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Blake's 7 was brilliant.

Most of the special effects look terrible today, but they did the best they could with a tiny BBC budget (smaller than Doctor Who from what I've heard). Plus there was plenty of unintentional comedy to be had from the incredibly fake monsters and sets that fell apart around the actors.

Of course it's the plot and characters that matter, and Blake's 7 more than made up for it's budget deficiencies with memorable characters and excellent writing. A group of rebels fighting to free the galaxy from an evil dictatorship may seem a bit unoriginal after Star Wars, but Blake's 7 was a genuinely different take on the idea.

It was much darker than most other science fiction series around at the time, with flawed and believable characters rather than the heroes of Buck Rogers and Star Trek. The writers weren't afraid to kill off the protagonists or have them turn tale and run when the going got tough. There was plenty of (usually black) comedy, especially between characters like Vila and Avon, who didn't really share Blake's heroic ambition to free the galaxy from tyranny.

Farscape's probably the nearest thing to Blake's 7, although I remember JM Straczynski mentioning that its darkness and use of story arcs was a big influence on Babylon 5.

Any science fiction fan who hasn't seen it should definitely track it down, as long as Dr Who quality special effects don't put you off.

I agree this was fun, unfortunately I did not see more than 5 shows

oh man, I LOVED Lexx!

oh man, I LOVED Lexx!

Yeah, it was pretty funky. Different in a good way.

But oh man, I LOVED Xenia Seeberg!

;)

It was the strangest series in the best sence of this word. I miss it much...

>Obviously since you left so many series out

Obviously, we can't include everything, just the most known in the last 20 years. Everyone else should vote "other", this is why we put it there.

I can't believe you left out:
1. The Twilight Zone
2. The Outer Limits

Also, how about the series hosted by Ray Bradbury and while maybe not technically a SiFi series, how about "The Prisoner"?

I totally agree, 'The Outer Limits' is an excellent show plus 'Ray Bradbury' is awesome to. 'Tales from the Darkside' was good to, they play them on the SciFi channel sometimes.

"'Tales from the Darkside' was good to, they play them on the SciFi channel sometimes."

Thanks, I forgot about that one. Also, Astounding Stories was pretty good. And, really showing my age now, How about the old Mercury series of SciFi stories on the radio? :-)

Am I the only one that is totally planning their New Years celebrations around the "Twilight Zone" marathon on Sci-Fi? Man, that show is amazing.

sbergman27,

Boy, I was just about ready to pass on commenting because I am 42 and thought immediately of my favorite episode "Doomsday Machine" that you cited. That was one episode that actually made me nervous watching it! So many nights after studying, back to watch Star Trek for the umpteenth time at midnight. I would be yelled at for yelling along with the opening song track by neighbors.

I have probably revealed too much!

This was a great poll. Its good to know I am in good company!

Bob

"""my favorite episode "Doomsday Machine" that you cited"""

Have you seen "In Harm's Way" over at http://newvoyages.com ?

It is closely related to "The Doomsday Machine". In fact, William Windom, who played Commodore Decker in the original, reprises his role in this episode. Also appearing is Laura Goodwin, who played the Captain's Woman, Marlena Moreau, in "Mirror, Mirror".

If you like what the New Voyages guys are doing, you would probably also enjoy the episodes that the Starship Exeter guys are making over at:

http://starshipexeter.com

In fact, I actually prefer the latter. But both groups are doing some fantastic fan fiction!

Edited 2006-12-30 03:06

"""
Also appearing is Laura Goodwin, who played the Captain's Woman, Marlena Moreau, in "Mirror, Mirror".
"""

Just to correct myself, it is actually BarBara Luna who appears, and was also the Captain's woman.

Laura Goodwin was the *author* of the *article* which I consulted to retrieve her name. (Duh!)

BTW, Wikipedia says that BarBara is the correct spelling based upon her official site.

Vista may not be mentioned, but at least Mac OS is. Well, the codename for the original Mac OS for Intel at any rate (Star Trek).

I was happy just to see Babylon 5, seeming as it seems to be the black sheep of the popular Sci-Fi shows. Other good ones include Outer Limits, Sliders, and Quantum Leap. After all, you don't need battling spaceships to have a good story.

Stargate is the best because rather than try to explain how all the fiction fits into science... they just have the guy who asked (O'Neill, What ever General they have, etc) cut them off just when the explanation gets complicated :-)... that is great!!

Stargate's explanations are at least in the right ballpark, in a cut-off, handwaving sort of way. I was completely unable to watch Voyager, because all the "explanations" were jumbles of quantum-mechanics terms used incorrectly.

...O'Neill... cut them off just when the explanation gets complicated

I thoroughly enjoyed the MacGyver TV show, but I find O'Neill's sarcasm and rudeness in Stargate to be very irritating. Also the sarcasm and disregard for scientific explanations is out of character for the position he plays.

But I like the show in spite of that, and the political intrigue of having an evil Senator that wants to shut down the program adds to the plot.

I like most of the shows in the poll, but as far as I', concerned Star Trek wins any SciFi poll.

Regarding the Star Trek series, TNG is probably the best, closely followed by DS9.

Edited 2006-12-29 22:53

i just finished rewatching season 7 of ds9 a few days ago. my god was it great, i know a bit soap opera-y for some (but that was the idea). i may like it more than TNG

I agree. I don't agree with the top 10 episodes though that you mentioned on your blog ;-)

Dave

StarGate does not suffer from either.

"I enjoyed it as a kid, but I wouldn't watch it now."

Yeah, got to second you there. I loved it too when I was younger, KITT was friggin cool. But, having seen an episode of it somewhat recently... it really didn't carry over to now (it was an episode with KITT evil twin car, or something like that). and I can still watch, and _enjoy_ the Smurfs, so it's not just 'cause I've grown up ;-)

Scifi is hardly bad TV. Read the blog post I linked in the previous page for example, as to how TNG can be very educational.

Would you prefer we watch Nascar, or maybe WWE?

Hay now! Some of us Sci-Fi lovers follow NASCAR... and MotoGP/AMA too!

BTW, voted Firefly... I try not to watch Fox TV now because of the fiasco they made with this could've been excellent series.

Haven't seen much Dr. Who, but I'm going to check it out now...

...Futurama!

Yes! I was trying to figure what was missing from the list.

Futurama may be a cartoon, and it may be comedy, but it's clearly made by sci-fi fans.

One of the funniest sci-fi fan gag ever is the episode in which they go rescue the Original Star Trek gang on the forbidden planet. They pick up Leonard Nimoy from his shelf at the "Head in a jar" museum, causing Jonathan Frakes (Ryker from TNG) to slide forward and say "All right! Front row!"

Comedy gold.

It was a dark day when they canceled Farscape.

Even though it was kinda sad, I'm pleased that they wouldn't let the series go on forever. A lot of good shows are ruined that way.
Now I can rewatch the whole thing without skipping episodes or seasons

Farscape is pretty much the only Sci-Fi show that really got me hooked. (depending on what you think is Sci-Fi)

Now that's quality sci-fi!

when was Knight Rider considered Sci-Fi?

Well, it has that computer-controlled, speaking car that can also do many other feats. Sci-fi is much more than just space opera, you know. A major underlying trend in all sci-fi is that it speculates on the possible future relations between humankind and the technology that we can create.

Someone already mentioned The Six Million Dollar Man but I believe that no-one has yet mentioned its spin-off series, The Bionic Woman. These are both in the same category as Knight Rider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Million_Dollar_Man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bionic_Woman

I voted for Knight Rider, too. ;-)

"Nobody remembers Space: 1999?"

Here! Here! *junp* :-) Year 1 or 2? And what about U.F.O. and its predecessors by G. Anderson? (Officially, I don't have to know them because I'm too young - but I know them well and especially like the great soundtrack.)

Quote for the next year: "Don't worry, it can only get worse." (Space: 1999; David Kano; The Testament Of Arkadia)

PS. Voted for Dr. Who (Collin Baker).

Edited 2006-12-30 09:47

Year 1. Year 2 was too American for European taste.

I voted for The X-Files. I have the complete collection, actually. When I was a child I enjoyed watching Knight Rider, but it's too... childish for an adult view, Star Trek is boring after 200 seasons, Stargate? I liked the movie but not the series, and I never seen the other choices :-)

Edited 2006-12-30 10:05

I did cry a few times during ST:Voyager -

When the Year of Hell ended, I think I cried with relief.

At the end of the series, I was sad it was ended, and SO HAPPY they made it home (even though we knew it was coming) - oh, and I was 12 at the time

Some TNG eps have truly affected me - two deeply affected me. IN season 4, episodes 95 and 96 really struck me.

95 - Drumhead - speaks to the slippery slope, eroding civil rights, etc. (Search for Romulan Spy)

96 - Half a Life - Troi's mother finally finds someone - but his society kills people at 60.

Those are two sparse explanations, but scifi, besides futuristic technology etc, is really just a tool to speculate on humanity and the human condition. To critique. To celebrate. Star Trek can be terribly corny, I'll concede this any day. When you get into the pure humanity though, the ideals, then it begins to truly mean something.

That said, I was obsessed with Stargate for YEARS, adore firefly, and simply cannot vote for a favorite.