"Where's The Expanse" , "Where's Battlestar Galactica?" , "Where's Fringe?" They are in his top 10 list that includes Star Trek. ruclips.net/video/z34PWWq4tVY/видео.html
It's odd, that list includes quite a few shows for me that get worse each time I watch them - BSG has a very strong start, but the longer they try to go on (and I'd say that even appears as an issue as early as the second series), the more it becomes clear that no, the Cylons didn't have a plan. The world building in The Expanse is incredibly superficial, with most people too strongly defined by what group they came from (Earth people are like this and blieve that...), though I will say that the action sequences in it are maybe the best in all sci-fi... just a shame that I don't care much about most of the characters involved!. DS9 is what would have happened if B5 had higher production budgets but much, much worse writers, though funnily enough I feel like it's bigger flaws are closer to BSG in that it tends to do plots that just feel like they're trying to keep the show going. I don't think Blake's 7 has aged well either, though it does better if you take out a lot of the episodes featuring 'aliens' as they tended to feel like quite hokey filler
Though the Expanse had its moments, the show was based on a number of novels, not original. And before anyone points out that The Twilight Zone had numerous episodes based on previously written stories, the show’s concept was original. I believe that is the point.
So much love for B5! I never got into it. I think at the time I just saw it as a rip-off of DS9. Probably unfairly, considering all the love for it. I'll have to give it another go.
@@milou66 if anything, it was the other way around. The Babylon 5 guys pitched their show to Paramount prior to pre-prodution of DS9. Although the premise is similar, season(s) long story arcs set on a space station, the writing & the characters are totally different. Both are great SF, with wonderful ensemble casts.
@@mondostrat Ah. That's not surprising. I have a friend who was a writer and producer on the Stargate franchise. I remember asking him once how could SG1 and ST:Voy both have virtually identical two parters in which the whole crew find themselves in a labour camp with their minds wiped and they have to gradually solve the mystery, get their memories back, and free all the slaves. I think they even aired really close to each other. He said it's pretty simple. a writer takes a script to one show, they turn it down, so they rewrite it for a second show, it gets made eventually, and meantime the first show says, hey remember that script we turned down? Maybe it could actually work. So they pull it off the shelf and make it and suddenly you get two shows doing the same episodes.
@@milou66 The DS9 story is a bit more sinister - once the people running STar Trek heard B5 was going in to production, they raced to get their show out first, and tried to strong arm a few networks in to not carrying it, not to mention some of the bits they largely lifted. You combine that with the appalling way some of the female actors were treated in that era of the franchise, and it becomes clear that brand was in the hands of some appalling people EDIT: If you do try B5, it takes about half a season to find its feet. It was one of the first in the US to really commit to a long arc, but the early days did feature a few monsters of the week, and it also had a lot of world building to do, though I find the latter tends to be less of a problem for sci-fi fans
@@neilbiggs1353 Yeah. I've heard some really ugly stories about how actresses were treated in that era. Worse than the 60s when they were all in miniskirts! 😣
My favorite sci fi of all time was the original 1980's V, it explained perfectly how people who want to control you use emotion to do so and the myriad ways people convince themselves to support such things while being entertained all at the same time.
Space Above and Beyond is a one series wonder that still stands up and really should have run longer. Good list though, it reminded me of watching Farscape and Lex as a kid on TV, that was weird.
Another example of Fox failing to understand when they've got good sf. Guess it belongs to Disney now. Maybe they'll bring it back if we make enough noise
The Lexx was often shown right after Farscape where I'm at. You think the first show was weird, Lexx was like, "I've have too much and need to go to bed"...
I have a few honorable mentions here. "Space 1999"-A nuclear accident hurls the moon and 314 people living on it into deep space. Starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, this 2 season show was suspenseful, disturbing, exciting and memorable. Outstanding art direction and special effects. "Battlestar Galactica"(either the classic or the reimagined one)-The 12 colonies of mankind on the other side of the galaxy are nearly wiped out by a "Trojan Horse" attack by the ruthless Cylon Empire. A ragtag fugitive fleet led by the last Battlestar, the Galactica flees the Cylon Tyranny on a lonely quest for the lost 13th colony that settled on a shining planet called...Earth. Great action and surprisingly good drama. "Sliders"-A genius student invents a device to jump to parallel Earths and gets himself, his girlfriend, his Professor and a random soul singer trapped in world after world attempting to find the setting to get back to their original Earth. Fantastic world building for alternate realities and intense survival scenarios. "Voyagers"- Time traveling operative, Phineas Bogg, who's job it is to fix history when it's about to change unwittingly gets a partner-a young boy. In the accident, he loses his history guide, but his new partner is the son of a history teacher and a fanatic on the subject, so he helps Phineas on his missions. Outstanding production to recreate historical moments and the figures that made them famous.
The first season of Sliders was great! Unfortunately, the rest never quite lived up to the Pilot. I say that as someone that considered it one of their favorite shows as a kid.
@@les4767 I agree that it was good. I think for me the issue is that the first season set too high of a bar lol. With that said, it was still among my favorite shows on at the time. I eagerly awaited viewing it every week. With the exception of the last season or so. Once so much of the cast had changed, the magic was lost for me. Losing the Professor was a great loss to the show.
I feel similarly about SeaQuest DSV. After the first season, it fell a bit short. But, I do feel like after the format change and the introduction of Michael Ironside, it picked back up again. With less focus on the fantastical (and sometimes more supernatural) elements.
It really is, I understand that some people don't like Seth MacFarlane's brand of humour but I don't think people understand just how of a Sci-fi fan he actually is!
I definitely have to check this one out - but based on his animated stuff, McFarlane's sophomoric sense of humour definitely wears thin quick! As such, one hopes that he manages to rein in that 'unreasonably pleased with himself' vibe he almost invariably gives off! Also, while I expect the title of the show and the eponymous spacecraft was an homage to the Wright brothers, on a subconscious level that name would be a big obstacle to viewers in the British Isles (those of a certain age, anyway,) where 'Orville' was a very well known (and almost universally despised), affectedly pathetic - and thus, hugely irritating - dummy bird of some sort who was part of a ventriloquist's act. In abrasiveness terms, think Barney the Dinosaur, if Barney had gotten into the sugar. Endured while too crippled with a hangover to root around for the remote control!
Dark Matter was a well thought out series. I especially liked their version of the transporter beams that sent an avatar of the person to the destination and if the avatar died before returning to the pods, you never got the life experiences of that avatar.
The Expanse should definitely be included in any list of great tv science fiction shows. Although very different, I'd rate it as being up there with Babylon 5. I'd also consider Blake's 7, For All Mankind and Silo. If post-apocalypic shows are to be included, then The Last of Us is an obvious choice.
I agree that the Expanse should be on the list, along with The Walking Dead, Person of Interest, Fringe, The 100 and Battlestar Galactica to name a few. I think another vid or a top 20 could be in order.
@@jonathanrichter4256 dont think so, I think it gets about 2/3rds of the way through the first book. I haven’t read the book yet though so I might be wrong
I recorded every episode on VHS. I no longer have a VCR deck, not sure if the video quality will suffer from 'bleed through' or has totally degraded... but one of these days I'll buy a VCR and find out.
Good news for Babylon 5 Fans. The series is being remastered for Blue ray and should soon be available for sale on December 5. A Babylon 5 movie is also coming out as an animated film.
If that's true than I will gladely spend my money on it. It will be well worth it. I hope that they release it remastered, for the DVD version too. Again for Babylon 5; I don't care if I spend a few hundred dollars on the purchase. It will be worth every penny and I will finally be able to retire my origninal DVD versions that I purchased over 20 years ago. 😃
With the current track record in entertainment when it comes to continuing / restarting franchises, I am not sure how I feel about a new b5 movie ... looking forward to remasters with better CG though
Excellent list! Of the shows you review, my favorites are Babylon 5 and Farscape -- Babylon 5 for its heroic and intricate plot and years-long story arcs, and Farscape for being just SO WEIRD! (I love me some throat singing!) Farscape is one of the few SF shows where the aliens are really, *really* alien.
One other show I’d like to mention is seaQuest DSV. It can best be described as “Star Trek underwater.” You have the seaQuest, a unique submarine the size of a battleship and with the appearance of a sea creature of some kind. It’s crewed by sailors of United Earth Oceans, a Federation-like structure. The show is fairly episodic, with the first two seasons exploring the depths and dealing with various crises. There’s even a dolphin that can communicate through a translator. Season 3 takes a turn by moving events 10 years into the future and making it darker and more militarized. They even replace the boat’s captain with a hardened soldier. Most episodes now deal with a Cold War-like situation between UEO and Macronesia, a rising power that seeks to control more and more of the oceans. The final episode before cancelation even introduces a third power from Asia called Chaodai
Andromeda was a great but under appreciated slice of SciFi. Fun action packed with a compelling 5 season storyline. Well worth viewing if you've been on the fence of shall i, yes or no. I say yes.
Travelers was brilliant. Another underrated scifi gem that is my personal favourite is Orphan Black. Almost Human also deserves a mention it was cancelled too soon and wish we had gotten more of it. 😢
I can think of a few I would have liked to see on this list. First one -> Blake's 7. I liked that so, especially the character Kerr Avon, the coldly, logical "2nd" in command (if this was Star Trek). The next two are Life on Mars (British version) and its sequel Ashes to Ashes. They are both time travel shows (at least that was one explanation) with Sam Tyler getting into an accident in 2006 and waking up in the 1970's. He tries to use modern policing techniques while the cops in the 1970's (especially his boss Gene Hunt) perfer beating a confession out of a suspect. Ashes to Ashes is the sequel where a police phycologist who studied the report made by Sam Tyler gets shot in the head and wakes up in the 1980's to find the same policemen Sam Tyler met in the 1970's. Both great shows.
A very good, if safe list. I really would have loved to see some more experimental amazing SF like the Canadian/German co-production Lexx in a list like this. Also you are somehow missing Battlestar Galactica, classic or re-imagined in here! But either way, Lexx is a hidden gem for certain and should be on any true SF geek's list.
Stargate SG-1 is my all time favorite. But here are three forgotten gems you might like to take a look at if you like a bit of action/adventure sprinkled on your sci-fi like I do. 1st: Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. Produced by Majel Roddenberry and staring Kevin Sorbo, this show was meant to be a spiritual successor to Star Trek. Taking place in the far future, it follows Captain Dylan Hunt and his ship Andromeda who were frozen in time for 300 years after flying too close to a black hole and reemerge only to find that civilisation has fallen. With multiple threats looming over the galaxy such as the monstrous Magog and the ever power hungry Nietzeans, Hunt assembles a ragtag crew in hopes of reforming the Common Wealth. 2nd: Killjoys. Produced in tendem with sister sci-fi show Dark Matter, Killjoys follows the adventures of Dutch, Johnny and Davon. The show takes place in a solar system colonised by humans in the far future called the Quad in the J starcluster. 3rd: Shadow Raiders. Created by Mainframe entertainement, the same studio that brought us Reboot and the forever beloved Beast Wars, Shadow Raiders follows Stoneheart, a minor of the stone people as he attempts to unify the four races of stone, fire, ice and bone in order to survive the coming of the Beast, a mysterious gigantic planet that travels the Universe and devours other planets.
@@PaoloPatrassi And just the sheer number of them and the scale of their ship. It's a star system turned into a mobile fortress. A WHOLE FREAKING STAR SYSTEM!!!!!
A terrific list! Plenty of room for a follow up I reckon - the next ten best? Personally I would have included The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, such a classic BBC series and don’t forget Douglas Adams wrote some Doctor Who scripts.
SAAB: Space Above and Beyond is worth a look. Like B5, they also had a lot of 90’s CGI that was a little sketchy, but the stories were strong. It was a one season wonder too.
Just rewatched SAAB a few months ago for the first time since it was first run. What a great show. With all the reboots, this would be one I would love to see done, with the right writers and producers.
The Outer Limits deserves more than merely an honorable mention. With episodes like "The Galaxy Being", "The Zanti Misfits", and "The Architects of Fear", the series often tackled complex societal and moral issues without the preachiness that sometimes undercut The Twilight Zone.
Thanks for giving a shout-out to Farscape, good to see this groundbreaking show is not forgotten! And not to be "that guy", but it's Rod SERLING; not Rod "Sterling" who created The Twilight Zone.
I think a part 2 is needed. Space above and beyond, space 1999, blake 7 touchwood the expanse, kill joys, dark matter, the pretender, i actually liked the live action Cowboy bebop as well. The list goes on.
@jamesoliver6700 I have to agree. Londo had such a great character arc. From comic relief to perhaps the most tragic character in all of science fiction. I really enjoyed this video. A few years ago, I took all my DVDs and Blu-ray’s and set up a Plex server. The only series you mentioned that I didn’t have was Quantum Leap. Just bought the discs today!
I appreciate the choices are subjective of course but there are so many more great shows... maybe you'll make a follow up sometime called "Another 10 TV shows that aren't Star Trek" (and include Space Above & Beyond, Fringe, Travelers, Space 1999, Blake's 7, and of course the epic BS:G.) [Edit: Oops, and the X-Files!]
While I would argue Farscape should be higher on the list, I would recommend Andromeda as an honorable mention that I would gladly replace the Firefly entry with. Earth Final Conflict is another that comes to mind, as it follows the same premise as V, but over 5 seasons the show tackles events that come with the aftermath of aliens coming to earth and essentially convincing us that they are friendly to secretly exploit us. Two more for the fans of animation (especially fans of the Mass Effect game series): Shadow Raiders and Final Space. Both involve space battles, building and maintaining you alliances with other races and characters to defeat and evil force of galactic proportions.
I loved many of these shows SO much. Especially B5, Farscape, and Stargate. In the 80s I think I was alone in my group that watched Red Dwarf. Lord they could make me laugh..and think.
"Space: 1999" (1975) A Moonbase crew fights for survival in the aftermath of a massive explosion that shifts the moon from its orbit, sending it into deep space. Some of the futuristic concepts were truly brilliant! For example, everyone on the base was issued a personalized squarish-wand device that serves as communicator, complete with a mini CRT screen on the end so you can see who you're talking to. The screen displayed your own face while idle, to identify the device as yours. It also served as a remote control to open doors, etc... but only those doors that your rank allows you to open. The wand is individually set to open only the doors you are personally allowed to open. Brilliant tech idea for a 1975 TV show! Even their hand weapons were different... Sure they could kill, or stun... but they could also extinguish fires! lol
In Babylon 5, we have some of the most realistic space flight. How the Furies fly is perfect. It's one of the more profound and deep sci-fi show ever. Sadly, I never watched Firefly. Looks like a good one. Farscape... Pretty engaging. Really liked it. It ended to soon. The organic ships are on another level. The Orvile, or Startrek without the rigidity. Light earthed and profound. The twilight Zone... A classic from the early 1960's. What more to say. Watched it in French as a kid... Just a day after the original English diffusion. Gotta love Québec's doubling industry of the time. They always managed to find voice artists with voices matching those of the original actors.
Although I've always liked Star Trek I consider Babylon 5 far superior and intelligent in its view of the future, Gene Rodenberry's view of the future is a rose tinted fantasy that will never come to pass because man is his own worst enemy and man never learns from his mistakes. Red Dwarf is one of the funniest comedies ever, the same can be said of Futurama also, Farscape with its mix of serious sci-fi, comedy and sometimes bizarre weirdness can be a bit WTF but is great entertainment while The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits are true classics. Great telly that will never be bettered.
ST:NG was influential on me as an adolescent, with its idealism about a much more evolved humanity. Picard was such a great role model. B5 however, was more influential on me as a young adult. No idealism per se, just the cold, hard reality of humans’ faults, foibles and yet also potential for self sacrifice, redemption and heroism. B5 for ever ❤
I loved Farscape, it's one of the few series I saw when it first aired here in the UK, we were drawn in by the Henson Company association, much like how we were drawn in to Futurama being from the minds behind the Simpsons! Stargate SG-1 is a third such series, here mainly cuz of the film, a part of which we looked at in Music Class, the part where Jackson gets dragged away by that, I want to say "space cow"... And I of course grew up with Red Dwarf! I'm not a Whovian, but you could very likely call me a "Dwarfer"! Also, one note about Red Dwarf, they had their fingers well and truly on the pulse of science and scientific thought! In fact, did you know, scientist now believe that White Hole is theoretically possible? And first done brilliantly in a classic episode of Red Dwarf It's that absurdist humour we Brits are best known for in our writing (hence why Monty Python is still popular 50 years later) that has given the show its staying power! They tried to port it to the US, but it flopped, mainly as they failed to understand the joke of Dave Lister! That being "what if the last human being alive is a complete slob?"! When I get extra snarky, I also tend to slip into a Scouse accent like his original actor, Craig Charles', who is, of course, a Scouser, same as the Beatles! And it's "wibbly, wobbly, spacey, wace, timey, wimey"! And that is the technical term for it! And while it may not be live action, the original Animé version Cowboy Bebop should surely be worth a mention, a true Animé classic, although, I have not actually seen the show through yet myself! Speaking of Animé, Ghost in the Shell, based off one of the most influential animated movies of all time and not the crappy live action one of a few years ago (we don't talk about that)!
Including the shows on streaming services, but excluding all movies, there are at least 11 Star Trek series. Enterprise, TOS, The Animated Series, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, and Lower Decks. Did I miss any?
You did really well, especially the first six but you left out some absolute gems, The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Gallactica, Space Above and Beyond, Lost in Space, The Whole Star Wars franchise, Space 1999, Andromeda, and the list goes on. I will admit it is hard when there is so many choices. I have subscribed.
Serenity was a great film. At the time I hadn't seen Firefly, but the movie told you enough of the back story and setting that you could quickly work out what was going on even though you were, essentially, dropped into the middle of the plot. However, Farscape : Peackeeper Wars was clearly series 5 shoehorned into a 3 hour TV movie. It simply picked up where series 4 had left off with no back story, explanation or introduction to any of the myriad characters. Unless you had seen all of the previous series you would be lost. I was, sadly, a bit of a mess because there was too much give an ending to in too short a time. If it had had the full series 5 run, it would have been a very fitting finale.
I agree with all of the shows you included, but there are more (in the order in which they popped into my head): Sliders, Battlestar Galactica (both classic and remake), Space 1999, Lost in Space, and I could go on. You could easily have a part 2, part 3, and so on.
Great list! For All Mankind, Stargate Universe, Lost in Space, Raised by Wolves, Foundation, Silo, The Expanse, Travelers and Black Mirror are also highly recommended to those who liked these shows.
Great list off the top of my head I would put V, Space 1999, BSG, The Expanse, For All Mankind and lost in space in their. I’d let people argue about which versions based on remakes vs originals. Lesser so maybe something like Falling Skies which had some great moments but did start to drag on a fair bit.
I would agree with most of your list. For V, the original 2 part miniseries was great but the 1984-85 TV series from what I remember was only ok. As for "Lost in Space" it was pure camp. The stories were kind of ridiculous and the characters were somewhat static. However, It was fun and entertaining in its day. I would include Westworld as an Honorable mention on the list.
absolutely love Farscape. definitely one of my all time favourites. Would love to see a revival with Kryton's kid and the crew :) also, other gems could include Lexx or Andromeda
Babylon 5 was the first science fiction television series to fully imbrace CGI plus being a television novel, which made me love it and especially because I came into science fiction via British television science fiction which always had good scripts and science fiction novels and short stories, often written by some of the people who wrote Star Trek : TOS and British science fiction, films, television series and plays. May I recommend Gerry Anderson's two best live action series from the sixties and seventies, UFO and Space : 1999. The second series of Space : 1999 is not as good as the first, admittedly, but UFO is actually very adult and at times terrifying, being a tale of alien invasion attempts on Earth, by a dying race, who turn out to be harvesting organs from their victims and brutally attacking Earth's defenders a secret organisation called SHADO, who have to hide what is happening, because the international authorities, believe panic would occur if ordinary people knew about the threat.
Firefly was a western set in space. I noticed there were no robots or aliens. A Great show. Babylon 5 was so epic. I liked how Gkar and Londo evolved over the seasons growing from bitter rivals to good friends. The Orville seems to delve deeper into there stories than Star Trek. In one episode one of the crew became addicted to porn which threatened his marraige, in another a child was tortured because she was a female. This series goes alot deeper than most.
I really liked your list. I watched ALL of these. The only one that I would add is Fringe. Came out soon after 9/11 and you got to see the barrier between two different timelines start to break down. Really liked that series (and Lenord Nimoy had a role..)
Excellent video. I was pleasantly surprised at the addition of Futurama. Brilliant show. I wonder if the show Neon Genesis Evangelion would be relevant? Maybe a video on Animated Science fiction 🤔?
The Time Tunnel, The Expanse, Voyage to the bottom of the Sea, Land of Giants, Lost in Space, The Invaders, V, Earth Final Conflict, Eureka, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13, there's lots of great sci fi not covered
I hoped to see the British 1970's sci-fi series Blake's 7. They were my introduction to science fiction, and a concepts like space ship, teleport, ray gun, etc... and with their unique star ship design. RIP Paul Darrow!
I rewatched Blake's 7 earlier this year and I don't think it holds up that well. It gets a bit monster of the week in places, and the plots are all over the place. It has some good ideas, the execution was good for its time, but I'm not sure if I'd put it on a Top 10 list
@@neilbiggs1353 I disagree. Considering the budgets they were dealing with it stands up really well. I don’t mind the stories meandering off into unknown territories. Like life things go wrong and things can go off course. The unpredictability of the stories is all part of the appeal. I’d say Blake’s 7 & The Prisoner are the greatest shows ever made. Just look at the wonderful witty scripts and strong characterisation and not to mention those amazing actors who brought the characters to life. Blake’s 7 was the first show also to give the viewers a shock ending like we’ve never seen before. Love the show and it makes a nice change from the predictable TV shows that dominate science fiction.
@@PaulRichards-vz4pl For me, almost all of the alien stories are forgettable. It was a much stronger show when it concentrated on the Servalan and the Federation. It wasn't about budget (although the aliens didn't look good), it was that the stories didn't have anything that interesting going on with them. It had a good set of characters, and that for me carries it a good way, but the world building was lacklustre. It's a show that could be phenomenal in a reboot as SFX etc have advanced massively which allows for better sequencing, the characters and the dynamics I think would largely hold up, it would just need a stronger over-arcing story
@@neilbiggs1353 I disagree. The world building is there it’s just that it went off into different directions. The pacification drug plot line was fascinating and although season 4 got off to a tricky start it soon picked up and the federation had regained control. A remake would only work if they concentrate on new rebels as I don’t think you could ever replace the original actors. You’d also need good writers and today there aren’t many around that have the same creativity or capability in writing great dialog. If they had good writers and actors then yes a reboot would be preferable to watching Star Trek and Doctor Who plod along going over the same old ground. The special effects lacking in the show was I feel apart if it’s charm and today if remade they might give us great effects but you could end up with lousy writing or a lack of strong characterisation. I’d reboot it with new rebels and a new ship or one that’s taken from the system similar to the Liberator. It would today be costly but I just can’t think of anyone good enough to do it.
Well, a pretty good selection. Well done! None that I'd kick out & any omissions would make would likely mean it having to be a list of the Top 25 TV Shows
Glad to see Orville and Futurama included. I agree with Firefly and feel it's the second best sci-fi show ever behind Star Trek. I'd have given Space 1999 and Space: Above and Beyond a mention as well.
lost in space, UFO, Battlestar Galactica, Blake 7,are the ones that come to mind but then I am old enough to remember the very first episode of Dr Who!
Surprised nobody is mentioning Continuum. That show had a different take on time travel. It had drama and action. Most interesting of all, as you watch this show, you realize that while the show has amazing protagonists and antagonists there are no clear bad guys or good guys. Do the ends justify their means? Is their future worth preserving or changing? Do the characters even understand what they are fighting for and consequences of doing so? If you havent seen it I highly recommend recommend giving it a go
I'm also enjoying Foundation, now in it's second season. There are some crap episodes in season one that feel like Xena, but otherwise it has superb casting and tells the story of Asimov's Foundation books. There are some changes which are ok to enable the show to keep some characters through a long period of time. The genetic dynasty part is even an improvement on the books I think. Especially Lee Pace kills as the day version of the Emperor. I used to read so many Scifi stories in my youth from authors such as Heinlein, Asimov, Silverberg, etc. and I really love this show. And I agree with another comment, where is "The Expanse" in this list ?
Expanse, Black Mirror and The Outer Limits would also be worthy additions for a part 2 of this really good list. And since this channel contains the word odyssey: does anybody remember "Odyssey 5" from 2002 ? Just reached one season, but an interesting twist on time travel and AI.
As much as I love Star Trek and has an old I’ve been watching it since the very beginning , Babylon 5 is far superior . Although this is probably because it was originally written as a complete five series epic not just a load of one-offs
Loved that my favourites were in both lists - Stargate SG-1, Firefly, Star Trek TNG. Surprised not to see V (the original or the reboot) in either list.
B5 is also being remastered on Blu-Ray and has a new animated movie coming out. I can't believe you completely missed The Expanse. It stands alongside Babylon 5 with its overarching story, massive worldbuilding and hard sci-fi driven plot.
Earth Final Conflict was great. But the one sci-fi show I loved but knew would not be on the list was Lexx. It was over the top bonkers and not afraid to show nudity. It's definitely meant for an adult audience.
Surprised no one in the comments has called out The X-Files. Huge fan base, 10 seasons, mix of episodic & serialized stories. It often explores the horror genre, as well, but is at its core a sci-fi show. A really good, recent, but criminally little known show is BEFOREIGNERS. It aired on HBO Nordic, and was set in a near future where waves of refugees from the past were appearing in the modern world with no way home. It blends sci-fi with buddy-cop crime drama in a serialized story that focuses on two main characters: a burned out modern cop in Oslo who has a failed marriage & a secret drug addiction; and his new partner, a former Viking shieldmaiden, who is an unapologetic pagan with anger control issues, and is the first “beforeigner” to make detective. In the first season/series, they’re assigned to investigate the murder of a Neolithic woman who washed up on the beach, and this propels them into the heart of a much bigger conspiracy. If you get a chance to watch it, don’t miss it.
Huh. I agree with most of your list. No idea on Futurama or Red Dwarf but the rest are spot on. Funny that most media outlets reviewers have never heard of any of these series. Which is probably why RUclips is eating their shorts.
My favourites are Orphan Black, Travelers, Almost Human, Cybersix (since you included Futurama), Stargate SG-1 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Honourable mention: Fringe which i haven't watched enough episodes of to fully judge yet and Falling Skies (this is a post-apocalypse/alien invasion)
There was a Stargate that struck me deeply. It was not SG1 that you commented on. It was a story of 6-7 people of many different life styles accidently sent on a Galactic ship lost in space ! A few soldiers, a scientist, a wiz kid nerd on a mellenia old starship. I found it to be a VERY realistic story, with with stimulating human interaction. And the ordeals they faced, just trying to stay alive on a broken down millennium spaceship ! Of all the series you mentioned,this one grabed me the most, because it was realistic ! Farscape was one of my favorites also Mostly because it was so far out there, and the comidic production was slap stick😅. Mike.
Another great series about exploring other “worlds” is Sliders. Admittedly it has an abrupt ending and it wasn’t great towards the end yet it’s still one of my favorite sci-fi series.
"Where's The Expanse" , "Where's Battlestar Galactica?" , "Where's Fringe?"
They are in his top 10 list that includes Star Trek.
ruclips.net/video/z34PWWq4tVY/видео.html
It's odd, that list includes quite a few shows for me that get worse each time I watch them - BSG has a very strong start, but the longer they try to go on (and I'd say that even appears as an issue as early as the second series), the more it becomes clear that no, the Cylons didn't have a plan. The world building in The Expanse is incredibly superficial, with most people too strongly defined by what group they came from (Earth people are like this and blieve that...), though I will say that the action sequences in it are maybe the best in all sci-fi... just a shame that I don't care much about most of the characters involved!. DS9 is what would have happened if B5 had higher production budgets but much, much worse writers, though funnily enough I feel like it's bigger flaws are closer to BSG in that it tends to do plots that just feel like they're trying to keep the show going. I don't think Blake's 7 has aged well either, though it does better if you take out a lot of the episodes featuring 'aliens' as they tended to feel like quite hokey filler
Though the Expanse had its moments, the show was based on a number of novels, not original. And before anyone points out that The Twilight Zone had numerous episodes based on previously written stories, the show’s concept was original. I believe that is the point.
“Not being based on novels” is a peculiar criteria. Full stop.
Where's Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy?
While Battlestar Galactica was a classic, but I'm not sure it belongs in the top 10. Certainly it was a leading SF show for the late 1970s.
I love Babylon 5. It's one of my favourite sci-fi shows ever.
It was the best science fiction show that seemed to plucked from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. literature
Zathras will make Great Machine time travel Swedish meatballs to you. You are the One, Zathras knows.
I always loved Londo Mollari’s story in Babylon 5, such a great series.
So much love for B5! I never got into it. I think at the time I just saw it as a rip-off of DS9. Probably unfairly, considering all the love for it. I'll have to give it another go.
@@milou66 if anything, it was the other way around. The Babylon 5 guys pitched their show to Paramount prior to pre-prodution of DS9. Although the premise is similar, season(s) long story arcs set on a space station, the writing & the characters are totally different. Both are great SF, with wonderful ensemble casts.
@@mondostrat Ah. That's not surprising. I have a friend who was a writer and producer on the Stargate franchise. I remember asking him once how could SG1 and ST:Voy both have virtually identical two parters in which the whole crew find themselves in a labour camp with their minds wiped and they have to gradually solve the mystery, get their memories back, and free all the slaves. I think they even aired really close to each other. He said it's pretty simple. a writer takes a script to one show, they turn it down, so they rewrite it for a second show, it gets made eventually, and meantime the first show says, hey remember that script we turned down? Maybe it could actually work. So they pull it off the shelf and make it and suddenly you get two shows doing the same episodes.
@@milou66 The DS9 story is a bit more sinister - once the people running STar Trek heard B5 was going in to production, they raced to get their show out first, and tried to strong arm a few networks in to not carrying it, not to mention some of the bits they largely lifted.
You combine that with the appalling way some of the female actors were treated in that era of the franchise, and it becomes clear that brand was in the hands of some appalling people
EDIT: If you do try B5, it takes about half a season to find its feet. It was one of the first in the US to really commit to a long arc, but the early days did feature a few monsters of the week, and it also had a lot of world building to do, though I find the latter tends to be less of a problem for sci-fi fans
@@neilbiggs1353 Yeah. I've heard some really ugly stories about how actresses were treated in that era. Worse than the 60s when they were all in miniskirts! 😣
My favorite sci fi of all time was the original 1980's V, it explained perfectly how people who want to control you use emotion to do so and the myriad ways people convince themselves to support such things while being entertained all at the same time.
Space Above and Beyond is a one series wonder that still stands up and really should have run longer.
Good list though, it reminded me of watching Farscape and Lex as a kid on TV, that was weird.
Space: AAB is great. It may feature somewhere on my original video ruclips.net/video/z34PWWq4tVY/видео.html
Another example of Fox failing to understand when they've got good sf.
Guess it belongs to Disney now. Maybe they'll bring it back if we make enough noise
@@Sci-FiOdyssey There's an interesting but short-lived 80's show called Otherworld that's about a family that winds up in a parallel world.
The Lexx was often shown right after Farscape where I'm at. You think the first show was weird, Lexx was like, "I've have too much and need to go to bed"...
I liked absolutely nothing about Farscape. In fact, I hated it as a kid. Maybe I need to revisit it?
I have a few honorable mentions here.
"Space 1999"-A nuclear accident hurls the moon and 314 people living on it into deep space. Starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, this 2 season show was suspenseful, disturbing, exciting and memorable. Outstanding art direction and special effects.
"Battlestar Galactica"(either the classic or the reimagined one)-The 12 colonies of mankind on the other side of the galaxy are nearly wiped out by a "Trojan Horse" attack by the ruthless Cylon Empire. A ragtag fugitive fleet led by the last Battlestar, the Galactica flees the Cylon Tyranny on a lonely quest for the lost 13th colony that settled on a shining planet called...Earth. Great action and surprisingly good drama.
"Sliders"-A genius student invents a device to jump to parallel Earths and gets himself, his girlfriend, his Professor and a random soul singer trapped in world after world attempting to find the setting to get back to their original Earth. Fantastic world building for alternate realities and intense survival scenarios.
"Voyagers"- Time traveling operative, Phineas Bogg, who's job it is to fix history when it's about to change unwittingly gets a partner-a young boy. In the accident, he loses his history guide, but his new partner is the son of a history teacher and a fanatic on the subject, so he helps Phineas on his missions. Outstanding production to recreate historical moments and the figures that made them famous.
The first season of Sliders was great! Unfortunately, the rest never quite lived up to the Pilot. I say that as someone that considered it one of their favorite shows as a kid.
@@lbberkeley I'd argue the first 2 seasons of Sliders was good...then Fox interfered and destroyed it(killing of the Professor was the first mistake).
@@les4767 I agree that it was good. I think for me the issue is that the first season set too high of a bar lol. With that said, it was still among my favorite shows on at the time. I eagerly awaited viewing it every week. With the exception of the last season or so. Once so much of the cast had changed, the magic was lost for me. Losing the Professor was a great loss to the show.
I feel similarly about SeaQuest DSV. After the first season, it fell a bit short. But, I do feel like after the format change and the introduction of Michael Ironside, it picked back up again. With less focus on the fantastical (and sometimes more supernatural) elements.
At the time yes, but Humanity would probably be doomed if the moon left orbit.
I'm very happy to see Farscape getting some love. I've long felt it was the forgotten sci-fi TV show that wasn't talked about.
Came here to say this myself. So unique and definitely underappreciated.
@@AirstripOne-nd4du To be fair, she's not part of the original cast. Pilot (and Moira) weren't mentioned, either.
Farscape was brilliant!
The Orville is criminally underrated
Agreed.
It really is, I understand that some people don't like Seth MacFarlane's brand of humour but I don't think people understand just how of a Sci-fi fan he actually is!
Waiting on a new series. The last one was too short.
I definitely have to check this one out - but based on his animated stuff, McFarlane's sophomoric sense of humour definitely wears thin quick! As such, one hopes that he manages to rein in that 'unreasonably pleased with himself' vibe he almost invariably gives off! Also, while I expect the title of the show and the eponymous spacecraft was an homage to the Wright brothers, on a subconscious level that name would be a big obstacle to viewers in the British Isles (those of a certain age, anyway,) where 'Orville' was a very well known (and almost universally despised), affectedly pathetic - and thus, hugely irritating - dummy bird of some sort who was part of a ventriloquist's act. In abrasiveness terms, think Barney the Dinosaur, if Barney had gotten into the sugar. Endured while too crippled with a hangover to root around for the remote control!
@@richiehoyt8487 The 'comedy' gets seriously toned down and even omitted the longer the series goes on
Dark Matter was a well thought out series. I especially liked their version of the transporter beams that sent an avatar of the person to the destination and if the avatar died before returning to the pods, you never got the life experiences of that avatar.
Unfortunately it wa canceled :(
The Expanse should definitely be included in any list of great tv science fiction shows. Although very different, I'd rate it as being up there with Babylon 5. I'd also consider Blake's 7, For All Mankind and Silo. If post-apocalypic shows are to be included, then The Last of Us is an obvious choice.
absolutely and strongly agree
I agree that the Expanse should be on the list, along with The Walking Dead, Person of Interest, Fringe, The 100 and Battlestar Galactica to name a few. I think another vid or a top 20 could be in order.
Haven't watched Silo yet, but I did read Wool and have Spin in my Kindle. Does the series go beyond the first book?
@@jonathanrichter4256 dont think so, I think it gets about 2/3rds of the way through the first book. I haven’t read the book yet though so I might be wrong
Hear hear!
One show that I love from the 80s: MAX HEADROOM. Social satire and introduced many now common cyberpunk tropes to the masses.
That show was incredible, and many aspects that appeared far fetched at the time, appear a lot more correct now
I recorded every episode on VHS. I no longer have a VCR deck, not sure if the video quality will suffer from 'bleed through' or has totally degraded... but one of these days I'll buy a VCR and find out.
@@daveannarino7892 I found the whole series, plus a history of DVD boxed set!
Thanks for sharing your list. I agree every Sci-Fi fan should watch Babylon 5.
It's ok, if you can get past the early, PS1 graphics. I found it too jarring going from the character stories to the exterior scenes.
Good news for Babylon 5 Fans. The series is being remastered for Blue ray and should soon be available for sale on December 5. A Babylon 5 movie is also coming out as an animated film.
This is some of the best news I've ever heard. Thank you for this
Really? Awesome, I guess it's time to re-watch it when available.
If that's true than I will gladely spend my money on it. It will be well worth it. I hope that they release it remastered, for the DVD version too. Again for Babylon 5; I don't care if I spend a few hundred dollars on the purchase. It will be worth every penny and I will finally be able to retire my origninal DVD versions that I purchased over 20 years ago. 😃
I'm excited to see Amazon has shipped my copy of the new animated B5, "The Road Home".
It should arrive tomorrow!
With the current track record in entertainment when it comes to continuing / restarting franchises, I am not sure how I feel about a new b5 movie ... looking forward to remasters with better CG though
Only missing Battlestar Galactica for me
Excellent list! Of the shows you review, my favorites are Babylon 5 and Farscape -- Babylon 5 for its heroic and intricate plot and years-long story arcs, and Farscape for being just SO WEIRD! (I love me some throat singing!) Farscape is one of the few SF shows where the aliens are really, *really* alien.
I love how they just went for it with the puppets. Total Jim Henson experience.
One other show I’d like to mention is seaQuest DSV. It can best be described as “Star Trek underwater.” You have the seaQuest, a unique submarine the size of a battleship and with the appearance of a sea creature of some kind. It’s crewed by sailors of United Earth Oceans, a Federation-like structure. The show is fairly episodic, with the first two seasons exploring the depths and dealing with various crises. There’s even a dolphin that can communicate through a translator.
Season 3 takes a turn by moving events 10 years into the future and making it darker and more militarized. They even replace the boat’s captain with a hardened soldier. Most episodes now deal with a Cold War-like situation between UEO and Macronesia, a rising power that seeks to control more and more of the oceans. The final episode before cancelation even introduces a third power from Asia called Chaodai
Oh, I've seen that a few times. Couldn't get into it.
@@bdel80 yeah, I’ve been told the show hasn’t aged well. I guess it’s different when you watch it as a kid as it’s airing
Andromeda was a great but under appreciated slice of SciFi. Fun action packed with a compelling 5 season storyline. Well worth viewing if you've been on the fence of shall i, yes or no. I say yes.
It would not make my top 10 but my top 15, the last season dragged it down
Andromeda was so bad.
One of my most favourite sci-fi show is Netflix's Travelers! It is absolutely thrilling and engaging and kept me hooked throughout!🔥
100%. That show was great and ended too soon.
A great show that isn't anywhere near as well-known as it deserves!
Agree.
Fantastic show, very underrated
Travelers was brilliant. Another underrated scifi gem that is my personal favourite is Orphan Black. Almost Human also deserves a mention it was cancelled too soon and wish we had gotten more of it. 😢
Blake’s 7
Mandalorian
Foundation
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
The Narn are probably the best designed aliens I have ever seen. Their clothes, ships, and culture are amazing.
I cannot believe you missed ‘Lexx’…truly one of the greatest sci-fi shows EVER!
I can think of a few I would have liked to see on this list. First one -> Blake's 7. I liked that so, especially the character Kerr Avon, the coldly, logical "2nd" in command (if this was Star Trek). The next two are Life on Mars (British version) and its sequel Ashes to Ashes. They are both time travel shows (at least that was one explanation) with Sam Tyler getting into an accident in 2006 and waking up in the 1970's. He tries to use modern policing techniques while the cops in the 1970's (especially his boss Gene Hunt) perfer beating a confession out of a suspect. Ashes to Ashes is the sequel where a police phycologist who studied the report made by Sam Tyler gets shot in the head and wakes up in the 1980's to find the same policemen Sam Tyler met in the 1970's. Both great shows.
A very good, if safe list. I really would have loved to see some more experimental amazing SF like the Canadian/German co-production Lexx in a list like this. Also you are somehow missing Battlestar Galactica, classic or re-imagined in here! But either way, Lexx is a hidden gem for certain and should be on any true SF geek's list.
Stargate SG-1 is my all time favorite.
But here are three forgotten gems you might like to take a look at if you like a bit of action/adventure sprinkled on your sci-fi like I do.
1st: Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. Produced by Majel Roddenberry and staring Kevin Sorbo, this show was meant to be a spiritual successor to Star Trek. Taking place in the far future, it follows Captain Dylan Hunt and his ship Andromeda who were frozen in time for 300 years after flying too close to a black hole and reemerge only to find that civilisation has fallen. With multiple threats looming over the galaxy such as the monstrous Magog and the ever power hungry Nietzeans, Hunt assembles a ragtag crew in hopes of reforming the Common Wealth.
2nd: Killjoys. Produced in tendem with sister sci-fi show Dark Matter, Killjoys follows the adventures of Dutch, Johnny and Davon. The show takes place in a solar system colonised by humans in the far future called the Quad in the J starcluster.
3rd: Shadow Raiders. Created by Mainframe entertainement, the same studio that brought us Reboot and the forever beloved Beast Wars, Shadow Raiders follows Stoneheart, a minor of the stone people as he attempts to unify the four races of stone, fire, ice and bone in order to survive the coming of the Beast, a mysterious gigantic planet that travels the Universe and devours other planets.
The attacks of the Magog gave me the chills, with the banging sounds and the idea that tey would keep you alive to be eaten by their offspring...
@@PaoloPatrassi And just the sheer number of them and the scale of their ship.
It's a star system turned into a mobile fortress. A WHOLE FREAKING STAR SYSTEM!!!!!
A terrific list! Plenty of room for a follow up I reckon - the next ten best? Personally I would have included The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, such a classic BBC series and don’t forget Douglas Adams wrote some Doctor Who scripts.
SAAB: Space Above and Beyond is worth a look.
Like B5, they also had a lot of 90’s CGI that was a little sketchy, but the stories were strong.
It was a one season wonder too.
Just rewatched SAAB a few months ago for the first time since it was first run. What a great show. With all the reboots, this would be one I would love to see done, with the right writers and producers.
A great list! Every entry here is undeniably top notch. I'd like to see a sequel with recommendations for less well-known series.
The Outer Limits deserves more than merely an honorable mention. With episodes like "The Galaxy Being", "The Zanti Misfits", and "The Architects of Fear", the series often tackled complex societal and moral issues without the preachiness that sometimes undercut The Twilight Zone.
The Outer Limits was the scifi series! The Twilight Zone was a mixed bag of fantasy & scifi... (He talked about the wrong one.)
Thanks for giving a shout-out to Farscape, good to see this groundbreaking show is not forgotten! And not to be "that guy", but it's Rod SERLING; not Rod "Sterling" who created The Twilight Zone.
I think a part 2 is needed. Space above and beyond, space 1999, blake 7 touchwood the expanse, kill joys, dark matter, the pretender, i actually liked the live action Cowboy bebop as well. The list goes on.
@jamesoliver6700 I have to agree. Londo had such a great character arc. From comic relief to perhaps the most tragic character in all of science fiction. I really enjoyed this video. A few years ago, I took all my DVDs and Blu-ray’s and set up a Plex server. The only series you mentioned that I didn’t have was Quantum Leap. Just bought the discs today!
To this day, SG-1 is my favorite of Sci-Fi. Best cast dynamics hands down.
I appreciate the choices are subjective of course but there are so many more great shows... maybe you'll make a follow up sometime called "Another 10 TV shows that aren't Star Trek" (and include Space Above & Beyond, Fringe, Travelers, Space 1999, Blake's 7, and of course the epic BS:G.) [Edit: Oops, and the X-Files!]
You may find a few of these gems on my list here: ruclips.net/video/z34PWWq4tVY/видео.html
good choices
"Red Dwarf" is "The Odd Couple" in space. Or "The Odd Couple" meets "The Hitch-hikers' Guide to the Galaxy."
I thought a list that startrd with Babylon 5 and Firefly would certainly have included Blake's 7. You threw a curveball there!
While I would argue Farscape should be higher on the list, I would recommend Andromeda as an honorable mention that I would gladly replace the Firefly entry with. Earth Final Conflict is another that comes to mind, as it follows the same premise as V, but over 5 seasons the show tackles events that come with the aftermath of aliens coming to earth and essentially convincing us that they are friendly to secretly exploit us. Two more for the fans of animation (especially fans of the Mass Effect game series): Shadow Raiders and Final Space. Both involve space battles, building and maintaining you alliances with other races and characters to defeat and evil force of galactic proportions.
I loved many of these shows SO much. Especially B5, Farscape, and Stargate. In the 80s I think I was alone in my group that watched Red Dwarf. Lord they could make me laugh..and think.
Blake's 7, is an older British sci-fi series. excellent story that rivals any of the recently made series. a personal favorite.
"Space: 1999" (1975)
A Moonbase crew fights for survival in the aftermath of a massive explosion that shifts the moon from its orbit, sending it into deep space.
Some of the futuristic concepts were truly brilliant! For example, everyone on the base was issued a personalized squarish-wand device that serves as communicator, complete with a mini CRT screen on the end so you can see who you're talking to. The screen displayed your own face while idle, to identify the device as yours. It also served as a remote control to open doors, etc... but only those doors that your rank allows you to open. The wand is individually set to open only the doors you are personally allowed to open. Brilliant tech idea for a 1975 TV show! Even their hand weapons were different... Sure they could kill, or stun... but they could also extinguish fires! lol
In Babylon 5, we have some of the most realistic space flight. How the Furies fly is perfect. It's one of the more profound and deep sci-fi show ever.
Sadly, I never watched Firefly. Looks like a good one.
Farscape... Pretty engaging. Really liked it. It ended to soon. The organic ships are on another level.
The Orvile, or Startrek without the rigidity. Light earthed and profound.
The twilight Zone... A classic from the early 1960's. What more to say. Watched it in French as a kid... Just a day after the original English diffusion. Gotta love Québec's doubling industry of the time. They always managed to find voice artists with voices matching those of the original actors.
B5 was incredible! So was Ds9! Loved Firefly too!
The Expanse is missing! Replace Red Dwarf with The Expanse and your list would be perfect 😊
Although I've always liked Star Trek I consider Babylon 5 far superior and intelligent in its view of the future, Gene Rodenberry's view of the future is a rose tinted fantasy that will never come to pass because man is his own worst enemy and man never learns from his mistakes. Red Dwarf is one of the funniest comedies ever, the same can be said of Futurama also, Farscape with its mix of serious sci-fi, comedy and sometimes bizarre weirdness can be a bit WTF but is great entertainment while The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits are true classics. Great telly that will never be bettered.
Star Trek is a space utopia, a goal more than a reality. I think it has its place. I love both Babylon 5 and Star Trek.
Exelent list
ST:NG was influential on me as an adolescent, with its idealism about a much more evolved humanity. Picard was such a great role model. B5 however, was more influential on me as a young adult. No idealism per se, just the cold, hard reality of humans’ faults, foibles and yet also potential for self sacrifice, redemption and heroism. B5 for ever ❤
I loved Farscape, it's one of the few series I saw when it first aired here in the UK, we were drawn in by the Henson Company association, much like how we were drawn in to Futurama being from the minds behind the Simpsons! Stargate SG-1 is a third such series, here mainly cuz of the film, a part of which we looked at in Music Class, the part where Jackson gets dragged away by that, I want to say "space cow"... And I of course grew up with Red Dwarf! I'm not a Whovian, but you could very likely call me a "Dwarfer"!
Also, one note about Red Dwarf, they had their fingers well and truly on the pulse of science and scientific thought! In fact, did you know, scientist now believe that White Hole is theoretically possible? And first done brilliantly in a classic episode of Red Dwarf It's that absurdist humour we Brits are best known for in our writing (hence why Monty Python is still popular 50 years later) that has given the show its staying power! They tried to port it to the US, but it flopped, mainly as they failed to understand the joke of Dave Lister! That being "what if the last human being alive is a complete slob?"! When I get extra snarky, I also tend to slip into a Scouse accent like his original actor, Craig Charles', who is, of course, a Scouser, same as the Beatles!
And it's "wibbly, wobbly, spacey, wace, timey, wimey"! And that is the technical term for it! And while it may not be live action, the original Animé version Cowboy Bebop should surely be worth a mention, a true Animé classic, although, I have not actually seen the show through yet myself! Speaking of Animé, Ghost in the Shell, based off one of the most influential animated movies of all time and not the crappy live action one of a few years ago (we don't talk about that)!
The fact that you excluded Star Trek , says a lot about the magnitude of this amazing world which elevate above any other.
Including the shows on streaming services, but excluding all movies, there are at least 11 Star Trek series. Enterprise, TOS, The Animated Series, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, and Lower Decks. Did I miss any?
@@lordnightleaf7908There's also many fan produced ones, some of which are quite watchable.
Im stunned the expanse didnt make it
My favourite recently aired sci-fi has to be Netflix's take on cyber-punk classic Altered Carbon. Great list though.😀
You did really well, especially the first six but you left out some absolute gems, The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Gallactica, Space Above and Beyond, Lost in Space, The Whole Star Wars franchise, Space 1999, Andromeda, and the list goes on. I will admit it is hard when there is so many choices. I have subscribed.
Serenity was a great film. At the time I hadn't seen Firefly, but the movie told you enough of the back story and setting that you could quickly work out what was going on even though you were, essentially, dropped into the middle of the plot.
However, Farscape : Peackeeper Wars was clearly series 5 shoehorned into a 3 hour TV movie. It simply picked up where series 4 had left off with no back story, explanation or introduction to any of the myriad characters. Unless you had seen all of the previous series you would be lost. I was, sadly, a bit of a mess because there was too much give an ending to in too short a time. If it had had the full series 5 run, it would have been a very fitting finale.
I agree with all of the shows you included, but there are more (in the order in which they popped into my head): Sliders, Battlestar Galactica (both classic and remake), Space 1999, Lost in Space, and I could go on. You could easily have a part 2, part 3, and so on.
Sliders started out great but went downhill quickly with their "what scifi movie should we copy this week" story lines.
Great list! For All Mankind, Stargate Universe, Lost in Space, Raised by Wolves, Foundation, Silo, The Expanse, Travelers and Black Mirror are also highly recommended to those who liked these shows.
Extremely happy to see The Orville on this list!
Fantastic list, great video & I've dropped you a sub!
The Expanse, Eureka, Dark Matter, Love, Death and Robots, Ghost In The Shell: SAC 2nd GIG and DEVS are a few of my favorites.
SAC 2nd GIG ❤ awesome 👍
Great list off the top of my head I would put V, Space 1999, BSG, The Expanse, For All Mankind and lost in space in their. I’d let people argue about which versions based on remakes vs originals.
Lesser so maybe something like Falling Skies which had some great moments but did start to drag on a fair bit.
I would agree with most of your list. For V, the original 2 part miniseries was great but the 1984-85 TV series from what I remember was only ok. As for "Lost in Space" it was pure camp. The stories were kind of ridiculous and the characters were somewhat static. However, It was fun and entertaining in its day. I would include Westworld as an Honorable mention on the list.
absolutely love Farscape. definitely one of my all time favourites. Would love to see a revival with Kryton's kid and the crew :)
also, other gems could include Lexx or Andromeda
Babylon 5 was the first science fiction television series to fully imbrace CGI plus being a television novel, which made me love it and especially because I came into science fiction via British television science fiction which always had good scripts and science fiction novels and short stories, often written by some of the people who wrote Star Trek : TOS and British science fiction, films, television series and plays.
May I recommend Gerry Anderson's two best live action series from the sixties and seventies, UFO and Space : 1999. The second series of Space : 1999 is not as good as the first, admittedly, but UFO is actually very adult and at times terrifying, being a tale of alien invasion attempts on Earth, by a dying race, who turn out to be harvesting organs from their victims and brutally attacking Earth's defenders a secret organisation called SHADO, who have to hide what is happening, because the international authorities, believe panic would occur if ordinary people knew about the threat.
“Who are you?”
“What do you want?”
Who knew these two questions could be so diametrically opposed?
Great theme, vitally important to the entire story arc.
..where are you going?
@@daveannarino7892 love Galen!
Firefly was a western set in space. I noticed there were no robots or aliens. A Great show. Babylon 5 was so epic. I liked how Gkar and Londo evolved over the seasons growing from bitter rivals to good friends. The Orville seems to delve deeper into there stories than Star Trek. In one episode one of the crew became addicted to porn which threatened his marraige, in another a child was tortured because she was a female. This series goes alot deeper than most.
LOL, that's the reason I couldn't get into Firefly, just seemed like mashing two genres together.
@@Cheepchipsable Well, it WAS mashing two genres together...but it was done in a creative way, with some good writing and excellent characterizations.
I really liked your list. I watched ALL of these. The only one that I would add is Fringe. Came out soon after 9/11 and you got to see the barrier between two different timelines start to break down. Really liked that series (and Lenord Nimoy had a role..)
loved every one of them. great list.
Excellent video. I was pleasantly surprised at the addition of Futurama. Brilliant show. I wonder if the show Neon Genesis Evangelion would be relevant? Maybe a video on Animated Science fiction 🤔?
YES! Animation... so many choices.
The Time Tunnel, The Expanse, Voyage to the bottom of the Sea, Land of Giants, Lost in Space, The Invaders, V, Earth Final Conflict, Eureka, Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13, there's lots of great sci fi not covered
I hoped to see the British 1970's sci-fi series Blake's 7. They were my introduction to science fiction, and a concepts like space ship, teleport, ray gun, etc... and with their unique star ship design. RIP Paul Darrow!
Yes and since the likes of Firefly and especially Farscape are taking so many ideas from Blake’s 7. The characterisation and scripts are so good.
I rewatched Blake's 7 earlier this year and I don't think it holds up that well. It gets a bit monster of the week in places, and the plots are all over the place. It has some good ideas, the execution was good for its time, but I'm not sure if I'd put it on a Top 10 list
@@neilbiggs1353 I disagree. Considering the budgets they were dealing with it stands up really well. I don’t mind the stories meandering off into unknown territories. Like life things go wrong and things can go off course. The unpredictability of the stories is all part of the appeal. I’d say Blake’s 7 & The Prisoner are the greatest shows ever made. Just look at the wonderful witty scripts and strong characterisation and not to mention those amazing actors who brought the characters to life. Blake’s 7 was the first show also to give the viewers a shock ending like we’ve never seen before. Love the show and it makes a nice change from the predictable TV shows that dominate science fiction.
@@PaulRichards-vz4pl For me, almost all of the alien stories are forgettable. It was a much stronger show when it concentrated on the Servalan and the Federation. It wasn't about budget (although the aliens didn't look good), it was that the stories didn't have anything that interesting going on with them.
It had a good set of characters, and that for me carries it a good way, but the world building was lacklustre. It's a show that could be phenomenal in a reboot as SFX etc have advanced massively which allows for better sequencing, the characters and the dynamics I think would largely hold up, it would just need a stronger over-arcing story
@@neilbiggs1353 I disagree. The world building is there it’s just that it went off into different directions. The pacification drug plot line was fascinating and although season 4 got off to a tricky start it soon picked up and the federation had regained control. A remake would only work if they concentrate on new rebels as I don’t think you could ever replace the original actors. You’d also need good writers and today there aren’t many around that have the same creativity or capability in writing great dialog. If they had good writers and actors then yes a reboot would be preferable to watching Star Trek and Doctor Who plod along going over the same old ground. The special effects lacking in the show was I feel apart if it’s charm and today if remade they might give us great effects but you could end up with lousy writing or a lack of strong characterisation. I’d reboot it with new rebels and a new ship or one that’s taken from the system similar to the Liberator. It would today be costly but I just can’t think of anyone good enough to do it.
You hit many of my favourites, B-5,Firefly, Dr Who and Red Dwarf all on my list, but I would have the Expanse there as well.
No Battlestar Galactica, no The Expanse? Farscape and B5 rules! 🤟
Well, a pretty good selection. Well done! None that I'd kick out & any omissions would make would likely mean it having to be a list of the Top 25 TV Shows
Babylon 5 was always my favorite next to Star trek DS9
The Orville genuinely surprised me. I didn't expect actually compelling stories from the guy who brought us Family Guy.
Great list, id probably have added BSG 2004 and The Expanse. Those two shows really changed the scifi landscape.
Glad to see Orville and Futurama included. I agree with Firefly and feel it's the second best sci-fi show ever behind Star Trek. I'd have given Space 1999 and Space: Above and Beyond a mention as well.
One "Series" that comes to mind is "Quark,"(1977.) Though only 8 episodes long, It did incorporate many sci-fi tropes.
good list I have watched almost all of them. The one show I would have liked to see was space 1999.
lost in space, UFO, Battlestar Galactica, Blake 7,are the ones that come to mind but then I am old enough to remember the very first episode of Dr Who!
Before watching: I'm expecting Babylon 5, Lexx, Farscape and Firefly to make this list.
Surprised nobody is mentioning Continuum. That show had a different take on time travel. It had drama and action. Most interesting of all, as you watch this show, you realize that while the show has amazing protagonists and antagonists there are no clear bad guys or good guys. Do the ends justify their means? Is their future worth preserving or changing? Do the characters even understand what they are fighting for and consequences of doing so?
If you havent seen it I highly recommend recommend giving it a go
Stargate.....man I miss that tv series. That's my favorite. Farscape I loved too, miss that one.
I'm also enjoying Foundation, now in it's second season. There are some crap episodes in season one that feel like Xena, but otherwise it has superb casting and tells the story of Asimov's Foundation books. There are some changes which are ok to enable the show to keep some characters through a long period of time. The genetic dynasty part is even an improvement on the books I think. Especially Lee Pace kills as the day version of the Emperor. I used to read so many Scifi stories in my youth from authors such as Heinlein, Asimov, Silverberg, etc. and I really love this show. And I agree with another comment, where is "The Expanse" in this list ?
I'm glad that Red Dwarf made the list, but was surprised some obvious ones didn't, like The Expanse or BSG.
Expanse, Black Mirror and The Outer Limits would also be worthy additions for a part 2 of this really good list.
And since this channel contains the word odyssey: does anybody remember "Odyssey 5" from 2002 ? Just reached one season, but an interesting twist on time travel and AI.
I loved Odyssey 5, wish it had an ending. I also think The Expanse should be on this list, it is truly great drama and gorgeous SF.
As much as I love Star Trek and has an old I’ve been watching it since the very beginning , Babylon 5 is far superior .
Although this is probably because it was originally written as a complete five series epic not just a load of one-offs
Loved that my favourites were in both lists - Stargate SG-1, Firefly, Star Trek TNG. Surprised not to see V (the original or the reboot) in either list.
Great choices. Never heard of Red Dwarf, I think it was never shown in the U.S.
Depends on where you lived. Some PBS stations in the US carried it during it's original run.
How about The Man in High Castle, Eureka, Mr. Robot, Lexx, Millennium, The Outer Limits, and Altered Carbon.
B5 is also being remastered on Blu-Ray and has a new animated movie coming out.
I can't believe you completely missed The Expanse. It stands alongside Babylon 5 with its overarching story, massive worldbuilding and hard sci-fi driven plot.
He has done other lists videos. You'll find your favourite in those.
Earth Final Conflict was great.
But the one sci-fi show I loved but knew would not be on the list was Lexx. It was over the top bonkers and not afraid to show nudity. It's definitely meant for an adult audience.
"Accessibility to a modern audience" will have me PASS on the show EVERY.TIME.
"Farscape has everything" Yes. Yes it does. Thank you for acknowledging the frelling awesome weirdness.
Surprised no one in the comments has called out The X-Files. Huge fan base, 10 seasons, mix of episodic & serialized stories. It often explores the horror genre, as well, but is at its core a sci-fi show.
A really good, recent, but criminally little known show is BEFOREIGNERS. It aired on HBO Nordic, and was set in a near future where waves of refugees from the past were appearing in the modern world with no way home. It blends sci-fi with buddy-cop crime drama in a serialized story that focuses on two main characters: a burned out modern cop in Oslo who has a failed marriage & a secret drug addiction; and his new partner, a former Viking shieldmaiden, who is an unapologetic pagan with anger control issues, and is the first “beforeigner” to make detective. In the first season/series, they’re assigned to investigate the murder of a Neolithic woman who washed up on the beach, and this propels them into the heart of a much bigger conspiracy. If you get a chance to watch it, don’t miss it.
Not a bad list.Will never accept that Quanum Leap is science fiction, but all the other shows explore real SF tropes.
Loved Farscape. Loved the "fish out of water" theme it started off as.
Farscape! Got the full series and the peacekeepers war finale.
Huh. I agree with most of your list. No idea on Futurama or Red Dwarf but the rest are spot on. Funny that most media outlets reviewers have never heard of any of these series. Which is probably why RUclips is eating their shorts.
My favourites are Orphan Black, Travelers, Almost Human, Cybersix (since you included Futurama), Stargate SG-1 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Honourable mention: Fringe which i haven't watched enough episodes of to fully judge yet and Falling Skies (this is a post-apocalypse/alien invasion)
There was a Stargate that struck me deeply.
It was not SG1 that you commented on.
It was a story of 6-7 people of many different life styles accidently sent on a Galactic ship lost in space !
A few soldiers, a scientist, a wiz kid nerd on a mellenia old starship.
I found it to be a VERY realistic story, with with stimulating human interaction.
And the ordeals they faced, just trying to stay alive on a broken down millennium spaceship !
Of all the series you mentioned,this one grabed me the most, because it was realistic !
Farscape was one of my favorites also
Mostly because it was so far out there, and the comidic production was slap stick😅.
Mike.
I needed to see the Expanse, Altered Carbon and Reboot on a top 10 list of Sci-Fi that wasn't Trek.
Blake's 7 definitely inspired many series that followed it, especially Farscape and Andromeda.
The best thing about these videos are the comments, there were a couple of shows that I haven't watched yet.
Another great series about exploring other “worlds” is Sliders. Admittedly it has an abrupt ending and it wasn’t great towards the end yet it’s still one of my favorite sci-fi series.