The Zanti Misfits

"There is nothing wrong with your television set…"

In the appropriately named ghost town of Morgue, California, the "historian of interplanetary events" known as Prof. Michael Tolan (as Stephen "Steve" Grave) meets stone-faced Maj. Claude Woolman (as Roger Hill) to prepare for a penal spaceship from the "perfectionist rulers of the planet Zanti." Personnel at the military base hope the top secret landing will be peaceful, but the Zanti are not giving Earthlings any choice in the matter; refusing to allow "The Zanti Misfits" landing without incident will result in the "total destruction" of Earth...

Gen. Robert F. Simon (as Maximillian R. Hart) assures the Zanti they may land, but the aliens suspect trouble. "Do not betray us," they warn. However, boozing bank robber Bruce Dern (as Ben Garth) and his tightly-wound lover Olive Deering (as Lisa Lawrence) crash into the scene, with a wad of stolen money and an overheated car. Imaginatively directed by Leonard Horn and intelligently written by "Outer Limits" producer Joseph Stefano, with a wonderful soundtrack and one of the most memorable alien life forms ever seen on television...

"We now return control of your television set to you…"

********** The Zanti Misfits (12/30/63) Leonard Horn ~ Michael Tolan, Olive Deering, Robert F. Simon, Bruce Dern

The US military must deal with insect-type aliens.

I like this episode a lot but the effects are not up to the standard of other episodes.

However, the nice contrast of alien insects, the US military and the drop out character played by Bruce Dern make this hour fun to watch. Also, the plot is very interesting.

The music is well matched to the hour and the location filming is pleasing to the eye.

If you like Bruce Dern in this I would consider tracking down QM's The Fugitive series as Bruce Dern appeared in that show FIVE times. I would be curious to know if Bruce Dern has ever commented on the Outer Limits over the years or if he even remembers doing it.

I remember seeing this for the first time and thinking those ugly little ant guys with their threatening faces were the stuff of nightmares. A spaceship is about to land with permission of the U.S. government. The alien culture has said that they are sending a group of prisoners and misfits to Earth. They are to be confined to a place in the desert. If Earth does not comply, God knows what they will do to us. A military installment has been put in a ghost town to oversee the arrival. Everything is fine until Bruce Dern, a bank robber, and his hyped up girlfriend break through a checkpoint, guarded by one guy. He is killed by their car and they make their way into the confined area. Their car overheats and they are stuck without water. Dern is nuts and has domination over the women. He becomes curious when he sees a tiny spaceship has landed on a rock edifice. When he goes to investigate, he is startled and falls into a crevice. Some of the aliens exit the ship. They are large ants with expressive faces, very threatening. An historian who has been writing about the whole process volunteers to check things out as the head of the operation tries to convince the aliens that the invaders are not part of the plan; that they have barged in on the scene. The little ants chase the woman and she is rescued by the historian and brought back to the control center. The story has to do with how we would confront such an unknown which threatens our way of life. The woman (who will probably be charged with being an accessory to robbery and murder) represents the cynical fears of the citizen toward the government. She seems to have nothing to lose and presents a sad subplot. It's obvious that she has never really taken a stand in her life and now that life may be over.

The Earth is forced to take a small number of Xanti criminals, and house them in Morgue, California, a small patch of desert land is allocated to them, and an instruction given, not to approach them.

Joseph Stefano wrote what I would call a classic with The Xanti misfits, it's definitely science fiction, but it has a true horror element thrown in, and decades on, it's still an unsettling watch.

There are so many great themes and ideas, the best of all I thought being The Earth held to ransom by The Zanti. You just know things are going to go wrong, if The Zanti can't deal with their own criminals, it was obvious they were going to cause chaos.

The Zanti really were very well designed and realised, lots of people hate bugs and creepy crawlies, so I can imagine this one unsettling many viewers.

Well acted, well paced, this one is a classic.

9/10.

In the desert town of Morgue, California, an assembled group of military and scientific personnel await the dreaded arrival of an alien ship carrying exiled prisoners from the planet Zanti, whose leaders have communicated to Earth officials that they had better let it land, or risk severe retaliation in response. They cooperate, but a runaway car carrying two wanted criminals breaks the barricade and crashes near the ship, which may lead to disastrous consequences...or will it matter at all? Famous episode because of the memorable design(and sound) of the Zanti creatures, which are larger ants with distorted human faces! Effective for its sheer audacity, though does teeter a bit to the comical at times. Nice(if obvious) end twist as well.