Charger's TOP 10 Sci-Fi shows

[Charger]

Few years ago I made a top 10 list of my favourite Sci-Fi shows...

Came across it a while back and thought why not share it here...

10. Earth 2

This unfortunately short lived show from the mid 90s was about a new hope of the human race, a new planet found only 22 lightyears away from earth. Deborah Farentino starred as Devon Adair a mother who tries to save his sons life on this new planet that would offer the cure...I really enjoyed this one, the cast was great and the storylines were captivating. This should have been a long lasting show, it surely had the potential.
 
9. Star Trek: Enterprise

This shows how humans started the space exploration. The events take place several decades before the events of the classic Star Trek. Scott Bakula does an amazing job with the role of Captain Jonathan Archer...whose mission truly is to explore strange new worlds, and to boldy go where no man has gone before. This one remains the last of the Star Trek family and had an unfortunately short run of 4 seasons...had it been able to run for longer I would imagine it could have been something great...And yes, the first ever warp 5 class starship was indeed named Enterprise.

8. Futurama

This does deserve a place on this list eventhough it is a full blown comedy and an animationed one at that! But the story of a deep freezed pizza delivery guy who woke up 2000 years in the future can not be ignored. The show had it all, great characters (Bender anyone), awesome comedy and fierce action to boot. The show was that great that eventhough it was canceled they brought it back after a 5(!!!) year hiatus! Now that has to mean something!

7. Earth: Final Conflict

Earth is visited by an alien race Taelons who seem to be of peace, but all things are not as they seem...William Boone (Played by the brilliant Kevin Kilner) is working for security to the aliens when recruited into an underground resistence who have some knowlage about the Taelons true agendas. Although this show does take place mainly on Earth there is enough of the classic sci-fi feel to it in order to be included on this. Another member of the cast needs to be mentioned here, Lisa Howard who played a pilot named Lily Marquette and a fellow resistance member, she did a really good job on this one...This was created by the great Gene Roddenberry who sadly never got to see this one get done, since the filming of the show started 6 years after his passing.

6. Star Trek

This one probably does not need any introduction...just two words: Kirk and Spock. The show that pretty much started everything Sci-fi on tv....the show that was probably one of the most groundbreaking shows television has ever seen. The cast was pure gold, but without Bill Shatner there would not have been Star Trek...his very unique style of acting soon became legendary...Leonard Nemoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols all became living legends because of their roles on this show...This was it...the new beginning of television...too bad that the value of this show was discovered by the vast audience only after it had already been canceled...it was ahead of it's time...as said, groundbreaking.

5. Babylon 5

10 years after the Earth Minbari war, the Babylon Project was a dream given form. It's goal to prevent another war by creating a place humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully...a port of call, a home away from home for diplomats, entrepreneours and wanderes. Humans and aliens wrapped in 2500000 tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place...but it's our last, best hope for peace...This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations, the year is 2258...the name of the place is BABYLON 5. So begins the saga of one of the most innovative sci-fi shows of the 90s. The story arch of the show is massive, with a lot of different sub plots and bigger than life events...the show in all of its tragedy was also funny and filled with action and great actors...the greatest one of them all being Peter Jurasik...as Londo Mollari...totally unforgettable role...this show was one of the best without a doubt.

4. Battlestar Galactica (2003)

The new version of Battlestar Galactica is space opera at it's finest...the show does not rely on massive space battles (although there are plenty of those as well) but on brilliant character acting...lead by the awesome Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. The battle between the man made Cylons and humans goes to the extreme as the robots all but annihilate the human race...only a small group of humans manage to escape in a handful of ships lead by the Battlestar class ship Galactica...and they are in search of a new home...a home called....earth. The show brilliantly unites old greek mythology to a space age technology...the backstory is pure magic. Without a doubt one of the greatest sci-fi (if not even one of the greatest shows period) ever made.

3. Firefly

A space western! Can a concept of a show even possibly be any better? The answer...no. The show was unfortunately cut very short...way too short...and just like with the orignal Star Trek the appreciation for the show increased exponentially after it was already canceled...This lead to a great movie...perhaps even more than one movies...one can hope anyways. The cast was pure gold, Nathan Fillion as Captain Reynolds, the insanely beautiful Summer Glau as River Tam, Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb...and ofcourse Sean Maher, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Alan Tudyk, Ron Glass and Morena Baccarin. This was funny, it was filled with action and a great story arch. This should have been a huge hit...it would have deserved it...more than anything...Had this been on for several seasons, it would have been #1 on my list without a doubt.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation

Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, it's continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations...to boldy go where no one has gone before...Without a doubt the best show of the Star Trek family...the cast lead by the brilliant Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean Luc Picard soon became synonymous with sci-fi...after the huge success of the original shows cast they had pretty huge shoes to fill and they did it...and made it look easy. This show was the new coming of both Star Trek and sci-fi in general into the small screen again. After James T Kirk gave his life to save the new captain it came clear that the Enterprise now had only one captain, on both small and big screen....oh and let's not forget the Borg...



1. Stargate SG1

There was never any doubt about the #1 on this list...It had to be Stargate SG1...it is without a doub THE greatest sci-fi show ever made. Richard Dean Anderson as col. Jack O'Neill...there really isn't anything more that needs to be said. His character alone makes this show #1...not to mention Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson, Amanda Tapping as Major Sam Carter, Christopher Judge as Teal'c, and Don S Davies as General Hammond...pure gold. I for one do not miss Kurt Russell or even the brilliant James Spader from the orginal movie at all! This is one of those rare occations that the tv show wipes it's ass with the movie! The everlasting battle with the alien snakes known as Goa'uld is a sure recipe for awesome entertainment. This is also proven with the fact that this show became the longest running science fiction tv show EVER! EVER! I said it! EVER! Yup...that means something.


There it is, the list of the top 10 Sci-fi shows! It took a while but there it is....phew. Funny how 4 out of the 10 are Gene Roddenberry's shows...he sure new how to make 'em....Well three if you don't count Enterprise, but I do...it is still based on the universe he had created. So all give a big bow to mr. Roddenberry, he deserves it!



 
This list has stood the test of time pretty well...Don't think I'd change a thing actually...

I could also lump the other Stargates into #1 as they are all that good.

There is a great new very Star Trek-y show called The Orville that's created by Seth McFarlane...in a year or so it should have a place on this list.

What are some of your favourite SCI-FI shows? Feel free to talk about 'em here.
 

 

 

[Zzzptm]

Rick and Morty. It zags when you expect a zig and it takes a lot of sci-fi cliches and blows them away. It's anarchic, cynical, paranoid, and just out there.

Adolf Lincoln, for example...

And at its heart, it's a family relationship show in which we get to observe the workings of a family dysfunctional in ways we hadn't imagined before.

Best of all, it avoids tidy resolutions. When solving a problem involves escaping to a parallel universe where you replace versions of yourselves that just got killed, that's not much of a resolution, is it?

[Billy Underdog]

# ( ) Futurama            (now, who were the rest again....  ) I'll have to come back about that.
I do consider Futurama more in vein with Simpsons (ofcourse), South Park and Family Guy (not a huge fan) though, but i get why you consider it Sci-Fi.

[Charger]

Well it is set in future and there's a lot of space travelling so yes...it is sci-fi.

Haven't heard about this Ricky and Morty show...but I don't really follow a lot of animation anymore these days...you did make it sound kind of interesting though...

[Zzzptm]

Rick and Morty clip:

Classic sci-fi: introduce a new technology, show how it works, and then show how it can go very, very wrong.

[Thelemech]

Awesome idea for a thread Charg!! 

My absolute favs are Star Trek The Original Series and Doctor Who - in particular the Tom Baker years.

I received the complete Battlestar Galactica series on Blu Ray for Christmas this past one , but I do not have a Blu Ray player!!  

[Zzzptm]

The reboot of Battlestar Galactica was really awesome stuff, too. The twist with Earth being totally nuked out so they had to go to set up another Earth was so much better than Battlestar Galactica 1980...

[Billy Underdog]

All of a sudden Heroes popped up in my memory today. That must be considered Sci-Fi at sorts, i'd guess, though it's basically just a rework of the Superhero story.
Good in the beginning, but became repetative to the helplessly boring. Maybe that's what would not make it so much Sci-Fi, nothing was ever actually explained.

[Charger]

All of a sudden Heroes popped up in my memory today. That must be considered Sci-Fi at sorts, i'd guess, though it's basically just a rework of the Superhero story.
Good in the beginning, but became repetative to the helplessly boring. Maybe that's what would not make it so much Sci-Fi, nothing was ever actually explained.

I have to check but I think I put Heroes under "the Top 10 Supernatural shows" list...I'll post that one up here at some point too...Great show non the less.

[Zzzptm]

I remember really getting into "Starblazers" when I was a kid. One of the first Anime series to hit the USA. Awesome stuff.

Also "The Six Million Dollar Man". Cheesy, yes. But to an 8-year-old, all that daa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa sound was pure fun.

[Ted Sallis]

Also "The Six Million Dollar Man". Cheesy, yes. But to an 8-year-old, all that daa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa sound was pure fun.

I also started watching The Six Million Dollar Man around the same age.  I agree about it being cheesy.

My all-time favourite TV show is Battlestar Galactica (1978).  I find everything from the original series - from the cast and acting to the stories and effects, etc. - to be top-notch.  Never equaled, much less surpassed IMHO.

Ted

[Typhon]

I'm not much of a sci-fi fan , but last year I did watch The Orville, a type of Star Trek comedy.  I found it both amusing and entertaining with some interesting plots.  And with today's technology, the special effects were superb.  Has anyone else seen it?

[Charger]

I'm not much of a sci-fi fan , but last year I did watch The Orville, a type of Star Trek comedy.  I found it both amusing and entertaining with some interesting plots.  And with today's technology, the special effects were superb.  Has anyone else seen it?

Yes indeed. It's a great show. I had my doubts about it but McFarlane pulled it off nicely...and it also got the approval of Star Trek as both Jonathan Frakes AND Brannon Braga have directed episodes for it which I thought was cool.

[Typhon]

I'm not much of a sci-fi fan , but last year I did watch The Orville, a type of Star Trek comedy.  I found it both amusing and entertaining with some interesting plots.  And with today's technology, the special effects were superb.  Has anyone else seen it?

Yes indeed. It's a great show. I had my doubts about it but McFarlane pulled it off nicely...and it also got the approval of Star Trek as both Jonathan Frakes AND Brannon Braga have directed episodes for it which I thought was cool.

I believe a new season is coming out in the fall.

[Vyn]