# Recommend me a scifi tv series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444 "2010-02-25T21:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Erasmus\_Darwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/41 "2010-02-27T00:52:14Z")
Sci-Fi’s [The Invisible Man (hulu link)](http://www.hulu.com/the-invisible-man), which used to air along with Farscape and Lexx, was a pretty fun series. It managed to keep things funny and entertaining, sort of in the same popcorny niche as Eureka, only better. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/42 "2010-02-27T02:27:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > There was a short-lived [_Alien Nation_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Nation_(1989_TV_series)) TV series, based on the film. It was pretty good, for what remained essentially a cop show with ETs. Is there an echo in this thread? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/43 "2010-02-27T02:58:46Z")
> [@wintertime](#): > > **Estilicon** , we seem to have similar tastes. I loved _ **Eureka** _ at first, but it was too repetitive for me and I lost interest during the second season. _ **Torchwood** _ is sometimes cheesy on the good side and sometimes not, not at all. But the third season, “Children of Earth”, is worth your time. I third **cmyk** ’s suggestion to watch _ **The Lost Room** _; I was skeptical at first but that changed quickly. > > _ **Flashforward** _ is, imo, a fascinating idea with a lackluster execution and an incredibly unlikable lead. It might also be cut short, so you might want to wait to hear if the show gets a somewhat satisfying end. > > The remake of the old _ **V** _ hasn’t gripped me yet either; it has decent production values and an acceptable cast but, well, there is a bewildering disconnect between the world-shattering setting and the observable actions. And it’s quite boring for a show that should be exciting. > > Back to history: I agree that _ **Farscape** _’s second season is the best one, though, all in all, it didn’t work for me. > > _ **The Sarah Connor Chronicles** _, otoh, is one of my favourite shows; some might argue that it was too slow but when you watch the episodes without the week-long delay, the well-structured arc becomes far more apparent. Also, the cast did a great job and the writers gave the terminator universe surprising depth and went at times beyond well-trodden paths. > > _ **Dollhouse** _ was the first Whedon-show that I couldn’t stand. For some reason, I can be entertained by shadow wars and the doom of genocide and killer robots from the future, but I couldn’t bear the abuse that was shown there. Based on doper recomendations I watched the first three episodes of Farscape and I wasn’t impressed. It looked like a cheesy 70’s science fiction show. Does it get better? I watched the Sarah Connor Chronicles and I liked it but wasn’t impressed. I’ll check Eureka. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/44 "2010-02-27T04:47:13Z")
> [@Estilicon](#): > > Based on doper recomendations I watched the first three episodes of Farscape and I wasn’t impressed. It looked like a cheesy 70’s science fiction show. Does it get better? > . If by ‘better’ you mean ‘less goofy’, then no. It does have a fun storyline and character development, and the original species and abilities are, to me, refreshing, but no. It doesn’t get less 70’s-ish. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/45 "2010-02-27T11:55:29Z")
> [@Estilicon](#): > > Based on doper recomendations I watched the first three episodes of Farscape and I wasn’t impressed. It looked like a cheesy 70’s science fiction show. Does it get better? > (..) I’ll check Eureka. Not really; “goofy” [Taomist TM] is a pretty good word to describe the general feel of _ **Farscape** _. Many viewers liked the creatures and settings, to me it looked like _Muppets in Space_. But mainly, I couldn’t get into it because Farscape was close to the Star Trek universe in one aspect: “all aliens are really human on the inside and those that aren’t better were”. (DS9 excluded) Still, the storyline in the second season was pretty good, the writers did care about the characters and the cast sparkled. But if you don’t care for Farscape, I won’t blame you. Not at all. If you prefer serious science fiction shows in general, you must stay away from _ **LEXX** _ – that one was written by a stoned horde of howler monkeys .. and their drunken brothers directed it. In other words, it was fun, had moments of satirical brilliance, was refreshingly amoral .. but if you don’t like the absurd, you will mainly see its failures – and there were plenty: cheap settings, bad performances, drunken pacing, weird dialogues, plot holes wide as a galaxy. Some of these failures hound _ **Torchwood** _ too and the quality can easily oscillate from awesome to “oh, crap” between episodes .. or within minutes. That’s why I’d recommend only the third season without reluctance; there is cheese in it still, but the story-line works out perfectly and it’s surprisingly adult or mature for a scifi television show. The last cannot be said about Eureka: it’s goofy in a strictly American sense ;). It’s neither amoral and deconstructive like Lexx nor cheesy and daring like Torchwood(s first two seasons) but well produced yet harmless fun with likable characters and well done but foreseeable story-lines. If you accept it for what it is, relaxing entertainment, you’ll like it. > [@Estilicon](#): > > I watched the Sarah Connor Chronicles and I liked it but wasn’t impressed. Well, yeah, I know it failed in some aspects, it certainly aroused wrong expectations before its start and the strike hurt two central story-lines in the first season so much that they couldn’t be recovered in time: the gradual growth towards a functional family and John Connor’s interdependent character development. The perfect character arc Cromartie got, showed the possible; and they were back on track on John’s arc during the second half of the second season but the damage was already done. With more episodes in the first season to establish close relationships, the later alienation among Sarah, Derek, John and Cameron would have actually felt like a breaking apart and not like continuation. The juxtaposed development of the second family (Weaver, Ellison, Savannah and John Henry) helped to make the story-line more palpable but the pacing was a bit off, so the opposing trends weren’t as clear as they should have been. Otoh, they did it right in many other ways, and I’ve never before seen writers put so much effort into a working model of continuous time-travel … oh well, spilled milk. At the moment, I’ve a hard time to recommend any still running science fiction show; _ **V** _ might surprise me, I do hope so, if only to keep Morena on my screen, but the news aren’t so good. ---
**Author:** ![Staale\_Nordlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Staale\_Nordlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staale_Nordlie)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/46 "2010-02-27T13:14:07Z")
**The Middleman** is great. **Farscape** is good, **Torchwood** is really bad, **Being Human** is decent. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/47 "2010-02-27T14:17:24Z")
> [@Estilicon](#): > > Based on doper recomendations I watched the first three episodes of Farscape and I wasn’t impressed. It looked like a cheesy 70’s science fiction show. Does it get better? The first season of any show tends to be kinda weak, as the actors and productions team “shake down” (to borrow some naval terminology) into a working Cast. Looking over my Farscape Season 1, I’ll recommend the “good” ones that are interesting or advance the overall storyline: Premiere Throne For A Loss Back And Back And Back To The Future PK Tech Girl They’ve Got A Secret 'Til The Blood Runs Clear The Flax Durka Returns A Human Reaction A Bug’s Life Nerve The Hidden Memory Family Ties Almost all of these introduce recurring characters, plot elements, etc. Really, just Nerve, The Hidden Memory, and Family Ties are truly essential Farscape for viewing later seasons. And instead of “goofy,” I like to think it has “quirky” moments. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/48 "2010-02-27T14:24:13Z")
:smack::smack::smack: Damn! How could I forget “A Human Reaction?” It’s damn near the driving force for the rest of the series?! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/49 "2010-02-27T14:46:39Z")
> [@wintertime](#): > > Not really; “goofy” [Taomist TM] is a pretty good word to describe the general feel of _ **Farscape** _. Many viewers liked the creatures and settings, to me it looked like _Muppets in Space_. I’m with you there. Every time I’ve tried to watch Farscape (my Tivo insists I should) I am completely distracted and reduced to mocking laughter by the cheesy rubber faces. I would much rather see a show do NOTHING with “alien life form makeup” than do it incessantly and badly. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/50 "2010-02-27T15:51:47Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I’m with you there. Every time I’ve tried to watch Farscape (my Tivo insists I should) I am completely distracted and reduced to mocking laughter by the cheesy rubber faces. I would much rather see a show do NOTHING with “alien life form makeup” than do it incessantly and badly. A friend of mine once told me that my wife and I totally ruined Farscape for him, when we accentuated its intro by singing the Muppet theme song. .. Come to think of it, it’s a bit disturbing that we had the lyrics memorized perfectly. I just wished a series would one day take “alien” a bit more serious and do something creative instead of reducing it to familiar weird figures and not exactly American behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/51 "2010-02-27T17:53:34Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > First, rent the SyFy (SciFi back then) mini series [The Lost Room.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830361/) You won’t regret it. However, you’ll wish it was made into a series. I’ll second this, I thought it was fantastic, had a great feel to it. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/52 "2010-02-28T02:43:41Z")
I’ll second **Lexx** , but only the third season. Don’t worry about the first two, you’ll get it as you go. And are we doing anime? You have to check out **Planetes** Good, old fashioned hard sci-fi about a crew on a space station whose job is to clean up junk in orbit around Earth. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/53 "2010-02-28T16:10:07Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I’m with you there. Every time I’ve tried to watch Farscape (my Tivo insists I should) I am completely distracted and reduced to mocking laughter by the cheesy rubber faces. I would much rather see a show do NOTHING with “alien life form makeup” than do it incessantly and badly. Watch the ep named “The Way We Weren’t”, then try to see Pilot as nothing more than a Henson animitronic, that’s the episode where Pilot becomes “real” in the sense of being another actual character in the show that said, I still can’t see Fluffy/Guido/His Lowness as anything more than “Evil-Yoda on a ThroneSled” ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/54 "2010-02-28T16:48:48Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > …that said, I still can’t see Fluffy/Guido/His Lowness as anything more than “Evil-Yoda on a ThroneSled” He’s the one character who hadn’t changed much at all throughout the series. When nine hundred years old _you_ reach, set in your ways will you be, too. Hmmph! But you gotta admit, Farscape overall did try to make aliens look more alien. When time and money permitted. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/55 "2010-03-01T06:44:05Z")
\*Caprica \*is looking up these days. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444/56 "2010-03-01T10:37:44Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > \*Caprica \*is looking up these days. The pilot bored me into anger when I watched it some months ago. And at that time, I was still relieved that I had (mostly) abandoned BSG at the end of its first season when it became apparent that we were dealing with a rightfully deistic universe. I watched some more episodes during the following seasons but they confirmed my suspicion and added a torrent of other reasons to not waste time there (and as far as I’ve heard, BSG’s conclusion was less than satisfying). But I’ve heard good things about the writing and am tempted to give _Caprica_ another try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-scifi-tv-series/530444.md?page=2)