What is/was your favourite SciFi series?

SERENITY!!

My coat is brown… yet I love the blue box too.

It’s a tie.

The original Star Trek
Accept no substitutes.

Never saw earth 2—if you count Max Headroom as sciFi, that is my fave, followed by Xfiles, and StarTrek 2nd Generation.

In its time I loved original Star Trek—what else was there?

When I was very young—like 6 or 7—I liked something called Captain Happy and the Space Cadets [probably a local Boston show in the early days of TV] I liked Flash Gordon a little later.

@ejoso- I think you mean Firefly.

BSG (new one, not the original…)

Farscape! Amazing show, and almost no one knows about it. It’s a shame.

@AstroChuck – true – Firefly is correct, and Serenity was the movie. I love/d both!

@BhacSsylan Truly an amazing show. Why didn’t it get much acclaim?

@gemiwing This may just be the muzzled fanfic writer in me, but can you imagine how it would be to keep your brown coat in the blue box?

I can honestly say that I love just about all science fiction. Everything from Forbidden Planet through 2001 read ALL of the books, too! and ending in the sister citadels of Star Wars and Star Trek. I watch SyFy whenever I have the opportunity.
The only sci-fi that I don’t like is Poul Anderson’s stuff. It’s good, but his style just doesn’t engage me. Except for The High Crusade.

Come to think of it, I’ve never read dystopian stuff.

What defines Sci-Fi these days anyway? Because it will determine my choice.

Firefly or Star Trek TNG.

@Nullo I don’t know if the guns would go along… something would have to happen for the crew to leave the guns behind- especially Jayne. I think Kaylee would be the best companion ever though. “You’re a funny little man aren’t ya?” would be said on both sides, I’m sure.

@roundsquare I really don’t know. It did get some acclaim, mostly awards for the story writing and work by Henson’s creature shop, but it’s definitely still in the ‘cult classic’ sector. That’s why they had to cancel it. Production values went over $1 million per episode, and they didn’t have a large enough dedicated following to cover it.

@BhacSsylan Farscape is my mom’s favorite for the same reasons you listed.

Lost in Space. And The Prisoner, though I only saw a couple episodes and was too young to really understand it, the big bubble gum ball that sucked you up inside made a big impression on me.

Another vote for Firefly.

Dark Angel was really my favorite, with a tie for second between Star Trek: Next Generation and Serenity. All very different shows so it doesn’t really seem right to compare them. I really, really liked all of them.

Oh yes thanks @Trillian the Prisoner and Hitchhikers guide to the Universe

@anartist Galaxy. I never got to see the series when I was a kid. I like it now, really. I could recite some Vogon poetry if you’d like. I was talking about Sci fi from my childhood. I think my entire life would have been different had I been exposed to Douglas Adams as a child.

Doctor Who, especially the first few years of the Tom Baker’s tenure, and the 3rd year of David Tennant’s.

Mine is a toss-up between the original Stargate and Stargate: Atlantis. I’m not a huge fan of SG-U, though…

Star Trek TNG. The flavor of the original but with more realistic characters. I could empathize with Jean-Luc Picard (and had the hots for Tasha Yar). Michael Dorn’s character opened up the Klingon world to a depth that Vulcan culture was never explored in the original series and subsequent films.

DS-9 tried to do the same thing, but in a grittier way, coming up a bit short. Voyager was a disaster. I found the various Stargates and X-Files interesting, but I’m a born Trekker. Qa’pLa !!

@Dr_Dredd Thanks for that – SG-U hasn’t reached here yet and now I’m looking forward to it. I just imdb-ed it – I love Robert Carlyle in Trainspotting and the Full Monty – how is he as a SciFi guy?—No spoilers please.)

House.

What?

@zenele Thanks for bringing Jean Luc back as your avatar. The oil coated bird was good, something we should all see but, and the feminist in me wants to grab me by the neck and throttle me for saying this, but I had some trouble taking you seriously as the pretty blonde women, whoever she was. Next time you want to be a pretty blond women try 7 of 9. That I could handle.

What? Am I the lone B-5 (Babylon 5) fan around here. The scope of it was amazing and the way they tied it all up with the epic battle of the competing worldviews of the two forces was really well done.

Farscape is a close second for sheer originality and sense of humor in the oddest places. And I just loved Rygel. What a character !

@zenele LOL. And there you are, ask and yee shall receive. You are now 7 of 9. :)

Temporarily.

Btw – the woman was Cate Blanchette – from another joke (re. Jeruba).

@Trillian a little poetry is always delightful . .
@zenele I too miss Jean Luc [especially since said he looks not unlike you]
@lillycoyote who are the 9? 9 scifi babes? who?

@zenele Oh, I didn’t recognize her. I usually recognize Jeruba’s various incarnation of Cate Blanchette but maybe that is because I expect it from Jeruba.

@anartist Read on.

The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and The X-Files. Loved all of those, though I’m not a big sci-fi fan, so I was more about the episodes dealing with weird situations on earth than I was about space battles and aliens.

Futurama > Doctor Who > X-Files > Firefly > Stargates (excluding Universe)

@Sarcasm Damn – you’re the second one who didn’t like Universe. Is it that bad?

@Sarcasm thanx others i forgot Twilight Zone and Outer Limits and now I can watch them all again online.

@Buttonstc Actually, when it was coming out I wasn’t able to watch it. I’m hoping to start it up soon though.

Also, for this thread, does anime count? If so, I might go with Evangelion. For some reason, when people discuss sci-fi, I never really think of anime straight away.

More votes for The Prisoner, Futurama, and The Twilight Zone.

Yeah, The Twilight Zone. Greatest show ever. It really was/is.

@zenele Um .. It’s not for me. That’s for sure. I’m reluctant to call it bad.
SciFi channel has been aiming to get a more diverse audience lately. This is why they changed to SyFy (‘cause the idea of Science Fiction is scary and nerdy and we don’t want that!). They aimed for the female audience with SGU. It’s all about the stories of the people trapped on the Destiny. Not about epic adventures throughout the galaxy with various alien cultures. Most of the problems on Destiny seem to be resolved by doing jack shit. “Oh no. We’re flying towards a sun. Oh. Crisis averted, Destiny intended to do that. That was a fun episode”.
The past 2 or 3 episodes have been slightly better. Uncoincidentally, they have involved O’neill/Carter/Daniel and factions we’ve encountered in SG-1.

@roundsquare Well, I say that if my Futurama vote counts, then anime should definitely count!

Red Dwarf was great sci-fi comedy. Star Trek meets Monty Python.

Another vote for Dr. Who…that show was an absolute twisted riot!

@zenele Robert Carlyle is okay. As @Sarcasm said, though, just not my cup of tea.

@Buttonstc I forgot about B5! Yes, I loved that one, too. And X-Files. And TNG. And DS9. And Dr. Who…

@aprilsimnel Tom Baker is Doctor Who, accept no substitutes.Would you care for a jelly baby? ;¬}

Firefly.. funny, creative, fun. I’m very sad the series got canceled.

Red Dwarf, X-Files, Firefly, Futurama, Farscape, Lexx.
If you want to include it for certain plot points then add Brisco County Jr.
I used to like Automan as a kid, but find it hard to watch now.
All the Star Treks.
Quantum Leap, although the science fiction was kind of back seat.
SG-1, SG-A. Still working on SG-U
Buck Rogers…
Greatest American Hero
I kind of liked Space:1999
Bionic Man/Woman. I also liked the new Bionic Woman that was on a while ago.
Battlestar Galactica (original). never really watched the new one.
My Favorite Martian. The TV show.
Alien Nation
SeaQuest:DSV
V (old and, I guess, new)
Logan’s Run (it’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I don’t remember much of it but I know I liked it)
Sliders (the show, not the burger)
MST3K

I’ll probably think of more. I’m not counting shows like Reaper, Journeyman, or “horror” and “fantasy” shows.

@MissAnthrope Canceling Firefly was a crime against humanity. However, in the long view, the show ended when it was awesome and didn’t have time to turn awful.

@mrentropy What popular sci-fi don’t you like?

@roundsquare I did not like Babylon 5. I never really got to see Earth 2, so that’s kind of up in the air. I’m really on the fence with SG:U. I did not like it when it started; it was more like a soap opera in space. It’s kind of growing on me, but I really liked the style of SG-1 and SG:A more.

I didn’t like Earth – Final Conflict or Andromeda.

I wasn’t a fan of 3rd Rock From The Sun, if you want to count that.

Oh, I didn’t count superhero shows, either. There’s a few I don’t like.

Not a fan of The Thunderbirds or Dr Who. I’m not sure why I don’t like Dr Who. I haven’t watched it in a long time, though.

Lost In Space I could take or leave.

Didn’t care for Dark Angel. Or M.A.N.T.I.S.
Kind of liked Dollhouse.

I’m not sure where Lost comes in. I can say that despite crash coursing every episode on Hulu I don’t think I’d ever feel the need to watch it again. Ever.

But Sci-Fi/Fantasy is my thing, so I make sure I watch whatever comes on. At least once. And, being a big fan of science fiction, I tend to like what does come on quite a bit.

@roundsquare I guess I should also mention that what I did see of the new Battlestar I didn’t like all that much. Maybe because I watched the original, I don’t know. It also seemed very soap opera to me.

Oh, I didn’t like Battlestar Galactica 1984, either.

It’d be a lot easier if someone could show me a list of all the science fictions shows from 1950 to the present. Then I could pick and choose instead of trying to remember. A lot of this stuff is buried deep in the gray cells.

Oh, and that show that replaced Battlestar Galactica. I saw a couple of episodes and didn’t like it, either.

I love Babylon 5. I didn’t watch it originally but my husband has the DVD of all five years and we’ve watched the whole way through at least four times. It is truly my favorite sci-fi series.

Also near the top – Dr. Who with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennants as the doctors. (Although I could have done without Billie Piper!) I’m interested to see Matt Smith’s take on the role. I bought the first part of the Tom Baker years. We started to watch them but got distracted by the “Torchwood” series!

The closest to my heart is Star Trek: The Next Generation.

After that, Star Trek’s Original Series, The X Files, Battlestar Galactica, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and Quantum Leap.

I am loving Caprica, too, but it’s doubtful whether that will even return to finish the first season, much less reappear for a second.

Galactica, Firefly and all of Star Trek.

@mrentropy The New Galactica is really good. Frakken awesome, in fact.

’-)

I found me a list. Here we go (if my memory holds out)

The Good
ALF – Liked it then, probably not now. (Hulu)
Blake’s 7 – Loved it and would like to see it again
Eureka – Can’t believe I left this off the first list. Love it. (Hulu)
Max Headroom – Liked it
Fringe – Like it (Hulu)
Highwayman – Liked it then, Lord only knows if I could even watch it now
Holmes & Yo-Yo – This is one of the shows that people never believe me when I say it was a show. Loved it then, haven’t seen it in, oh, 33 years.
Quark – Awesome show. Canceled long before it should have been
Journeyman – Found it on Hulu and got to the end before I found it was canceled – three years previously (Hulu)
Knight Rider (Original) – Liked it then. Now… meh (Hulu)
Mork & Mindy – Liked it then, but I had a crush on Pam Dawber.
The Pretender – Liked it (Hulu)
The Prisoner – Liked it. Found a site that was streaming all episodes for a limited time, which was fun.
Project UFO – I swear I remember this show as Project Blue Book. Used to watch it with my dad all the time. This is probably what started me on sci-fi.
Salvage One – Andy Griffith makes a rocket ship out of garbage and flies to the moon. Not many people believe me when I say this was a show, too.
The Sentinal
Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles – Liked it, but not enough to keep watching it
Ultraman – Liked it then. Not so sure now
Warehouse 13 – I’m liking it (Hulu)
Woops! – Loved this show. I think it ran for three episodes.
Wild Wild West – Show, not the movie (as much)

The Bad
Cleopatra 2525 – Not a fan (Hulu)
First Wave – I know I’ve seen it but I don’t remember anything about it. I guess I didn’t like it.
Flash Forward – I’ve watched it all but I’m not upset that it was canceled. (Hulu)
Jason of Star Command – Didn’t like it then, probably wouldn’t like it now.
Knight Rider (new) – Blah. And changing it from a Trans-Am to a Mustang? Sacrilege. (Hulu)
Robocop – Loved the movie, Hated the show.
Space: Above and Beyone – Never got into it
Viper – Love the car, not like the show

@zenele Maybe I’ll try watching it again. The first two episodes bored me so much I actually thought I was punishing myself for something by watching them. If it’s picked up a bit I’ll give it a go.

@mrentropy Next time I expect it in alphabetical order. Just kidding – great job!

@zenele Most of it was because the list I was following was. However, sometimes a show just popped into my head and I wanted to get it on the list in case I forgot about it. I mean, I love Eureka but I somehow managed to forget about it until I saw it on that list. I have a brain made of cheese.

And there’s a bunch of shows that I never did see but wouldn’t mind looking at now. Although there are some shows that I’m positive I watched, but really don’t remember watching. Like Ark II.

I wish we had a sci-fi channel – I’d be watching TV all day.

The new Battlestar Galactica series.

Oh, throw Chuck in there. I like it right now, although I see it going downhill pretty quickly.

@mrentropy I love Chuck – but can that be considered sci-fi? Well, maybe you’re right – the intersect idea?

@zenele Yeah, that’s why I would put in sci-fi. I wouldn’t count Get Smart or Man from U.N.C.L.E. because they are primarily spy-based, but the whole thing with Chuck is the Intersect and that firmly falls into the realm of science fiction. It’s not just a one-episode supporting gadget.

In any event, @mrentropy – it’s one of the few series we have been getting almost at the same time as you – and it’s highly enjoyable – I have really enjoyed each episode. The cast of characters is hysterical – and his dad – what’shiface from Enterprise and Quantum – is really great.

The X-Files (up to about season 6).

@zenele Scott Bakula, yeah. I was happy to see him in there and I’m hoping he manages to be a regular. However, you never, ever, let the romantic leads get together unless you’re ready for the show to end. I really preferred the first season because you could see the attraction but they couldn’t do anything about it and it made it a lot more interesting than the way it is now.

Speak of Scott Bakula I used to love Quantum Leap.

The original Star Trek. Or Doctor Who.

@mrentropy- You are insane. FlashForward was hands down the best new show this season. And there is a huge grassroots campaign to bring it back another season.

@AstroChuck It just didn’t grab me. If it were to come back I’d watch it, but I’m not going to miss it if it doesn’t.

X-Files, Star Trek

An old series or mini-series call “V” was interesting.

and does “jericho” count? That was great.

I love the original Twilight Zone reruns on the SciFi channel( I think “SyFy” is a pretty fucking stupid name).
Tales from the Darkside is pretty cheesy and corny, but I love it too. I’m starting to get into TNG reruns.
I remember when SciFi used to show old school horror movies like “Creepshow” and “Leprechaun” instead of their shitty original movies.

@anartist V was a TV movie or two that was spun off into a series.

@mrentropy I was just joking since you mentioned so many, but good points anyway.

For Lost… I liked it in the beginning but not for its sci-fi ish features. The characters were great… once they moved away from that I stopped watching. (I might hulu my way through it as you did).

Original BSG was just silly. I watched a good amount of it and didn’t like it.

I’m a bit surprised you didn’t like the new BSG. I thought it was one of the best shows I’d ever seen (despite the annoying slowdown in the fourth season). I couldn’t get enough of it. When you say its soap opera ish, what exactly do you mean? Its certainly not the kind of sci-fi that focuses on technology or anything… but the philosophy and characters were great (also the music was excellent).

@roundsquare It may be one of those things I need to watch on DVD and try again. It could be that my mind wasn’t very receptive to it when it first came on.

I liked Firefly, X-files,The Pretender and I think I’m going to like Caprica.

Being Erica, and Kyle XY, which is not unlike Dark Angel.

I don’t know if Aeon Flux counts (The cartoons, not that horrendous movie.) but I choose that.