Best Sci-Fi television series EVAR!
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Shadowdancer
First Post
John Crichton said:
Your rant nailed exactly why I stopped watching Farscape. I loved the show, I just never knew when it was on after season 2. I'd get out of the habit of watching it for a few months, then it would start again, and I'd start watching, but would have already missed 2-3 episodes and I'd be lost. And they didn't show reruns often enough to ever get caught up, so I got frustrated and stopped watching. Hell, they show it in reruns now more often than they ever did when it was still in productions.
Why, oh, why do they let idiots run television networks?
If I had a rocket launcher . . .
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Is there place for a honorable mention of a internationally probably unknown TV series (if we can call it a series, since it had only 7 episodes) ?
In the mit 60s (to the late 60s), the only (i think) German Science Fiction / Space Opera was created and shown on TV: "Raumpatrouille Orion" ("Space Patrol Orion").
It was presented in black and white (unlike Startrek TOS , that aired in the USA approximately at the same time), and featured the stories around the fast spacecruiser (schneller Raumkreuzer) Orion under the command of Cliff Allister McLane and his crew (Tamara Jaggelowsk as Security Officer from the Galactical Security Service, Hasso Sigbjörnsen as Engineer, Mario de Monti as Arms Officer, Helga Lagrelle as Communications and Space Control Officer and Atan Shubashi as Astrogation Officer), approximately in the 30 or 31. century.
The crew fought against the alien invaders called Frogs (because of the noises the produced - the crew first wanted to call them "Frösche" (the german expression), but decided they wanted a more alien feel to the name, hence frogs
), the first alien race ever to make contact with humans.
Even if it is a bit antiquated today (even more than TOS.), the stories were creative and especially new at that time. The characters (including recurring characters besides the main cast) were interesting, and it is still fun and entertaining to see it today.
(Like every Sci FI series, they used common goods and material to create "alien" or "futuristic" sets and designs - if you ever happen to see it, be prepared to see an iron somehow attached to a console on the Orion`s bridge )
Unfortunately, it was never shown in english speaking countries (and thus never had an english version)...
more infos:
http://www.orionspace.de/ww/de/pub/english.htm
Well, this aside, I call the following series my favorites:
Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Farscape, closely followed by The Next Generation, TOS.
Mustrum Ridcully
In the mit 60s (to the late 60s), the only (i think) German Science Fiction / Space Opera was created and shown on TV: "Raumpatrouille Orion" ("Space Patrol Orion").
It was presented in black and white (unlike Startrek TOS , that aired in the USA approximately at the same time), and featured the stories around the fast spacecruiser (schneller Raumkreuzer) Orion under the command of Cliff Allister McLane and his crew (Tamara Jaggelowsk as Security Officer from the Galactical Security Service, Hasso Sigbjörnsen as Engineer, Mario de Monti as Arms Officer, Helga Lagrelle as Communications and Space Control Officer and Atan Shubashi as Astrogation Officer), approximately in the 30 or 31. century.
The crew fought against the alien invaders called Frogs (because of the noises the produced - the crew first wanted to call them "Frösche" (the german expression), but decided they wanted a more alien feel to the name, hence frogs
), the first alien race ever to make contact with humans. Even if it is a bit antiquated today (even more than TOS.), the stories were creative and especially new at that time. The characters (including recurring characters besides the main cast) were interesting, and it is still fun and entertaining to see it today.
(Like every Sci FI series, they used common goods and material to create "alien" or "futuristic" sets and designs - if you ever happen to see it, be prepared to see an iron somehow attached to a console on the Orion`s bridge
)Unfortunately, it was never shown in english speaking countries (and thus never had an english version)...
more infos:
http://www.orionspace.de/ww/de/pub/english.htm
Well, this aside, I call the following series my favorites:
Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Farscape, closely followed by The Next Generation, TOS.
Mustrum Ridcully
Keia
I aim to misbehave
My best sf would be, in order:
Firefly (Some of the best stories and what potential)
Farscape (Groundbreaking - still love 'little yellow bolts of light')
ST: DS9 (from worf's entrance forward)
ST: TNG (2nd season forward)
That said, here's hoping the the best scifi show for me has yet to be seen!
Keia
Firefly (Some of the best stories and what potential)
Farscape (Groundbreaking - still love 'little yellow bolts of light')
ST: DS9 (from worf's entrance forward)
ST: TNG (2nd season forward)
That said, here's hoping the the best scifi show for me has yet to be seen!
Keia
John Crichton
First Post
That is what annoys me so much - NOW they choose to show tons of reruns. *sigh* They practically refused to rerun anything from seasons 3 & 4 when they really needed to get people caught up. Heck, I wanted a few reruns to catch things a second time.Shadowdancer said:Your rant nailed exactly why I stopped watching Farscape. I loved the show, I just never knew when it was on after season 2. I'd get out of the habit of watching it for a few months, then it would start again, and I'd start watching, but would have already missed 2-3 episodes and I'd be lost. And they didn't show reruns often enough to ever get caught up, so I got frustrated and stopped watching. Hell, they show it in reruns now more often than they ever did when it was still in productions.
It was almost like they wanted it to fail. Same with Firefly.
Assenpfeffer
First Post
Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:
The Twilight Zone, which is an enduring classic, with good reason.
The Outer Limits, which also had some really great episodes. More science-fictiony than Twilight Zone.
Dr. Who. Not what I'd call an entirely serious show, but I loved it growing up. Perhaps the greatest camp series in the history of TV.
Star Trek: The Next Generation. A show that had some very good moments despite its many problems, mostly uninteresting characters (the exceptions being Data and Worf,) and total lack of vision. It was generally well-acted but poorly-plotted, with far, far too many deus ex machina Geordi/Wesley technobabble plot resolutions. It's also a very important show for TV in general, since it helped develop much of the system of syndication that made it possible for shows like Hercules, Xena and Highlander to get aired. (The blame for Renegade and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues can also be laid at TNG's feet.) Nevertheless, as science fiction, its quality is comparable to Alf. Its constant smarmy, pipe-to-the-head moralizing set my teeth on edge. (TOS was just as much a morality play, mind - but it usually worked as adventure and as drama better than TNG did, so it wasn't as ham-fisted, and you cared about the characters.)
Highlander: It's sci-fi if you accept the Planet Zeist storyline (There Is No Planet Zeist.)
It did have a few good moments, despite the show's formulaic nature and the producers' unwillingness to break away from the limited concept. The show works better if you see it as a continuity wholly separate from the movies.
My top Five:
5) Farscape. Somewhat overrated, IMO, though it has its moments, and a very good developing storyline. Unusual for a sci-fi show in that it seems not to care too much about universe-building. It also, as far as I'm concerned, gave me little reason whatever to give a damn about the characters, except for Crichton, and he's a whiner.
4) Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The best of the pseudo-Treks, and a good show in its own right. It at least had the good sense to try to shake up the flat, stagnant Trek universe. "Trials and Tribble-ations" salvages much of modern Trek.
3) Stargate SG-1. There's a been a backlash against it, I think, beacuse it's perceived as the show that bumped Farscape off Sci-Fi's lineup, but I consider it by far the superior show. I personally stayed away from it for years beacuse MacGyver's in it. SG-1 does an amazing job of developing and enlarging its core concept and of building a coherent and interesting universe around it. I'm convinced that it would be far more popular if it's hadn't spent its first several season on Showtime where nobody could watch it. The stories make sense, the pysics is consistent with itself, and the stories and acting are rock-solid. The best sci-fi on first-run TV right now, hands-down.
2) Babylon 5. Yes, the acting is weak at times, but not everywhere - and in a few spots, B5's acting blows away anything in any Trek. But it's science fiction, not TV sci-fi, much closer to what we get out of the literary genre than out of television. The overplot is epic. B5 is the only TV show with scenes that give me chills (G'Kar's speech as he's being kicked out the the B5 Council at Londo's insistence... brrr.)
1) Star Trek. There is only one, and it ended in 1969. Everything since has been inferior pseudo-Trek.
I exclude my favorite genre show (Buffy) beacuse it isn't sci-fi. Shows that aren't on the list include Firefly (because I never saw it,) Space: Above and Beyond (a good show I don't think was on long enough to be a great show,) Battlestar Galactica (for similar reasons,) Andromeda, Lost in Space, Enterprise, Voyager and the X-Files (beacuse they're garbage.)
The Twilight Zone, which is an enduring classic, with good reason.
The Outer Limits, which also had some really great episodes. More science-fictiony than Twilight Zone.
Dr. Who. Not what I'd call an entirely serious show, but I loved it growing up. Perhaps the greatest camp series in the history of TV.
Star Trek: The Next Generation. A show that had some very good moments despite its many problems, mostly uninteresting characters (the exceptions being Data and Worf,) and total lack of vision. It was generally well-acted but poorly-plotted, with far, far too many deus ex machina Geordi/Wesley technobabble plot resolutions. It's also a very important show for TV in general, since it helped develop much of the system of syndication that made it possible for shows like Hercules, Xena and Highlander to get aired. (The blame for Renegade and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues can also be laid at TNG's feet.) Nevertheless, as science fiction, its quality is comparable to Alf. Its constant smarmy, pipe-to-the-head moralizing set my teeth on edge. (TOS was just as much a morality play, mind - but it usually worked as adventure and as drama better than TNG did, so it wasn't as ham-fisted, and you cared about the characters.)
Highlander: It's sci-fi if you accept the Planet Zeist storyline (There Is No Planet Zeist.)
It did have a few good moments, despite the show's formulaic nature and the producers' unwillingness to break away from the limited concept. The show works better if you see it as a continuity wholly separate from the movies.My top Five:
5) Farscape. Somewhat overrated, IMO, though it has its moments, and a very good developing storyline. Unusual for a sci-fi show in that it seems not to care too much about universe-building. It also, as far as I'm concerned, gave me little reason whatever to give a damn about the characters, except for Crichton, and he's a whiner.
4) Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The best of the pseudo-Treks, and a good show in its own right. It at least had the good sense to try to shake up the flat, stagnant Trek universe. "Trials and Tribble-ations" salvages much of modern Trek.
3) Stargate SG-1. There's a been a backlash against it, I think, beacuse it's perceived as the show that bumped Farscape off Sci-Fi's lineup, but I consider it by far the superior show. I personally stayed away from it for years beacuse MacGyver's in it. SG-1 does an amazing job of developing and enlarging its core concept and of building a coherent and interesting universe around it. I'm convinced that it would be far more popular if it's hadn't spent its first several season on Showtime where nobody could watch it. The stories make sense, the pysics is consistent with itself, and the stories and acting are rock-solid. The best sci-fi on first-run TV right now, hands-down.
2) Babylon 5. Yes, the acting is weak at times, but not everywhere - and in a few spots, B5's acting blows away anything in any Trek. But it's science fiction, not TV sci-fi, much closer to what we get out of the literary genre than out of television. The overplot is epic. B5 is the only TV show with scenes that give me chills (G'Kar's speech as he's being kicked out the the B5 Council at Londo's insistence... brrr.)
1) Star Trek. There is only one, and it ended in 1969. Everything since has been inferior pseudo-Trek.
I exclude my favorite genre show (Buffy) beacuse it isn't sci-fi. Shows that aren't on the list include Firefly (because I never saw it,) Space: Above and Beyond (a good show I don't think was on long enough to be a great show,) Battlestar Galactica (for similar reasons,) Andromeda, Lost in Space, Enterprise, Voyager and the X-Files (beacuse they're garbage.)
Assenpfeffer said:
I don't think so and ratings seem to go with it, the shows that should feel the lash are Tremors and Scare Tactics (so happy not to see them in any list...yet). SG-1 was already established and helped Farscape.
Assenpfeffer
First Post
Hand of Evil said:I don't think so and ratings seem to go with it, the shows that should feel the lash are Tremors and Scare Tactics (so happy not to see them in any list...yet). SG-1 was already established and helped Farscape.
Possibly it seems that way to me because of the huge outpouring of angst in the wake of Farscape's cancellation, some of which bashed SG-1 as the show that got Farscape's favorable timeslot. Certainly Sci-Fi seems to see SG-1 ratings as better than Farscape's.
I watched Scare Tactics once and found it vaugely amusing. Not enough to go out of my way to watch it again. Tremors - no thanks.
Green Knight
First Post
I like Tremors. Not great sci-fi, but still fun. Though these last couple of episodes in which Burt was nowhere to be seen weren't that great. Which is understandable, since Burt Gummer's the best thing about it.
Really?!? What'd she say? And if you're getting my hopes up for nothing, I will TRACK YOU DOWN and give you a solid kick in the crotch! 
Anyway, my top 3 would have to go to Babylon 5, Farscape, and Stargate SG-1. I've gotten really sick of Star Trek, lately, especially with their ridiculous world (Warp engines are the solution to hunger, disease, and war?
), so I'm quickly becoming disenchanted with it.
But getting back to the top 3, if things go well, then Stargate SG-1 may end up topping B5 and Farscape. Why? In Babylon 5's case, because B5 had a really weak last season. In Farscape's case, because it got cancelled before it could finish up its story arc. Stargate, however, is guaranteed an 8th season (Of course, Farscape was "guaranteed" a 5th season, and look what happened ). So if they're able to tie up all their loose ends from now to then, and can finish off this story with Anubis in a grand fasion, along with setting up Atlantis, then it'd definitely blow B5 and Farscape out of the water.
IMO, of course.
Really?!? What'd she say? And if you're getting my hopes up for nothing, I will TRACK YOU DOWN and give you a solid kick in the crotch!
Anyway, my top 3 would have to go to Babylon 5, Farscape, and Stargate SG-1. I've gotten really sick of Star Trek, lately, especially with their ridiculous world (Warp engines are the solution to hunger, disease, and war?
), so I'm quickly becoming disenchanted with it. But getting back to the top 3, if things go well, then Stargate SG-1 may end up topping B5 and Farscape. Why? In Babylon 5's case, because B5 had a really weak last season. In Farscape's case, because it got cancelled before it could finish up its story arc. Stargate, however, is guaranteed an 8th season (Of course, Farscape was "guaranteed" a 5th season, and look what happened
). So if they're able to tie up all their loose ends from now to then, and can finish off this story with Anubis in a grand fasion, along with setting up Atlantis, then it'd definitely blow B5 and Farscape out of the water. IMO, of course.
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