Science Fiction: Greatest TV Shows Part III

[Tonguez]

How can you forget the Gerry Anderson puppets? Thunderbirds was much more convincing than Space: 1999.

Best non-American SF shows (that have not yet been mentioned)
1. Hitchhhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2. Red Dwarf
3. Survivors (1970's version)
4. Max Headroom
5. Orphan Black
6. Black Mirror
7. Dirk Gently (the British one, starring Steven Mangan)
8. Humans
9. Primeval
10. The Sarah Jane Adventures

I was going to list Red Dwarf too but the rules debarred comedy, I also included Sarah Jane Adventures in Doctor Who
I forgot Primeval but enjoyed its first season

....Automan? Really? Do you want to go into more detail on that one? I am ... confuddled by that choice.

I like the positivity of Automan, the FX for a TV show of the time was great, and the merge of super hero and buddy cop genre very much distilled the zeitgeist of the era whilst still maintaining a self deprecating sense of fun. Sci fi is too often dark and heavy, Automan managed to shine with digital light

 

[nevin]

1 Star trek original
2 Babylon 5
3 Stargate
4 Farscape
5 Dr Who. Used to number 1 but has slipped The last two dr's. Even great actors couldnt save the bad scripts
6. Person of interest
7. Quantum leap
8. warehouse 13
9. Eureka. (In spite terrible last season due to squeazing 2 or 3 seasons Into 5 episodes)
10. Killjoys

Honorable mentions

Space above and beyond
Dark matter
Altered carbon
Flash gordon 2014 series
Andromeda

 

[payn]

I see person of interest popped up again. I tried folks, I really tried, but I couldnt keep going. Every time there was a hint that the show was going to move in a serial direction, it snaps back. The formula is just bland and I cant handle it.

Can somebody Spoiler season 3 on and let me know why the series is considered Sci-Fi and/or why it is great?

 

[nevin]

I see person of interest popped up again. I tried folks, I really tried, but I couldnt keep going. Every time there was a hint that the show was going to move in a serial direction, it snaps back. The formula is just bland and I cant handle it.

Can somebody Spoiler season 3 on and let me know why the series is considered Sci-Fi and/or why it is great?

Just the AI that has achieved full sentience qualifies it as scifi. Not hard core like star trek but still Sci Fi

 

[MarkB]

I see person of interest popped up again. I tried folks, I really tried, but I couldnt keep going. Every time there was a hint that the show was going to move in a serial direction, it snaps back. The formula is just bland and I cant handle it.

Can somebody Spoiler season 3 on and let me know why the series is considered Sci-Fi and/or why it is great?

Basically, "The Machine" is confirmed to be true AI, and there is much exploration of the nature of AI, and in particular of how/if an AI could have any kind of conscience or concern for humanity.

 

[payn]

Just the AI that has achieved full sentience qualifies it as scifi. Not hard core like star trek but still Sci Fi

I suppose. Its hard for me to buy in when POI is basically a police procedural modern version of Renegade starring Lorenzo Llamas.

 

[nevin]

I suppose. Its hard for me to buy in when POI is basically a police procedural modern version of Renegade starring Lorenzo Llamas.

To each his own. It is a good look at how future tech will most likely be used by sociopaths and governments.

 

[Umbran]

Just the AI that has achieved full sentience qualifies it as scifi. Not hard core like star trek but still Sci Fi

"Hard core" is not a meaningful term here.

In addition, it will get confused with the term "hard sci-fi" which denotes how close a work keeps to real-world understanding of science in the time it was written. On that score, Person of Interest is very much more hard sci-fi than Trek is (and I say this as a devoted Trek fan).

 

[Umbran]

I suppose. Its hard for me to buy in when POI is basically a police procedural modern version of Renegade starring Lorenzo Llamas.

So, just a question - how far did you get?

Because the series starts that way. It does eventually leave the episodic procedural behind.

 

[payn]

So, just a question - how far did you get?

Because the series starts that way. It does eventually leave the episodic procedural behind.

I got to season 3, which I was very excited because season 2 started moving away from the mundane crime fighting aspect, but then they hit the reset button in the first few episodes. Once it got to be more of the same, but now with two super soldiers, I gave up.