I checked the schedule... unless I saw reruns out of sequence, it looks like THE BORDERLAND may have been my very 1st episode of THE OUTER LIMITS. Back then, I had no idea what was going on, but the image of the electrical power plant, and the guy who vanishes when he steps into the magnetic field (you see his skeleton just before he's gone) stuck with me forever after that. Half a mile from my house was an electric sub-station, and every time we'd drive past it, I'd be reminded of this story.
In his own way, Leslie Stevens' stories on this show are even stranger and perhaps more impenetrable than Joe Stefano's. Stevens' focus on hard science, which often have long, extended sequences of scientists and machinery must have been difficult for "average" audiences to take. Heck, it takes a lot of patience on my part, and I figure I must be this show's target audience!
I'm familiar with a number of the actors in this one. Mark Richman I mostly remember for his 2 McCLOUD movies. He appeared in the pilot-- my pick for the single worst McCLOUD ever made (how did that show ever get get sold?), as the original Peter B. Clifford. (J.D. Cannon replaced him when it went to a series.) A few years later, he guested as the commander of NYC's mounted division, where Clifford told him in a phone call, "Now he's YOUR problem."
Nina Foch mostly stands out in my mind for her part as the secretary in EXECUTIVE SUITE, a very thought-provoking story whose climactic scene actually brought tears to my eyes, as William Holden gave a speech in which he spelled out the importance of being able to take pride in one's work, and said "You can't have men working ONLY for money."
Philip Abbott was the sidekick in THE F.B.I. (which I used to watch regularly but haven't seen since the 60's), but he also turned up in an Ellen Foley episode of NIGHT COURT, the one where Stella Stevens played the high-priced "madame".
And then there's Alfred Ryder, even sleazier than he was in the STAR TREK episode, THE MAN TRAP.
So many obsessed people in this story! The scientist wants to learn the secrets of the universe. The millionaire wants to contact the spirit of his dead son at any cost. His business manager wants power over things and over people, not having any real talent himself. The spiritualist wants the money she was promised (and in trying to get it, she really gets the businessman's number). And her client is so warped with adulation for her he's eager to stoop to murder in her behalf, while trying to rationalize his actions so he can see himself as innocent. Of these, the only one who comes out intact is the scientist, whose motives were completely selfless.
Somehow, I never saw this one again in syndication, and only found out the title when I wound up renting it in sequence with all the others in the 1990's.
Hard to believe a show this intense and scary used to be on at 7:30 PM Monday night. I suspect only the fact that Mondays back then were traditionally "dead" evenings for TV programming led to my tuning it in at all. I didn't watch regularly, and never saw even half the episodes. At least, until years later, in syndication. My own fanaticism for the show has grown steadily over the years. These days, even the episodes I don't care for I find fascinating to watch anyway.