Just a note of clarification on the notice that TV frigntened the
movie studios (that should be "frightened")...yes and no. In the beginning
it mainly just frightened radio; Fred Allen (famous for the quote "TV is
called a medium because it is neither rare nor well done") used to sport
a button stating Stamp Out TV. The studios *loved* TV in the beginning;
at the time when TV began to come out, the studios were suffering their
worst years since the Great Depression. Universal Studios and Warner
Bros. practically shut down altogether. The number of films being made
was virtually nil. But they still had all these actors and writers and
directors under contract, chewing up vast amounts of money at a time when
the studios had zip coming in. So they quickly turned many of these
people over toward making TV shows; this is one reason why so many of the
early TV anthology programs had big-name actors...the studios were burning
off expensive contractual obligations.

Also, I'd suggest that serious SF was done prior to Forbidden Planet,
including but not limited to Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, The Day the
Earth Stood Still (still one of the finest such films ever made) and many
others.

jms