Recommendations of Sci-Fi shows.

BathTubb

I have been out of the loop of Sci-Fi shows for many years. So, I am looking for the best shows out there to watch. I am open to anything. Thanks, in advance.

Esh

Farscape (4 seasons, 88 episodes, and a mini-series to tie it up at the end)
Firefly (1 season and a movie)
Battlestar Galactica (4 seasons, 75 episodes, webisodes, and a few TV movies)

Fantasma

I think it is worth to mention stargate sg1, quite long Sci Fi TV show.

Elin

Doctor Who, start with the 9th Doctor.

Esh

Elin wrote:

Doctor Who, start with the 9th Doctor.

No idea how I forgot this.

LinkSmash

It's already mentioned but definitely Battlestar Galactica (the reimagined series) and Firefly!!!

Chuck isn't too deep into Sci Fi but it references a lot of Sci Fi and all around dorky things. The series just wrapped up on Friday

The 4400 was pretty interesting. Got weird at times but was still definitely worth the watch.

Sliders (up until they go crazy and start replacing so many people including the main star), The Twilight Zone, Quantum Leap... Older titles.

Ermm... As for something new, I've been watching Alcatraz lately. Just started up this year and it's been a bit interesting.

skeldare

It would probably help to know what shows you've seen and how out of the loop you are. Here are some that I can think of:

Doctor Who (anything from the last 5 years or so)
Anything Stargate
Futurama (hey, it counts)

MobiusDoppelganger

I've really been enjoying Warehouse 13, I've also heard good things about Eureka (there is some crossover between the two)

BathTubb

skeldare wrote:

It would probably help to know what shows you've seen and how out of the loop you are. Here are some that I can think of:

Doctor Who (anything from the last 5 years or so)
Anything Stargate
Futurama (hey, it counts)

The only shows I have watched out of all the ones listed so far have been Firefly and Futurama.

MichaelLC

Got to get my vote in for Farscape.

Sometimes a little silly, it really has some incredible stories and a great series-long arc. Just whatever you decide, avoid

pizza and margarita shooters.

sotsog

I'm probably gonna get shit for this but try Frankenhole. I think they explore some pretty humorous multi dimension/ time travel ideas. Obviously cant go wrong with Firefly or Doctor Who either.

Captain Marcus

If you're into anime try Cowboy Bebop. It's better than I thought it would be.

AaronKI

Esh wrote:

Elin wrote:

Doctor Who, start with the 9th Doctor.

No idea how I forgot this.

I just blew through Series 1-6 and all the specials over the last month. It's the best show. Now I'm digging into classic episodes starting with Tom Baker's first season to get my fix.

If you have netflix, you can stream just about everything up to Series 6 with the exception of two missing specials set between Series 4 and 5. (The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead,) The first handful of episodes are a bit rough but it really hits its stride at "The Empty Child."


Firefly is pretty good, too.

TychoCelchuuu

I would second the recommendations for Firefly but it's so good that it will make everything else seem bad in comparison.

Esh

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

I would second the recommendations for Firefly but it's so good that it will make everything else seem bad in comparison.

Well, he said he already saw it, so...

UrQuanLord88

Fringe is missing from the list. I also liked Dollhouse but it is def. weaker than say, Battlestar Galatica

Adus

Fringe is amazing, but you have to get through a lackluster half of a first season before it really takes off. Stick it out and I guarantee you'll be glad you did.

Bagginses

Captain Marcus wrote:

If you're into anime try Cowboy Bebop. It's better than I thought it would be.

That's what you watch if you don't mind anime. If you like anime, you watch Gurren Lagann or Bodacious Space Pirates.

Hewn

This sums up what will happen if you watch Battlestar Galactica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQttrkzWOo4

Gaslight

Tossing in another vote for Farscape. Starts off just decent enough as "modern-day genre savvy Buck Rodgers with space muppets," then from the end of season one the plot really takes off.

Prisca

Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis, and Firefly.

Essee

MobiusDoppelganger wrote:

I've really been enjoying Warehouse 13, I've also heard good things about Eureka (there is some crossover between the two)

Yeah, at the very least the first couple seasons of Warehouse 13 are great (I'm behind on the series, but my mom said it's been slightly less awesome in recent times). If Warehouse 13 counts as sci-fi enough, then Alphas probably also counts (and there's a little overlap with Warehouse 13 there as well, I think?). Fantastic series, looking forward to seeing more.

And yeah, if anime counts, Cowboy Bebop and Gurren Lagann (the first half, anyway) I can personally vouch for, though I think the former is a bit more sci-fi in tone. My personal favorite back in the day (90s) was always Outlaw Star, which is another space opera. My fiance isn't always interested in anime, but I told him to check it out and he had a good time with it. We watched Gurren Lagann together as well, and he loved the first season (as in, first 13 episodes) but we haven't actually finished watching the whole series yet because he didn't like way the second season was going as much.

THEPAIN73

Thirding (or fourthing) Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica.

Netflix has both series up on streaming.

Nobody

MobiusDoppelganger wrote:

I've really been enjoying Warehouse 13, I've also heard good things about Eureka (there is some crossover between the two)

Eureka's pretty decent, there's two things I want to warn people about though:

1. The series is ending with the next season.
2. There was at least one season where they really went overboard with product placement for advertising to the level where I was embarrassed for them and had trouble watching those episodes. They did get better though.

Iceman.USAF

Fringe, anyone? If you liked X-Files it's basically that except not 15 years old.

RadicalTurnip

Seconding Firefly, Farscape, and Sliders (until they started replacing characters).

I was really into BStar, but around the end of the second season I just got fed up with how unrealistic it was (with bad things happening to them, weirdly.) I felt like if things were that bad, they would have simply lost a million times over, instead of just pulling off a "survive" and getting the crap out of dodge...so ymmv with that show, it just annoyed me, although I must admit watching the pilot (which is long and actually somewhat boring) followed immediately by "33 minutes" or whatever it's called was a really cool experience (because you also felt slightly fatigued).

Nobody

Sliders was good for the first couple of seasons, when it was "here's a world where (blah) happened." I'd go as far as Season 3 and finish there.

and Fringe is awesome, highly recommendable.

TychoCelchuuu

Also, I'm not sure how many years counts as "many," but if you haven't seen Babylon 5, I can't recommend it enough. It's basically like if someone took Star Trek and said "that's fine but this is way too optimistic, how about we make a similar show except life is just as horrible in our show as it is in real life."

kuhlmeye

AaronKI wrote:

Esh wrote:

Elin wrote:

Doctor Who, start with the 9th Doctor.

No idea how I forgot this.

I just blew through Series 1-6 and all the specials over the last month. It's the best show. Now I'm digging into classic episodes starting with Tom Baker's first season to get my fix.

If you have netflix, you can stream just about everything up to Series 6 with the exception of two missing specials set between Series 4 and 5. (The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead,) The first handful of episodes are a bit rough but it really hits its stride at "The Empty Child."


Firefly is pretty good, too.

Actually, I just watched "The Next Doctor" last night on Netflix, so...

The rest of this post is all true. I just started watching Dr. Who about a month ago, and I'm starting what Netflix calls the 5th season. It is all fantastic.

Ruckus

Doctor Who/9th Doctor (for the umpteenth time)
Stargate SG-1, as well as the followup movies
Stargate Atlantis (not nearly as good, your mileage may vary, it can be safely ignored)
Eureka (oddly, I enjoy Eureka but could never stand Warehouse 13)
Battlestar Galactica
The Walking Dead (actually Survival-Horror-Drama, but if you like SciFi then this is probably in your wheelhouse as well).

Straygatsby

You didn't mention how many years exactly, so either you're already acquainted with Babylon 5 (as well you should be) or you MUST GO GET IT and everyone in this thread should be chastised accordingly for not mentioning it.

Thanatos

Captain Marcus wrote:

If you're into anime try Cowboy Bebop. It's better than I thought it would be.

Cowboy Bebop is great sci-fi even if you don't like anime.

Brainiac 8

I know these are my personal favorites as a lover of all things sci-fi.

Eureka (the show is hilarious and super entertaining.)
Stargate SG1 (Awesome show)
Star Trek TOS (Kirk for life!)
Smallville (a unique update on the Superman origin that ended up creating a pretty awesome alternate version of the dc universe)
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr (sort of a mixture of western and sci-fi, plus Bruce Campbell)

Mike Danger

To say something that no one else has recommended: Misfits is a show about young offenders doing community service who get superpowers. Season 3 is kind of uneven, but the first 2 seasons are fucking incredible. This is basically the show that Heroes should have been.

Comradebot

How can know one mention Babylon 5 when it comes to great Sci-Fi?

Well, really seasons 2-4... some of season five is solid.

First season... it's pretty bad for the most part.

Sharp10r

Hewn wrote:

This sums up what will happen if you watch Battlestar Galactica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQttrkzWOo4

This is what happened to us...
All of the Star Treks are on Netflix now. I'm going through Voyager. Yes it's campy mixed in with a sickly sweet optimism of many 90s shows, but it's good.
And I don't care what people say. terra Nova was fun and the finale was worth it!

Echo

Less scifi and more "what if": Jericho.

What's life like in a small American town... after nuclear attacks on major American cities?

Another less-known show: Threshold. It got canned after just 13 episodes, but I enjoyed it a lot. I'm convinced this is the show that got Peter Dinklage his role as Tyrion in Game of Thrones, because he's pretty much a modern-day Tyrion in it. Short, smart, snarky and horny.

RadicalTurnip

Yeah...Bab5 was crappy. Granted, I couldn't stomach more than a season and a half...but that show was terrible. I heard great things and I have friends who love it (and maybe I stopped just when it was about to get good) but I felt like Season 1 was worse than Buffy:tVS Season 1...which was also quite terrible.

SilkyNumNuts

Adus wrote:

Fringe is amazing, but you have to get through a lackluster half of a first season before it really takes off. Stick it out and I guarantee you'll be glad you did.

When should it have got better? I'm a quarter of the way into season 2 and it's still pretty bad, and I feel like I'm waiting for something to get good that never will.

Sentry

Going along with some fringe suggestions like Jericho and Walking Dead (two great shows, Jericho though does suffer from cancel and bring-back-itis, especially how quickly they had to wrap up the series. First season is great, second is good), but I absolutely have to suggest American Horror Story which was on FX this Fall. It may be one of the greatest shows I've seen in a long, long time.

Also, for more of a Sci-Fy feel, the first season of Heroes. Then stop.

RadicalTurnip

Sentry wrote:

Also, for more of a Sci-Fy feel, the first season of Heroes. Then stop.

This