Comments on Sci-Fi Lists: SF TV shows
Here’s an updated version of this list. If there’s a * in the “My rating” column then I have some interest in watching the show. If there’s nothing there then I have no particular interest in watching it.
Here is the list I’m commenting on.
| Their ranking | Title | My rating | My comments |
| 1 | Star Trek – The Next Generation | 5 | Brilliant from the 3rd season — you’ll follow these characters anywhere. |
| 2 | Battlestar Galactica (new) | 5 | With a focus on character, it’s brilliant right from the very beginning. |
| 3 | Stargate SG-1 | 4.5 | A series with two very funny characters — Jack O’Neill and Vala Mal Doran. |
| 4 | The X-Files | 5 | FBI agents investigating paranormal cases — brilliant from the 3rd season to the 8th. |
| 5 | Star Trek (Original Series) | 4.5 | Some episodes better than others, but gives you hope for the future of humanity. |
| 6 | Babylon 5 | 5 | Set on a space station, its 5-year story arc was planned out ahead of time. |
| 7 | Farscape | 3.5 | I watched a season and a half, but it wasn’t grabbing me. |
| 8 | Stargate – Atlantis | 4.5 | A Stargate team relocates to the Pegasis galaxy — they explore and defend themselves. |
| 9 | Firefly | 5 | Every single episode was brilliant — succeeded by the movie “Serenity.” |
| 10 | Doctor Who (2005) | * | |
| 11 | Star Trek – Deep Space Nine | 5 | From the 3rd season, the most consistently brilliant Star Trek series. |
| 12 | Star Trek – Voyager | 4.5 | Had some 5/5 episodes but never reached the consistency of TNG or DS9. |
| 13 | Futurama | 4.5 | Many episodes are very funny and science fictionally clever. |
| 14 | Doctor Who | ||
| 15 | Star Trek – Enterprise | 4.5 | Kept improving each year and its 4th and final season was amazing. |
| 16 | The Twilight Zone | * | |
| 17 | Lost | 5 | A plane crashes on what seems like a deserted island — but it’s not. |
| 18 | Red Dwarf | * | |
| 19 | Quantum Leap | * | |
| 20 | Heroes | 4.5 | A show about what would happen if people with super powers really existed. |
| 21 | Fringe | 5 | An FBI team invesigates paranormal cases — and finds out there’s a parallel universe. |
| 22 | Stargate Universe | 4.5 | A group of military and civilians are on a ship hurtling through the galaxy — and they can’t stop it. |
| 23 | Battlestar Galactica (original) | ||
| 24 | Eureka | * | |
| 25 | Sliders | ||
| 26 | Smallville | ||
| 27 | The Outer Limits | * | |
| 28 | Andromeda | ||
| 29 | Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981) | 4.5 | A much better/funnier adaptation of the book than the more recent movie. |
| 30 | Dark Angel | ||
| 31 | V (1984) | ||
| 32 | Torchwood | ||
| 33 | The 4400 | ||
| 34 | Terminator (Sarah Connor) | * | |
| 35 | Blake’s 7 | ||
| 36 | The Prisoner | 3.5 | A show from the 1960s where a spy is captured and kept in a strange town. |
| 37 | Space – Above and Beyond | ||
| 38 | Space 1999 | ||
| 39 | Mystery Science Theater 3000 | I’ve seen a few episodes — they range from amusing to hilarious. | |
| 40 | Dune (2000) | 3.5 | This is a miniseries — the sequel “Children of Dune” is even better. |
| 41 | The Avengers (with Emma Peel) | ||
| 42 | Cowboy Bebop | ||
| 43 | Lost in Space | ||
| 44 | The Outer Limits (1995) | * | I saw some of this show — it was usually quite good. |
| 45 | Lexx | ||
| 46 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | ||
| 47 | Alien Nation | ||
| 48 | Dollhouse | 4.5 | Had great potential and a couple of episodes were 5/5. |
| 49 | Alias | * | |
| 50 | Roswell | ||
| 51 | Third Rock From the Sun | I saw a fair amount of this show — my guess is I’d give it 4.5. | |
| 52 | seaQuest DSV (& 2032) | ||
| 53 | Sanctuary | Saw a couple of episodes — they were OK but didn’t grab me too much. | |
| 54 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | ||
| 55 | UFO | ||
| 56 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. | ||
| 57 | Lois & Clark (New Superman) | ||
| 58 | Time Tunnel | ||
| 59 | Kolchak – The Night Stalker | ||
| 60 | Thunderbirds | ||
| 61 | Max Headroom – The Series | * | |
| 62 | The Wild, Wild West | ||
| 63 | The Six Million Dollar Man | ||
| 64 | Ghost in the Shell: SAC | ||
| 65 | The Invaders | ||
| 66 | Earth 2 | 3.5 | It started off with a bang and had great potential. |
| 67 | Crusade | 4 | Would have been great if it had gone according to J. Michael Straczynski’s plans. |
| 68 | V (2009) | ||
| 69 | ALF | I watched this as a kid. I’ve seen a few episodes more recently — they’re amusing. | |
| 70 | Earth – Final Conflict | ||
| 71 | The Adventures of Superman | ||
| 72 | Batman | ||
| 73 | Millennium | ||
| 74 | Logan’s Run | ||
| 75 | Get Smart | ||
| 76 | The (New) Twilight Zone | * | |
| 77 | My Favorite Martian | ||
| 78 | Taken | ||
| 79 | Planet of the Apes | 3 | For fans of the movies, this half season-long series is watchable. |
| 80 | The Jetsons | ||
| 81 | Neon Genesis Evangelion | ||
| 82 | Adventures of Brisco County Jr | ||
| 83 | The Incredible Hulk | ||
| 84 | Æon Flux | ||
| 85 | Star Trek (Animated Series) | I’ve seen a few episodes — I would likely give it a 2. | |
| 86 | Wonder Woman | ||
| 87 | Mork and Mindy | ||
| 88 | Falling Skies | ||
| 89 | Science Fiction Theatre | ||
| 90 | Knight Rider | I watched this show as a kid — somehow I don’t think it would be as great now. | |
| 91 | Primeval | ||
| 92 | The Greatest American Hero | I liked it as a kid, but found it unwatchable as an adult. | |
| 93 | Sapphire and Steel | ||
| 94 | Land of the Giants | ||
| 95 | Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons | ||
| 96 | Warehouse 13 | ||
| 97 | Amazing Stories | ||
| 98 | The Bionic Woman | ||
| 99 | Jeremiah | 4.5 | A post-apocalyptic show from J. Michael Straczynski — it lasted two full seasons. |
| 100 | Invasion |
.
Here are a few shows still missing from the list:
| Caprica | 4.5 | A spinoff of “Battlestar Galactica,” it takes place when Cylons were just being created for the first time. | |
| Dark Matter | 4.5 | Six people aboard a spaceship wake up from cryosleep with no memories of who they are. | |
| Flashforward | 4.5 | Based on the book by Robert J. Sawyer — everyone experiences a glimpse 6 months into the future. | |
| Revolution | 4 | A post-apocalyptic show — the lights go out all around the world, and some people know why. | |
| Terra Nova | 4 | Time travel and dinosaurs — the first season finale showed what it could be, but it was cancelled. | |
| Threshold | 4 | What do we do when an extraterrestrial object appears — just getting good when it was cancelled. |