and perhaps to prevent other aliens from coming), the alien destroys the transmitter tower. The mob is told, "There are powers in the universe beyond anything you know. … There is much you have to learn. … Go to your homes. Go and give thought to the mysteries of the universe. I will leave you now, in peace." At this, the crowd disperses.

The alien is then unable to return home, because it has violated a law forbidding contact with Earth. So, after first reassuring Maxwell that "there is no death for me", the alien reduces its microwave intensity, which causes it to disintegrate. Its last words as it vanishes into oblivion are, "End of transmission".^[2][3]

Analysis

The shimmering effect of the alien was generated by filming a specially treated rubber suit through polarized lenses.^[4] This photographic negative illustrates the effect used to create the appearance of the alien in the three-dimensional television transceiver.

Booker^[1] observes that the engineer and the Galaxy Being are variations of the television and science fiction tropes of the mad scientist and the invading alien, albeit with a reversal typical of The Outer Limits that both the scientist and the alien are benevolent, and it is the ordinary human beings of Earth who are the villains in the story.

The story itself dramatized what had been several decades of speculation as to whether other planets could be contacted via radio, developing this further into a story about electronic existentialism. It tapped into themes prevalent in U.S. culture at the time, including the televisation of the space race and the fascination with television transmission in general. The Galaxy Being itself echoed the contemporary words of NASA with lines such as "You must explore. You must reach out.".^[2][5]

The story also had elements of horror. As did another Outer Limits story, "The Borderland", it addressed the idea of an electronic limbo that exists when television signals cease transmission, or are broadcast out into space, raising questions such as where the Galaxy Being goes when he turns off the transmitter. This horror of oblivion was to occur in several other Outer Limits episodes.^[2][5]

Cast

• Cliff Robertson – as Allan Maxwell
• Jacqueline Scott – as Carol Maxwell
• Lee Phillips – as Gene Maxwell
• Burt Metcalfe – as Eddie Phillips
• Allyson Ames – as Loreen
• James Frawley – as Trooper
• Bill Catching – as National Guard Major
• Allan Pinson – as Policeman
• Roy Sickner – as Collins
• Charles MacQuarry – as Being #2

References

1. ^ ^{a b} M. Keith Booker (2004). Science Fiction Television. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 28. ISBN 0275981649. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Jeffrey Sconce (2000). Haunted Media. Duke University Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0822325721. 
3. ^ Aaron Cain (2000-07-24). "Reviews: Classics: The Outer Limits". Sci Fi Weekly (Sci Fi) 602. http://scifi.com./sfw/screen/classic/sfw5905.html. 
4. ^ Billy Ingram. "Fall Previews of the Sixties". TVparty!. http://tvparty.com./fall60pre.html. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Lynn Spigel and Michael Curtin (1997). The Revolution Wasn't Televised. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 0415911222. 

External links

• "The Galaxy Being" at TV.com