A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s comment section.
The story is 44 words without the title. 😉
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR TELEVISION SET
The Twilight Zone’s theme song sent shivers down my spine. But The Outer Limits’ intro scared the you-know-what out of me with, “Do not attempt to adjust the picture…We will control the vertical. We will control the horizontal.”
How I long for those days.
Submitted for your approval…you’ll find both intros below. Somehow everything was scarier in black and white and you’re between 6-10 years old. 😉
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
I loved both shows. I often wondered whether or not they really were controlling the horizontal and vertical. Then I wondered who “they” were. And then I wondered….well, sometimes it got scary back then. Good take on the themes. Yes, you can watch reruns, but it doesn’t replace those days and times. I also long for those days many times. It seemed like such simple times as opposed to now.
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Dear Jan,
We were so much older than, we’re younger than that now. Of course I love the TZ reruns which are actually more cerebral than horror, more parable than sci-fi. Rod Serling was certainly ahead of his time, wasn’t he? Sigh.
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Yes he was.
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Those were the days my friend. Just watching that Outer Limits intro again sent shivers down my spine just as it did back then!
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Dear Keith,
Same here. And to think the youngsters today wouldn’t even get it. When was the last time a TV had to be adjusted? Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I remember the show, so scary
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Terrifying. 😉 Thank you for stopping by, Sally.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I don’t recall the Outer Limits, having grown up in the outer limits with little TV. But yes that is a strong and scary opening! Nowadays is so very much more frightening with so much more than vertical and horizontal settings being controlled. I enjoyed your flash.
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Dear D.
And that is exactly why I say I long for those days. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
I have to admit I never watched either one. However, after watching the intros, I dunno if I would have dared!
Shalom and lotsa love,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
Watching them was never my choice. In those days my brother Jeff controlled the one TV, especially if he was left to babysit. His greatest delight was terrorizing his little sister. 😉 Ironically, I own the box set of TZ and love them. Go figure.
Shalom and lotsa hugs,
Rochelle
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Go figure indeed! Guess his terrorizing you backfired!
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Ve have vays of getting back. 😉 Actually we now have some great conversations about favorite shows, TZ included. 😀
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Those were the days … though I have to admit I did not watch much of either one. … 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
As I just told Dale, I didn’t have much of a choice back in the day. We had one TV and my big brother pretty much controlled not only the vertical and horizontal, but the channel dial as well. 😉 Thanks for tuning in.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yep. I hear ya. We had one TV with one channel, and what played, played. You either watched or did something else. 🙂
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Only one channel? We had three. It still boiled down to whatever Jeffrey wanted, Jeffrey got. (No doubt his version of the story contradicts mine. 😉 )
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Yep, only one channel where I grew up. What was broadcast, was it. If you didn’t like it, too bad. 😉 Then again, I didn’t have to fight with anyone, because … well, I had no say (and nor did anyone else, for that matter …) 😉
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The show definitely comes to mind when you here the word, Twilight. Do you long for the days of watching the Twilight Zone Rochelle? Or you want to be there? 🙂
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Dear Shelley,
The latter. I long for the more innocent times. The Twilight Zone I can watch anytime I want. I have the box set. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I agree about more innocent times Rochelle.
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My sister and I pretty much had to watch what our parents wanted to watch in the evenings (after school was Spin and Marty or Corky and White Shadow, and if we could squeeze it in before Dad got home and dinner hit the table, American Bandstand). But I admit we SO looked forward to TZ. Unlike the sitcoms and even Ed Sullivan, you never knew what you’d get. Scary, out of this world, comedy, drama. But they always made you think, made you see things in a different way. Rod Serling was a ground-breaker in that respect. OL was okay, but just seemed made to be creepy and that was all.
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Dear Genia,
Rod Serling was indeed a ground-breaker. And yet, he had to fight the network every season. And we’re all glad he won, aren’t we? I love to go back and watch it, still. While some of the productions aren’t as slick as today’s, the messages are still relevant. No remakes have come close to the original black and white show as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yes, I have a group of friends, and once a year we get together to binge-watch the old classics. Standing challenge is who first identifies the episode as it starts. Sort of a nerd version of Super Bowl.
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Now that’s my kind of Superbowl. 😉
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I agree with your television views. Today it should be limited to institutions for the mentally handicapped.
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Dear Leland,
I’m not sure I’d want to foist TV on the already mentally impaired. 😉 Thank you for reading and commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I love where you went with this…fun and nostalgic, recalling those classic programs 🙂
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Dear Avia,
No reinvention of TZ will ever compare with the original. 😀 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I SO agree–they pale in comparison 🙂
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