I watched the first episode of Sense8. What struck me about it most was the photography. Visually speaking, the show was incredible. Otherwise it seemed like it had problems but also had potential. I might pick it back up.
The top 25 SF TV shows of all time list
- Thread starter RAMA
- Start date
Not surprised you haven't seen The Solarnauts - it was an unscreened pilot, I believe. Made by Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis, who had earlier produced Space Patrol - one of my top 25! Not sure what The Solarnauts would have been like had ti gone to series. It's got some interesting ideas, but in other ways it seems quite cliched, and the production values are very low compared to some of its contemporaries. Unlike Space Patrol, it doesn't seem to be a case where the concepts exceed the limitations of the execution.
I've seen lots of unaired pilots too, so it's odd this one slipped by me.
My impression: It's Michael Bay scifi, non-stop action! Bond in space with code names for names and everything. oddly, I think that sort of show would've done well in the 1960s.
It's also pretty ambitious, lots of model work as opposed matte paintings, etc. The bad guy is painted green but has an alien feel to him. The hallways are all quite spectacular!
RAMA
My partial list, from least fave to favorite:
Dark Matter
Andromeda
Star Cops
Red Dwarf
Doctor Who
The X-Files
The Outer Limits (90's)
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Babylon 5
Space: Above and Beyond
Stargate SG-1
Battlestar Galactica (TOS and nuBSG)
No, Twilight Zone is not here, and no superheros, because I take sci-fi to mean sci-fi and not fantasy. Superheros are fantasy and TZ is drama with elements of all genres.
Dark Matter
Andromeda
Star Cops
Red Dwarf
Doctor Who
The X-Files
The Outer Limits (90's)
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Babylon 5
Space: Above and Beyond
Stargate SG-1
Battlestar Galactica (TOS and nuBSG)
No, Twilight Zone is not here, and no superheros, because I take sci-fi to mean sci-fi and not fantasy. Superheros are fantasy and TZ is drama with elements of all genres.
Superman is basically a tale of how a super-powered alien lives on Earth. Mutants are hypothetical genetic mutations..science based. Iron Man is technology based. Ultron is evolved AI, computer based science. There are superhero dramas that are much more reality bound than some of the stuff they have in BSG, for example..the magical Patrick MacNee aliens/gods.
Scifi is a genre that can have multiple genres within it as well. TOS encapsulated almost all genres into itself.
Agree. Space:1999 Season one was brilliant. Season two was good, but the radical changes
prevented it from being as good as one.
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Who flies without any visible means of providing thrust and lift (and the bodysurfing theory doesn't count). Fantasy.
Except when you count among their number mutants who control the weather with their minds and shoot fireworks from their hands. Fantasy.
Iron Man is a guy in armor. He's a knight. Fantasy.
Fair enough, but Ultron doesn't have his own tv series.
That stuff takes up two episodes out of the original thirteen. BSG is still primarily sci-fi.
Trek is a show about a ship in space exploring planets. It's primarily sci-fi.
My twenty-five in no particular order :
Star Trek:TOS
Star Trek:TAS
Star Trek:TNG
Space:1999
UFO
Twilight Zone(1959-1964)
Ark II
Space Academy
Jason of Star Command
Planet of the Apes(1974-75)
Return to the Planet of the Apes(1975-76) animated series
Battlestar Galactica(1978-1980) original
Lost In Space
Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Flash Gordon(1979-81) animated series
Doctor Who
Fantastic Journey(1976-77)
Starlost
Logan's Run
Sliders
Kolchak:The Night Stalker
Stargate:SG-1
Land Of The Lost
Outer Limits(1963-65)
Star Trek:TOS
Star Trek:TAS
Star Trek:TNG
Space:1999
UFO
Twilight Zone(1959-1964)
Ark II
Space Academy
Jason of Star Command
Planet of the Apes(1974-75)
Return to the Planet of the Apes(1975-76) animated series
Battlestar Galactica(1978-1980) original
Lost In Space
Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Flash Gordon(1979-81) animated series
Doctor Who
Fantastic Journey(1976-77)
Starlost
Logan's Run
Sliders
Kolchak:The Night Stalker
Stargate:SG-1
Land Of The Lost
Outer Limits(1963-65)
Most space oriented scifi wouldn't pass your test, I think. An android with no apparent power source? Fantasy.
Twilight Zone is closer to hard scifi than space operas.
Who says they don't have power sources? Just because the power cells would be no more visible than the batteries in your cell phone doesn't mean the power cells and the batteries don't exist. That's not the same thing as a humanoid guy who can fly without generating thrust. You can put a battery in a machine. Unless Superman has some kind of organic jet pack in his ass, his ability to fly is pure fantasy.
Some episodes, yes, but the series itself is not a purely science fiction series. It's Sci-fi, horror, suspense, fantasy, comedy, western and, overall, drama.
He flies because he's a living solar battery and uses the solar radiation to travel as well as the lesser gravity of earth compared to Krypton. I've also heard he uses his will to change his gravity field to fly. Now this is all likely impossible, but within my definition of science fiction, attempting a scientific explanation, as long as it remains self-consistent works for a SF story. This includes transporters, warp drive, worm hole travel, etc All of which are likely impossible.
Telepathy, mind powers used to be more believable when many shows were made. I think that it is less so today...most people think they are impossible, though they continue to be used. Again, if a superhero uses his natural body heat, modified in some way to create super BTUs, then it can be a consistent, internal scientific explanation, even if it is unlikely.
Iron Man is a man in computer assisted, technological armor. While it is super advanced and does some incredible things, we have in fact developed various armors, exoskeletons and such in the real world, both in the military and out. Some are being marketed, sold and used to help the handicapped. In the near future (20-30 years) nanotech may well make some of the characteristics of Iron Man look quaint by comparison, though I understand one version of the armor is nano-based. Not fantasy.
Ultron has been in at least 2 animated series. Probably more. AI tech is advancing by leaps and bounds.
Star Trek has more tech that is unlikely than likely, by that criteria you use, it most likely should be considered fantasy.
BSG has also had episodes with ships catching on fire in space. Sounds in space. Banking and turning fighters in space. Fantasy??
Telepathy, mind powers used to be more believable when many shows were made. I think that it is less so today...most people think they are impossible, though they continue to be used. Again, if a superhero uses his natural body heat, modified in some way to create super BTUs, then it can be a consistent, internal scientific explanation, even if it is unlikely.
Iron Man is a man in computer assisted, technological armor. While it is super advanced and does some incredible things, we have in fact developed various armors, exoskeletons and such in the real world, both in the military and out. Some are being marketed, sold and used to help the handicapped. In the near future (20-30 years) nanotech may well make some of the characteristics of Iron Man look quaint by comparison, though I understand one version of the armor is nano-based. Not fantasy.
Ultron has been in at least 2 animated series. Probably more. AI tech is advancing by leaps and bounds.
Star Trek has more tech that is unlikely than likely, by that criteria you use, it most likely should be considered fantasy.
BSG has also had episodes with ships catching on fire in space. Sounds in space. Banking and turning fighters in space. Fantasy??
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