Is TOS the best sci-fi TV American series until 1985?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Grant, Oct 17, 2012.

  1. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    I happen to think that TOS is the best American sci-fi series until 1985 (which is a date I just plucked from thin air)

    What do other people here think?

    If you think TOS was the best sci-fi series up to that time then say what your runner-up is....

    if you don't--what is your choice?

    Lastly, if you want to say an anthology show like Outer Limits etc.--fine, but also list your choice for 'non-anthology'


    By the way, my runner-up is: The Invaders---(IN COLOR!!)
     
  2. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I would say THE TWILIGHT ZONE gives TOS a run for its money. Can't think of a non-anthology show although I'm sure some of our British comrades will nominate DOCTOR WHO . . ..
     
  3. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    ^^^^^

    TLZ does give TOS a run and why do you think I said 'American' show! :lol:

    I am surprised you don't have a show from that 40 yer period that you think was at least very good!
     
  4. Galileo7

    Galileo7 Commodore Commodore

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    TOS is one of the best, definitely, of an extremely short list of good science-fiction television during that period.:vulcan: I would also have to include the original Twilight Zone (anthology) and Space:1999.:beer:
     
  5. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Oops! I missed the "American" part.

    And, yeah, TZ, the original OUTER LIMITS, and TOS pretty much trump all the seventies stuff.
     
  6. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    I know it aired in the US, but Space:1999 was UK produced.

    Yes, the list is short...........

    Time Tunnel
    Land of the Giants
    Lost in Space
    Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
    Planet of the Apes
    Logan's Run
    6 Million Dollar Man
    Bionic Woman
    Buck Rogers
    BattleStar Galactica


    pretty slim pickings
     
  7. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    It gets better if you include the British product: BLAKE'S SEVEN, SAPPHIRE & STEEL, THE PRISONER, and (arguably) THE AVENGERS.
     
  8. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The pickings aren't quite that slim. See also:

    The Invaders
    Fantastic Journey
    V
    The Invisible Man
    The Gemini Man
    Beyond Westworld
    Future Cop
    The Immortal
    The Wild Wild West
    Project UFO
    Salvage One
    Voyagers!

    and more, if you want to reach back into the 50's, like Science Fiction Theater, Captain Video, Rocky Jones, Flash Gordon, Men into Space, and so on.

    Not to mention the comedies like, It's About Time, Quark and others. Plus the super-hero shows like The Incredible Hulk, which I can see not including.

    For my money, Star Trek was the best of the American sci-fi shows. The Twilight Zone was a fantasy anthology with plenty of episodes falling outside the realm of science fiction. I'm used to fantasy technology counting as sci-fi (like transporters and such). However, unexplained, magical things happening that have nothing to do with technology were the order of the day in The Twilight Zone. That, to me, makes TZ a fantasy series, not science fiction.But even if we put it in the sci-fi category, I still revisit Trek a LOT more than TZ.

    But if you look at my top three favorite TV shows ever, you'll probably find my judgment in question:

    Star Trek
    Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
    Space:1999
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2012
  9. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    TZ, being an anthology, is hard to pigeon-hole, but it wasn't strictly fantasy. They did plenty of episodes involving aliens, robots, space explorers, time-travel, nuclear war, other dimensions, and so on. Indeed, several of its most famous episodes were pure sf:

    "They Serve Man," "Time Enough at Last," "Steel," "The Invaders," "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," "Two," "Third from the Sun," "Little Girl Lost," etc.
     
  10. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    I had already mentioned Invaders and by slim pickins I meant any shows that could be considered good. That list is of shows are less famous than the ones i listed.

    So yeah, quality sci-fi was slim pickins in that era.
     
  11. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    V (well the Mini-series and V: The Final Battle) were decent enough, sadly the same can not be said for the series which continued on from them.

    AS for the best US Sci-Fi show upto 1985, Star Trek would seem the obvious choice as it has managed to stay around for over four decades. A fairer criteria might be to say was TOS the best Sci-Fi show of it's era ie. the 1960's. Rather than trying to compare things from decades apart.

    As for British Sci-Fi shows from the same era upto 1985, there are plenty to choose from. But really only one has had the staying power. Whilst some have remained in the public mind others have faded away

    Doctor Who
    The Prisoner
    Terrahawks
    Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
    The Invisible Man
    Survivors
    The Tomorrow People
    The Tripods
    Doomwatch
    Time Slip
    Space 1999
    Sapphire and Steel
    Blake's 7
    The Day of The Triffids
    Department S
    Thunderbirds
    Fireball XL5
    Joe 90

    I could go
     
  12. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    True, but I'm not sure any of those hold a candle to STAR TREK or THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    And is calling Wild Wild West, sci-fi, accurate?

    I know they had gadgets and a few sci-fi concepts thrown in, but c'mon it's a western with some high tech spy nods.

    Also, if you can name an American sci-fi show of the 70s or early 80s that's better than TOS--I'd be happy narrow it to best sci-fi of the 60s.

    But that was my point--nothing before it or 20 years after it, topped it. IMO.
     
  14. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Yeah, I remember griping during the early eighties that the quality of TV sf had gone down since the days of STAR TREK . . . .
     
  15. Grant

    Grant Commodore Commodore

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    and that's a sad commentary on TV sci-fi, in general.

    You have to hand it to Serling, Roddenberry an Stefano--they created better sci-fi on a shoestring, than others did with better tech, bigger budgets and better acceptance of the subject matter by the public, for many years after.
     
  16. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Given that the standard-bearer of TV sf from the 1970s is probably Space: 1999, it's hard to disagree with that assessment. As woeful as a number of 1960s sf shows were (paging anything Irwin Allen ever produced!), compared to sf TV in the 70s, many were classics.
     
  17. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    But is it more a case of there is/was just more of it in certain periods following the cancellation of TOS?

    The more of something that is produced the greater the likelyhood of some it being sub-par.
     
  18. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Well, following Sturgeon's law, the vast majority of television sf would be crap. Still, I think the output during the 60s and 90s was far more interesting than that of either the 70s or the 80s (excluding TNG, although I think the best of that series was produced in the 90s).
     
  19. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    The vast majority of TV is crap period.
     
  20. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Ah, I thought you just mean US sci-fi shows in general (being famous and being good, though, are separate issues). If you mean actually GOOD, then the real list is even shorter than yours. Honestly, much as I love them, the Irwin Allen series can be excluded. So could Planet of the Apes, Logan's Run, Buck Rogers & Battlestar Galactica.

    If you're shooting for simply enjoyable, yes, they'd all be on the list. But quality sci-fi? I don't think the bionic shows would qualify either.