More One Step Beyond
The Aerialist - starring Mike Connors
As any chronic user of LikeTelevision knows - we are major fans of One Step Beyond - the sci-fi tv series from the late 50s & early 60s that started the whole genre. Before Rod Serling and Twight Zone… before The Outer Limits took over control of the horizantal of your ancient TV tube with foil on the rabbit ears… there was John Newland and One Step Beyond. Originally - the show was sponsored by Alcoa… the folks who made the tin foil one put on their attennae to improve television reception. For those young puppies who only know of the coax connection… back in the day, it was a great challenge to view a show without screen flicker or ghosting, especially if you lived in a rural area (or an urban area that was often congested with unknown electrical interference). Ahhh… the good old days… back when we all walked five miles to school. HA!
Anyway - this episode of One Step Beyond was called The Aerialist and aired in the first year of the show on April 28, 1959. The story centers around an Italian circus family of trapeze artists and stars Mike Connors, who is best known for his role as super cool TV dectective, Joe Mannix. Here he stars as Mario Patruzzi - the guy who is the catcher in the trapeze act. Well… one night before their act was introduced by the circus barker, Mario has a fight with his Dad about Carlotta, Mario’s wife. It seems Dad thinks Carlotta is a good for nothing bimbo and a disgrace to the Patruzzio name. Mario tells his pop… well maybe I won’t catch you tonight old man! And that’s just what happens. But the weird sci-fi story comes later…. when Mario tries to kill himself in a moment of drunken despair… but he is caught by his Dad… who is acting miles away in a hospital bed paralyzed for life. The phenomonon is called bi-location - or the ability to actually be 2 places at once. If you are interested - there’s another One Step episode on bi-location called Dead Ringer, about a pyscho lady who likes to start fires. Both episodes are quite good. We hope you enjoy the latest addition to our library… which is available to stream or download the mpeg-1 files. Also, make sure you check out the image library - as the pictures we provided for this title are pretty cool.
