Top 50 Sci-Fi Shows of all Time

[torippu]

Saw this while I was reading ew.com today and figured that it would spur a lively debate:

Boston.com Top 50 Sci-Fi Shows (http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/gallery/topscifishows/)

Most of the shows on this list are quite suspect. Batman with Adam West & Burt Ward? Third Rock from the Sun? How can these shows be on this list while FARSCAPE is excluded? Granted, I'm a latecomer to Farscape (just finished Season 3 last weekend) but there is no way that this show is not in the Top Five!

Feel free to discuss among yourselves...

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[Nate Grey]

The fact that the list has Voyager but not DS9 ANYWHERE makes the whole thing seem kinda pointless. Why did it have shows that are hardly sci-fi AND one season long but not DS9?

[Matt K]

Yeh, this list is very suspect. #50 being Earth Final Conflict which was only good in the 1st season and decent in the 2nd. The rest were awful awful. Of course they only mention the 1st season so who knows. Also Andromeda at #22?? It too had a good first season and a decent second one but they show went downhill fast. I do give them credit for including Nowhere Man a very underrated series.

Okay finishing off the list, Dark Angel at 19? Voyager at 14? How is Voyager @ #14 but DS9 doesn't even make the list?!?! And X-files at #4? That show was good but not that good (especially the later seasons) it deserves to be listed but not in the top 5.

[DDM]

I hope this means VH-1 will not do a list show from this list. Ugh...

[Nate Grey]

Yeh, this list is very suspect. #50 being Earth Final Conflict which was only good in the 1st season and decent in the 2nd.

Well, I thought the first four years of its five year run was good. Yeah, opinion, sure, but the final season was SOOO BAD its ridiculous. I mean film students and up and coming story editors should watch the final season just to understand and spot the various plot holes and continuity errors.

I am kinda surprised Beastmaster didn't make the list, since they were using a very loose definition of Sci-Fi to make some of the other shows fit. Ah well.

The rest were awful awful. Of course they only mention the 1st season so who knows. Also Andromeda at #22?? It too had a good first season and a decent second one but they show went downhill fast.

Yeah, I thought that was VERY odd, too. Voyager at #14 was odder, but still.

I do give them credit for including Nowhere Man a very underrated series.

See, Nowhere Man WAS good, I agree, but its so dang obscure it really shouldn't have made the list. But that still made the list but no DS9?

Okay finishing off the list, Dark Angel at 19? Voyager at 14? How is Voyager @ #14 but DS9 doesn't even make the list?!?! And X-files at #4? That show was good but not that good (especially the later seasons) it deserves to be listed but not in the top 5.

That list just seems very dubious to me. Even if DS9 came in at #50, it still should have been listed, with Andromeda or Voyager right after or not at all. I'm sure other sci-fi mags did it better. Oh, almost forgot: Buffy but no Angel, as well.

[Sanagi]

Like a third of them weren't even sci-fi. Just because nerds like something doesn't mean it's sci-fi.

There's some monumental lapses in good taste going on here, like putting Stargate in the top 10. I mean, sure, it's a decent show, but say to yourself "MST3K, Dr. Who, Twilight Zone, Stargate - which of these doesn't belong?"

Also, I can't help but highlight this quote:

"'Star Trek Voyager' started off slow but ended as one of the better 'Star Trek' spinoffs."

Well, let's just say it's in the top five and leave it at that.

[Nate Grey]

Like a third of them weren't even sci-fi. Just because nerds like something doesn't mean it's sci-fi.

There's some monumental lapses in good taste going on here, like putting Stargate in the top 10. I mean, sure, it's a decent show, but say to yourself "MST3K, Dr. Who, Twilight Zone, Stargate - which of these doesn't belong?"

Also, I can't help but highlight this quote:

"'Star Trek Voyager' started off slow but ended as one of the better 'Star Trek' spinoffs."

Well, let's just say it's in the top five and leave it at that.

Oh, okay, I get it. Bizarro wrote this top 50 list. NOW it all makes sense.

[Stretch Dude]

Two questions:

1. Why the hell is Tales From The Crypt on the list?
2. Why isn't Futurama much higher on the list? Seriously, like at LEAST the Top 15.

[Matt K]

Two questions:

1. Why the hell is Tales From The Crypt on the list?
2. Why isn't Futurama much higher on the list? Seriously, like at LEAST the Top 15.

After seeing 40-50 I stopped bothering with the placement on the list and more weirded out by what actually made the list in the first place. Also Xena but not Hercules? I don't know about anyone else but I though Hercules was better of the two but at the very least if one made it the other should have atleast appeared.

[Nate Grey]

After seeing 40-50 I stopped bothering with the placement on the list and more weirded out by what actually made the list in the first place. Also Xena but not Hercules? I don't know about anyone else but I though Hercules was better of the two but at the very least if one made it the other should have atleast appeared.

Well, I personally thought Xena was better. SLIGHTLY better, I mean it did what we always hope a spinoff will do: surpass the original show. But that's really not the point, neither Xena nor Herc should have been on that list, both are FANTASY. The list didn't say sci-fi/fantasy, it said sci-fi [only]. Its really a top 20 list if you go with the shows that actually WERE sci-fi that were mentioned.

[davids]

And if your going to includ them why not Hercules? Or superboy which was a pretty damn good show. Wonder why it never plays on TV? New outer limits also have had it's moments. Except when they tried to remake the orginals then is sucked big time. I robot and the inherators were far better in the days of glourous black and white! [just better writting with more heart!] DS9 also a missing gem. what about Kocak watch the new version as I type this and I am greatly disapointed. Think I will watch a DVD of the wild wild west first show with doctor Lovless and his henchmen Voltare[richard keel{Jaws}] Dunn as Lovless was a villian with class!

[scyfli]

Like a third of them weren't even sci-fi. Just because nerds like something doesn't mean it's sci-fi.

The only three shows I saw on this list that were not sci-fi, were Xena, The Hitchhiker and Tales from the Crypt (though I suppose it could be argued that Lost is fantasy and not sci-fi).

Science Fiction covers anything that contains an element of speculation about the future, such as the gadgets in Get Smart or The Wild Wild West. Batman's utility belt and Wonder Woman's invisible jet and lasso also qualify their shows for this reason.


There's some monumental lapses in good taste going on here, like putting Stargate in the top 10. I mean, sure, it's a decent show, but say to yourself "MST3K, Dr. Who, Twilight Zone, Stargate - which of these doesn't belong?"


Keep in mind that according to the text this list was put together by more than one person (or an intern they wouldn't give a byline), which would account for a range of personal tastes on the list (I'm sure there was more than one person who wanted their favorite show on the list).

As to your Voyager comment, I agree, it should have been much lower on the list. Certainly lower than DS9, which deserves a spot.

[Nate Grey]

The only three shows I saw on this list that were not sci-fi, were Xena, The Hitchhiker and Tales from the Crypt (though I suppose it could be argued that Lost is fantasy and not sci-fi).

Science Fiction covers anything that contains an element of speculation about the future, such as the gadgets in Get Smart or The Wild Wild West. Batman's utility belt and Wonder Woman's invisible jet and lasso also qualify their shows for this reason.




Keep in mind that according to the text this list was put together by more than one person (or an intern they wouldn't give a byline), which would account for a range of personal tastes on the list (I'm sure there was more than one person who wanted their favorite show on the list).

As to your Voyager comment, I agree, it should have been much lower on the list. Certainly lower than DS9, which deserves a spot.

Scyfli, truly you're a voice of reason, I didn't consider any of that and you could be right. But also, as I'll say yet again and as you pointed out, its not fair DS9 was left off. I wouldn't have minded if it got the lowest spot, but leaving it off completely is unfair. The people behind the show, actors and writers alike put a lot of hard work into that show to make it consistant, thought provoking, and exciting for seven straight years, trying its hardest not to be a TNG clone and succeeded (and Berman and Braga beng hands off helped a LOT, IMO). Maybe it wasn't to everyone's tastes, but it deserves more than to be treated like some bastard child no one likes to talk about.

[Matt K]

Scyfli, truly you're a voice of reason, I didn't consider any of that and you could be right. But also, as I'll say yet again and as you pointed out, its not fair DS9 was left off. I wouldn't have minded if it got the lowest spot, but leaving it off completely is unfair. The people behind the show, actors and writers alike put a lot of hard work into that show to make it consistant, thought provoking, and exciting for seven straight years, trying its hardest not to be a TNG clone and succeeded (and Berman and Braga beng hands off helped a LOT, IMO). Maybe it wasn't to everyone's tastes, but it deserves more than to be treated like some bastard child no one likes to talk about.

It's funny, I've seen most of the Star Trek series (except Enterprise) and the only one I even care to watch in repeats is Deep Space 9. I think it was the best show so far and I'm also disapointed in how often it's ignored (plus how expensive the season sets are).

Also it's not the range of tastes that bothers me, it's how such mediocre shows make a list of the All Time Greatest. In some cases it's like they were stretching to fill the list and yet they missed some great shows. And the top 5 was essentially the same as they tend to be, Star Trek, X-Files, etc. While it's no real skin off my back, it makes you wonder why they even bothered.

[Artemis1]

No.......Ultraman? Darn you Japan for only letting it out in the USA in the 70s and then a couple of episodes in the 90s that were poorly dubbed! HOW DARE YOU!

[Cyke]

I like the fact that Tales from the Crypt and 3rd Rock from the Sun were counted, as sci-fi could include horror (and Tales did have the occasional alien or mad scientist), and 3rd Rock was a great Sci-Comedy. But yes, the fact that Farscape and DS9 aren't on the list while other less quality shows are on it (and fairly high ranking, at that) invalidate the list for me.

[Ryan K]

Top 50 Genre Shows would be a better name for the list. Even then it's complete bs. The exclusion of DS9 and Farscape is just the tip of the iceberg. Buffy at #27?!? Half the shows ahead of it are undebatedly worse (Dark Angel, Andromeda, Voyager). Plus I feel shows like the new Battlestar Galactica and Lost are too high considering how new they are and how much they can %^$# up in coming seasons.

Terrible, terrible list.

[Phrozen]

The fact that the Twilight Zone wasn't in the top three is all I need to know.

[Tadhg]

Doctor Who was on the list, that's all that matters.