ORWELLIAN NONEXISTENCE

In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, events and people were constantly being eradicated by The Ministry of Truth if they didn’t conform to the party’s vision of what constitutes veracity for the particular moment.  People would become unpeople if they crossed the party line.  This expurgation of the historical record is what undoubtedly occurred to the phantasmal television series called “Way Out.”  This production didn’t conform to the code of television reality of the time and was therefore relegated to the grave yard of lost shows.  Today, no one recalls that it ever existed.  

This non-existent show came into existence through some strange events and because of the demise of another bizarre show called “You’re In The Picture.”  This was a game show that was hosted by Jackie Gleason.  The celebrity guests would put their heads into paintings and then ask the host questions that might identify what painting they were in.  More apropos questions would have been focused on determining what asylum they were in.  This show painted a portrait of insanity and was an ultimate brush with absurdity.  The show lasted one night and was met with such indignant outrage that Jackie Gleason spent the next half hour apologizing for the show.  This demented PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GRAY show is generally considered to be the greatest fiasco in television history.  However, it could very well have been the inspiration for “The Night Gallery,” which put characters into paintings.  

At this time shows like “The Twilight Zone” and “One Step Beyond” were extremely popular, so it was determined that a tales of the supernatural show would replace this “Blight Gallery” abomination.  A Welsh gentleman named Roald Dahl, who was noted for his numerous, supernaturally ironizing stories, was hired to create the production.  Dahl’s stories were in the Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen mold.  They were contentious and cantankerous, with numerous, cork screw twists and blind alley turns.  They made the “Twilight Zone” appear to have a white washed, picket fence respectability by comparison.  

There were reputed to be fourteen of these non-shows created.  The following synopses give some idea of the atmosphere of “Way Out”; an atmosphere that can be as oppressive as a crepuscular, decomposing tomb on a hot, humid day, or as bewildering as discovering that someone else, and not you, is writing an article about a show called “Way Out” and that you have been relegated to writing weather reports in hell.