What Have Been The Stellar Sci-Fi Shows?

POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Sunday, May 3, 2026 15:48
VIEWED: 13733
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JEWELSTAITEFAN

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 5:51 AM

From a recent discussion I had:
Plus:

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Slim pickin's these days.

From this thread:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=8&tid=60884

I think many of us can agree that Firefly was the preeminent Science Fiction show of it's time - it did in fact win the Emmy for Special Effects (Pilot Serenity), and many Sci-Fi works have copied extensively from it.

What about other times?

Most recently, I did enjoy Braindead, although I didn't at first conjure it was sci-fi. It was much better than I expected.

I thought that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was very entertaining, but the variety of storyline wasn't highly diverse.

I have enjoyed Continuum the last few years.
I also enjoyed Almost Human a bit ago with Karl Urban.

Just prior to Firefly, I felt Dark Angel was excellent in it's first season. It starred Jessica Alba and some Michael Weatherly dude, and was produced and created by James Cameron.

In the 90's cable had Outer Limits, which I recall as a respite from otherwise stupid shows.
I have heard tell of folk who say X-Files was a good Sci-Fi show, but I suspect that people who think that X-Files was intended to be Science Fiction were not really paying attention to the storylines.

Also in the 90's I really enjoyed Star Trek: Voyager. Far better than ST:NG or DS9, I felt it had the most similar verve and concept to The Original Series.

During the 70's I felt that The Six Million Dollar Man was the most awesome show on, and for many viewers this was the introduction to Science Fiction in a mainstream format. It did start off without (non-Terra) spaceships or aliens. It had a spinoff of The Bionic Woman, which caused Lindsey Wagner to earn more money than Lee Majors (and many other TV stars), and would be included in the concept here.

In the later 60's was, of course Star Trek: The Original Series, which ushered in the onslaught of space dramas that we all enjoy - even though is was cancelled after 3 seasons. It really survived past the first season only because Producer Lucille Ball refused to allow the network to shut it down.

At the end of the 50's, and into the 60's, Twilight Zone pretty much set the standard for imagination.

For some reason right now, I'm not recollecting much Sci-Fi from the 80's TV. I don't really consider Knight Rider to fit the genre. And I was disappointed in ST:NG

Which shows did you enjoy, or do you think were far ahead of their time, or were representing the leading edge of their era for the Science Fiction genre?

SECOND

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 4:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

I think many of us can agree that Firefly was the preeminent Science Fiction show of it's time - it did in fact win the Emmy for Special Effects (Pilot Serenity), and many Sci-Fi works have copied extensively from it.

What about other times?

How about the preeminent show of ALL times and all genres? Priceonomics ranks Firefly as #1 most popular canceled cult TV show, published Sep 30, 2016.

Unlike most of these cult TV listings, this one has some stats behind it. Priceonomics looked at 500 TV shows canceled within 3 years of first airing and ranked them by the number of IMDB ratings the shows got - as they say, "a good but imperfect proxy for fan devotion and popularity".

Priceonomics also ran a separate list by rating, and again Firefly came out on top.
https://priceonomics.com/ranking-the-most-beloved-tv-shows-that-got/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Wednesday, October 5, 2016 5:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

I think many of us can agree that Firefly was the preeminent Science Fiction show of it's time - it did in fact win the Emmy for Special Effects (Pilot Serenity), and many Sci-Fi works have copied extensively from it.

What about other times?
How about the preeminent show of ALL times and all genres? Priceonomics ranks Firefly as #1 most popular canceled cult TV show, published Sep 30, 2016.

Unlike most of these cult TV listings, this one has some stats behind it. Priceonomics looked at 500 TV shows canceled within 3 years of first airing and ranked them by the number of IMDB ratings the shows got - as they say, "a good but imperfect proxy for fan devotion and popularity".

Priceonomics also ran a separate list by rating, and again Firefly came out on top.
https://priceonomics.com/ranking-the-most-beloved-tv-shows-that-got/

Quote:

That is an excellent post.
Thank you!
For some reason, they list Firefly as lasting until 2003, but it only lasted until 20 Dec, 2002 - right? There were no reruns in spring of 2003, were there?

I also see that first chart also includes T:TSSC and Dollhouse. And the V from 2008 - that was with Morena, wasn't it?

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Wednesday, October 5, 2016 5:35 AM

After thinking about it overnight, I was thinking perhaps one gauge to measure by could be how many Movies - like Feature Films, in Cinema - have copied extensively, or at all, from a TV Show?

I recall that some Films have copied from Firefly, but at the moment I can only recall Star Trek (2009) from JJ Abrams.
Does anybody recall others which copied Firefly?
The visual effect that Loni created for Firefly of the vibrating picture frame - that was copied by many films quickly, but I don't recall which ones.

How about other TV Shows which were copied in later Films?
I don't think Star Wars copied from any other sci-fi show.

I conjure that The Final Countdown copied from Time Tunnel, but I don't recall how prevalent that concept was at the time, or was portrayed on TV.

I don't know if Terminator was derived from The Six Million Dollar Man (from the Martin Ciadin novel Cyborg), but I conjure it could be.

I have heard that some films were spawned from Twilight Zone and Outer limits, but I don't recall the details.

And also, was there really such a dearth of sci-fi in 80's television? Maybe that's why folk put up with ST:NG at the time - it may have been slim pickens then too.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Friday, October 7, 2016 5:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
From a recent discussion I had:
Plus:
Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Slim pickin's these days.

For some reason right now, I'm not recollecting much Sci-Fi from the 80's TV. I don't really consider Knight Rider to fit the genre. And I was disappointed in ST:NG

I took a further look, although I was fairly busy during the 80's.

Other than 60 Minutes (if you realize it was Fictional Science), Quantum Leap (1989) was the only highly rated sci-fi show (and the sci-fi part seemed like just a gimmick, to me) besides Star Trek.

Others:
V - 1984
Twilight Zone - 1985
Starman - 1986
Max Headroom
Once A Hero
Alien Nation - 1989

Slim Pickens indeed - no wonder I couldn't recall any.

MOOSE

Friday, October 7, 2016 6:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
For some reason, they list Firefly as lasting until 2003, but it only lasted until 20 Dec, 2002 - right? There were no reruns in spring of 2003, were there?

It might be that it was on "hiatus" until the official cancellation and subsequent set teardown in 2003. Or they simply made a mistake.

AURAPTOR

Friday, October 7, 2016 7:33 PM

I don't understand the Terra Nova love on that list. That show was crap. I mean Babylon 5 crap. And when it comes to stuff Mesozoic, I'm usually all in. But not that.

AURAPTOR

Sunday, October 9, 2016 8:14 PM

Dark Angel was awesome, season 1. They really went sideways with the Dr. Moreau type OTHERS... so unnecessary.

AURAPTOR

Monday, October 10, 2016 4:12 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I don't understand the Terra Nova love on that list. That show was crap. I mean Babylon 5 crap. And when it comes to stuff Mesozoic, I'm usually all in. But not that.

Babylon 5 was not crap AU.

And so it begins...

ECGORDON

Monday, October 10, 2016 5:24 AM

I agree with Brenda. Babylon 5 was not perfect, but definitely not crap. If you have to use Sheldon Cooper (or Chuck Lorre) to back up your argument, you're standing on shaky ground.

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