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.

[EveningStar]

50. Thunderbirds
49. Land of the Lost
48. Space: 1999
47. The Six Million Dollar Man
46. Dark Angel
45. Knight Rider
44. Jericho
43. Space: Above and Beyond
42. Dollhouse
41. Battle of the Planets
40. Life on Mars (2006-2007)
39. Lexx
38. War of the Worlds (1988-1990)
37. Twin Peaks
36. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
35. Cowboy Bebop
34. Caprica
33. Alien Nation
32. Star Trek: Voyager
31. Lost in Space
30. Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979)
29. Futurama
28. Logan's Run
27. Red Dwarf
26. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
25. Max Headroom
24. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
23. Torchwood
22. Farscape
21. Quantum Leap
20. Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato
19. Babylon 5
18. Sliders
17. Mystery Science Theater 3000
16. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
15. Blake's 7
14. Stargate SG-1
13. V (1983-1985)
12. Lost
11. Firefly
10. The Outer Limits
09. Fringe
08. Neon Genesis Evangelion
07. The Prisoner
06. Star Trek: The Original Series
05. The Twilight Zone
04. Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)
03. Star Trek: The Next Generation
02. The X-Files
01. Doctor Who

[EveningStar]

ping

[KC_Lion]

Grace, you still have that List explaining how Star Trek’s different Series can be explained by the different branches of Christianity?

[brivette]

I heartily agree.

[Dr. Sivana]

“Star Trek: TNG” at #3 is ridiculous. A Walking Mood Ring (Troi), a 1980’s version of Will Robinson in the form of Wesley Crusher, knowing more tech than anyone else on the ship, a retooled version of Logan’s Run (TV series) Rem in the form of Data, and PC run amok. And that’s just off the top of my head.

[Jeff Chandler]

I thought the writing on Firefly was the most original. Not the technology, the story lines.

[ClearCase_guy]

No more running.

[KC_Lion]

Evangelion in a Nutshell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rq2_CSO65Y

[Dr. Sivana]

Oh, and where is Quark?

[discostu]

Land of the Lost?! Look I love LOTL, grew up on it, still enjoy it non-ironically, but really that show is TERRIBLE. And that looks like the American Life on Mars which was ruined by a bad ending, British one is way better. And the first 3 season of TNG are unwatchable, no show with unwatchable season should be top 10. Nice try but over all a deeply flawed list.

[sparklite2]

Not too bad. But I’d drop Dr Who to around number 30 for its cheesy production values and elevate Babylon 5 to number 3 or 4 for its ground breaking visuals.

[wally_bert]

I’d put Quark over TNG.

[ETL]

I would completely throw out this guy’s top 4 and start with the OBVIOUS, hands down, #1 Sci-Fi TV series of all time, The Twilight Zone.

[KarlInOhio]

Sorry #6, you're #7 now.

[wally_bert]

The BBC Life On Mars was by far better than that ABC version.

[Little Ray]

They missed Stargate Atlantis, which was a much better show than Stargate SG-1. Unlike “Monster of the Day” SG-1, it had a story arcs.

I am pleased, however, to see that Stargate: Universe did NOT make it.

Also, I still think 1978 BSG was better than BINO 2004.

[gorush]

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” is not even on the list?

[Norm Lenhart]

Seven Days.

Hor Russian women are hot.

[Gay State Conservative]

The first couple of Terminator films were great.Star Trek TOS was outstanding at times,pretty ordinary at other times.Red Dwarf...the first 5 seasons at least...was a classic British *comedy*.I never thought of it as science fiction.

[21twelve]

Isn’t “The Walking Dead” considered SciFy? Or maybe they are talking about older stuff.

Glad to see MST3K is on the list. I’m surprised that old staple “Lost in Space” is on the list. I liked “The Time Tunnel” as a kid too.