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TV Guide's Way Out Page, with TV Listings, Photos, Videos, Exclusive News and More.
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Does anyone remember
a TV show that came on right after Twilight Zone (Friday night, '61
and offered bizarre plays with twist endings even more implausible than
Mr. Serling's? Perhaps these tantalising tidbits will revive your appetite:
A odd liitle man (John McGiver) slips swamp water into his neighbor's cocktails changing them into frogs... Or the classic one about the over-ambitious method actor (Alfred Ryder) who sneaks around skid row to steal ideas on playing a ravaged wino- actually becoming the skuzziest bum for real - and even the dirtiest dregs avoid him! Or the photographer (Barry Morse) who disfigured people's faces by painting a weird fluid on their photos - until the bottle splashes on his portrait - erasing half his face - the most shocking sci-fi TV episode of it's day, with make-up by Dick Smith (best known for 'Dark Shadows' and 'The Exorcist'). Have you guessed the name of this half-hour series yet? Recently on Fox, there was a documentary on sci-fi TV shows that included a clip from the one about the actress who finds herself trapped after hours in a television studio rehearsing with zombies? Sound familiar? No, they weren't from 'The Outer Limits', 'Boris Karloff Presents Thriller', 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', or 'The Night Gallery'. Hosted by sardonic British author Roald Dahl, and called, appropriately enough, Way Out, the series brought together some of the most talented people who have ever worked in television. Possibly the most distinctive and memorable element of Way Out were the rather rather odd and unsettling opening and closing remarks written anddelivered, with marvelous touches of blackhumor, by host Roald Dahl. Beginning eachshow with an inviting, "How're you?" he would then proceed to give advice on, for example, how to murder one's spouse, or tell "pleasant" stories of his boyhood in Norway where, when somebody died, and the ground was frozen solid, they would sharpen the legs and hammer the body into the ground, "like an enormous nail." Dahl himself got some of the best reviews, with one critic describing him as a "thin Alfred Hitchcock, an East Coast Rod Serling." At this time (1961), Dahl was best known for his rather "strange" stories which had appeared in the New Yorker and several published collections. His specialty was the macabre, laced with savage black humor. Attracted by "William and Mary," Dahl's ironic take of a wife's final revenge on her husband, Susskind and his production company additionally sought Dahl as the host of the show. At the time, Dahl, in an interview, fretted, "Now, suddenly, I find myself in the position of speaking to the nation for one and a half minutes every week and it's nerve wracking." Today, however, he fondly recalls hosting Way Out. "I was a pretty young chap then and it was jolly nice. It was amusing for me because it was my first thing on television." One of Way Out's greatest advantages was its New York location. This allowed Susskind and Babbin to draw from the great wealth of talent in the New York live theater. Among those who appeared were Fritz Weaver, Mildred Dunnock, a young Richard Thomas (The Waltons), Martin Balsam, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Conrad (Hill Street Blues), Charlotte Rae (The Facts of Life), and Mark Leonard (Star Trek). As Susskind has said, "The honor list from that group of players on Way Out would be hard to beat." How did such an off-beat show attract such high caliber actors from Broadway? According to Susskind, "Most good actors were fearful of this kind of material. But by showing that we could get good scripts with these themes and that the characterizations would be rich and ripe for them to play, we were able to make this kind of thing more respectable than it had ever been before." Carmen Matthews, star of the third episode, "The Sister," recalls, "It was a time of boundless energy--and joy and dedication in our work." On March 31, 1961, 'Way Out' premiered with Roald Dahl's "William and Mary" to rave reviews. Calling this first episode an "auspicious debut," the New York Times praised the show for a tale "told tightly and lightly, with wry and brittle dialogue." A West Coast review added that "Way Out's chief asset could be its host Mr. Dahl, who practices literary witchcraft in the realm of the macabre and whose introduction to the series and the opener (which he wrote) was a joy. The story we were about to see, he said with a gentlemanly leer, "was not for children, nor young lovers, nor people with queasy stomachs. It was for wicked old women." With "William and Mary" rated number one in its time slot, it looked like Way Out, as Mike Dann had hoped, would be a "good team mate" for The Twilight Zone. Seasoned script writers such as Irving Gaynor Neiman, Sumner Locke Eliot, and Phil Reisman, Jr. who, building on the basic premise of the impossible, had managed to come up with a series of tales that were eerie, unsettling, and, often, a touch fantastic. Way Out zinged its audience weekly with startling "twist" endings. With Dahl's deliciously nasty encapsulations adding spice to the mix, Way Out seemed headed for a long, successful run. So why, on July 14, 1961, after a mere fourteen episodes, did the show bite the dust, never to be seen on television again? The answer is simple--the almighty ratings. Although 'Way Out' was a hit in the larger metropolitan areas, it unfortunatel nationwide. Mike Dann speculates that the stories were "perhaps a little too macabre, a little too odd for television. Roald Dahl's show simply was too limited to be that successful." Thus, for the remainder of the summer of 1961, the nine-thirty Friday night spot was filled with reruns of Schlitz Playhouse (renamed Adventure Theater), probably the cheapest series of shows CBS owned. Fondly remembering this almost forgotten chapter in television history, Mike Dann says, "Way Out was one of the last weekly dramatic shows to be done in New York. Practically more than any other show, while it was not the most important, it represented the end of the era of New York as a production center for prime time. The only thing we had left then was variety shows. It meant the death of drama in New York, which is a great loss for everyone." David Susskind has donated tapes of 'Way Out' to the Museum of Broadcasting in New York City. His message to first-time viewers- -or those who like to relive disturbing memories--is, "Enjoy them! They were made for entertainment. They were not made to change your philosophy of life. Just be amused, entertained, and enjoy them." Once again, after having the wits scared out of us, Roald Dahl can comfort us with his kind works, "Goodnight. . . . . and sleep well." - Gary Joseph and
Ken Kaffke |
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