I was driving in the fast lane with a rabid wolverine in my underwear

[smeddley]

This is why I don't browse the news sites...

According to the news this morning, the top sci-fi TV shows are as follows (my comments in italics):

30. The Thunderbirds
Clay-mation, in my sci-fi? So I've never seen this show, but based on ten seconds of internet research I don't think it belongs on this list. Just no.

29. The Invaders
Another show I've never seen - I guess it ran 1967-1968 - so I can't comment too much. But if it'd been that great (for example, The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits) you'd think there'd have been reruns on. Would not make a list of mine.

28. Lost in Space
It's a well-known classic (how many people haven't done the 'Danger, Danger Will Robinson' shtick?) so I guess it deserves to be on a list, but way, way, way down at the bottom.

27. Futurama
I love this show. Truly love it. That said, it's not a sci-fi show. It's a cartoon. Does not belong on this list. On the list of greatest cartoon series? YES. Sci-Fi shows? NO.

26. The Six Million Dollar Man
Eh, I vaguely recall this show from childhood, but I wouldn't put it on the list.

25. Jetsons
Like Futurama, it's a cartoon. And Futurama is a far, far better cartoon as well, and if it belonged on this list should be ranked higher.

24. Andromeda
Should be ranked far higher. Great show the first few seasons, though it got weird at the end.

23. Firefly
WAY too far down the list for this show. Of course, it also had a tragically short life.

22. The Adventures of Superman
Superheroes are not sci-fi. They are superheroes. I don't buy that it belongs on this list.

21. V
Never heard of it. Does not sound very good. Off the list with you!

20. MST3K
I think they were stretching with the definition of sci-fi. Okay, so the guys were on a ship and he had robot sidekicks, but... would you really call this a sci-fi show? It was fun, it was funny ('Gutterbumberchute!'), but is it sci-fi? I say no.

19. Logan's Run
I've never seen this show, so I don't know how I'd rank it. I'd never even heard of the TV show - the movie, yes, but not the TV show.

18. Star Trek: DSN
All in all this might be the best Star Trek series out there. It does belong on the list, I'm just not sure where.

17. Nowhere Man
Even IMDB doesn't list 'sci-fi' as a genre for this one. Sorry, you're off the list.

16. Stargate: Atlantis
Not as good as the original, still, a decent sci-fi show.

15. Dr. Who
At #15, are you kidding me?! This show belongs at the top. It has it all - longevity, originality, and it's a great show.

14. Heroes
A sci-fi show? Really? I've seen a few episodes, and I'm not sure I'd call it that. I think the people that made this list are confusing 'supernatural' elements with sci-fi.

13. Xena: Warrior Princess
I adore this show. It's campy, it's funny, it's just great. What is it not? It's not sci-fi.

12. Buffy
Again, this is not sci-fi. Vampires are not sci-fi. Supernatural is not sci-fi. Does not belong on this list.

11. The Outer Limits (original)
A classic sci-fi show, definitely belongs here.

10. Quantum Leap
A strangely compelling show to watch, I'd put it on the list, but much lower.

9. Twilight Zone (original)
Well, of course. This one belongs on the list, and probably pretty high up if you're going to be completely objective (it's easy to be dazzled with new-fangled special effects these days!)

8. Sliders
Another show I just couldn't stop watching if I accidently turned it on. Oddly addicting, and belongs on the list, but lower.

7. Star Trek
I know it's the original, but it wasn't that good. Belongs, in my opinion, at the bottom of the Star Trek pile.

6. X-Files
I never saw this show as sci-fi. But then, perhaps that's hypocritical if I call The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone sci-fi. I don't know. I wouldn't put it on the list, and if I did it would be much lower.

5. Lost
NOT SCI-FI. And not all that great, if you as me.

4. Stargate SG-7 (yes, the web site actually said '7')
I know not of this show, but SG-1 was awesome and deserves to be at the top of the list.

3. Babylon 5
One of the greatest series ever, even though season 5 was a bit iffy. Seasons 1-4 more than make up for it.

2. Star Trek: TNG
The early years are just painful. Many of the characters are bad bad bad bad. (Wesley Crusher die die die). It belongs on the list, but NOT at the #2 spot.

1. Battlestar Galactica (new)
Are you kidding me? Even hard-core sci-fi fans are irritated with this show. No, it does not belong at the #1 spot. No. Just... no.

I can't believe Cleopatra 2525 didn't make the list... But in all seriousness, how did Torchwood and Farscape not make the list?!

So, have my top 10:
10. (tie) The Outer Limits/The Twilight Zone
9. Stargate: Atlantis
8. Star Trek: DSN
7. Farscape
6. Andromeda
5. Torchwood
4. Firefly
3. Stargate: SG-1
2. Babylon 5
1. Dr. Who

What's your list? Who am I missing? Thoughts? Comments? Bellybutton lint?

Comments

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

I take issue! With a number of things, but mostly:

"Superheroes are not sci-fi. They are superheroes. I don't buy that it belongs on this list."

Aliens on Earth are sci-fi, no? Superman is an alien.

And Lost? Definitely sci-fi. It's not PURE sci-fi, but it's more sci-fi than fantasy.

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you should check out V. I loved it as a kid.

[lyonza.livejournal.com]

V was totally awesome. I wasn't allowed to watch it when it came out originally in 1983... ok it got aired here sometime after 1987, but I was still too young to watch it.

Loved the whole lizard alien thing - I even had a crush on Diana (the main alien chick) before I realized I should be crushing on Marc Singer instead ;)

I have the first half of the series on DVD, need to get my hands on the second half.

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

Well, he was the BEASTMASTER. All women should have a crush on him.

[lyonza.livejournal.com]

I have a gap in my education - I haven't seen any of the Beastmaster movies.

Tho' I can vouch a good segment of the male populations also have a crush on him.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Okay, how about I don't like superheroes so they shouldn't be on the list? :p

And we don't know that Lost is sci-fi because THEY HAVEN'T EXPLAINED ANYTHING IT COULD STILL BE A STUPID DREAM SEQUENCE FOR ALL WE KNOW.

(argh)

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

You don't like superheroes?! You are biased against Adamas!

We know that there's a time travel element to Lost, so there's some sci-fi for you right there.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I've never been a superhero fan, I admit. I never read comic books.

No, it's not time travel, it's time distortion. Which is a real thing - see traveling at the speed of light. And I'm not even willing to admit we 'know' that about the show. I'm still an episode behind, I care so little...

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'm going to suggest you stop watching the sci-fi epic of Lost and move along to V. It'll cause you less stress.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

BUT I HAVE TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS!

Seriously, I've invested too much of my life in it, they owe me that.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

EDIT: OMG I forgot Red Dwarf. The new list read:
10. Stargate: Atlantis
9. Star Trek: DSN
8. Farscape
7. Andromeda
6. Torchwood
5. Firefly
4. Stargate SG-1
3. Babylon 5
2. Red Dwarf
1. Dr. Who
(for now)

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

If a cartoon can't be SF, then comedy can't be SF, so Red Dwarf isn't allowed on that list.

Also, with Torchwood at no. 6, you're a terrible, terrible person.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

It can too because I say it can. :P My blog, my list, my completely arbitrary and illogical rules, so there.

I didn't think I'd like Torchwood (I didn't watch it when it first came on TV - I was burned by Robin Hood and Flash Gordon oh so bad bad bad) but I'm enjoying watching the DVDs.

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

"Cartoon" isn't a genre, it's a medium. It's like saying "oh, Daywatch can't be spec fic because it's Russian".

[clare-dragonfly.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Or like people who think Sandman can't be good because it's a comic...

[icecat.livejournal.com]

No! V is a piece of 80's greatness!! These aliens come down to earth and they're all "let's be buddy-buddy" and then they take over, and there's a resistance, who discovers that they're really these reptile people who eat hamsters and mice! And Diana was their leader and she was beautiful, and one of the aliens falls in love with a human and they have a sekrit love child... oh it was so good. Srsly.

I agree though, Firefly was waaaaay too far down the list, I don't care how short the series was.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Okay, the recap I found on the internet didn't seem that good, but it wasn't explained well. I'll put them back on the list, but not top ten. Is that good? :D

[icecat.livejournal.com]

I guess so, hehe. It was a somewhat campy show, but that may have been due to being an 80's product. But oh, how I loved that show. :D

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

The library only has the miniseries, not the complete series. Hmmm...

[icecat.livejournal.com]

The miniseries was the first part, and then I think they tried to make it a regular show but it only lasted a season. Or at least, that's what I kind of remember and what IMDB implies. Ignore anything made in the 90's/00's, it's just not the same.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

So if I watched the miniseries, that would be like the beginning? If that's the case, I'll put it on my holds list. I just didn't want to be catching the butt-end of a show!

[foxfirefey]

Oh dear. Should I say that I luff BSG? I mean, I'm not good at rank listing things, but I really am very fond of it!

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

You can. Mr. Smeddley watches it, and we own the DVDs. I just never liked it (and like I told Pen, it's all just about my opinion - otherwise you'd have to take into account influence on the genre and whatnot and the original Star Trek should be fairly high, though it is often painful to watch).

[cdpeck.livejournal.com]

I agree with your placement of Doctor Who.

I never really watched the original Star Trek, but I think it helped inspire and popularize sci-fi t.v. in general. Without Star Trek, we wouldn't have Star Trek parodies like Pigs In Space.

My list would be:

1. Doctor Who
2. Star Trek
3. Firefly
4. Quantum Leap
5. Red Dwarf

It's shorter than yours because I haven't seen a lot of these shows. I would say they all fall under sci-fi though, with the exception of Buffy and Xena. Buffy had sci-fi elements, just like Alias, but it had more magic which makes it fantasy (and set in present day which makes it urban fantasy). Xena is absolutely not sci-fi -- no science & no technology. It must've taken extreme silliness to put Xena on this list.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you discount personal taste I would have to put Star Trek (the original) up there because it has such a place in history. But like I told someone, to me greatness is directly proportional to me wanting to watch it, at least for the purpose of this list.

It seems a lot of people count Xena as sci-fi, which just floors me.

[revoked-soul.livejournal.com]

I have no list, because - are you prepared for this? - I'm really not that big a fan of sci-fi. I seem to be a little out of place on your friends list. ;)

Although, I did really like Firefly. Colum had to force me to watch it, because his original description made me roll my eyes and say no thanks...but once I saw it, I liked it. Maybe I'd like others if ever I gave them a chance. But...meh.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

*GASP* Say it isn't so!

Maybe you would like them, you should at least try. If you liked Firefly I think you'd like some of the others.

[oneworldvision.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big sci-fi fan so I can't comment on the other stuff, but I was surprised (and pleased, don't get me wrong) to see Firefly on the list at all, given it's short lifespan. And now I'm amazed all over again at how this show managed to fly completely under the radar when it was actually on the air.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

True, I guess I should give them some credit for that, even though they didn't rank it high enough, they at least put in on the list (unlike Red Dwarf and Farscape!).

[crimsonlotus84.livejournal.com]

Dr Who has fastly grown to be one of my favorite expensive box sets to own and flaunt. I loves The Doctor.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I love Doctor Who, and I have to admit David Tennant is my favorite Doctor... even with all the Rose angst.