Way Out
Way Out was a 1961 fantasy and science fiction television anthology series hosted by writer Roald Dahl. The macabre 25-minute shows were introduced by Dahl's dry delivery of a brief introductory monologue, sometimes explaining a method of murdering a spouse without getting caught. The taped series began because CBS suddenly needed a replacement for a Jackie Gleason talk show that network executives were about to cancel, and producer David Susskind contacted Dahl to help mount a show quickly. The series was paired by the network with the similar The Twilight Zone for Friday evening broadcasts, running from March through July 1961 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, under the primary sponsorship of Liggett & Myers. Writers included Philip H. Reisman, Jr. and Sumner Locke Elliott. The premiere episode, "William and Mary", adapted from a Roald Dahl short story, told of a wife getting revenge on her husband. In "Dissolve to Black", an actress cast as a murder victim at a television studio goes through a rehearsal, but the drama merges with reality as she finds herself trapped on the show's near-deserted set. Other dramas offered startling imagery: a snake slithering up a carpeted staircase inside a suburban home, a disembodied brain in a jar, a headless woman strapped to an electric chair, with a light bulb in place of her head and half of a man's face erased.
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Cast
Seasons
1.William and Mary
4.031-03-1961William Pearl gets the bad news from his doctor: he only has a month to live. Dr. Landy says he can keep William's brain alive in a glass jar, after his body is dead. William nev...
2.The Down Car
07-04-1961John Ventry and Mr. Bayle were Navy buddies; after they got out, they went into business together. Although they were pals, John Ventry wasn't much good at business; in fact, his...
3.The Sisters
14-04-1961Harriet, the older sister, is immaculately neat; Louise, the younger sister, is a slob. (think: ""The Odd Couple"".) They live together in a cliff-house in Maine. Not only does...
4.Button, Button
28-04-1961The Button referred to in the title is the button that will launch the nuclear missiles in a war. Captain Stone has the key which unlocks the control panel, giving access to the B...
5.I Heard You Calling Me
05-05-1961Freda Mansfield (an American, age 38) is checking out of a London hotel; she is planning on eloping with her British lover George Frobisher (age 43, who already has a wife, Monica,...
6.The Croaker
12-05-1961Mr. Rana (latin for ""Frog"") is a strange man who has moved into the neighborhood. He gets pestered by a rascally kid named Jeremy Keeler (think: ""Dennis the Menace"") who does...
7.False Face
7.026-05-1961Handsome actor Michael Drake has been cast as Quasimodo in a production of ""The Hunchback of Notre Dame."" Drake goes slumming, and at a flophouse picks up a bum with an ugly fac...
8.Dissolve to Black
8.002-06-1961Bonnie Draco's first acting job is a spooky one: she goes to work at a TV studio at night. Bonnie rehearses a scene with Paul, Harry and a murderer. But George the director tells...
9.Death Wish
6.009-06-1961This episode starts out with the Narrator saying, ""Most men want to kill their wives."" (did I mention ""Way Out"" is a misogynistic series?) And we meet yet another married cou...
10.The Overnight Case
7.016-06-1961A woman wakes up one morning in a strange bed; beside her is a stranger. He swears he's her husband Bill Clayton, and her name is Norma. She gets hysterical, says her name is not...
11.Hush, Hush
6.023-06-1961Dr. Ernest Lydecker just wants peace and quiet, and prefers to putter around in his laboratory. His nagging wife Bernice is a constant source of noise. Dr. Lydecker decides to ma...
12.Side Show
30-06-1961Meek Harold Potter is a bookkeeper with a nagging wife Edna, and no life. One night, he goes to a sideshow at a carnival. They show a guillotine, and appear to cut off a woman's...
13.Soft Focus
07-07-1961Peter Pell is a photographer who has made an amazing discovery: a special chemical that not only retouches photos, but then magically changes the faces of the people in the photos....
14.20/20
6.014-07-1961Harvey Cartwright is a timid little man with a shrew of a wife; he is an encyclopedia salesman. Since he can't see well with his new eyeglasses, he accidentally goes to the wrong...
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