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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: EveningStar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JckkKyuaFQ

Space Battleship Yamato

The Live Action Movie!!!!


81 posted on 07/25/2015 11:59:41 AM PDT by GeronL
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To: Gideon7
Buck Rodgers in 25th century? The movie/TV show was one of numerous attempts to cash in on the Star Wars craze using an existing character. Unfortunately, the Mel Blanc voiced Tweeky was merely annoying, and the disco scene (yes, it was THAT era) was utterly unwatchable in the movie (same cast and production values as TV series). The Sega (arcade)/Coleco (ColecoVision/Adam) video game was great, though!
82 posted on 07/25/2015 11:59:45 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: Ransomed

I thought you might be but lately nothing surprises me ;)


83 posted on 07/25/2015 11:59:52 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: EveningStar

I have always enjoyed scifi but I’ve never heard of half of those.


84 posted on 07/25/2015 12:01:49 PM PDT by Proud2BeRight
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To: Dr. Sivana
For better or worse, TNG has to maintain continuity with TOS. When I watched the first episode, Q comes on, accusing Picard and the ship as a proxy for all manner of historical crimes. Bad enough he blames the Cold War on an intolerance of "differing economic systems", but then he brings up capital punishment. Picard responds that "we had gotten rid of that long ago" or some such. Pardon me? Mr. Spock was up for a CODE 4 violation in "The Cage", a kind of central all time Star Trek episode. The penalty if found guilty was death. That's a pretty big slip up in Episode 1, and needlessly so.

TNG was infected with the Modern Liberal Politically Correct Bug. Remember when it first started, they had a Female head of security? That's just politically correct stupidity, and that character didn't last long.

There were Two episodes of it I found particularly offensive.

Remember when Riker fell in love with the homosexual Alien? To be fair, the Aliens of that Planet were supposed to be "Sexless" but this one in particularly just happened to look like a beautiful Woman, and other Aliens happen to look either Feminine or Masculine, but the species were supposed to be "neutral", being neither female or male, and so therefore a "neutral" thinking it is female is analogous to a homosexual in normal society.

That's what the writers were going for. You could tell from the dialogue that they were attempting to "normalize" the idea of people not adhering to normal gender roles.

The Second Episode I found particularly offensive is when An Admiral is assigned to the Enterprise to find a research ship that went missing years earlier.

The "Secret Agencies" at the Federation were doing research on a sort of Cloaking device that would allow a ship to "ghost" and go through ordinary matter. They find the ship, and the Admiral attempts to gain possession of it and get it back to the Federation.

Riker deliberately disobeys direct orders, Transmits a signal to enemy forces (Either Klingons or Romulons) and hands the technology over to them, because he takes it upon himself to enforce a Treaty contrary to the direct orders of the Admiral in command.

Rather than be instantly court marshaled and shot, as would anyone who did such a thing in an actual Military organization, Commander Riker is not even given a slap on the hand.

85 posted on 07/25/2015 12:03:27 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Kickass Conservative
The one I remember was a circa 1950 film where martians came to earth. They had needles that came out of their fingers and injected alcohol. They had used it on a Brahma bull. Then a couple of teenagers hit one of the little invaders, cut off his hand and the hand was crawling up the back of the seat of the drivers side, only to be discovered just before it injected the driver.
86 posted on 07/25/2015 12:03:41 PM PDT by Texas Songwriter
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To: Vince Ferrer

I have no contrary argument. Star Trek TOS was indeed very influential. We even named our first Space Shuttle “Enterprise.”


87 posted on 07/25/2015 12:04:22 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: EveningStar

Soylent Green is people!!!!

No? Not there huh?


88 posted on 07/25/2015 12:11:12 PM PDT by saleman (?)
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To: dfwgator

Agreed.

Another 100 years will pass, and The Twilight Zone will hold-up just based off of the strength of its writing alone.


89 posted on 07/25/2015 12:13:07 PM PDT by MarkRegal05
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To: EveningStar

May the Force Live Long and Prosper!!!

90 posted on 07/25/2015 12:15:37 PM PDT by Stand Watch Listen (When the going gets tough--the Low Information President Obie from Nairobi goes golfing/fundraising)
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To: EveningStar

Think I’d put Firefly nearer to the top. Great show, shame Fox canceled it before it really had a chance to gain traction and generate better ratings.

Wish it could come back even today, but I know it isn’t going to happen sadly.


91 posted on 07/25/2015 12:20:41 PM PDT by Longbow1969
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To: EveningStar

What about Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. First the movie and then the TV series with Richard Basehart and David Hedison? Never missed an episode. I used to jump for joy every time they released the flying submarine from the Seaview. I’m still waiting for the day that gets built.


92 posted on 07/25/2015 12:23:05 PM PDT by Tonytitan
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To: Stand Watch Listen

Great graphic!


93 posted on 07/25/2015 12:25:32 PM PDT by Lx (Do you like it? Do you like it, Scott? I call it, "Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman Chili.")
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To: Ransomed; Norm Lenhart
NGE is better than the usual giant robot suit anime, (I've described it as the mecha series for people who hate mechas) but isn't as deep as its fans make it out to be. The main thing that mars it is the last two episodes, which are surreal, and not the director's original idea for the ending.

The best thing to do is find the OVA release End of Evangelion, which is the director's intended ending, watch episodes 1-24, then End of Evangelion. If it still doesn't make sense, get NGE: Death and Rebirth and watch it followed by End of Evangelion again.

Spoiler alert:

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With the indended ending from End of Evangelion, Shinji's father, Ikari Gendo, instead of being perhaps the record SoB in all of anime, is just another deeply flawed character, like every other character in the series (with the possible exception of Eva Unit 01).

94 posted on 07/25/2015 12:28:24 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know...)
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To: Fresh Wind

My thought exactly.


95 posted on 07/25/2015 12:31:38 PM PDT by Amagi (Lenin: "Socialized Medicine is the Keystone to the Arch of the Socialist State.")
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To: sparklite2
I’d drop Dr Who to around number 30 for its cheesy production values

.. and its dumb time-travel non-plots. The TARDIS was just an excuse to get the characters to where ever they needed to be. Pop in, do whatever, then pop out.

For more dramatic consequences of what might actually happen if someone started messing with actual time travel, see Steins;Gate, a series that deserves to be on this list. (Hint: It's huge.)

96 posted on 07/25/2015 12:33:36 PM PDT by Gideon7
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To: The_Reader_David

Got them all. I gotta disagree. I’m nor religious about it but I found a lot of depth. I know some fans are insane about it.

When you pile all the actual religon/morality they weave into every part of that show, from the obvious angel refrences/Nephlim To the....

Spoiler

... Unit 1 as God/Mary in one being, I’d say it’s deeper than a lot out there.

See also the video game seriea Xenogears/Xenosaga. Great stuff!


97 posted on 07/25/2015 12:35:08 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: EveningStar

X-Files should be number 1.


98 posted on 07/25/2015 12:35:35 PM PDT by StoneWall Brigade (MARANATHA)
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To: EveningStar

Babylon 5 needs to be much higher on the list. It was the first show to create a distinct story arc spanning not just a whole season but the entire series back when the various Star Trek spinoffs were wholly episodic with little to nothing linking one episode to another. This new concept is what made Lost so successful.

I’d also rearrange the top 5. X Files doesn’t belong there at all, Star Trek TOS should be 2nd as it defined sci-fi TV for Americans, and the BSG remake was an extraordinary story. Dr Who probably deserves the first slot simply because its been around the longest by far, even if I don’t like the show.

I’d also drop 99% of the anime off of the list.


99 posted on 07/25/2015 12:45:54 PM PDT by Reaper19
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To: Fresh Wind

Where’s Science Fiction Theater?

Good one!

And how about
Men Into Space, an American science-fiction television series broadcast from September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960 which realistically depicted future efforts by the United States Air Force to explore and develop outer space. The black-and-white filmed show starred William Lundigan as Col. Edward McCauley.


100 posted on 07/25/2015 12:52:48 PM PDT by Zuse (I am disrupted! I am offended! I am insulted! I am outraged!)
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