Sliders just makes me sad. Probably the most ruined scifi series I have ever seen in my life, making the prequel trilogy look acceptable.
It's really good when you just pretend that it got axed the show before they kill off Arturo.
Speaking of Axed things, I really need to buy Earth 2. Probably doesn't hold up as well as my memories though.
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Yeah, I always saw Space: Above and Beyond as a Wing Commander TV series, it was pretty good. It went a full season before it was cancelled - I searched for years for the season on DVD, got it a while back, was so stoked then started seeing it everywhere. :P
I'm not sure it counts as sci-fi, but The Pretender is pretty great. I bought all four seasons a few weeks ago, just watched the first bit of season 4.
B5 the whole series was on the amazon goldbox and I'm kinda pissed at myself for not getting it. I could use a nice long show to invest in.
It may have low rent production values, frequently shoddy dialog and worse acting but damn if it isn't my favourite sci-fi series. Plus it invented arc based TV series. Would certainly be top of my list to watch.
Amazon UK have the complete Babylon 5 collection for around $80. It's one of the only long-running sci-fi shows I haven't ever seen a single episode of. Does it hold up at all?
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
If you can forgive the issues mentioned above you and make it through S1 then yes. The overarching storyline and character development are really good.
That said, I've never seen the last season. I was just told to watch the final 1 or 2 episodes. Is the rest worth watching?
B5 especially seasons 2-4 are some of the best sci-fi TV made. Season 1 has its moments and its really important since it sets up 2-4. 5 was kind of wait were not canceled! Woo! 5 has it moments, aka anything with Bester.
Space Above and Beyond was a show that cut short so they kind of rushed the ending. Some of the best episodes in a sci-fi war show ever though. Had some amazing episodes. The Christmas one was is one I always remember best.
Also votes for Fringe, Lost, BSG and Dr.Who(the new stuff). Also if you like Dr.Who Torchwood was really entertaining and is kind of a spinoff. DS9 is pretty good as well. Oh and Earth:Final Conflict for the first few seasons was a pretty good show.
Torchwood series 1 was crap. So bad that I've never even wanted to watch series 2, despite some people saying it was good (other people say it wasn't, which didn't help).
Earth Final Conflict was ok fir the first season, but then they got rid of the main character and introduced a new one and the show changed completely and it was terrible. Then for the last season they got rid of the main villain and introduced a new one that made no sense.
Lost was fantasy, not science-fiction. Science-fiction has to have science, or pseudo-science (Star Trek), or at least pay lip service to the fact some kind of science is happening in the background (the new BSG). When it's all based on magic, it's fantasy.
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ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
Torchwood series 1 was crap. So bad that I've never even wanted to watch series 2, despite some people saying it was good (other people say it wasn't, which didn't help).
Earth Final Conflict was ok fir the first season, but then they got rid of the main character and introduced a new one and the show changed completely and it was terrible. Then for the last season they got rid of the main villain and introduced a new one that made no sense.
Lost was fantasy, not science-fiction. Science-fiction has to have science, or pseudo-science (Star Trek), or at least pay lip service to the fact some kind of science is happening in the background (the new BSG). When it's all based on magic, it's fantasy.
I have to agree with you on Earth Final Conflict. It had some potential but was then driven into the damn ground.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
Earth Final Conflict seasons 2 and 3 were good even if the main character changed. Didn't stop it from being a good show. The end I said was bad didn't I?
I enjoyed Torchwood series 1 and 2. Each their own.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
We should argue this in the Lost thread but...
Up until the end no one knew if it was science or magic. There was more sci-fi than fantasy. And ever heard of sci-fi with some fantasy put into it? Its an entire genre. So it was was sci-fi. It gets marked as sci-fi and the show for the most part is sci-fi.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
We should argue this in the Lost thread but...
Up until the end no one knew if it was science or magic. There was more sci-fi than fantasy. And ever heard of sci-fi with some fantasy put into it? Its an entire genre. So it was was sci-fi. It gets marked as sci-fi and the show for the most part is sci-fi.
Meh, I gave up on the Lost thread when any poster saying they didn't like something or even that they liked it but assigned it a different interpretation than the official one was instantly attacked and ridiculed.
But all this is getting off-topic, so I'll drop it now.
For good sci-fi... no one mentioned Star Trek: The Next Generation yet. Seasons 1 and 2 were weak and it's completely episodic and has no story arc whatsoever beyond an occasional recurring character, but it's still pretty overall good.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
We should argue this in the Lost thread but...
Up until the end no one knew if it was science or magic. There was more sci-fi than fantasy. And ever heard of sci-fi with some fantasy put into it? Its an entire genre. So it was was sci-fi. It gets marked as sci-fi and the show for the most part is sci-fi.
Lets not ruin the thread with lost infighting.
I have to agree with Richy on Earth Final Conflict. Had a great concept and the first season was pretty good, but everything after that was horrible.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
We should argue this in the Lost thread but...
Up until the end no one knew if it was science or magic. There was more sci-fi than fantasy. And ever heard of sci-fi with some fantasy put into it? Its an entire genre. So it was was sci-fi. It gets marked as sci-fi and the show for the most part is sci-fi.
Meh, I gave up on the Lost thread when any poster saying they didn't like something or even that they liked it but assigned it a different interpretation than the official one was instantly attacked and ridiculed.
But all this is getting off-topic, so I'll drop it now.
For good sci-fi... no one mentioned Star Trek: The Next Generation yet. Seasons 1 and 2 were weak and it's completely episodic and has no story arc whatsoever beyond an occasional recurring character, but it's still pretty overall good.
If your going to go Star Trek I think DS9 is the superior series (and the next generation is not much cheaper then DS9)
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
Well the original request was for space opera. I never watched the pretender, but I am pretty sure he did not fly in outer space (unless there is an episode where he pretended to be an astronaut).
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
Well the original request was for space opera. I never watched the pretender, but I am pretty sure he did not fly in outer space (unless there is an episode where he pretended to be an astronaut).
Ohhh. I missed that part of the OP and kinda went with the 'sci-fi' thing. My apologies.
Ugh...I so wanted to like Earth Final Conflict. I loved the character of Boone and I really liked the idea of his scrill arm weapon/bio-engineered animal. It had such potential.
Well the original request was for space opera. I never watched the pretender, but I am pretty sure he did not fly in outer space (unless there is an episode where he pretended to be an astronaut).
Ohhh. I missed that part of the OP and kinda went with the 'sci-fi' thing. My apologies.
I was going to mention Seven Days here, but A) it never really found its footing, and it's not space opera.
Well, technically Frank Parker goes into space. But only technically. Oh! The time travel device is alien-derived.
I'm going to start Red Dwarf shortly, seeing as it's available on netflix's streaming service. Why B5 isn't is unknown to me, and is deeply annoying.
Having just finished watching Firefly for the first time, I would definitely say it deserves watching. Maybe not owning, but definitely watching.
I'd wager the worship has to do with there being so little amount of show to love, as opposed to SG-1, for example, which arguably went on up to twice as long as it should have (though the "rebooted" plot with Mitchell and the Ori would have been nice to see out).
And I'll drop another vote for Futurama. It's animated, but it's a pretty darn good show.
Sliders just makes me sad. Probably the most ruined scifi series I have ever seen in my life, making the prequel trilogy look acceptable.
One of the final episodes of the X-Files had waltzing zombies. That show sank even lower considering what it was at its peak.
Is that old Alien Nation show considered sci-fi?
As much as I like Alien Nation, the racism allegory gets tiring after awhile. It's like watching a whole series based on District 9 where they hammer in "Prawns = Black folk" every episode.
Torchwood series 1 was crap. So bad that I've never even wanted to watch series 2, despite some people saying it was good (other people say it wasn't, which didn't help).
Earth Final Conflict was ok fir the first season, but then they got rid of the main character and introduced a new one and the show changed completely and it was terrible. Then for the last season they got rid of the main villain and introduced a new one that made no sense.
Lost was fantasy, not science-fiction. Science-fiction has to have science, or pseudo-science (Star Trek), or at least pay lip service to the fact some kind of science is happening in the background (the new BSG). When it's all based on magic, it's fantasy.
Series 2 of torchwood was better than Series 1, but still not really must-see TV.
Children of Earth, on the other hand, was fantastic.
Richy I disagree with you on Lost. I guess the whole physicist who is obsessed with time travel. In fact the Dharma Initiative. The end, well if they haven't seen no reason to spoil it. But that is the only part you get it right I would say.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
it turns out the very thing they were trying to study scientifically was magic, and magic was causing all weird stuff on the island, and the characters' motivations were to protect/destroy the magic.
Hence, it falls squarely in the realm of fantasy, not science-fiction.
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
This is incorrect. The energy in the show wasn't magic. It was an electromagnetic anomaly that was interpreted by ancient people to be a 'magical' light. In the lost universe science interprets it as a quantum/electromagnetic phenomenon, albeit one not completely understood even by modern standards. It even has a defined power set.
Earth final conflict was such a shame. I'd always wanted to watch a story about first contact with an advanced species but yeah, as said after the first season they really dropped the ball. It wasn't even recognizable in the final season.
Ugh...I so wanted to like Earth Final Conflict. I loved the character of Boone and I really liked the idea of his scrill arm weapon/bio-engineered animal. It had such potential.
S1 and S2 were good. The main character change worked ok, imo. It was starting to show some cracks, but it was still good. After that though, it started going downhill. I don't know what happened there. And then 5th season was utter shit.
But yeah, such a great fucking premise. Could really use a BSG style reboot.
Andromeda was also a great premise, but that show was only ok from the start and went downhill even faster.
Oh shit someone else liked that show? Hi5, my man.
It's available on Hulu if you're in the States.
It's available on my dvds.
But seriously. Such a fun show. Convoluted storyline and episodic plots. I think the "mystery within a mystery" story style was ahead of it's time, really.
Ugh...I so wanted to like Earth Final Conflict. I loved the character of Boone and I really liked the idea of his scrill arm weapon/bio-engineered animal. It had such potential.
S1 and S2 were good. The main character change worked ok, imo. It was starting to show some cracks, but it was still good. After that though, it started going downhill. I don't know what happened there. And then 5th season was utter shit.
But yeah, such a great fucking premise. Could really use a BSG style reboot.
Andromeda was also a great premise, but that show was only ok from the start and went downhill even faster.
Andromeda on the second or was it third season had a good run for a while. It was entertaining though light. The blue chick was awesome.
Ugh...I so wanted to like Earth Final Conflict. I loved the character of Boone and I really liked the idea of his scrill arm weapon/bio-engineered animal. It had such potential.
S1 and S2 were good. The main character change worked ok, imo. It was starting to show some cracks, but it was still good. After that though, it started going downhill. I don't know what happened there. And then 5th season was utter shit.
But yeah, such a great fucking premise. Could really use a BSG style reboot.
Andromeda was also a great premise, but that show was only ok from the start and went downhill even faster.
Andromeda on the second or was it third season had a good run for a while. It was entertaining though light. The blue chick was awesome.
Andromeda introduced me to Lexa Doig, so there is that ..I remember catching an episode for the first time and consulting the interwebs for the backstory. I liked the idea that it was Star-Trek-ish..but instead of humans being dominant...humanity was the aliens of the week in a way. Problem is...the show was nothing like that.
Which reminds me, if they're ever going to do another Trek series (and I hope they never do) They really should have an alien captain and make the series less human-centric. Hell they probably could have done a spin off series about Commander Shran from Enterprise and it would have been far better
I loved the hell out of that show when I was a kid (my favorite show of all time), so much so that I bought the DVD set.
The pilot is still great and there is some decent episodes after the pilot (including the series finale), but they are far far outnumbered by the outright terrible episodes. It was a literal grind to make my way through that DVD set.
edit: The show had 27 episodes in one season which is far far too many. The writers were so bankrupt for ideas by the end that they threw in an Elvis impersonator a good 40-50 years before Elvis was ever born and that was one of there better ideas.
Pete Hutter (and his piece) are still one of my favorite villians. They killed him off in almost every episode he was in only to have him in his next appearance give the most ridiculous explanation of how he survived.
Also the new series of Doctor Who (2005 and onwards).
If you like SG-1, Stargate Atlantis has it's moments. Though season 1 is probably the best.
Bullshit. He must own all of it. Especially the parts with the scarf.
It's been a long day, and I'm tired, so maybe I'm not scanning well. But, scarf?
Oh. Thought you were talking about Atlantis there. :P
Well he may be better off starting with the new Who before getting more heavily invested.
The new Who is a good starting point, but the older stuff holds up if you can adapt to the production values, and the series invented an astonishing number of cliches that became better-known through other series.
Things arguably inspired by/stolen from old Doctor Who include The Matrix, The Borg, Skynet and an awful lot of random Star Trek technobabble, including the famous "reverse the polarity" nonsense.
Speaking of Axed things, I really need to buy Earth 2. Probably doesn't hold up as well as my memories though.
Ooh, Earth 2. I remember liking that, but I can barely remember it.
It's a real shame that there aren't more science fiction shows. The whole genre is a pretty big gamble for companies, it feels like.
Well it's pretty expansive to produce: you need sophisticated interior sets, exterior sets that look alien, and tons of makeup artists. And all that for a show that still suffer from prejudice as a "nerd's show", despite Sci-Fi's best attempts to make it sound cool by renaming itself SyFy.
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Speaking of Axed things, I really need to buy Earth 2. Probably doesn't hold up as well as my memories though.
I'm not sure it counts as sci-fi, but The Pretender is pretty great. I bought all four seasons a few weeks ago, just watched the first bit of season 4.
One of the final episodes of the X-Files had waltzing zombies. That show sank even lower considering what it was at its peak.
Is that old Alien Nation show considered sci-fi?
It may have low rent production values, frequently shoddy dialog and worse acting but damn if it isn't my favourite sci-fi series. Plus it invented arc based TV series. Would certainly be top of my list to watch.
That said, I've never seen the last season. I was just told to watch the final 1 or 2 episodes. Is the rest worth watching?
Space Above and Beyond was a show that cut short so they kind of rushed the ending. Some of the best episodes in a sci-fi war show ever though. Had some amazing episodes. The Christmas one was is one I always remember best.
Also votes for Fringe, Lost, BSG and Dr.Who(the new stuff). Also if you like Dr.Who Torchwood was really entertaining and is kind of a spinoff. DS9 is pretty good as well. Oh and Earth:Final Conflict for the first few seasons was a pretty good show.
Earth Final Conflict was ok fir the first season, but then they got rid of the main character and introduced a new one and the show changed completely and it was terrible. Then for the last season they got rid of the main villain and introduced a new one that made no sense.
Lost was fantasy, not science-fiction. Science-fiction has to have science, or pseudo-science (Star Trek), or at least pay lip service to the fact some kind of science is happening in the background (the new BSG). When it's all based on magic, it's fantasy.
I have to agree with you on Earth Final Conflict. It had some potential but was then driven into the damn ground.
Earth Final Conflict seasons 2 and 3 were good even if the main character changed. Didn't stop it from being a good show. The end I said was bad didn't I?
I enjoyed Torchwood series 1 and 2. Each their own.
There were certainly scientist characters in the show. But that doesn't make it science-fiction. And in fact in the end
For the other two shows, you liked them and I didn't, so like you said to each their own.
We should argue this in the Lost thread but...
Meh, I gave up on the Lost thread when any poster saying they didn't like something or even that they liked it but assigned it a different interpretation than the official one was instantly attacked and ridiculed.
But all this is getting off-topic, so I'll drop it now.
For good sci-fi... no one mentioned Star Trek: The Next Generation yet. Seasons 1 and 2 were weak and it's completely episodic and has no story arc whatsoever beyond an occasional recurring character, but it's still pretty overall good.
Lets not ruin the thread with lost infighting.
I have to agree with Richy on Earth Final Conflict. Had a great concept and the first season was pretty good, but everything after that was horrible.
If your going to go Star Trek I think DS9 is the superior series (and the next generation is not much cheaper then DS9)
Well the original request was for space opera. I never watched the pretender, but I am pretty sure he did not fly in outer space (unless there is an episode where he pretended to be an astronaut).
Ohhh. I missed that part of the OP and kinda went with the 'sci-fi' thing. My apologies.
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I was going to mention Seven Days here, but A) it never really found its footing, and
Well, technically Frank Parker goes into space. But only technically. Oh! The time travel device is alien-derived.
I'm going to start Red Dwarf shortly, seeing as it's available on netflix's streaming service. Why B5 isn't is unknown to me, and is deeply annoying.
Yay! Love for Earth 2 makes me happy. Have fond memories; need to watch it again.
Oh shit someone else liked that show? Hi5, my man.
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It's available on Hulu if you're in the States.
I'd wager the worship has to do with there being so little amount of show to love, as opposed to SG-1, for example, which arguably went on up to twice as long as it should have (though the "rebooted" plot with Mitchell and the Ori would have been nice to see out).
And I'll drop another vote for Futurama. It's animated, but it's a pretty darn good show.
As much as I like Alien Nation, the racism allegory gets tiring after awhile. It's like watching a whole series based on District 9 where they hammer in "Prawns = Black folk" every episode.
Series 2 of torchwood was better than Series 1, but still not really must-see TV.
Children of Earth, on the other hand, was fantastic.
Earth final conflict was such a shame. I'd always wanted to watch a story about first contact with an advanced species but yeah, as said after the first season they really dropped the ball. It wasn't even recognizable in the final season.
S1 and S2 were good. The main character change worked ok, imo. It was starting to show some cracks, but it was still good. After that though, it started going downhill. I don't know what happened there. And then 5th season was utter shit.
But yeah, such a great fucking premise. Could really use a BSG style reboot.
Andromeda was also a great premise, but that show was only ok from the start and went downhill even faster.
It's available on my dvds.
But seriously. Such a fun show. Convoluted storyline and episodic plots. I think the "mystery within a mystery" story style was ahead of it's time, really.
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
Andromeda on the second or was it third season had a good run for a while. It was entertaining though light. The blue chick was awesome.
Bullshit. He must own all of it. Especially the parts with the scarf.
Andromeda introduced me to Lexa Doig, so there is that
Which reminds me, if they're ever going to do another Trek series (and I hope they never do) They really should have an alien captain and make the series less human-centric. Hell they probably could have done a spin off series about Commander Shran from Enterprise and it would have been far better
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I loved the hell out of that show when I was a kid (my favorite show of all time), so much so that I bought the DVD set.
The pilot is still great and there is some decent episodes after the pilot (including the series finale), but they are far far outnumbered by the outright terrible episodes. It was a literal grind to make my way through that DVD set.
edit: The show had 27 episodes in one season which is far far too many. The writers were so bankrupt for ideas by the end that they threw in an Elvis impersonator a good 40-50 years before Elvis was ever born and that was one of there better ideas.
Pete Hutter (and his piece) are still one of my favorite villians. They killed him off in almost every episode he was in only to have him in his next appearance give the most ridiculous explanation of how he survived.
Oh. Thought you were talking about Atlantis there. :P
Well he may be better off starting with the new Who before getting more heavily invested.
Things arguably inspired by/stolen from old Doctor Who include The Matrix, The Borg, Skynet and an awful lot of random Star Trek technobabble, including the famous "reverse the polarity" nonsense.
Ooh, Earth 2. I remember liking that, but I can barely remember it.
It's a real shame that there aren't more science fiction shows. The whole genre is a pretty big gamble for companies, it feels like.
Well it's pretty expansive to produce: you need sophisticated interior sets, exterior sets that look alien, and tons of makeup artists. And all that for a show that still suffer from prejudice as a "nerd's show", despite Sci-Fi's best attempts to make it sound cool by renaming itself SyFy.