accordeoniste

Here are some little-known but unverified facts about this episode :)

* The given name for the Planet Zanti is Zant; Zanti is actually a nickname. Zanti was chosen as the planet's name to make it less than obvious that the planet was named for an ant. It's also because it rhymes with "auntie", as in "Zanti Mame". The large mounds of earth and rock near the Zanti spaceship are known as "zanthills".

* The inspiration for the humanoid faces on the Zantis was the 1958 horror film "The Fly", which featured, near the end of the film, a fly with the head and arm of a human being (Al Hedison). However, the fly even sounded human ("Help me! Help me!"), having exchanged atoms with a scientist, whereas the Zantis only buzzed, disturbingly so. "The Fly" then evolved, or de-evolved (either word is correct depending upon your point of view) into the 1986 film version, in which the entire scientist becomes a hybrid of a fly and a human being.

* Ben Garth, the Bruce Dern character, didn't use the gun in the glove compartment to attack or defend against the Zanti Misfits, because he knew it wasn't loaded.

I again started watching "The Outer Limits" several nights ago after a fifty-one year hiatus. I first saw it when I was a kid. I liked "The Hundred Days of the Dragon". Unfortunately there are a couple of flaws in the plot which damage the credibility of the episode. However, one of its strengths is the way it depicted the lack of security surrounding a presidential candidate, at a time when such candidates were more vulnerable than they are today.

The sight of the real Selby being ambushed, shot to death, and replaced by a look-alike spy in his hotel room was disturbing.

Also disquieting is the thought that, with all the advances in technology since this episode was first aired, a serum may indeed exist that gives someone the ability to precisely resemble someone else. Some of our leading politicians and business leaders may have already been replaced by spies without our knowledge. That would be one explanation for the steady erosion of citizen's rights in the U.S. and the dumbing-down of U.S. citizens. Face-transplant surgery is another viable substitution method, as was demonstrated in the movie "Face-Off", with John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

The Selby impersonator is given the key to Selby's hotel room by his assistant, who has been watching Selby's room from across the hall. This is a serious plot defect. How did he obtain the key? Surely the hotel management and staff would've been in a state of alert due to Selby and his entourage staying there. They wouldn't be expected to just give the key, or a copy of it, to the assistant. The assistant might've used a subterfuge, or he might've taken it by force, but it would've been helpful for us to know how it was obtained.

If the key to the real Selby's room wasn't in the assistant's possession, it would be difficult to imagine how the imposter could've gained entry to his room without risking immediate exposure and arrest. The plot to replace Selby could've been foiled right there and then.

Flaw no. 2: After the first failed attempt to assassinate Vice President Pearson and replace him with a duplicate, the President Selby imposter acted as though Pearson wasn't aware of the plan to replace him. In a Presidential blunder to rival the Bay of Pigs for sheer stupidity, he had called Pearson to ask him to go somewhere and perform some duty, knowing that his replacement would be there waiting for him. Pearson had confronted the imposter and had seen his face during the bungled assassination attempt, so of course his suspicions were aroused; the Selby imposter would likely have been alerted. Especially considering how brilliantly the fake Selby and his true countrymen's scientists had previously carried out their leader's sinister plan, it's implausible that the fake President Selby would be so naive as to think Pearson would willingly walk into a trap without taking precautions. The result of the spy's naivete? Pearson stopped his replacement, captured him and exposed the Presidential imposter, putting an end to Li-Chin Sung's plan to conquer the United States.

Regarding the lack of security, prior to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, when this episode was first aired, presidential candidates weren't entitled to secret service protection. The real candidate Selby or his Campaign Manager might have hired at least one bodyguard for him, but Selby would likely have refused such protection as he preferred to have direct contact with people. He wasn't an aloof candidate.