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The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows Ever
Popular Mechanics ^ | March 4, 2013 | Jordan Hoffman

Posted on 07/25/2015 11:07:06 AM PDT by EveningStar

From the whiz-bang and cheesy to the far-out and prematurely cancelled, sci-fi and TV have had a nice run. We locked ourselves in the basement with several milk crates of VHS tapes, laser discs, and back issues of Starlog to come up with the top 50 science-fiction television shows.

(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: sciencefiction; scifi; television; tv
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To: dfwgator

I did think many of the twilight episodes were quite good. In particular the Kick the Can episode and Monsters are due on Maple street. But hands down, IMO, the best Sci Fi TV series was and ever shall be the 1960s episodes of The Outer Limits. And that is not just me. Spielberg and Cronenberg and Steven king have been quoted saying the same thing. Do yourself a favor and search YouTube for The man that was never born - with Martin Landau or the phenomenal Architects of Fear with Robert Culp. That whole 1st season includes The amazing haunting score from Dominic Fronteire. In both of those 2 episodes, the female leads bring a sweet sadness to the thing and bring the Sci Fi down to a very real emotional level. Yes that is what this situation would feel like. They help us feel that. And Sci Fi isn’t just about super scary monsters and crap. There is metaphor to be found in these stories. We can learn from them. And this has been much of my problem of the morphing of stra trek into rock ‘um sock’um starfights between the Klingons and the Federation. I quickly grew tired of that story arc.


101 posted on 07/25/2015 12:55:40 PM PDT by Chuzzlewit
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To: Reaper19

There are really only three Anime that should be considered IMO. Ghost in the Shell I think stands toe to toe with any sci fi in book or video. Neon Genesis Evangelion as a groundbreaking point in Anime and Saikano, which may or may not be ‘sci-fi’ enough to be on the list as it’s more human interest than ‘pure’ sci fi.


102 posted on 07/25/2015 12:57:59 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart
Neon Genesis Evangelion as a groundbreaking point in Anime and Saikano

I don't normally watch Anime but Evangelion was good.

103 posted on 07/25/2015 12:59:35 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: EveningStar

Space:1999 should be higher on the list, and U.F.O. should be right by it.


104 posted on 07/25/2015 1:01:23 PM PDT by real saxophonist (YouTube + Twitter + Facebook = YouTwitFace.com)
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To: gorush

That was a movie. Not a show.


105 posted on 07/25/2015 1:05:32 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: EveningStar

Others that didn’t make the list:

Science Fiction Theater (1955)
U.F.O. (1969)
The Starlost (1973)
The Avengers (1961-1969)
The Champions (1968)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968)
The Time Tunnel (1966-1967)
Land of the Giants (1968-1970)
Ultraman
Jonny Quest (1964-1965)
Earth Final Conflict


106 posted on 07/25/2015 1:12:10 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Robotech?


107 posted on 07/25/2015 1:19:14 PM PDT by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
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To: wally_bert

True. That one does. Probably more than any really. How did I forget that?


108 posted on 07/25/2015 1:25:18 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: EveningStar
Harsh Realm, a 90s show about virtual reality was also pretty good, as was Millenium. If The X-Files was science fiction, Millenium would have to be as well. The line between SF, fantasy, and horror isn't as sharp as it once may have been. The 4400 wasn't completely awful either, though lately shows like that abound and crowd each other out fighting for an audience.

What I'm noticing now is that when you start watching a new show, you may not know what genre it fits into. With shows like Wayward Pines or Under the Dome you don't immediately know how the event or environment is going to be explained, scientifically or supernaturally. I'd have kept watching The Strain more if it turned out to be more SF than supernatural nazi-zombie-vampire horror.

109 posted on 07/25/2015 1:38:44 PM PDT by x
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To: EveningStar

r


110 posted on 07/25/2015 1:44:24 PM PDT by mowowie (`)
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To: EveningStar

Any list that doesn’t have Star Trek TOS in the top 2 isn’t much of a list.

Dr. Who/Star Trek TOS? Toss up!

Where would any of the other shows be without those two? No where! They wouldn’t have ever been made.

And where is “The Invaders”?


111 posted on 07/25/2015 1:52:11 PM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: Fresh Wind

I was looking for “One Step Beyond”.
I really enjoyed that show.


112 posted on 07/25/2015 1:58:09 PM PDT by peteyd (A dog may bite you in the ass,but it will never stab you in the back.)
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To: Texas Songwriter

I think I remember that one. Didn’t they have big eyes, large Heads with the exposed Brains?

There was also an Alien with that look in “This Island Earth”. Not the Guys with the John Kerry Foreheads.


113 posted on 07/25/2015 2:09:13 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: wally_bert

Agreed, though I thought they came up with a particularly clever, sublime ending for the US version of LOM (though its execution was a bit cheap).


114 posted on 07/25/2015 2:09:57 PM PDT by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
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To: 21twelve

I wasthinking what about “Chuck”? Super NSA/CIA data base computer program flashed into his brain should qualify for science fiction. Plus Sarah Walker was smoking hot, Major Casey was a bad ass, and hus nerd friend Morgan.


115 posted on 07/25/2015 2:11:45 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: SES1066

“but when they got to the Borg, that was great! “
ST:TNG’s Borg concept was a direct lift from Dr. Who’s Cybermen.


116 posted on 07/25/2015 2:12:46 PM PDT by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
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To: Demiurge2

I tried to watch it but it never gripped me.

Initially Colm Meaney was going to be Gene Hunt which was a selling point to me but he was cut.

It was the 0 worship at the end that did it to me.


117 posted on 07/25/2015 2:13:14 PM PDT by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
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To: EveningStar

I agree with a lot of the list except for the top 5.

The Next Generation should be in the top 5 however.

I also liked “Total Recall” a lot in the original and the remake.

A huge oversight or should I say a ‘hugh oversight that is serrius’ is that Falling Skies is not on the list.

Anyone else watch this show?


118 posted on 07/25/2015 2:16:28 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (Go Egypt on 0bama)
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To: wally_bert

Why they used the names of all the Brit LOM characters for the US version I never understood - it made for an NYPD precinct with ridiculously Anglo names.


119 posted on 07/25/2015 2:16:56 PM PDT by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
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To: Kickass Conservative

If the list was for feature films my top three, in no particular order, would be Forbidden Planet, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. But any of these lists are entirely subjective. There will always be disagreement about what’s left out and the order. And as far as ST-TNG is concerned, we’ll always have Q and the Borg, the latter being a foreshadowing of the homosexual assimilationist Left.


120 posted on 07/25/2015 2:19:27 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
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