A Feasibility Study
"A Feasibility Study" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 13 April 1964, during the first season. It was remade in 1997 as part of the revived The Outer Limits series with a minor title change: "Feasibility Study".
| "A Feasibility Study" | |
|---|---|
| The Outer Limits episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 29 |
| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Written by | Joseph Stefano |
| Cinematography by | John M. Nickolaus |
| Production code | 9 |
| Original air date | April 13, 1964 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Opening narration
- The planet Luminos: A minor planet, sultry and simmering. Incapacitated. Earth scientists have concluded that there could be no life on Luminos, that it is too close to its own sun, and that its inhabitants would be victimized by their own blighting atmosphere. But there is life on Luminos — life that should resemble ours, but doesn't. Desperate life, suffering a great and terrible need. The Luminoids have begun to search the universe in an effort to gratify that need. They seek a planet on which life is healthy, vibrant, strong, and mobile. They need such people to do their work, to labor and slave for them, to manufacture their splendored dreams. The Luminoids need slaves, and they have chosen the planet off which their slaves will be abducted. Not too many at first, a neighborhood-full, perhaps. A neighborhood like mine or yours. Those who will be abducted sleep in dreamy ignorance, unaware that they are about to become the subjects of a grotesque and sophisticated experiment... a feasibility study.
Plot
The inhabitants of a six-block suburban area are abducted one night by an alien probe, using a means of teleportation to transport the entire neighborhood to another planet, Luminos. The intention of the Luminoids is to study the feasibility of enslaving the human race for manual labor on their planet, since Luminoids themselves suffer from a genetic disease which condemns them to become as immobile as rocks as they age. Initially, the humans are not aware they've been kidnapped, as the neighborhood appears normal. But a thick fog blankets the area, and the sun doesn't rise when it should.
Eventually, one of the group is introduced to the Luminoid rulers, who are a hideous sight to behold. They make clear what their plans are and the punishment for disobedience, which is to be touched and contract the terrible disease.
The abductees now realize they're trapped with no chance of ever returning home. They come to accept the fact that their lives are over. Full submission to the Luminoids cannot protect them from inadvertent infection. All that's left is defiance and the will to protect the rest of humanity. Forming a circle, they willfully contract the disease from one of their own party, making clear that mankind will choose death over slavery on Luminos.
Closing narration
- "Do not enter upon or cross this area. Do not touch or remove possibly radioactive dirt or rocks. If you have any knowledge concerning this disappearance, please contact your nearest police department." It could have happened to any neighborhood. Had those who lived in this one been less human, less brave, it would have happened to all the neighborhoods of the Earth. Feasibility study ended. Abduction of human race: Infeasible.
Cast
- Sam Wanamaker – as Dr. Simon Holm
- Phyllis Love – as Andrea Holm
- David Opatoshu – as Ralph Cashman
- Joyce Van Patten – as Rhea Cashman
- Frank Puglia – as Father Fontana
- Glenn Cannon – as Teenage Luminoid
- Robert H. Justman – as The Authority, the Luminoid Elder
- Ben Wright as the voice of The Authority.
External links
- Episode review by Mark and David Holcomb
- "A Feasibility Study" at TV.com