Wolf 359 (7 Nov. 1964)

A scientist creates a tiny model of another solar system's planet, seeding it with life, to study planetary development. The miniaturization allows the simulation's evolution to advance ... See full summary »

Director:

Laslo Benedek

Writers:

Seeleg Lester (teleplay), Seeleg Lester (story),

Stars:

Patrick O'Neal, Sara Shane, Peter Haskell

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick O'Neal	...	Jonathan Meridith
Sara Shane	...	Ethel Meridith
Peter Haskell	...	Peter Jellicoe
Ben Wright	...	Philip Exeter Dundee
Dabney Coleman	...	James Custer

Storyline

A scientist creates a tiny model of another solar system's planet, seeding it with life, to study planetary development. The miniaturization allows the simulation's evolution to advance much faster. A ghostly bat-like creature hovers on the in-closed model watching the humans, while emitting waves of fear terrifying them.

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Genres:

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

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 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?

Trivia

In one photo taken of the planet a monster is shown rising from sand. It is the same monster used in the episode The Outer Limits: The Invisible Enemy which had been broadcast the week before.

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Goofs

As Patrick O'Neal walks past a mirror, the head and shoulders of an off-camera crew member can be seen reflected for a few seconds before he ducks down out of sight. Then, just before the scene ends, the crew member raises his head back up so that we see his reflection in the mirror once more.

User Reviews

A weird and ridiculous premise--it still manages to work since the audience is already expected to suspend disbelief

This is a difficult to believe but highly original episode of "The Outer Limits". In "Wolf 359", a scientist (Patrick O'Neal) has recreated the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a sun, Wolf 359. How he knows that this planet and the atmosphere would be like, I have no idea--you'll just have to suspend disbelief on this and a few other points. Anyway, inside the lab, he's made a microscopic world where it ages 11 and a half days for every second here on Earth and the process of evolution is greatly increased. Yes, this makes no sense--just stick with it.

Eventually, weird stuff starts happening. One of the weirder aliens from the show (apparently made using hands inside a sheet of latex and a 'Roswell alien' style mask) starts to appear--yet the scientists cannot record it on film. O'Neal's very pretty wife (Sara Shane) sees it and she insists that he should pull the plug on the experiment--as it's somehow evil. O'Neal, the devoted scientific type, can't bring himself to do this and lets his little micro-world continue evolving. Which of them is right?! Well, considering the show it's a pretty good bet the wife is right! Tune in to see what happens next. Let's just say it's pretty weird! Yet, despite the strangeness, a compelling and worthwhile episode--thanks, in part, to O'Neal's nice acting.

I was curious. Using the 1 second equals 11 and half days notion, in one day, this micro-world would age more than 2722 years. Also, look carefully early in the show and you'll see a young Dabney Coleman.