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.
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Crusade was so trope it was painful.
For a professed atheist I was always amazed at JMS’s sensitivity and respect for religious belief.
TNT’s constant meddling ruined Crusade.
Showtime did some similar things to Jeremiah so there was no 3rd season.
I read someone’s article on how the Federation is actually a military dictatorship. Military courts trying people for genetic engineering (like Bashir’s parents), sentencing people to spacing in various movies just based on captain’s word, that Starfleet admirals (just a few together) could take over the WHOLE federation.
Captain Video Zoooooom ~ Ed Norton
IMHO, the best was “A Taste of Armageddon”. The sets and costumes were embarrassingly cheezy, but the story was really good.
Space Battleship Yamato
Battlestar Galactica reboot up through Season 3 was good. Adding too much religion like Baltar becoming a prophet and Hera is destined to save humanity killed it.
A case study of why Speilberg shouldn’t direct. Coming back ten years later to add genetically engineered humans and telepaths was a fail, too.
Glad someone remembers when the SciFi assault hit TV in the 60's. The one-and-only certified biggest stinker? Hard to pick only one, but you can bet Irwin Allen produced it. Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (my personal favorite. It jumped the shark when one of the cast was bitten by a werewolf, When you have a werewolf on the prowl in your submarine, you've got big trouble)
Those moments of interaction could be brilliant, like when Londo brought his former friend Riva to the caves to be murdered by the Narn in order to secure their aid in matters. Or G’Kar’s “dead, dead, dead” chant as he dripped blood, in response to Londo’s nephew trying to apologize for the recently dead.
I just didn’t follow the story line. Visually it was great, but I don’t even think I lasted to season 3.
Really loving the Expanse right now. Loved season 1, loving season 2. Without giving any spoilers away, I can even believe the one fantastical element in it.
Space: 1999, I was not a fan of at the time, but come on now. It had the storyline. It had the ships. It had actors from Mission Frickin' Impossible. It did what it did on the budget that it had. (And it didn't use Supermarionation, either.)(Some of you will get that reference.
And I've been reading about Space: 2099 -- a reboot/remake is/was in the works.
Logan's Run was not a great adaptation of the movie, but as far as TV shows went, meh, wasn't that bad. I watched every episode. Its biggest problem was "stasis", like most shows of the time. It couldn't resolve anything. It would never find Sanctuary.
Spider-Man wasn't too great, but the worst? Well, if there were a real list, I'd see where it ranked.
Galactica 1980: okay, everyone wants to forget about that one. Really. Except for the Starbuck episode. Even Richard Hatch (RIP) ignored it for his proposed Second Coming trailer.
What about "Star Lost", so bad Harlan Ellison disowned it. I think he has a fake name in the credits.
How many episodes do they have to last to count? There were some horrid sci-fi shows in the past couple of decades. Hell, "Masters of Science Fiction" was pretty bad, but that was only 4 episode that I remember.
How about "V" the series -- not to be confused with "V" the miniseries. Horrid
Seaquest DSV? I gave up after the movie when the person with their finger on the button to destroy the world was one of Charlie's Angels (and not one of the top three, either).
Earth 2?
(There was another, I think on ABC, that I just can't remember the name of -- thankfully -- but I can't get a search result because I don't have enough to go on, other than some stupid comment about "residual UV rays")
When I was in school, we had to listen to an audio recording of Hamlet starring Harris in the title role. I can remember the “to be or not to be” soliloquy in his whiny Dr. Smith voice.
Commander Ivanova also stands out as the only practicing Jew treated respectfully in scifi I can think of. Talking to a rabbi about alien food being kosher because it isn’t mentioned as forbidden in the Torah, for example. Holding the ceremony of remembrance for her father is another.
In contrast, the Serenity/Firefly universe had two Jews. One was a grubby, greedy merchant, the other “Mr. Universe” communication center guy who marries his sex droid. And in almost every other universe, totally freaking absent.
I saw a short interview of Star Trek’s prop director. He said their primary source of props was Paramount’s dumpsters. There was one scene in which he pointed out that the design on a wall was in fact plastic coasters.
They did have one advantage. No one really knew what a star ship should look like.
(okay, so she was the first nekkid lady I ever saw in a movie, but still!)
“There is no such thing as BAD Sci-Fi.”
Lol, have to agree, even though there are some shows I care less about, or much less about.
Surprised Andromeda, with Kevin Sorbo didn’t make the list.
Also, very bad, but a guilty pleasure of mine: Lexx.
You left out “Galaxy Quest”. The TV show, at least. The movie is a hoot!
As to Bill Nye, what he “teaches” IS Science Fiction, or at least fictional Science. I’m old enough to remember when Don “Mr. Wizard” Herbert was on the air. Nye couldn’t hold his slide rule!
The confusion is that "Logan's Run" the TV series was so forgettable that many don't even know of its existence.
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