No more Firefly - what next?

[Ranger REG]

I always suggest a good long cry after finishing Firefly.

Or drink your sorrow with hard liquor into a drunken stupor.

And then blame the idiot audience who finally got what Firefly is all about after watching the DVD.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Let me chime in with Babylon 5. The first half-season is so-so. But once it gears up, it stays up. (No sick pun intended.)

I've watched the entire series multiple times, and it still hangs together. From halfway through Season One to the end of Season Four is one of the best sci-fi stories ever told on TV. Season Five, while not quite up to par, is still great television.

Be warned, however, that B5 is more or less a single story. Sure, there are some standalone episodes, but by the time you reach Season Three, they're few and far between. It's basically a TV novel.

And G'kar? One of the best character development arcs in the history of cinema, I kid you not.

 

[Evilhalfling]

The dead zone - oh so much better than th movie.

West Wing - yes this moves away from Sci-Fi but it is really good TV
The plots and subplots are terrific, the speed of dialog and its ideas just pull you along. It is the same people and many actors from sportsnight. Sportsnight was good, but West Wing is better.

Alias - my current campaign is loosely baised on the fantastic elements of this show.

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

I would suggest The Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, Stargate: SG-1 and Babylon 5. All very good.

 

[Umbran]

... so that's maybe 3-5 episodes worth of compression.

Note that 3-5 episodes of B5 hold more plot and character development than a quarter to half of a season of most other shows, so that's still a notable squeeze.

 

[Harp]

I highly recommend "Sports Night." It's not scifi or fantasy, but it's one of the best series to ever be on TV. It got screwed around during its 2-3 year run much as "Firefly" did in that it got pre-empted alot by special events and shows. Never developed a big enough audience to draw good ratings. But it has become a cult favorite since the complete DVD set came out.

I'll second the recommendation for "Sports Night". I loved the writing and the characters on the show, and it was certainly given short shrift by whatever network it was on (can't remember now). I'd also submit that the title likely put off a number of viewers who might've mistaken it for an actual sports show, rather than the relationship-driven story surrounding a fake sports show that it was.

Having said all that, I'm kind of glad that the show wrapped up when it did, since it was starting to do that thing I hate where the main characters begin to turn on one another, as happened to some extent in "Northern Exposure". Otherwise, "Sports Night" was a fantastic show.

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

I will chime in with a very hard to find series but one I feel worth the hunt. It is only on PAL I think, though. It's a series the BBC ran back in 79-82 called "Sapphire and Steel." If you want quirkiness, it has it and I loved it to death. I have a friend who has them all on vhs from a friend in London. It stars Joanna Lumley (yes the woman from AbFab but when she was young and hot) and David McCallum (yes the guy from "the man from U.N.C.L.E.").

If you find it, check it out.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

They totally have to change the name. If I went to a movie called "Serenity", I'd expect two hours of puppies and beaches.

Not me, I'm so eagerly awaiting this one, I find myself repeating the mantra, "Serenity now, serenity now..."

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Note that 3-5 episodes of B5 hold more plot and character development than a quarter to half of a season of most other shows, so that's still a notable squeeze.

That`s true... a player of my group lent me the first two B5 seasons, and I bought the 3rd and 4th myself - everytime I watched an episode I believed it was longer than 1 hour (or the 40something they actually are), because of all the things that happened...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Elodan]

** Posted before its time **