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10 of the Worst Sci-Fi TV Shows of All Time
The Cheat Sheet ^ | January 20, 2017 | Robert Yaniz Jr

Posted on 02/12/2017 1:33:33 PM PST by EveningStar

In the past decade or so, science fiction on television has seen a dramatic uptick in both quantity and quality. Shows like Westworld are keeping critics engaged and audiences coming back for more week after week, but while a number of sci-fi shows over the years have developed significant cult followings, others have become notorious examples of just how bad the genre can be when it isn’t executed effectively. Here’s our look at some of the worst sci-fi shows to ever hit the small-screen. For the record, we’re focusing specifically on live-action series only. So any infamous animated shows won’t be appearing below.

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


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: sciencefiction; scifi
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To: zaxtres
Salvage 1

Ah, yes - a spacecraft made from a concrete mixer's drum. IIRC, the initial plot was to go get all the valuable stuff we'd left behind on the moon.

221 posted on 02/12/2017 4:19:31 PM PST by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: Tax-chick

That’s a favorite. They were a text book study in how enemies could form alliances when it suited their purposes, but there could never be a “kumbaya” moment between the Narn and Centauri, the interplay was magnificent.


222 posted on 02/12/2017 4:24:41 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: zaxtres
I would watch Space 1999 over Quark any day of the week. I rather gouge my eyeballs with a thousand razor blades, again and again (to quote Weird Al) than to watch a single minute of Quark.

Quark was never intended to be a "serious" ski-fi show. It was a Buck Henry spoof of the entire genre (but mostly Star Trek, Imo), launched in the post-Star Wars bubble of science fiction popularity resurgence.

223 posted on 02/12/2017 4:26:19 PM PST by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: left that other site
1. Space 1999.

I totally agree! And it was such a waste and a tragedy. Actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, and the best SFX of the era.

WHAT could POSSIBLY go wrong?

Actually those were the weak points of 1999.

Dr Who killed it. the BBC shifted the Who season forward two months They said it was to move Who to a more appropriate part of the year so the last episodes didn't get shown at 6PM summer evenings

By pure coincident, the first of the seasons episodes screened just one week before the 1999 premiere.

Second week of "Who": massive audience drop. Third week, back to normal (top rating) when the viewrs realised 1999 had the budget and SFX, but "Who" had the writers, and Landau and Bain on their best days, were no match for Tom Baker and Lis Sladen on their worst.

224 posted on 02/12/2017 4:27:22 PM PST by Oztrich Boy (I never ever set out to make anyone feel safe. - S E Hinton)
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To: boop
I DO remember Salvage I. Totally forgot about it. . isn't that the one where the lead character was some kind of junk man who built a rocket in his back yard?

That is exactly correct.

I remember it was kind of a comedy as well.

Yes it was, but with some drama in it as well. If I remember correctly, there were some close calls when things didn't go right.


225 posted on 02/12/2017 4:27:42 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Fred Hayek
Salvage I had a bit of anti government regulator spin to it.

Yes it did, but I didn't notice it much at the time. It demonstrated private industry accomplishing the same thing as government, but more efficiently.

226 posted on 02/12/2017 4:29:42 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: EveningStar

Star Trek Voyager. . . just plain awful (PC covered on all bases).


227 posted on 02/12/2017 4:30:58 PM PST by Hulka
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To: BradyLS

Ya. Saturday nights: Space 1999 and Sha Na Na. Memories...


228 posted on 02/12/2017 4:32:34 PM PST by dhs12345
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To: Oztrich Boy

I LOVED Tom Baker as Dr. Who.

He also was a great Rasputin in “Nicholas and Alexandra”.

:-)


229 posted on 02/12/2017 4:34:01 PM PST by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: EveningStar

The West Wing starring Martin Sheen.


230 posted on 02/12/2017 4:41:04 PM PST by HP8753 (Live Free!!!! .............or don't.)
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To: stormhill
"Thought that was a porn flick. They had a TV show?" ;-)
231 posted on 02/12/2017 4:47:27 PM PST by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Note to all foreigners: Please.....GET OUT and STAY OUT!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

It ran for several seasons. Yes, it was awful. Yes, the paper maché head on the chimp was probably the worst costuming in television sci-fi history. And yes, the whole Dr. Smith - Will Robinson pederast vibe was creepy way before anything like that was ever discussed in public. But somehow the show made money for the network.


232 posted on 02/12/2017 4:48:52 PM PST by katana
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To: Tijeras_Slim

That Quark was the DS9 character who grew on me some.

The Atlas Shrugged movie was a noble idea but alas it didn’t make it.


233 posted on 02/12/2017 4:54:01 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: mrsmith

We used to sing “ It’s about time, it’s about space. It’s about time I slapped your face.” I never knew it was based on an actual song.


234 posted on 02/12/2017 5:00:15 PM PST by crusty old prospector
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To: DiogenesLamp

Having the larger plot arc actually improves Babylon 5 because they have the long term character development built in - the alien ambassador who caused a war now healing the divide between species, Londo starting off as a nostalgic and ignored official to emperor (losing his freedom and nearly all he loves as he gains power), the telepath who starts as a loyal member of the corrupt Psi Corps to become the instrument of its destruction and liberation of the telepaths. Dr. Franklin who wants to build relationships with other species becomes the head of the medical division of Sheridan’s “Federation”.
Some of the minor character arcs are just as amazingly developed. The man who had his mind wiped as a punishment for murder and lives as a monk, wonders if he’d be as strong as Jesus at Gethsemene, gets murdered in retribution, and his murderer is sentenced to the same fate he had.


235 posted on 02/12/2017 5:01:37 PM PST by tbw2
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To: wally_bert

Her response to the invading fleet of “Who am I?” is epic. She’s a strong woman with convictions but not the liberated feminazi type. And a military character to boot.


236 posted on 02/12/2017 5:02:32 PM PST by tbw2
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To: EveningStar

What about the old Saturday morning show “Land of the Lost?” The Sleestaks!


237 posted on 02/12/2017 5:03:24 PM PST by crusty old prospector
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To: SMGFan

The first two seasons of Sliders was OK. When they started on the “find the guy draining people’s brains of fluids”, it stank. And when you’ve replaced all but one character of the original team, you’ve failed.


238 posted on 02/12/2017 5:03:36 PM PST by tbw2
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To: tbw2

One of the best monologues on screen anywhere.

She was always super nice to us when we dropped by her table at multiple DragonCons when we were regular attendees.


239 posted on 02/12/2017 5:05:07 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: BradyLS

It was politically correct beyond its time. Strong but incompetent female leader doing everything to save her son, which was mildly redeeming. Single father raising his strong daughter. Female doctor spy. White guy pilot from ancient times learning about liberated current society. Worst of all to me was the bureaucrat married to a strong Earth born woman who was such a freaking wimp it was painful.


240 posted on 02/12/2017 5:05:45 PM PST by tbw2
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