The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows Ever

Popular Mechanics ^ | March 4, 2013 | Jordan Hoffman

[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.

[Norm Lenhart]

Nope. Resistance isn’t futile. It’s voltage divided by current ;)

[Hulka]

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) & Star Trek: The Next Generation have no place on this list.

[Gideon7]

Lost in Space needs to be ranked lower and B5 higher, and the SciFi channel had better shows than tripe like Lexx (e.g., Eureka).

[Kirkwood]

Science Fiction Theater should be #1 on the list.

Here is a good example of an episode with a completely unexpected, but very believable twist at the end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_v7JgXOcKU

[Vince Ferrer]

No way the original Star Trek series is #6. I would put it at #1, even above Doctor Who.

Evidence:

#1 How many other shows inspired engineers to actually try to build the tech?

#2 How many other SciFi shows inspired people to go into engineering school or to become a doctor?

Scotty's exploits as the Enterprise's redoubtable chief engineer inspired many students to pursue careers in engineering. Because of this, the Milwaukee School of Engineering presented Doohan with an honorary degree in engineering

- James Doohan

#3 How many other shows have influenced the culture so that lines of dialog or plot points have entered the common culture? I can think of only one other show, the Lost in Space "Danger Will Robinson" line. I realize Dr. Who is a very long running and popular show, but I don't know of any lines of dialog or plots which have entered the culture from it. There is a drink called "Beam me up Scotty." What is the Dr. Who drink? Everyone in America can slip in "He's dead, Jim," or "beam me up" into a conversation and we will know what they are talking about.

[Ransomed]

“Oh nothing touches GITS. It isn’t possible.”

I’d have to agree, a far as writing I’m not seeing much that would compare on this list. Maybe Knight Rider or Buck Rodgers in 25th century. The writing of Erin Grey into skin tight future outfits was brilliant.

“What looks on the surface like a generic anime kids show is a massively complex morality play.”

Evangelion is waaaaaay bigger than GITS for sure.

Freegards

[dfwgator]

Twilight Zone, Number One, hands down. The writing on that show was phenomenal.

[Norm Lenhart]

Woah back up. Knight Rider? I’ll give you Erin but Knight Rider? Fun yea. GITS it ain’t. Hell GTIS The Lord of the Rings of Cyberpunk.

Bubble Gum Crisis a moderate second if you throw in AD Police

[Dr. Sivana]

The Ferengi were fun but when they got to the Borg, that was great!

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.

They could have redeemed themselves a few episodes later when Wesley didn't keep off the grass and was to be executed on the hedonistic planet a few episodes later, by letting it play out. That would have shown Ricard's respect for different civilizations. But no, he has to do the Kirk thing and work his way around ... no, ignore ... the Prime Directive.

And bringing the shrink up to the bridge right next to the captain ... sheesh!

I didn't see the two episodes you mentioned, in part because I couldn't connect with the characters in the stories. Great science fiction stories begins with great stories, but most (except the most dystopian, which TNG is NOT) needs characters you can root for and identify with, or at least like. TOS was full of these characters. TNG, not so much in my opinion.

[Dr. Sivana]

Twilight Zone, Number One, hands down. The writing on that show was phenomenal.

Yes, but only truly sci-fi 1/3rd of the time. Most of the time it was straight fantasy. Interesting that "Night Gallery" didn't even make the list.

[DiogenesLamp]

I've not seen "Space: Above and Beyond", but "Lost in Space" the TV show made science fiction adventure of a comic variety accessible to whole families. Yeah, Season three (the guy in the carrot suit and the space motorcycle gang) got kind of out there, but the "realistic" Star Trek (TOS) played in that sand box too.

I've read that the cast HATED those stupid episodes. That they felt it is what wrecked the series. It was just so mind numbingly ridiculous that it severely damaged the brand. That's also what I thought at the time.

The fact is, the cast in Lost in Space was solid. Viewers cared about the characters. Kids watching certain episodes got more creeped out by "Mr. Nobody" and those lumps of dough turning into zombie Dr. Smiths than yet another threat to vaporize the planet.

I watched that show as a little kid, and I knew after the first episode that they needed to put into action Major West's plan to "Put Smith into the Air Lock".

Time and time again, Smith jeopardized everyone's lives, and they shouldn't have given him a second chance.

Of course without the "Smith" factor, the show would have never had a crises, and therefore would not have been watched, so what does a little Kid know about television anyways?

[dfwgator]

Kolchak: The Night Stalker should have been on the list.

[saleman]

Isn’t “The Walking Dead” considered SciFy?

---

Are you kidding me? The Walking Dead is reality T.V. at it’s finest!!

[Dr. Sivana]

It might have been interesting to make Dr. Smith the sinister character he was in the first two episodes, instead of the coward he developed into. Maybe they could have made the Robinsons Quakers or something. The show also could have used more Judy.

[Gideon7]

Buck Rodgers in 25th century. The writing of Erin Grey into skin tight future outfits was brilliant.

Must be the same writers as for UFO: Moonbabes wearing silvered spandex and submariner babes wearing fishnets.

Man, you just don't see quality writing like that anymore.

[Balding_Eagle]

22. Farscape

They series ended without completing the story. Main characters left in big, big trouble.

The final 3 hours are available on DVD, just in case anyone watches it.

[Dr. Sivana]

Kolchak: The Night Stalker should have been on the list.

I never watched the show, but since my best friend at the age of ten made sure he stayed up late on Friday to watch every episode, and he had discriminating tastes in entertainment, I will agree with you.

[GeronL]

Battle of the Planets was just a re-done version of Gatchaman

[x]

Not too bad. But I’d drop Dr Who to around number 30 for its cheesy production values ...

The show and its fanbase always came across as more adolescent than is usual for SF (and that's saying a lot).

It may be an English thing: I had the same problem with Torchwood.

[Ransomed]

I’m kidding.

Freegards