Timewaster's Guide Archive

Departments => Movies and TV => Topic started by: 42 on April 18, 2005, 11:47:45 PM

Title: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: 42 on April 18, 2005, 11:47:45 PM
http://tv.msn.com/tv/BestWorstSci-Fi

Because I'm feeling a lack of inflamitory discussion on the board.

Is anyone willing to stick up for the Original Battlestar Galactica? Anyone want to trash talk Babylon 5?

Discuss.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 19, 2005, 03:10:10 AM
My love for the original Battlestar Galactica runs deep, but most of it is based on Dirk Benedict and the cool robo-monkey dog.

The list seems fine to me, though a little too mired in the "old and venerable" and "new and cool" dichotomy. Was there honestly no good sc-fi between 1970 and 1994?
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Spriggan on April 19, 2005, 03:18:15 AM
bidi-bidi-bidi

Buck Rogers won some Emmeys.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on April 19, 2005, 09:05:19 AM
I feel compelled to stand up for Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica. Maybe they're not as shiny as today's stuff, but they pulled you in and held you there. Good enough.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: 42 on April 19, 2005, 11:55:10 AM
Quote
The list seems fine to me, though a little too mired in the "old and venerable" and "new and cool" dichotomy. Was there honestly no good sc-fi between 1970 and 1994?


Well, Star Trek: TNG came out then. Which I actually think deserved more credit. Sure it's part of the Star Trek franchise, so it was kind of covered, but it helped to revive SciFi on TV in many ways.

And Buck Rogers...*42 shudders*
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 19, 2005, 12:12:47 PM
That's part of my problem. Both TNG and DS9 were better than the original Trek, but the original got the credit because it started the movement. Seems wrong to me, but I suppose that's what you get when you have a list made by one very opinionated sci-fi geek (as if there's any other kind).
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Jelly_Belly on April 19, 2005, 12:17:42 PM
I really like TNG. I've never been much for the original including the movies. They were all right. The only one I really enjoyed was the one with the whales--mostly cause they loosened up and made it funny instead of really serious all the time. It was very enjoyable. As for TNG--I really liked the characters and how they evolved throughout the series and into the movies. I definitely think that series deserves more credit than the original. It's what got me interested in sci-fi (not that I'm a huge fan, but at least I'm interested).
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: n8sumsion on April 19, 2005, 02:45:08 PM
I have to give a big thumbs up to Buck Rogers, it was a great show in its day. I would never put it on the worst list. I'm still lukewarm on Battlestar. It always felt like Mormons in Space to me and I never really got caught up in it. I still haven't bothered to see any of the new ones.

Frankly, if I were to put shows on the worst list, they would be any Gene Rodenberry non-Trek show. Earth Final Conflict, Andromeda... shudder.

As for the best, Farscape is definitely high up my list. As for Babyon 5... well... I love B5's over-arcing story, the meta-plot of the series. But when you got down to each individual episode, they sometimes fell flat. I suppose I'd keep it on my best list.

I liked the article, but thought it was way too short. I would have liked to have seen at least twice as many shows talked about.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Mistress of Darkness on April 19, 2005, 03:18:26 PM
I have to say Lost in Space was the worst Sci-Fi show I ever saw.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Tage on April 19, 2005, 06:08:02 PM
Did anyone ever watch "Earth 2"? It didn't run for very long, but I liked it. Also, it had Rebecca Gayheart, which is a plus for any show.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 19, 2005, 06:13:48 PM
I did, of course, but you knew that. That had some very cool stuff in it, plus Tim Curry as a recurring villain.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Spriggan on April 19, 2005, 07:36:33 PM
What about 'V'? that was a great show.  I'm sure I'd think is was silly now but back when it was on I watched it all the time.

P.S. ST TNG is a horrible show and should have been on the worst list.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: The Jade Knight on April 19, 2005, 08:55:25 PM
I also enjoyed TNG from time to time, though I was definitely a very far call from being a Trekkie (or even a regular watcher.)

I haven't watched alot of the older stuff.  I didn't like DS9 nearly as much as TNG.  I couldn't stand the old Star Trek, though.

Maybe I'm just too into modern special effects?
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Entsuropi on April 19, 2005, 11:51:21 PM
DS9 had better CGI than TNG so that wouldn't really fit.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on April 20, 2005, 12:17:07 AM
Quote
 I couldn't stand the old Star Trek, though.

Maybe I'm just too into modern special effects?


Very possibly.  I really don't enjoy the old episodes as much as a real Trek fan should.  I love the original series paperbacks though.  I always said it was because the acting and special effects were better in the books.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on April 20, 2005, 01:11:35 AM
Babylon 5 is nambaa waan!

V was also very cool. I loved it.

How about Misfits of Science? Cool show... Does Knight Rider count as sci-fi? Then there's The Powers of Matthew Star...Automan...Mannimal...Benji and Zaxx...Beauty and the Beast (the TV show)...when did Quantum Leap start? Voyagers!
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on April 20, 2005, 11:09:22 AM
Greatest American Hero!
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 20, 2005, 12:14:00 PM
Small Wonder!
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Skar on April 20, 2005, 01:05:42 PM
Did you know that the brother in Small Wonder went on to become the lead singer for Smashing Pumpkins?
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 20, 2005, 01:16:21 PM
Yeah, I heard he was Mormon.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Skar on April 20, 2005, 02:20:56 PM
Hmmmph.  How embarrassing.  

*Skar flagellates himself for spreading a false rumor.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: 42 on April 20, 2005, 02:34:08 PM
I'm a little surprised Stargate SG-1 or X-Files weren't on the list. But I feel that a lot of SciFi fans aren't quiet sure what to think of those shows. Maybe they're just too current.
Title: Re: Best and Worst TV SciFi
Post by: Fellfrosch on April 20, 2005, 02:54:36 PM
The intro mentioned X-Files specifically, and excluded it because it wasn't about space or the future. So they were working with a pretty narrow set of parameters.