Ten Classic Sci-Fi Television Series

Science fiction has long been a mainstay of television because it can be set anywhere in the world, or any world for that matter. Time ceases to matter as the scriptwriter can alter it at his own discretion, from the dim past to the far future. Flying cars? Hey, this is the year 2307, we'll have those by then. There are no restrictions as to locale or scientific achievement. If you want to travel through time, you can. If you want to have a man partly reconstructed with electronic limbs, we can do it. A space station five miles long? No problem! Police officers working a beat on a faraway planet? Done! Come, don your space suit and join us for a trip through the wondrous worlds of science fiction television.

The Outer Limits (ABC, September 16, 1963-January 16, 1965) "There is nothing wrong with your television set" advised the deep control voice that opened every episode of this outstanding series. It's eerie, but whenever "Limits" was on, I never had any problems with my TV, even though other channels sometimes had bad reception. "Twilight Zone", which started a few years before Outer Limits, was often steeped in fantasy rather than the sci-fi that was the solid base of this series that opened the doors of Hollywood for many future stars. It also helped develop makeup procedures which eventually were used on such shows as "Star Trek". Major writers such as Harlan Ellison created the series' best shows. A new version of this program ran on Showtime from 1995-2002.