Some of my favourite television shows have been on the SciFi channel, or at least classified as Science Fiction. From
Star Trek in all its incarnations to
Warehouse 13, they often have a depth of imagination and character that seems to be lacking elsewhere.
So what are some of your favourites? Apart from the above-mentioned, I have to go with the long-established
Dr. Who. Who hasn't hidden behind the sofa from Dr. Who monsters as a child? And now I get to see my daughter doing it :). I really like the new episodes, from Christopher Eccleston onward - you see more of the doctor's character and his true, tragic loneliness. And the stories are excellent.
Firefly - how can there be so few episodes??? It had such wit and imagination, to say nothing of action and character! Despite the excellent movie Serenity, the series could have gone so much further - and I know I'm far from the only person who thinks so :)
Flash Forward - another one that could have had gone further in my opinion - I loved the concept that whatever they did, there were some things they just couldn't change, and some things about their own futures, they misunderstood because they didn't and couldn't have all the facts.
The Lost Room. I discovered this little gem by accident. Clever and funny, it followed a policeman's efforts to find his daughter after she disappeared into a room which could be opened through any door in the world as long as you had The Key. There were lots of other fun and bizarre objects discovered on the way, including a bus ticket that threw you onto a dusty road outside a motel :).
I suppose I have to mention
Star Trek again! Which incarantion is your favourite or least favourite? The original series?
The Next Generation?
Deep Space Nine?
Voyager?
Enterprise? I know which had the worst theme tune :). I really liked all of them when they started up, but looking back, I think
The Next Generation probably had the most class. I thought
Voyager had huge potential, especially in characterization, but sadly much of this never happened. And I really didn't like the ending!
OK, over to you! Talk to me about tv sci-fi!
Marie
Hi Marie,
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed Star Trek in all it's many forms but I couldn't get into the last one...dunno why.
I'm also a big Stargate fan and Stargate Atlantis. I tried the new Stargate series, but again, didn't keep up with it.
Valerie
in Germany
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI hardly ever saw the last Star Trek series - my husband used to change the channel as soon as the them tune came on, and he's a bigger trekkie than I am :).
I liked Stargate too, right from the film or pilot (not sure which, but I remember borrowing the video from the local shop!). I lost it after the first series, though. Must catch up with my son's video collection - he's got all SG1 and Atlantis, though who knows what sort of condition they're in :).
Marie
I was really disappointed when Space: Above and Beyond got cancelled at the end of its single season.... long before Star Trek, the character who was pilot who was a Caltech graduate, was a black woman, and the squad leader was female (though not the superior officers up the chain of command of them).
ReplyDeleteAdored Firefly and Star Trek, especially TNG and Voyager (once Seven showed up).
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I don't remember that one. It's Uhura from Star Trek who's always held up as carrying the flag in those directions, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jeanette. As for my husband's appreciation of Seven - almost grounds for divorce :).
Marie
I still like Doctor Who, especially in the newer incarnations, starting with Christopher Eccleston. Tom Baker was my favorite among the earlier ones. Also like Torchwood. Unfortunately,these episodes are just on pay channels these days.
ReplyDeleteHa,
ReplyDeleteMy hubby is a big Troy fan and Seven too!!! I also have Stargate and almost all of Atlantis on DVD....love watching them and they are so much better in English than in German...hehe!!!
Valerie
in Germany
Hi Carol, I have to agree about Tom Baker, although I always loved all the Dr. Who's as a kid. I've always liked the bits of Torchwood I've seen too, but somehow I never seem to get to follow it properly! Pay channels can be a pain, can't they? Hogging the programmes we REALLY want to see :).
ReplyDeleteHi Valerie! Trying to imagine Stargate in German... why is it so much better in English? Does it lose something in translation, or are the dubbed voices just WRONG? :)
Marie
I rather liked Voyager as well, and I agree with you about the characterization... I loved the premise but felt they didn't fully explore the tensions between the Starfleet and Maquis crew.
ReplyDeleteI almost gave up on Stargate Universe but it got better and better, and it's a shame it was cancelled.
The cancellation of Firefly was a crime!! I often wonder if it would've done better on the Sci-Fi channel because expectations were just too high on Fox, and it was a quirky show that was always going to take time to find an audience.
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteMy feelings exactly on Voyager! And you could well be right about Firefly on SciFi. I suppose the big channels insist on huge ratings rather than niche followings. Shame though. It means that such gems are often abandoned :(.
Marie