Best Sci-Fi television series EVAR!

[WizarDru]

Another of the "greatest ever" would have to be Kolchak, The Night Stalker. I don't know if this is really the first real, non-anthology, horror tv series, but it certainly is the most influencial.

I didn't include Kolchak only because I was focusing on Science Fiction, and I view Kolchak as horror/fantasy...but I consider it one of the best series to have ever graced the air waves. Chris Carter pointed to it as a direct influence for the X-files, for example. Kolchak was a very dangerous program when it was new...the original 'Night Stalker' movie was, at the time, the highest rated movie on television. The series was funny, gritty and downright scary, at times.

And really, how many TV shows can you think of that had a Rakshasa, succubi, headless motorcyclist, Coyote Trickster or fashion-model witch coven as villians? All anchored firmly in place by Darren McGavin's stellar performance. Awesome stuff, really.

 

[Psion]

Deposit 2 cents...

(chink... chink...)

Okay guys, TNG was sometimes interesting, but I whenver I watch old episodes of ST:TOS, a certain intelligence shines through that still charms me even today.

Babylon 5 and Farscape each carved their own niches, pushing the space sci-fi show in new directions.

And, of course, who could forget Red Dwarf...

 

[Lost and Damned 2]

oww, where to start

my favourites in no real order

B5 - great stories, with some of the most REALISTIC ship designs ever.

Stargate SG1 - great how they took myths and legends and worked them into a Sci-Fi setting.

Doctor Who - you just have to love Tom Baker's Doctor, esp his line to a Dalek in Gensis of the Daleks "if your the most powerful race in the universe, i'd like to see you follow me in here" (or something like that) as he ducks into an air vent.

Blake's seven - quirky and they killed off all the major characters at the end IIRC, no other series has done that TMK.

Lexx - just plain weird and wacky, and fun to watch too.

Red Dwarf - series one to four was fab, the rest was just getting plain bad.

Transformers the original series - god i loved watching that cartoon in the mornings on wack-a-day....

Robotech - watched this on cable, great epic series and story arcs.

strangely though i've never really liked Star Trek though, too repetive IMBHO.

 

[wiccanWARRIOR]

Seriously,

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine gets a major vote from me as well, for many reasons mentioned above. I also remember being very amused at the writing contrast between DS9 and Voyager, while they were airing simultaneously. On DS9, Sisko and crew would be changing the very course of the Alpha Quadrant's destiny, with major-budget kick-ass space battles aboard the Defiant, or exploring intense, moving character stories between the conflicted, dynamic cast. Meanwhile on Voyager, Janeway would at best be rehashing some old Star Trek plot about space clouds or fighting off...giant bacteria? No comparison.

I'm glad several other people remember Blake's Seven as well. Avon was one of the greatest anti-heroes ever written in SciFi history, with a wit and style that I've blatantly copied into several villains personalities. And Servalan was just too wicked! I would count the minutes until the end of each episode, wondering how long they could hold off her inevitable "surprise" appearance as the *actual* enemy to be outwitted in the plot. (Though how she could have sneaked around so much in those drag-queen's wet-dream costumes they made here wear all the time is beyond me.)

Less seriously,

Did I actually see Space: 1999 on someone's list? I do have more fond memories of it than it probably deserves. (I still have my metal Dinkey Toys Eagle transport model up on my shelf, I now notice. And I'm sure I haven't thrown out that Moonbase: Alpha technical manual that I eagerly ordered from Starlog many decades ago.)

OMG! I just had a repressed flashback. The reason I love the D&D Shifter prestige class so much is because of the alien chick that the wandering moonbase picked up in the second (?) season! (Well, that and Odo, of course). What was her name? Maia? All I remember is that she made shapechanging super-cool, and achieved it on screen without a penny of the BBC's limited special effects budget going to waste. All they did was do this super-fast zoom-in shot into one of her eyeballs, and when they pulled back again, presto! It was the eyeball of a hawk, or wolf, or some weird alien tentacled thingy. Way to go, production department! I suppose this alone should get it an honorable mention.

 

[Asmo]

Star Trek: Voyager.

It was the first Sci-Fi show that I ever saw and also put me into this weird world of alien races and heroes that saves the day.

You should never abandon your first love.

Asmo

 

[Asmo]

double post

 

[Mog Elffoe]

Thundarr the Barbarian is the 'Best Sci-Fi television series EVAR.'
It's a fact.

 

[Turgenev]

Thundarr the Barbarian is the 'Best Sci-Fi television series EVAR.'
It's a fact.

Any series (cartoon or otherwise) that gets Jack "King" Kirby to do the conceptual art/designs gets two thumbs up from me.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[Turgenev]

Starhunter 2300

I've just started watching the second season of Starhunter (also known as Starhunter 2300) and I like what I've seen so far (which is only two episodes). The series has a real Blake's 7 feel to it with a dash of Cowboy Bebop (that's because the main characters are bounty hunters working within our Solar System).

I could never get into the first season of Starhunter, but after two episodes of the second season, I think I'm hooked. Here's a website dedicated to the 2nd season of Starhunter:

http://cliverobertson.free.fr/welcome.htm

On a side note, I'm surprised no one has mention the Tripods series! (just kidding)

Cheers,
Tim

 

[Villano]

I didn't include Kolchak only because I was focusing on Science Fiction, and I view Kolchak as horror/fantasy...but I consider it one of the best series to have ever graced the air waves. Chris Carter pointed to it as a direct influence for the X-files, for example. Kolchak was a very dangerous program when it was new...the original 'Night Stalker' movie was, at the time, the highest rated movie on television. The series was funny, gritty and downright scary, at times.

The zombie episode probably has one of the scariest moments on tv as Kolchak attempted to sew the zombie's lips shut...and it woke up.

And, while I agree with you that it may not qualify as a sci-fi series, it did touch on a few sci-fi topics. Not just the pseudo-sci-fi stuff like the dream monster or the missing links that regenerated (one of my favorites), but straight forward episodes like the invisible alien and Mr. R.I.N.G. (an android).

Boy, thinking of those episodes, you can really see where X-Files came from. The alien and dream monster especially could have been X-Files episodes with only a little rewriting.

BTW, on a serious note, what, no votes for Misfits Of Science or Automan?