The Outer Limits (1995)

Alien Radio (a.k.a. Dead Air) (5x1)

: 22, 1999

Stan Harbinger (Joe Pantoliano) is a top-rated talk show host with a flare for the outrageous and a reputation as a skeptic's skeptic. Assisted by his producer Trudy (Cynthia Nixon), Stan takes special delight in shooting down callers who claim to have alien encounters, especially people like Eldon DeVries (Alan Zinyk), who believes his body has been taken over by aliens. However, when Eldon commits suicide by setting himself on fire in front of Stan, things begin to go wrong for Stan. A plan to syndicate the show is threatened by protests from UFO believers, angry at Stan's role in Eldon's death. Stan's skepticism is challenged when he notices that other people have the same distinctive triple heartbeat he heard coming from Eldon just before he died. Close to the edge, Stan finally looses it after Darcy Kipling (Leslie Hope), a woman he picked up in a bar, turns out to be a Believer and sets him up with a phony tape. He assaults Darcy's fellow Believer, Moses