One Step Beyond was a television series that was created by writer/producer Merwin Gerard and ran for three season on ABC between 1959 and 1961. It was narrated by John Newland, who presented the tales which explored paranormal events and situations that defied explanation. Each show was presented as a 30-minute docudrama with a story was based on true events. The show premiered January 20, 1959, 10 months prior to the more famous Twilight Zone.
The reason that this release is termed the official release is because the copyright lapsed on a number of episodes and several distribution companies released packages using 16mm syndication prints rather than the 35mm originals, which resulted in poor and uneven quality of both audio and video. Also confusing is the fact that when released not all of the episodes were included so I have included an episode listing at the bottom of what constituted the first season.
First off, I own one of the earlier sets and comparing the quality is truly amazing. To describe this new release, the only word that I can use to refer to my copy of the prior version is butchered. In the official releases the picture is clear, sharp, and definitely looks like it is in 35mm. Also the Harry Lubin background music is there and it sounds great. It is refreshing to see an old show like this where no music has been changed.
The base premise of One Step Beyond is to explore stories that go beyond the realm of explanation. Among its varied tales there were several basic themes. Some dealt with the premonition of death ("Premonition"), of disaster ("Night of April 14th"), astral projection ("The Dream"), the existence of ghosts ("The Image of Death"), and improbable coincidence ("The Aerialist").
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