Sam Egan Movies

Thirty years after the cancellation of the landmark science fiction-fantasy anthology The Outer Limits, the property was revived in a full-color, state-of-the-art version by cable's Showtime network. Debuting March 26, 1995, the new Outer Limits emulated the old by utilizing a narrator known only as The Control Voice ("There is nothing wrong with your television set...do not attempt to adjust the picture...we are controlling transmission") Because original narrator Vic Perrin had passed away in 1989, it fell to Kevin Conway to provide the offscreen openings and closings of each hour-long episode.
Surprisingly (given the remarkable advances in the art of special effects since 1965), the revived Outer Limits downplayed effects in favor of human interrelations and suspense. This was partly due to the fact that the new series, filmed in Canada, was produced on an extremely limited budget. For the most part, however, the decision to avoid special effects unless they were dramatically justified was because the producers felt that space aliens and other monstrosities had become rather commonplace by 1995, and they hoped to set their series apart from what had become the norm. In most cases, two separate versions of each episode were filmed. The rawer, less censorially restricted version was seen first-run on Showtime, while the less explicit version was prepared for commercial TV syndication. (This practice was followed on such other dual-market series as The Hitchhiker and Sex and the City.) Generally, the new Outer Limits avoided remakes of the classic episodes from the original version. There were, however, three noteworthy exceptions: season one's "I Robot," with Leonard Nimoy repeating the role he'd first essayed 31 years earlier; season three's "Feasability Study," originally filmed in 1964; and season five's "The Inheritors," a one-hour abridgement of a 1964 two-parter. Showtime had so much faith in the new Outer Limits that the network commissioned two seasons worth of episodes (44 in all) before the series even made its first appearance. This show of confidence paid off; Outer Limits proved to be one of the cable network's most popular series, lasting six seasons and 132 episodes. After departing Showtime in 2000, the series was renewed for a final 22 episodes by another cable outlet, the Sci Fi Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The personal film archives of Yoko Ono were utilized for this feature-length documentary on the life of John Lennon. Predictably, it downplays Lennon's association with the Beatles and concentrates on his years with Ono. The film spends a lot of time recounting Lennon's anti-war activities, highlighted by a confrontation on a talk show hosted by conservative cartoonist Al Capp. The title of the documentary is, of course, taken from Lennon's idyllic ballad about a world free of hatred and discord. Imagine: John Lennon is a reverent but ultimately depressing chronicle of an artist who died the untimeliest of deaths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) recognizes elderly murder victim Violet Winston (Louise Fitch) as a onetime vaudeville headliner, and the partner of long-retired comedian Morris Perlmutter (Keenan Wynn). The only witness to the killing is Violet's sister Eugenia (Rosemary DeCamp), who is handicapped by a variety of debilitating infirmaries. Elsewhere, the aforementioned Perlmutter prepares to make a comeback on live TV, only to begin suffering the early stages of senility. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chaim Sigerski (Martin Balsam), an Auschwitz survivor who runs a Holocaust museum, is convinced that his old friend Isaac (Than Wyenn) did not die in a traffic accident, but was instead deliberately murdered by a fugitive Nazi war criminal. Finding the authorities indifferent to his suspicions, Chaim turns to medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) for help. As a result, Quincy ends up butting heads with Cornelius Sumner (Norman Lloyd), a wealthy and influential activist who denies that the Holocaust ever happened. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) prepares to provide expert testimony in the murder trial of mob boss Victor Ramsay (Tige Andrews), determined to prove that Ramsay pressured his victim into having a heart attack. Unfortunately, Ramsay's son Joseph (Peter Virgo Jr.) has carefully arranged for Quincy to be discredited by planting phony evidence near the dead body of the only witness to the crime. Now Quincy has a scant three weeks to restore his reputation and nail the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this followup to the Season Six episode "Who Speaks for the Children", Quincy (Jack Klugman) continues his crusade to push forward the stalled "Orphan Drug Act" in congress, creating funding to develop curative drugs for rare diseases. The big problem is money, or lack of it: the major pharamaceutical companies don't want to invest in research that will benefit only a handful of consumers, while dedicated scientists like Dr. Styer (Joseph Campanella) are facing severe cutbacks. The situation becomes personal when Quincy befriends a young mother suffering from Myoclonus, a degenerative nerve disease that has already driven another of Styer's patients to suicide. Returning from "Who Speaks for the Children" are Michael Constantine as pharmaceutical activist Dr. Ciotti, and Paul Clemens as Ciotti's son Tony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Quincy (Jack Klugman) races against time to locate and neutralize the mysterious neurological disease that has already claimed three lives on a luxury liner. Though some of the pasengers have managed to escape to shore, the ship is now quarantined and prohibited from docking at any port. Thus Quincy must not only stem the epidemic, but also track down those on dry land who may still be spreading it--and worse yet, his own girlfriend Janet (Diana Muldaur) is now gravely ill. Originally telecast over a two-week period, Slow Boat to Madness has since been syndicated as a single two-hour "TV movie." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Seven of Quincy, M.E. begins at a crowded job fair, where guest lecturer Quincy (Jack Klugman) ends up rushing to the aid of a young woman (Sharon Acker) who has fallen down an escalator. Recovering from her injuries in the hospital, the woman awakens with no idea who she is nor what has happened to her. One thing is certain, however; her fall was no accident. As Quincy tries to help the woman recover her memory, he also endeavors to shield her from the person or persons who tried to kill her--a task that proves tragically futile, leading to a powerful finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) is the technical advisor on a movie which is dramatizing an infamous murder case involving onetime socialite Victoria Sawyer (Carolyn Jones). Noticing several discrepancies in the script, Quincy begins to doubt that Victoria was guilty of the murder for which she is currently serving in prison; he also fears that the real killer may still be alive and at large. But to prove his findings, he needs the cooperation of Victoria herself--cooperation that the woman absolutely refuses to give. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a personal matter for Quincy's boss Dr. Astin (John S. Ragin) when his teenage niece Melody (Karlene Crockett) is charged with vehicular homicide. An alcoholic who suffers from lapses of memory, Melody may have been behind the wheel in the car crash that claimed the life of her best friend. Making matters worse, Astin himself is obliged by law to make a ruling on the case. Reluctant to pass judgment on his own flesh and blood, Astin asks Quincy to temporarily switch places with him, leading to some surprising complications. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Performing an autopsy on a man in his eighties, Quincy determines (Jack Klugman) that the victim was physically abused before his death--possibly by his own son-in-law. Subseqeuntly, another old person shows up with similar symptoms, suggesting to Quincy that there may be a link between the two cases. Ulitmately, the crusading coroner unearths a rather nasty scheme cooked up by a nefarious nephew against a pair of elderly ladies (one of whom is played by 97-year-old Estelle Winwood, who when this episode was filmed had been a stage and screen star for over seventy years). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In an episode clearly inspired by the legend of D.B. Cooper, the body of R.W. Collins, an infamous hijacker who bailed out of a plane with a suticase full of ransom money, is recovered five years after his disappearance. Examining Collins' remains, Quincy (Jack Klugman) discovers to his horror that the anthrax particles which Cooper was using as a "weapon" were released in his body--and presumably, also contaminated the money he was carrying. It is now up to Quincy and the authorities to track down the cash that is still missing--to say nothing of Cooper's unidentified accomplice--before a deadly epidemic ravages the Southwest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide