Top 50 SciFi TV Shows of All Time

[su_liam]

I've only just begun watching the BSG2/NBSG first season. I borrow the DVDs from the library as they come available. I can see the soft ⌧ impression from the intro,"They look, feel, and taste... Human." meh...

I'm still mystified why anyone thought to remake BSG, though. I put the original somewhere between Sliders and Lost In Space. A little below Space:1999. I will say OBSG and Space:1999 had some great spaceship models. Couldn't say that of Lost(In Space.

 

[aramis]

The 4 hours I watched of NBSG were enough to insure that, until my kids are in high-school, I'm NOT going to watch it. It blew even the second chance.

OBSG was a people show, which happened to be set in space, with a fanatically loyal fan-base. NBSG has a nearly non-overlap fan base.

And that is because it isn't the promised "remake" but a "reimagining."

As to model work, OBSG was awesome for its time. Space 1999 was ... uhm... great hardware and lame stories as far as I remember, and I was a KID at the time. I've watched OBSG with my oldest daughter... when she was 3 & 4.

Family friendly is a boon.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Family friendly is a boon.

You and I are definitely different animals.

I took my nine-year-old nephew to see Tears of the Sun when it came out four years ago (he was nine then). You see, he likes playing Operation Flashpoint with his uncle, and when Tears came out, we had to go.

I got some looks bringing him in to the Rated R movie, but, heck, I didn't care. My nephew loved the flick. Thought it was the best he'd ever seen.

I bought him the DVD for his next birthday.

He's 13 now, and we've been watching the new Battlestar together from time to time, when he comes over. He was blown away when the Cylon chick broke the baby's neck in the first episode of the mini-series.

Yeah, I know that's cut from a different cloth, but he's a good kid. Knows right from wrong. Doesn't get into trouble.

And, besides, my parents allowed me to watch anything I wanted to as well. I didn't turn out to be a serial killer or anything. Heck, I graduated Magna-Cum from college and hold down a decent job.

Just different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Heck, I graduated Magna-Cum from college and hold down a decent job.

Hey, just to throw in an OBTrav: all of the Evil Overlords and their Minion Managers are very smart NPCs.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Originally posted by Rhialto the Marvelous:
Does anyone remember a show that (I *think*) was called Time Tunnel? Must have been late 60s/early 70s. Two scientists(?) trapped in a time vortex get dumped into a different period each episode.

I loved that when I was a kid!

 

[Kenposan]

This list is crap. Several shows are fantasy, not sci fi. And everyone's going to have their own opinions based on personal taste.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by robject:
Hey, just to throw in an OBTrav: all of the Evil Overlords and their Minion Managers are very smart NPCs.

Ah-ha-haa-haaa-haaaa-haaa-ahhhhhhhhh. I will destroy you unless you pay one THOUSAND dollar...what? Really? OK.

(clears throat)

Ah-ha-haa-haaa-haaaa-haaa-ahhhhhhhhh. I will destroy you unless you pay one TRILLION dollars...






I never knew I was an NPC.

Explains a lot of things, though.

 

[aramis]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Aramis:
Family friendly is a boon.

You and I are definitely different animals.

I took my nine-year-old nephew to see Tears of the Sun when it came out four years ago (he was nine then). You see, he likes playing Operation Flashpoint with his uncle, and when Tears came out, we had to go.

</font>[/QUOTE]Locally, that could cost you the ability to see them. It's buried in regs, but it is considered neglect by Alaska Office of Children's Services' regulations.

I could lose my job over such. (Teacher.)
If OCS found out, the employee who sold the tickets WOULD lose their job.

Now, I'm not saying you're wrong or right, but I feel obligated (for religious and moral reasons) to restrict my child's viewing. If my foster brother or my brother in law took my child to such a movie, they would not see my child again unsupervised... and they wouldn't get permission to do so.

Of course, I wouldn't go see that movie, myself, anyway.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Now, I'm not saying you're wrong or right, but I feel obligated (for religious and moral reasons) to restrict my child's viewing.

I read my Bible just about every day too (no-kiddin'. I really do.)

Just thought I'd throw that in there. People are complicated, you know.

Of course, I wouldn't go see that movie, myself, anyway.

You missed an exceptional movie then--it was one of the best that came out that year.

 

[Klaus]

Not gonna make any friends here, but, to quote Simon Pegg in Spaced, "Babylon 5 is a big pile of sh*te!"

Having watched it again on DVD last year, along with TNG, UFO, DS9 (my current watch), the arboreal Starhunter, even Space Above and Beyond, and along with the current crop of nBSG and Heroes, it is my definitive opinion that the woeful dialogue and excrable acting in B5 put it in a quality defecit despite the cool ship design, ambitious story arc, and the odd fine character.

B5 is essentially Lord of the Rings in space, with even dialogue plagiarised straight from the Tolkien. Techno mages? Yech. Delen + Sheridan? The most insipid romance this side of wet lettuce (Nora Batty and Compo have shown more passion!). Only 3 decent actors in the whole ensemble. The walls are painted with rag-work - they look like a hippy's house.

Star Wreck - In The Pirkinning, is the show/film B5 could only dream of licking the boots of. That a fan parody could have superiour dialogue, acting, and even drama says it all really.



Now I've established my credentials as a B5-hater (tho hate is too strong, after all, I own it on DVD; it's just that I love the rest) here's my top 10 of all time greatest sci-fi shows (as there's only a bit more than 20 or so none animation ones a top 50 is redundant).

1) new BSG
2) Heroes (and yes it is Sci-fi - genetics, time travel etc, and a distinct lack of irradiated spiders)
3) Firefly
4) Farscape
5) DS9
6) Blakes 7
7) UFO
8) Doctor Who
9) ST: ToS
10) ST: TNG

 

[BillDowns]

Maybe I'm a bit of the wall, but I always liked "Quark", starring Richard Benjamin

 

[Madarin Dude]

No list can go without Quark the clones after all were in it. For that matter for odd ones how about Alf. Better than 3rd rock. The list is weak but hey trying to come up with cool shows that are not on it is fun. UFO can't forget that. Anime I am not a big fan but you gotta have Robotech and Star blazers.

Is quark out on DVD?

 

[Ishmael]

I also remember a show called "hard time on planet earth"

a warrior is so ruthless that he is a war criminal and is given a human body and is sentenced to earth with a computer whatzit to record his incarceration and give dopey advice about how to deal with humans

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

I slogged through the list on the first day and let it percolate...ready for comments?

Comedy and SF should never mix. That is part of what made SF such a laughingstock for years. Certainly there can be comedic elements in an otherwise serious show, but why put the SF label on it if it isn't necessary?
(I HATED Quark!)

One could say the same for shows like the X-Files, CSI, et. al.

It makes me wonder if I am making the definition too narrow, so...

URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction]Science Fiction[/URL]

Now we have more difficulties...
Does Harry Harrison's 'Make Room! Make Room!' qualify as SF? It could be a contemporary story with almost no tweaking. If so, could 'Chinatown' be SF if the story is on a colony?

How about this one...
Could the entire 'Star Wars' saga be made a contemporary story without losing its flavor?
How about the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy?

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

They left out Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!

Perhaps one of the best first attempts at Space Opera that included regular, recurring villains and a far-reaching story arc. Sorta like the great-grand-daddy of "Firefly."

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Originally posted by Dominion Loyalty Officer:
Comedy and SF should never mix.

So, no Hitch-Hiker's Guide, Red Dwarf, Futurama, Dark Star, Galaxy Quest, Men in Black...

 

[Kenposan]

And Farscape. It definitely had its comedic side

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Also from the 1950's...

Atom Squad
July 6, 1953 - January 18, 1954

Buck Rogers
April 15, 1950 - January 30, 1951

Captain Video
June 27, 1949 - April 1, 1955

Captain Z-Ro
December 18, 1955 - June 1956

Commando Cody
July 16, 1955 - October 8, 1955

Flash Gordon
1953 - 1954

Johnny Jupiter
March 31, 1953 - January 30, 1954

Operation Neptune
June 28, 1953 - September 21, 1953

Out There
October 28, 1951 - January 13, 1952

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger
January 20, 1954 - December 1955

Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers
April 18, 1953 - May 29, 1954

Science Fiction Theatre
April 1955 - April 1957

Space Barton (Telecomics)
September 18, 1950 - March 23, 1951

Space Patrol
March 13, 1950 - February 26, 1955

Tales of Tomorrow
August 3, 1951 - June 12, 1953

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
October 2, 1950 - June 25, 1955


(Ripped from the website "Science Fiction On Television In The 1950's" without permission.)

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

Okay, let me post again and give some examples that show my point...

Almost every time comedy is overlaid with a veneer of Sf that veneer is very thin, and applied inconsistently. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun, Alf. etc. ...but I don't call them SF.

SF, like gaming, needs to give you that 'willing suspension of disbelief' so you can immerse yourself in the characters and their situation. Comedies with a SF mask can't do that effectively.

Even a show where they aren't taking themselves very seriously, like The Ice Pirates is enjoyable.

BTW, I saw part of an episode of Farscape where some sort of switch had occurred, so everyone had to wear a photo around their neck so you knew whose spirit was in whose body. Unintentionally hilarious!

Even the Star Trek TOS episode The Trouble With Tribbles was enjoyable, because we knew these characters already. Would that same episode have worked as a stand-alone run on The Outer Limits? . Yt€b

 

[marvo]

Wow, don't these people have anything better to do. This 'list' is one of the worst I have seen. They really had to dredge deep to come up with some of the garbage they listed.

Besides what has already been mentioned, here are some other omissions:

Lexx
UFO
all the other Gerry Anderson shows
Blakes 7
Tomorrow People
If we are including Fantasy then Xena, Conan, Beastmaster and Sheena should be in there too.

STOS may not deserve to be #1 in terms of content, but it does deserve a high spot in regards to it's influence on SF TV. Without it, a lot of those shows would never have existed.