The following is the result of an entire Saturday wasted. Using the Multnomah County Library's online research archive, I was able to piece together a complete record of The Outer Limits’ late-night run here in Portland in 1985 (when I first saw the series; I did something similar for The Twilight Zone a couple of years ago, but nowhere near this extensiveness). Forgive the formatting --- I was way into it before I realized that putting the dates first would've been infinitely tidier).
The Outer Limits on Portland's KPDX-49
1/07/85-9/14/85
Jan-June 1985 M-F @ 10:00 pm
July-Sept 1985 M-F @ 11:00 pm + Sat @ 10:00 pm
Run #1 (Monday 1/07/1985 - Monday 3/11/1985)
I wasn't able to get specific episode descriptions for the first 3 weeks, but I did determine that the show was preempted THE VERY FIRST FUCKING DAY. Not a great start, KPDX programmer (whoever you may have been).
(preempted) Monday 1/07/1985
(?) Tuesday 1/08/1985
(?) Wednesday 1/09/1985
(?) Thursday 1/10/1985
(?) Friday 1/11/1985
(?) Monday 1/14/1985
(?) Tuesday 1/15/1985
(?) Wednesday 1/16/1985
(?) Thursday 1/17/1985
(?) Friday 1/18/1985
(?) Monday 1/21/1985
(?) Tuesday 1/23/1985
(?) Wednesday 1/24/1985
(?) Thursday 1/25/1985
(?) Friday 1/26/1985
"The Invisibles" Monday 1/28/1985
"The Bellero Shield" Tuesday 1/29/1985
"The Children of Spider County" Wednesday 1/30/1985
"Specimen: Unknown" Thursday 2/01/1985
(preempted) Friday 2/02/1985
"Moonstone" Monday 2/04/1985
(preempted) Tuesday 2/05/1985
"The Guests" Wednesday 2/06/1985
(preempted) Thursday 2/07/1985
"The Special One" Friday 2/08/1985
(preempted) Monday 2/11/1985
"Production and Decay of Strange Particles" Tuesday 2/12/1985
"The Chameleon" Wednesday 2/13/1985
"The Forms of Things Unknown" Thursday 2/14/1985
"Soldier" Friday 2/15/1985
(preempted) Monday 2/18/1985
"Behold, Eck!" Tuesday 2/19/1985
"Expanding Human" Wednesday 2/20/1985
(preempted) Thursday 2/21/1985
"Cry of Silence" Friday 2/22/1985
"The Invisible Enemy" Monday 2/25/1985
"Wolf 359" Tuesday 2/26/1985
"I, Robot" Wednesday 2/27/1985
"The Inheritors Part 1" Thursday 2/28/1985
"The Inheritors Part 2" Friday 3/01/1985
"Keeper of the Purple Twilight" Monday 3/04/1985
"The Duplicate Man" Tuesday 3/05/1985
"Counterweight" Wednesday 3/06/1985
"The Brain of Colonel Barham" Thursday 3/07/1985
"The Premonition" Friday 3/08/1985
"The Probe" Monday 3/11/1985
That first run is confusing---- the fourth week (the first week that the TV listings provided episode synopses) starts off with "The Invisibles," so I'm thinking that they either didn't start with "The Galaxy Being" or they skipped several episodes. However, they almost-religiously stuck to the same order of episodes throughout all four runs, which makes "The Invisibles" the 19th episode overall. If they'd started with "The Galaxy Being," "Controlled Experiment" should've aired on Monday 1/28/85, and "The Invisibles" shouldn't have aired until Thursday 2/01/1985. This mystery aside, KPDX kept strictly to the same schedule for all four passes (except for one really weird exception in Run #3) ... so if an episode was preempted, they didn't kick it ahead a day---- they just skipped it, so you were shit outta luck until it came around next time (if indeed there was a next time; who knew how long they'd keep airing the series?). The first Outer Limits episode I ever saw was "The Sixth Finger" during that first run (which aired at some point in those first three weeks; wish I knew which date); by then I was fairly well-versed in the series thanks to David J. Schow's Twilight Zone Magazine articles/episode guide (which would form the basis for his Outer Limits Companion in 1986); so yes, every episode was spoiled for me before I ever saw it... but hell, for all I knew I'd NEVER see them). I'm convinced KPDX started airing the series because said articles resulted in enough viewer inquiries to justify it (though I have no proof).
Run #2 (Tuesday 3/12/1985 - Friday 5/17/1985)
The second run, well, ran like a well-oiled machine. Eight episodes weren't shown due to preemptions, but otherwise... clockwork.
"The Galaxy Being" Tuesday 3/12/1985
"The Hundred Days of the Dragon" Wednesday 3/13/1985
"The Man with the Power" Thursday 3/14/1985
"The Architects of Fear" Friday 3/15/1985
"The Sixth Finger" Monday 3/18/1985
"The Man Who Was Never Born" Tuesday 3/19/1985
(preempted) Wednesday 3/20/1985
(preempted) Thursday 3/21/1985
"Corpus Earthling" Friday 3/22/1985
"Tourist Attraction" Monday 3/25/1985
"Nightmare" Tuesday 3/26/1985
"It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" Wednesday 3/27/1985
"The Borderland" Thursday 3/28/1985
"The Zanti Misfits" Friday 3/29/1985
"The Mice" Monday 4/01/1985
"Controlled Experiment" Tuesday 4/02/1985
"Don't Open till Doomsday" Wednesday 4/03/1985
"ZZZZZ" Thursday 4/04/1985
"The Invisibles" Friday 4/05/1985
"The Bellero Shield" Monday 4/08/1985
"The Children of Spider County" Tuesday 4/09/1985
"Specimen: Unknown" Wednesday 4/10/1985
"Second Chance" Thursday 4/11/1985
"Moonstone" Friday 4/12/1985
"The Mutant" Monday 4/15/1985
"The Guests" Tuesday 4/16/1985
"Fun and Games" Wednesday 4/17/1985
"The Special One" Thursday 4/18/1985
(preempted) Friday 4/19/1985
"Production and Decay of Strange Particles" Monday 4/22/1985
"The Chameleon" Tuesday 4/23/1985
"The Forms of Things Unknown" Wednesday 4/24/1985
"Soldier" Thursday 4/25/1985
"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" Friday 4/26/1985
"Behold, Eck!" Monday 4/29/1985
(preempted) Tuesday 4/30/1985
"Demon with a Glass Hand" Wednesday 5/01/1985
"Cry of Silence" Thursday 5/02/1985
(preempted) Friday 5/03/1985
(preempted) Monday 5/06/1985
"I, Robot" Tuesday 5/07/1985
"The Inheritors Part 1" Wednesday 5/08/1985
"The Inheritors Part 2" Thursday 5/09/1985
"Keeper of the Purple Twilight" Friday 5/10/1985
"The Duplicate Man" Monday 5/13/1985
(preempted) Tuesday 5/14/1985
(preempted) Wednesday 5/15/1985
"The Premonition" Thursday 5/16/1985
"The Probe" Friday 5/17/1985
Run #3 (Monday 5/20/1985 - 7/20/1985)
The third run was a bit all over the place. I will note that there was nearly an entire week preempted by a couple of movies and baseball games (only one episode aired that week, "Tourist Attraction" on Friday 5/31/1985) and, in a move of profound dickheadedness (or inspired tomfoolery), they aired "The Mice" on a Friday (6/07/1985), then AGAIN the following Monday (6/10/1985). They added Saturday airings starting 7/06/1985, so going forward The Outer Limits controlled local TVs for six nights... however, the two weeks leading up to that had NO Outer Limits at all... it appears the show was removed from the KPDX schedule for two weeks, then as inexplicably put back on with no interruption in episode order (meaning 10 consecutive episodes weren't shown, 11 counting the preemption the preceding Friday). Did I say a "bit" all over the place? Try a lot.
"The Galaxy Being" Monday 5/20/1985
"The Hundred Days of the Dragon" Tuesday 5/21/1985
(preempted) Wednesday 5/22/1985
"The Architects of Fear" Thursday 5/23/1985
"The Sixth Finger" Friday 5/24/1985
(preempted) Monday 5/27/1985
(preempted) Tuesday 5/28/1985
(preempted) Wednesday 5/29/1985
(preempted) Thursday 5/30/1985
"Tourist Attraction" Friday 5/31/1985
"Nightmare" Monday 6/03/1985
(preempted) Tuesday 6/04/1985
(preempted) Wednesday 6/05/1985
"The Zanti Misfits" Thursday 6/06/1985
"The Mice" Friday 6/07/1985
"The Mice" Monday 6/10/1985
"Don't Open till Doomsday" Tuesday 6/11/1985
"ZZZZZ" Wednesday 6/12/1985
"The Invisibles" Thursday 6/13/1985
"The Bellero Shield" Friday 6/14/1985
"The Children of Spider County" Monday 6/17/1985
"Specimen: Unknown" Tuesday 6/18/1985
"Second Chance" Wednesday 6/19/1985
"Moonstone" Thursday 6/20/1985
(preempted) Friday 6/21/1985
N/A Monday 6/24/1985
N/A Tuesday 6/25/1985
N/A Wednesday 6/26/1985
N/A Thursday 6/27/1985
N/A Friday 6/28/1985
N/A Monday 7/01/1985
N/A Tuesday 7/02/1985
N/A Wednesday 7/03/1985
N/A Thursday 7/04/1985
N/A Friday 7/05/1985
"Demon with a Glass Hand" Saturday 7/06/1985
"Cry of Silence" Monday 7/08/1985
"The Invisible Enemy" Tuesday 7/09/1985
"Wolf 359" Wednesday 7/10/1985
"I, Robot" Thursday 7/11/1985
"The Inheritors Part 1" Friday 7/12/1985
"The Inheritors Part 2" Saturday 7/13/1985
"Keeper of the Purple Twilight" 7/15/1985
"The Duplicate Man" 7/16/1985
"Counterweight" 7/17/1985
"The Brain of Colonel Barham" 7/18/1985
"The Premonition" 7/19/1985
"The Probe" Saturday 7/20/1985
Run #4 (Monday 7/22/1985 - Friday 9/14/1985)
The fourth and final run suffered the least number of preemptions, so it certainly aspires to clockwork-dom... but there were a couple of notable, um, issues...
"The Galaxy Being" Monday 7/22/1985
"The Hundred Days of the Dragon" Tuesday 7/23/1985
"The Man with the Power" Wednesday 7/24/1985
"The Architects of Fear" Thursday 7/25/1985
(preempted) Friday 7/26/1985
"The Man Who Was Never Born" Saturday 7/27/1985
"O.B.I.T." Monday 7/29/1985
"The Human Factor" Tuesday 7/30/1985
"Corpus Earthling" Wednesday 7/31/1985
"Tourist Attraction" Thursday 8/01/1985
"Nightmare" Friday 8/02/1985
"It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" Saturday 8/03/1985
"The Borderland" Monday 8/05/1985
"The Zanti Misfits" Tuesday 8/06/1985
"The Mice" Wednesday 8/07/1985
"Controlled Experiment" Thursday 8/08/1985
"Don't Open till Doomsday" Friday 8/09/1985
"ZZZZZ" Saturday 8/10/1985
"The Invisibles" Monday 8/12/1985
"The Bellero Shield" Tuesday 8/13/1985
"The Children of Spider County" Wednesday 8/14/1985
"Specimen: Unknown" Thursday 8/15/1985
"Second Chance" Friday 8/16/1985
"Moonstone" Saturday 8/17/1985
"The Mutant" Monday 8/19/1985
"The Guests" Tuesday 8/20/1985
"Fun and Games" Wednesday 8/21/1985
"The Special One" Thursday 8/22/1985
"A Feasibility Study" Friday 8/23/1985
"Production and Decay of Strange Particles" Saturday 8/24/1985
"The Chameleon" Monday 8/26/1985
"The Forms of Things Unknown" Tuesday 8/27/1985
"Soldier" Wednesday 8/28/1985
"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" Thursday 8/29/1985
"Behold, Eck!" Friday 8/30/1985
"Expanding Human" Saturday 8/31/1985
"Demon with a Glass Hand" Monday 9/02/1985
"Cry of Silence" Tuesday 9/03/1985
"The Invisible Enemy" Wednesday 9/04/1985
"Wolf 359" Thursday 9/05/1985
"I, Robot" Friday 9/06/1985
(preempted) Saturday 9/07/1985
"The Inheritors Part 2" Monday 9/09/1985
"Keeper of the Purple Twilight" Tuesday 9/10/1985
"The Duplicate Man" Wednesday 9/11/1985
"Counterweight" Thursday 9/12/1985
"The Brain of Colonel Barham" Friday 9/13/1985
"The Premonition" Saturday 9/14/1985
That's right, they didn't even show "The Probe" to close out the final run! Even more egregious is the preemption that occurred on Saturday 9/07/1985 (imagine the dismay felt by those poor unfortunates who'd never seen "The Inheritors Part 1"!).
KPDX adhered mostly to the original broadcast order, with a few weird exceptions: "The Man with the Power" was shown before "The Architects of Fear." "Tourist Attraction" and "The Borderland" weren't where they belonged either. Otherwise, broadcast order.
Thus ended the syndicated run of The Outer Limits here in Portland in 1985. And so ends an entire day of my life that I ain't never getting back.
