Top 10 Sci-Fi Tv Shows Poll by Sci Fi Channel

[Andrew_Kearley]

I never really saw it classified as sci-fi before. In bookstores you usually see it in the 'literature' section rather than the 'sci-fi/fantasy' section.

Well, what do bookshops know? I always see "The Children of Men" by PD James in the crime section, when it's clearly science fiction.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I'm never sure with polls like this how they were organized? For instance, could participants vote for anything, or did they have to select from a prepared shortlist? That would immediately skew the results.

Anyway, my list (this week anyway):
1. Doctor Who
2. Blakes 7
3. Space: 1999
4. UFO
5. The Prisoner
6. Sapphire and Steel
7. Quatermass
8. Babylon 5
9. Star Trek
10. Clangers

 

[diankra]

I never really saw it classified as sci-fi before. In bookstores you usually see it in the 'literature' section rather than the 'sci-fi/fantasy' section.

Well, what do bookshops know? I always see "The Children of Men" by PD James in the crime section, when it's clearly science fiction.

It is established wisdom that there isn't a single good SF book: as soon as the literary establishment decide they like an SF novel, it gets moved out of the SF section... (and the author probably gives a quote about how it's not SF which gets them into ansible's Squids-in-Space section - google ansible if you need an explanation of that).

There's an old clerihew about this syndrome, which runs something like...
"Sci-fi's no good, the critics cry."
"it's good, you say? Then it's not sci-fi."

 

[zog]

1. Farscape (pretty much by a vast margin, with ackowledgment to ST, without which . . . etc. etc.)


2. Star Trek
3. Babylon 5
4. DS9 (basically tied with B5)
5. Twilight Zone
6. ST: Next Gen.
7. Stargate SG-1 (10 years offered a lot of decent stories)
8. Dr. Who (great, but barely a notch above a kid's show, )
9. The Prisoner
10. [insert any other superior genre/horror show here: X-Files, Buffy, etc.]

"Top" = "favorite", for my list. I won't presume to call anything "top."

Firefly, honorable mention, but it lasted half a season (blame Fox or whomever, no matter), so it has no place on any of my lists (like Odyssey 5, etc). I gave up on nuBSG mid season 2, when it became more soap than scifi, so not enough actual science fiction to make any of my top 10 lists except, perhaps, Top 10 Melodrama series.

 

[Admiral2]

It was original, unexpected, and different at a time when that was needed in the SF landscape.

Yes, but original, unexpected and different does not automatically equal "entertaining" or "good". By that token, a sci-fi show set in an undersea lab populated solely by Amish people who break into Swahili at random points of the dialogue should do just as well. Do you seriously think it would?

Plus the underdog message of the show combined with its roughshod treatment by the network created a sort of "perfect storm" among SF fans.

I'm a SF fan, and I like rooting for the underdog. How come I didn't get hit by this "perfect storm"? Was I too far inland?

It's one of those things that can be partially explained by show quality, and the rest is just a convergence of circumstances.

Or, it's just a case of "Joss Whedon can do no wrong" a mantra I've yet to adhere to.

 

[Othello]

1- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
2- Stargate SG-1
3- Star Trek: TNG
4- Doctor Who
5- Battlestar Galactica (new)
6- Smallville
7- Lost
8- Torchwood
9- The X-Files
10- The Twilight Zone

Honorable Mentions

Stargate Atlantis
Star Trek Voyager
Enterprise
Farscape


Series I wouldn't consider because they never even got a full season or only one but had they gone on likely would have ended up on my list.

Journeyman
Daybreak
Firefly

 

[Neroon]

It was original, unexpected, and different at a time when that was needed in the SF landscape.

Yes, but original, unexpected and different does not automatically equal "entertaining" or "good". By that token, a sci-fi show set in an undersea lab populated solely by Amish people who break into Swahili at random points of the dialogue should do just as well. Do you seriously think it would?

You can say all of this about most successful shows, can't you? Heck not every show will appeal to every viewer. In the end it's all a matter of preference more than anything else. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the show or with you or the viewer who IS a fan.

Plus the underdog message of the show combined with its roughshod treatment by the network created a sort of "perfect storm" among SF fans.

I'm a SF fan, and I like rooting for the underdog. How come I didn't get hit by this "perfect storm"? Was I too far inland?

You're almost sounding like you're taking offense because some people like the show but you can't understand why. There are some idiot proponents, extremist fans of "Firefly" who might respond that way to you, but you know as well as I do that isn't the case. Same goes for "Farscape", "Doctor Who", "Stargate", and so on and on ad infinitum.

It's one of those things that can be partially explained by show quality, and the rest is just a convergence of circumstances.

Or, it's just a case of "Joss Whedon can do no wrong" a mantra I've yet to adhere to.

Now I think you're going overboard. As I said in the paragraph above, there are extremists for any show that you can just count on being idiots in their devotion and towards the critics of said show. NO rational fan of "Firefly" takes that"Joss Whedon can do no wrong" approach, leaving only those people whose opinions aren't worth worrying about.

 

[tharpdevenport]

In no order:


1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Firefly
3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
4. Angel
5. The X-Files
6. The Twilight Zone (original one)
7. The Prisoner
8. Qauntum Leap
9. Star Trek
10. TO BE FILLED LATER

 

[Temis the Vorta]

1. Lost
2. DS9
3. TOS
4. The Twilight Zone (original)
5. Heroes
6. Farscape
7. Futurama
8. Firefly
9. BSG (new)
10. The X-Files

That list always fills up fast...

 

[bigdaddy]

Stargate and Heroes shouldn't be anywhere close to the top 10, more so Heroes.

 

[Trek4Ever]

Here's my list which changes from time to time depending on my mood

1. Star Trek
2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
3. The Twilight Zone (old and 1980s)
4. Firefly
5. Lost/The Prisoner (TIE)
6. Babylon 5/Doctor Who (new; TIE)
7. Battlestar Galactica (old and new)
8. Farscape
9. Space: Above and Beyond
10. Alien Nation

 

[Falcor5]

Here is my list (for today anyways):

1.Star Trek TNG
2.X-Files
3.Star Trek TOS
4.Star Trek DS9
5.Firefly
6.Futurama
7.Star Trek Voyager
8.Stargate SG-1
9.Doctor Who
10.Twilight Zone

 

[ialfan]

my list:
1. Star Trek: Enterprise
2. Battlestar Galactica (2003)
3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
4. Firefly
5. Star Trek
6. Heroes
7. Star Trek: Voyager
8. Star Trek: The Next Generation
9. Battlestar Galactica (1978)
10. Star Trek: The Animated Series

I guess I haven't watched quite as much sci-fi as I expected. Plenty of fantasy though like Buffy, Angel, Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, True Blood, etc.

 

[Lindley]

It was original, unexpected, and different at a time when that was needed in the SF landscape.

Yes, but original, unexpected and different does not automatically equal "entertaining" or "good".

No, not automatically. Just in this case.

I'm a SF fan, and I like rooting for the underdog. How come I didn't get hit by this "perfect storm"? Was I too far inland?

I have no idea. Just unlucky, I guess. Personally I didn't "get it" until about half way through the run, though---it's not always an instant thing. It's just that abruptly the whole concept "clicks", and you appreciate everything (even the episodes you've already seen) in a whole new light. It's hard to explain, really......one theory I have is that it isn't until you've seen both a border-centric episode and a core-centric episode that you can really grasp the dichotomy fully. Unfortunately Fox frontloaded the airing order with border-centric stories....

Or, it's just a case of "Joss Whedon can do no wrong" a mantra I've yet to adhere to.

Well, I've seen more examples of him doing right than wrong, though there are a few of the latter. That's not really relevant to Firefly at least in my case, though, since it was the first thing of his I'd ever paid any attention to. Firefly's awesomeness is the reason I'm now a fan of Buffy and Angel, two shows I'd previously ignored.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Star Trek
Star Trek Deep Space 9
Farscape
Stargate SG-1
Twilight Zone
Battlestar Galactica (original)
Space: 1999
Alias
Babylon 5
Star Trek The Next Generation

 

[sidious618]

Babylon 5
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Carnivale
Doctor Who
LOST
The X-Files
Twin Peaks
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek
The Twilight Zone/The Prisoner

 

[CommodoreKong]

My list (Not in order):
Firefly
Buffy
Angel
Futurama
Deep Space Nine
Battlestar Galactica (new)
Doctor Who (new)
Farscape
Justice League/Justice League Unlimited
Babylon 5

 

[BigFoot]

1) Farscape
2) Buffy
3) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
4) Angel
5) BSG (2004)
6) Babylon 5
7) Firefly

 

[Vasquez Rocks]

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. The X-Files
3. Firefly
4. Space: Above and Beyond
5. Star Trek
6. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
7. The Twilight Zone (original)
8. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
9. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
10. Battlestar Galactica (new)

 

[Cicero]

^ As a fan of the radio series X Minus One, it's hard for me to hold The Twilight Zone in much esteem.

Enlightenment, por favor?

Sorry, I was replying to an earlier post, but took too long.