One Step Beyond (TV series)
| Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | |
|---|---|
Series host John Newland
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| Also known as | ''One Step Beyond'' |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Created by | Merwin Gerard |
| Directed by | John Newland |
| Presented by | John Newland |
| Theme music composer | Harry Lubin |
| Opening theme | "Fear" |
| Composer(s) | Harry Lubin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 96 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Collier Young |
| Running time | 30 mins. |
| Production company(s) |
ABC Films Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises |
| Distributor |
Worldvision Enterprises Paramount Domestic Television CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | January 20, 1959 – July 4, 1961 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Next Step Beyond |
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (also known as One Step Beyond) is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.
Created by Merwin Gerard and produced by Collier Young, One Step Beyond was hosted by John Newland, "your guide to the supernatural" (also credited as "Our guide into the world of the unknown"). Newland, who also directed every episode, presented tales that explored paranormal events and various situations that defied "logical" explanation. Unlike other anthology programs, the ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward thirty-minute docudramas, all said to be based on true events. Initially, the program included the corporate name of sponsor Alcoa as part of its full title.
One Step Beyond filled the time slot at 10 p.m. Tuesday vacated by the crime/police reality show Confession.
Among its varied tales, One Step Beyond dealt with premonition of death ("The Lincoln Assassination") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); astral projection ("The Long Call"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Time"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("The Glider", "Death on the Mountain", etc.).
A January 1961 episode, "The Sacred Mushroom", deals with the discovery of mind-altering drugs. Newland traveled to Mexico where he met with a local shaman who was an initiate in ritual use of magic mushrooms. The then-unknown mushrooms were purportedly able to increase the user's psychic powers. On camera, Newland ingested several mushrooms and allowed his reactions to be filmed for broadcast. This was the only episode of the entire series to have a relatively reality-based "documentary" tone, rather than the scripted docudramas that made up all other episodes. Although the subject matter (the enhancement of psychic powers) was in line with the rest of the series, this episode was somewhat controversial and was omitted from the syndication package; it has been seen only rarely since its original broadcast. However, according to Newland, it was the most popular episode of the series. A complete transcript of this episode is reproduced in chapter seven of The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico by Brian Akers.
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