The Outer Limits

1 9 6 3 - 1 9 6 5 (USA)
49 x 60 minute episodes

At the beginning of each episode of this science fiction anthology series the picture on the TV screen distorted and the deep unemotional "control voice" intoned:

"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity".

"For the next hour sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to  experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to. . . The Outer Limits."

The special effects were good, the alien costumes were always very interesting, and the plots were inventive - often  leaving viewers with a sense of unease that was either relieved or exacerbated by the moral delivered by the control voice at the end of each episode (just before returning control of your television!).

A recent re-make of The Outer Limits may have more technical special effects, but it offers none of the original spine-chilling factor (and views like a B-grade version of The X Files).