TOP TEN SCI-FI SHOWS OF ALL TIME

[Dusty]

There's Newsarama's list.

I like pretty much everything on there, but the lack of a certain Star Trek show is criminal.

My list would look something like this...

1. Doctor Who
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Lost
5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
6. Firefly
7. Quantum Leap
8. The Twilight Zone
9. Star Trek
10. Highlander

[Ayeima]

I wouldn't know where to begin, there are soo many good shows (well I think)...

[Chiclo]

That question definitely makes me think. DS9 without a doubt is the #1.

Definitely on the list would be B5, Lexx, Farscape, TNG, Buffy, Angel and Firefly.

Definitely not on the list - Doctor Who. My wife makes me watch that with her and the thing they can use to most improve the show is more Donna Noble. And to set Rose on fire.

[Rust]

I am confounded as to why Babylon 5 is not on that Newsrama list. It's a fully realized Novel for Television with three dimensional characters and some very thought provoking episodes. Intersections in Real Time (And its follow up Between the Darkness and the Light) went places Chains of Command never dared to.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Honestly Ayeima, there haven't been THAT many good sci-fi shows *lol*

01 ) Doctor WHO
02 ) Firefly (Damn you FOX!)
03 ) Star Trek DS9
04 ) Star Trek TNG
05 ) Star Trek TOS
06 ) The Twilight Zone
07 ) The X-Files
08 ) Quantum Leap
09 ) Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined)
10 ) Farscape

Honorable Mentions: The Other Limits, Space-Above and Beyond (damn you FOX!), LEXX, SPACE 1999, and Babylon 5.

Doctor WHO really straddles a line between Sci-Fi and Sci-Fantasy, but its close enough to count. Similarly, The X-Files like was a combo sci-fi/paranormal show in terms of overall tone, but is also close enough to count. The aforementioned Buffy and Angel are fantasy/horror, not sci-fi, and don't belong at all. As such, their non-appearance is just fine.

[Chiclo]

I am confounded as to why Babylon 5 is not on that Newsrama list. It's a fully realized Novel for Television with three dimensional characters and some very thought provoking episodes. Intersections in Real Time (And its follow up Between the Darkness and the Light) went places Chains of Command never dared to.

War Without End.

[Rust]

I wonder where shows like Unsolved Mysteries would fall. I always adored their paranormal/sci-fi bits as a kid.

[Akitsu]

Hrm... interesting lists.

My list is of course as unique as the rest of yours, it just has some more oddball shows from across the pond.

Akitsu's Best Scifi (with video for the more obscure shows)

1) Twilight Zone. Grandaddy of them all, influencing just about everything that came afterwards. Pure lightning in a bottle anthology series that made you think, and pioneer of such modern staples as the "twist" ending and social commentary disguised as scifi.

2) Doctor Who. A continuous story that manages to change with the times almost like a Time Lord regenerating. Sometimes silly, but overall one of the best despite not always being the best in quality episode to episode.

3) Lexx. What do you get when you take Farscape, GWAR, and Buck Rogers in a blender? Why Lexx of course... a show that can be profound, gross, perverted, and sexy all in the same episode. A show that relishes the season long story arc, psychotic villains, and heroes who're both selfish and selfless... cruel and kind... not to mention alive and undead. In the end it's the show's characters that elevate the show so very high, as each person is a walking contradiction and far more complex than they at first appear to be.



4) Star Trek. While I enjoyed most of the series that came after it, TOS still remains my favorite iteration. Gene was truly a man ahead of his time, and I can watch any episode over and over without getting sick of it.

5) Farscape. The Jim Henson company's donation to televised scifi managed to show a truly alien universe, and how one man in the wrong place at the right time can truly change things for the better. Amazing effects, great creatures, and one of the most unique theme songs make for a very memorable show.

6) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Do I really need to read Vogon poetry at you?



7) The Tripods. This BBC series is based on the classic 1960's novels by Samuel Youd. Only two of the books were adapted to television, but the series has become a cult classic amongst scifi fans... who still want to see the third part all these years later.



Red Dwarf. Science fiction and comedy are like chocolate and peanut butter... but unfortunately most get the mix ratio wrong. The boys from the Dwarf are always entertaining, and thus they steal my number 8 spot.

9) Stargate SG-1. The show that somehow managed to spawn and entire franchise from a single movie, not to mention recycle the two leads of Farscape into their cast in the final seasons. The fact that it's 200th episode parodies most of what's on this list also wins brownie points.



10) Alien Nation. A buddy cop show about a jerk and an alien that focuses on not only the integration of that culture to ours, but on how we're not so different as we first appear. Yet another surprise series that grew out of a single movie, and like the energizer bunny kept going and going and going.

[MrBlud]

Shockingly enough I don't really have a problem with that list.

Drop Firefly for B5 (which really deserves it over a show nobody watched that spawned a film no one saw) and make Star Trek cover all the series and it would just about be perfect.

[Dusty]

Drop Firefly for B5 (which really deserves it over a show nobody watched that spawned a film no one saw) and make Star Trek cover all the series and it would just about be perfect.

Nobody saw Firefly in its original run, sure. But the DVD sales are consistently strong, and the movie made $40 million at the box office. I would argue, at this point in time, as many people know about Firefly as do about Babylon 5.

EDIT: I just went to Amazon to make sure my claim was true, and holy hell. The Firefly Complete Series DVD is #90 on Amazon DVD's TODAY. OF ALL DVD'S. That's a 10 year old TV show that lasted one season.

So yeah, you can make quality comparisons with Babylon 5, but I think the popularity/awareness argument is moot.

[MrBlud]

Well *I* can't as I haven't seen either of them but still...

[Dusty]

There's a reason Firefly has endured despite only being about 15 hours long, and that reason is the quality of the storytelling. I dare anybody to name another genre show that was that good in its first season.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Drop Firefly for B5 (which really deserves it over a show nobody watched that spawned a film no one saw) and make Star Trek cover all the series and it would just about be perfect.

Um, how about "no"?

[Vicious]

Mine...

1. Babylon 5
2. Firefly
3. The Twilight Zone
4. Star Trek
5. Star Trek: TNG

And, um... I never watched BSG, or most other TV sci-fi series, so I can't rank 'em. I did watch the recent "V" series, but that sucked ass.

B5 SHOULD have been on newsarama's list. If anything, I'd take off "X-Files," which went south really fast when it became obvious that Chris Carter had no master plan, and was making it all up as he went along. Straczynski, with B5, actually did have a master plan, and he actually realized it. And that should be rewarded instead of throwing crap at the walls and making things up on the fly.

[Chiclo]

The last show I'd put in my top ten would be the Lone Gunmen. I always identified best with Frohike.