What can be said for One Step Beyond? in TV Terrors Forum

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What can be said for One Step Beyond?

Author	Comment
JaseSF		#61	[-]
Feb 20 10 8:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It was a pitcher.
will		#62	[-]
Feb 21 10 7:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The repeated claim that John Newland directed all The One Step Beyond episodes definitely isn't true. The Imdb credits him as the director of 80 of the 96 episodes. I think he directed more than that, but he definitely didn't direct Midnight, which apparently is something else entirely, but appeared in The One Step Beyond time slot. The version that is available for viewing does not have any opening credits and John Newland never appears. The narrator is the drama's central character. The music is not by Harry Lubin. And the credited directors are Alex Gruenberg and Jack Hively. http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/27276192
LCranston	Story Help?	#63	[-]
Feb 22 10 7:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I showed my wife "Vanishing Point" just last night and she really liked it. She thought the wife was going to commit suicide in the beginning, but was substantially creeped out at the way the episode unfolded. She only wished the episode was longer. "JSilence wrote: And the episode you're referring to,"Vanishing Point"? That one terrified me, because of the parallel to one of Bierce's stories (the one where two gentlemen stop for the night, and stop at an abandoned house to shelter from the rain..)" Does anyone know the name of this Bierce short story? I remember reading it years ago but can't find it again for the life of me. "I live the unknown, I love the unknown... I AM the unknown."
Steve Vertlieb		#64	[-]
Apr 21 10 3:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	So, where on Earth is Volume Two of the legitimate CBS presentation of One Step Beyond??? I'm still enjoying the marvelous clarity of the transfers on this first official DVD release, but I can't help wondering if either season two or season three will ever make it to the market place. Has anyone heard any rumblings about the release of season two? Steve
Grant		#65	[-]
Apr 22 10 9:12 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Bierce story referred to might be "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot."
strangenstein		#66	[-]
Jul 17 12 4:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was digging through my dvd collection and ran across the 50-pack of ONE STEP BEYOND episodes, still in the shrink wrap. The show originally aired before I was born and I don't have any memories of watching it in reruns. Before I began watching, however, I did some searching here on the CHFB to see which episodes were mentioned by fans. If they were included in the collection I had, I watched them. My first thought was how smooth and likeable John Newland was as the host. Very comfortable in front of the camera, natural and giving the proceedings an air of gravitas (ooh, I hate that word!). The acting in the several episodes I watched was impeccable. As for the stories themselves, well I didn't find them all that scary, but they were interesting and did raise a couple goosebumps. Overall a real joy to discover this series and I look forward to watching more episodes. Strangenstein p.s. Loved the music!
Wich2		#67	[-]
Jul 18 12 9:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	>The acting in the several episodes I watched was impeccable.< Ex-actor Newland was an excellent actor's director. The perfomances here are more real, less arch, than in most such shows of the era, and that sells the eerie elements all that much more.
IMSWM		#68	[-]
Jul 18 12 3:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Should mention to anyone interested that the Very Best Of One Step Beyond 50-show set can be had for something like $3.99 on eBay currently. I bought this a while back and, although an occasional episode didn't float my boat, it's still pretty enjoyable overall and WELL worth the cut-rate price! /\ /\/\ \ \ / \ / \/\/ \ visit www.ManorOnMovies.com A new concept in new concepts
bela lugosi		#69	[-]
Jul 18 12 5:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have this also, it's a very good set, and has been mentioned, at a really great price.
MacXoftheMounted		#70	[-]
Jul 19 12 11:20 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just started watching the season 1 set and my wife and I are really digging it. As many have mentioned, Newland is great as host. Very nuanced delivery. I love the lighting on his eyes, as if he were a female Star Trek character! MacXoftheMounted.....................formerly known as Professor Von X
will		#71	[-]
Jul 19 12 11:42 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Because of the supposed true story aspect, my mother who normally wouldn't watch that sort of thing was a big fan of One Step Beyond , having watched it first run while I saw it in reruns. We would watch it together while I watched Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits on my own. My one criticism watching them today, they seemed to have a much lower budget than Twilight Zone. Just a couple years later the same network, ABC, seemed to triple the budget for The Outer Limits. But of all those shows, OSB had the best music. The background music really creeps me out.
telegonus		#72	[-]
Jul 19 12 5:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OSB does look cheap compared to The Twilight Zone. Too bright maybe. The Outer Limits, like TZ, featured top production values, had a unique look all its own. Sadly, OSB didn't.
Rick		#73	[-]
Jul 19 12 9:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I always thought the "cheap" look of ONE STEP BEYOND kind of enhanced the supposed "reality." Gave it a more documentary/less Hollywood look. Probably not the reason for the look, but it works that way for me.
telegonus		#74	[-]
Jul 20 12 12:27 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I know where you're coming from, Rick, and a case can be made: if OSB had the kind of high contrast, almost deep focus type look of a TZ or a TOL it wouldn't have near the same credibility. It does have a sort of documentary or newsreel look at times. What a contrast John Newland was to Rod Serling, hey! Like the opposite end of the spectrum, with Rod such a reassuring regular guy sort and John, well, not. Serling was clearly the host of his series while Newland was so odd and remote as to seem like a character from his series .
will		#75	[-]
Jul 20 12 1:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts
bela lugosi		#76	[-]
Jul 20 12 1:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This is a series I really need to revisit again sometime soon. Thanks for bringing it up.
Wich2		#77	[-]
Jul 20 12 4:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	>What a contrast John Newland was to Rod Serling, hey! Like the opposite end of the spectrum, with Rod such a reassuring regular guy sort and John, well, not. Serling was clearly the host of his series while Newland was so odd and remote as to seem like a character from his series< Now see, tele, there's why we have horse races! I love both, but find SERLING to be the very intense, slightly edgey, presence. NEWLAND, to The Wife and I, is "A. Normalguy," who just happens to know that strange thing that happened once to some other normal folks... Folks like us, the viewers.
telegonus	Now That's Interesting	#78	[-]
Jul 20 12 11:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Now that's interesting, Craig. I see Newland as too urbane to be regular, rather upper class seeming in looks, manner and, especially, voice.There's a somewhat otherworldly air to him, as I see it, while Serling strikes me as "grounded". A horse race, indeed!
will		#79	[-]
Jul 21 12 2:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Another difference is Newland is an ex actor and Serling isn't. Newland uses his voice more and is more expressive. He is both more normal and creepier. He is more normal in the sense he is not an other world narrator as Serling is (our host to "The Twilight Zone"). Newland wants us to believe these are true stories and keeps reminding us they are so that grounds him to the real world. But he has the crazy eyes, unsettling smile, and the quasi British American upper crust sound reminiscent of Vincent Price and John Carradine.
telegonus	Exactly!	#80	[-]
Jul 21 12 3:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Exactly. Will! Newland's presence is relaxed, almost dapper. Serling, his short stature notwithstanding, has an intense, aggressive presence, while Newland is rather more laid back. Newland's background as an actor was surely an asset. I've seen him act a few times and it's pretty much in the same style as his hosting of OSB. He looks directly into the camera when he speaks, as if he knows you personally, is relating an after dinner story. The smile is quite unsettling, especially as one senses the intent is to come off as friendly and familiar, while the effect is closer to creepy. The quasi-British accent makes Newland seem remote, inscrutable, of no class or nationality in particular, and as such rather enigmatic, which in turn makes him the perfect host for a series with the title One Step Beyond.

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What can be said for One Step Beyond?