Way Out(1961)
DramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
First Air Date: 1961-03-31
Average Runtime: 25m
Rating: 7.0
Votes: 4
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 14
Way Out was a 1961 fantasy and science fiction television anthology series hosted by writer Roald Dahl. The macabre 25-minute shows were introduced by Dahl's dry delivery of a brief introductory monologue, sometimes explaining a method of murdering a spouse without getting caught. The taped series began because CBS suddenly needed a replacement for a Jackie Gleason talk show that network executives were about to cancel, and producer David Susskind contacted Dahl to help mount a show quickly. The series was paired by the network with the similar The Twilight Zone for Friday evening broadcasts, running from March through July 1961 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, under the primary sponsorship of Liggett & Myers. Writers included Philip H. Reisman, Jr. and Sumner Locke Elliott. The premiere episode, "William and Mary", adapted from a Roald Dahl short story, told of a wife getting revenge on her husband. In "Dissolve to Black", an actress cast as a murder victim at a television studio goes through a rehearsal, but the drama merges with reality as she finds herself trapped on the show's near-deserted set. Other dramas offered startling imagery: a snake slithering up a carpeted staircase inside a suburban home, a disembodied brain in a jar, a headless woman strapped to an electric chair, with a light bulb in place of her head and half of a man's face erased.
Keywords
anthology
Seasons & Episodes
Season 1
Episodes: 14E01
William and Mary
Air Date: 1961-03-31
William Pearl gets the bad news from his doctor: he only has a month to live. Dr. Landy says he can keep William's b...
E02
The Down Car
Air Date: 1961-04-07
John Ventry and Mr. Bayle were Navy buddies; after they got out, they went into business together. Although they wer...
E03
The Sisters
Air Date: 1961-04-14
Harriet, the older sister, is immaculately neat; Louise, the younger sister, is a slob. (think: ""The Odd Couple"".)...
E04
Button, Button
Air Date: 1961-04-28
The Button referred to in the title is the button that will launch the nuclear missiles in a war. Captain Stone has ...
E05
I Heard You Calling Me
Air Date: 1961-05-05
Freda Mansfield (an American, age 38) is checking out of a London hotel; she is planning on eloping with her British ...
E06
The Croaker
Air Date: 1961-05-12
Mr. Rana (latin for ""Frog"") is a strange man who has moved into the neighborhood. He gets pestered by a rascally k...
E07
False Face
Air Date: 1961-05-26
Handsome actor Michael Drake has been cast as Quasimodo in a production of ""The Hunchback of Notre Dame."" Drake go...
E08
Dissolve to Black
Air Date: 1961-06-02
Bonnie Draco's first acting job is a spooky one: she goes to work at a TV studio at night. Bonnie rehearses a scene ...
E09
Death Wish
Air Date: 1961-06-09
This episode starts out with the Narrator saying, ""Most men want to kill their wives."" (did I mention ""Way Out"" ...
E10
The Overnight Case
Air Date: 1961-06-16
A woman wakes up one morning in a strange bed; beside her is a stranger. He swears he's her husband Bill Clayton, an...
E11
Hush, Hush
Air Date: 1961-06-23
Dr. Ernest Lydecker just wants peace and quiet, and prefers to putter around in his laboratory. His nagging wife Ber...
E12
Side Show
Air Date: 1961-06-30
Meek Harold Potter is a bookkeeper with a nagging wife Edna, and no life. One night, he goes to a sideshow at a carn...
E13
Soft Focus
Air Date: 1961-07-07
Peter Pell is a photographer who has made an amazing discovery: a special chemical that not only retouches photos, bu...
E14
20/20
Air Date: 1961-07-14
Harvey Cartwright is a timid little man with a shrew of a wife; he is an encyclopedia salesman. Since he can't see w...
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