Counterweight (26 Dec. 1964)

Six men and two women volunteer to be locked into a mock spacecraft and undergo a simulated space mission to a distant planet. However a series of strange events lead to paranoia and suspicion growing between them.

Director:

Paul Stanley

Writers:

Milton Krims (teleplay), Jerry Sohl (story)

Stars:

Michael Constantine, Jacqueline Scott, Charles H. Radilak

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Michael Constantine	...	Joe Dix
Jacqueline Scott	...	Dr. Alicia Hendrix
Charles H. Radilak	...	Michael Lint (as Charles Radilac)
Larry Ward	...	Keith Ellis
Stephen Joyce	...	Capt. Harvey Branson
Crahan Denton	...	Dr. Matthew James
Shary Marshall	...	Maggie O'Hara
Sandy Kenyon	...	Prof. Henry Craif

Storyline

Six men and two women volunteer to be locked into a mock spacecraft and undergo a simulated space mission to a distant planet. However a series of strange events lead to paranoia and suspicion growing between them.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 1964 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daystar Productions, Villa Di Stefano, United Artists Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

For this episode the end credits changed to a different scheme after the last commercial break and reintroduced all lead characters with additional on-screen footage before continuing with the regular series credits.

User Reviews

Throw a whole bunch of people into a room and hope something interesting happens....

The above summary could refer to the plot of "Counterweight" or it could refer to what the folks from "The Outer Limits" might have been thinking when they made this episode. The idea seemed only fair and perhaps with some very good acting and a little action it would work. But, in my estimation, it worked but only just...

The show begins with six men and two women aboard a mock space ship. Their job is to simulate what a long space voyage might do to them psychologically--and the idea is to prove they are ready for this when it actually takes place. But, early into the experiment, weird things start happening---weird things that might indicate some outside force is manipulating them in ways they never could have expected.

Aside from a decent twist at the end, this episode did very little for me other than to establish (no surprise here) that people are stupid. Not a bad episode but far from a memorable one either.