Determining what is the best science fiction television series?

[Candlelight]

TZ is good but I wouldn't consider it my favourite by a long shot. It's not even on the radar when I think of top ten shows.

That said... (in no particular order, sorry):

Babylon 5
Blake's 7
Doctor Who
Nu-BSG
Stargate
ST: TNG
ST: VOY
Firefly
Starfleet (X-Bomber)
Red Dwarf

 

[Vendikarr]

Before listing my ten, are we lumping in fantasy shows as well? You say Science Fiction shows, but genre programming usually refers to both Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I just want to head off any arguments of whether Buffy, Angel or other shows on the fantasy side of the spectrum are eligible.

Yes they count. I should said that last night.

Thanks.


1 - Star Trek (no bloody TNG, DS9, Voy or Ent)

2 - The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling version only)

3 - Angel

4 - Star Trek Deep Space Nine

4 - Babylon 5 (DS9 and B5 are a tie in my book)

6 - Firefly

7 - Alien Nation

8 - Doctor Who (revival)

9- The Outer Limits ( the original )

10 - Sliders ( season 1 and first half of Season 2)

 

[Kirkman1987]

1. Star Trek
2.Star Trek DS9
3.Life on Mars (U.K)
4.Firefly
5.Star Trek TNG
6.Twilight Zone
7. The Prisoner
8.Ashes to Ashes
9. X-Files
10. Dr. Who

 

[label]

Can't believe I missed a few from my list. X-Files and Fringe would both be in my top 10.

Have never seen an episode of Dr. Who. Sliders was fair, but wouldn't break my top 10. Forgot about the Twilight Zone as well. Definitely a classic, though I don't think it would break my top 10 now.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

1. Star Trek DS9
2. Farscape
3. LOST
4. Star Trek TNG
5. Life On Mars
6. Doctor Who
7. Babylon 5
8. Star Trek
9. nu BSG
10. Firefly

 

[Admiral_Young]

1.Doctor Who
2.Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
3.Babylon 5
4.Star Trek: The Next Generation
5.Farscape
6.Battlestar Galactica reimagined
7.Torchwood
8.Smallville
9.Firefly
10.Star Trek

 

[AvBaur]

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Babylon 5
3. Firefly
4. Star Trek TNG
5. Star Trek DS9
6. Star Trek TOS
7. Doctor Who
8. Farscape
9. The X-Files
10. Angel

Honorable Mentions:
- Lost, nuBSG (Started great, but turned to shit in the end - which could also be said of of The X-Files.)
- Fringe, ST: Enterprise, Dollhouse (Took too long to become good.)

The Walking Dead is also a great candidate for this list, but 6 episodes aren't really enough to form a definitive opinion.



EDIT: Now that I think about it - if I'm including Buffy and Angel as sci-fi shows, then Being Human, True Blood, and maybe Jekyll, should probably be on there somewhere as well. Oh well, I'm to lazy to reorder the list now...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I don't know that I want to put them in any order, or that I can come up with 10.

• Star Trek
• The Twilight Zone
• Firefly
• Doctor Who (2005-2009)
• Farscape
• The Outer Limits
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer
• Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica
• Star Trek The Next Generation
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

[psikeyhackr]

Oh damn! I forgot Alien Nation. I haven't seen that in so long it completely slipped my mind.

1. Babylon 5
2. Deep Space Nine
3. Twilight Zone
4. Stargate Atlantis
5. Alien Nation
6. ST: Next Generation
7. The Outer Limits 60s
8. The X-Files
9. ST: OS (Star Trek was too 60s in the 60s, Spock was Tonto)
10. Firefly (but I didn't like the Western motif)

Babylon 5 was a REAL Science Fiction show. DS9 was a rip off of B5.

If you watch the original The Cage pilot for Star Trek you will see that the studios did not let Roddenberry do what he really wanted. TNG was probably closer to his original vision but they couldn't have another Vulcan on the bridge. LOL

So now I can make it 10.

It's hard to put them in order. I some ways I liked Alien Nation better than DS9.

psik

 

[Tulaberry whine]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Futurama
Life on Mars (UK Version)
Star Trek
The X-Files
Firefly
Cowboy Bebop

 

[sidious618]

LOST
The X-Files
BSG (Moore's)
Babylon 5
Twin Peaks
Doctor Who
Carnivale
The Twilight Zone
Fringe
Star Trek Deep Space Nine

 

[Vasquez Rocks]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
The X-Files
Supernatural
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Star Trek
Firefly
The Twilight Zone
The Walking Dead
Space: Above and Beyond
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

 

[Greg Cox]

Off the top of my head . . .

1. The Twilight Zone (original)
2. Star Trek: TOS
3. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer
4. Xena: Warrior Princess
5. Farscape
6. Star Trek: TNG
7. The Outer Limits (original)
8. New Doctor Who ( I could never get into the old version)
9. Kolchak: The Night Stalker
10. X-Files

Honorable mentions: DS9, BABYLON-5, new BSG, FIREFLY, LOST, ANGEL. (I really want to list DARK SHADOWS, but I haven't watched it since I was a kid, and I suspect it hasn't aged well).

And I don't care if something is "real" sf or not. Scifi, fantasy, horror . . . it's all the same to me.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I loved the original Night Stalker movie, not so much the TV series. I was tempted to list The Invaders...but I took a deep breath and the moment passed. Nostalgia is sometimes momentarily blinding.

 

[Greg Cox]

I loved the original Night Stalker movie, not so much the TV series. I was tempted to list The Invaders...but I took a deep breath and the moment passed. Nostalgia is sometimes momentarily blinding.

Agreed. That's why I didn't list DARK SHADOWS, despite it being a major part of my childhood.

And, yeah, the original Kolchak tv-movies (scripted by Richard Matheson) were much better than the series, but the show had a goofy charm, a great central character, and has inspired countless successors, including THE X-FILES.

(The less said about the recent remake, the better!)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I notice no props for Irwin Allen here, either.

 

[Greg Cox]

I notice no props for Irwin Allen here, either.

Yeah. Imagine that.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

When I was a little kid I was a big fan of the first two years of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Didn't see the movie until years later.

 

[Greg Cox]

When I was a little kid I was a big fan of the first two years of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. Didn't see the movie until years later.

I liked Time Tunnel as a kid, and even watched Land of the Giants regularly. I have only dim memories of Voyage and Lost in Space.

True story: several years ago, I attended a licensing meeting for the new Lost in Space movie. At the meeting, a studio spokesman (who shall go nameless) grandly declared that there were three great science fiction franchises: Star Trek, Star Wars, and . . . Lost in Space.

Seldom have I had to bite my tongue quite so hard . . . .

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, there are three Godfather movies too.