Way Out
Drama·Sci-Fi & Fantasy·1961·1 Seasons
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.
Episodes
Season 1
S01 | E01
William and Mary
1961-03-31

S01 | E02
The Down Car
1961-04-07

S01 | E03
The Sisters
1961-04-14

S01 | E04
Button, Button
1961-04-28

S01 | E05
I Heard You Calling Me
1961-05-05

S01 | E06
The Croaker
1961-05-12

S01 | E07
False Face
1961-05-26

S01 | E08
Dissolve to Black
1961-06-02

S01 | E09
Death Wish
1961-06-09

S01 | E10
The Overnight Case
1961-06-16

S01 | E11
Hush, Hush
1961-06-23

S01 | E12
Side Show
1961-06-30

S01 | E13
Soft Focus
1961-07-07

S01 | E14
20/20
1961-07-14








