-Farscape Goofy, funny, and has it’s moving moments; definitely an original 'verse, and much appreciated for that.
-Being Human <though that’s more fantasy than sci-fi, I enjoyed it quite a bit; vamps, ghosts, werewolves…I even got used to the second vampire guy, though I hated him after they switched out the one in the pilot. Still…he did alright. >
-Torchwood Loved loved loved loved it!! Loved it even though I can’t really get into Dr. Who. <don’t shun me!>
Why does everything I love die?
Stupid stations can’t tell what’s good or bad; I hate the Stargate series, and it just won’t fricking die!! And the good stuff dies off. Le sigh.
I take it back! Introducing magic into the Eureka universe is not what I had in mind! :eek:
(I know, I know. But indistinguishable-from-magic-technology is not the same thing, not in genre terms.)
It may be an elaborate leg-pull. The producers are playing very coy about the plans for this season; no hints, unlike previous years. (The exec producer is on Twitter - look for ‘Bergopolis’. There’s also a production blog at http://www.eurekaunscripted.typepad.com/ ) They just announced shooting starting March 18th for season premiere on July 16th.
Supernatural. start at the beginning, it’s worth it. Excellent writing, great chemistry between the leads and a story arc that really starts coming together as the show goes on.
I’ll pipe in also to recommend Farscape. I’m currently watching those, and I’m close to halfway through season 2 right now. Series premiere was a nice set-up. Though a number of the early season 1 episodes were pretty predictable standard fare, I thought season 1 picked up rather nicely partway through, and the finish of that season was great.
Seconding **Ultraviolet **, *Futurama *and The Locked Room. Charlie Jade is good, IMO, initially a bit confusing and suffers from overly arty camera use, but it’s good Sci Fi.
A good comedy SF series, if you’re at all into British humour, is Hyperdrive, with Nick Frost of Hot Fuzz!/Shaun of the Dead. Also, although not Sci Fi, you *must *watch Spaced, with Frost, Simon Pegg and others. Just because.
I found the Total Recall 2070 TV series to be quite good, others disagree.
Also, Space Island One is *very *good, *very *hard, SF set on a *very *realistic space station in the very near future. With two of the hottest SF babes you’ve never heard of, either, and the cutest science nerd.
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.
Another vote for Torchwood, based purely on the “Children of Earth” story arc, which was excellent; creepy, well acted, with interesting characters and a nice bit of “child safety” paranoia thrown in.
Being Human has its good points, and I enjoy it a lot, but it does feel rushed sometimes. Still, this week’s episode was very good. At its best it’s funny, disturbing, sexy and zany with the occasional emotional moment in. Also, the special effects seem to have improved a bit the second season (not that it uses much FX).
The Prisoner – the original, of course. Some episodes are severely weird, but the others more than make up for it. The entire series has been available as a boxed set.
The original Outer Limits and Twilight Zone. And their respective new series. I don’t approve of all of them, but there has been some of the best science fiction on TV in both.
[BMiddleman** – a wonderfully whacked-out series with more obscure references than you can shake a stick at, and it’s blissfully unapologetic about them.
Farscape - I liked the whole run, including the wrap-up tv movie. A lot of episodes stretch credibility and tread real close to fantasy, but the show was always trying to do something new. Plus, the cast is very good.
Dollhouse - This show was meant to grow its theme over a couple of scenes. The cancellation led to the big reveal. Overall, its a big argument for the British habit of planned short run tv shows. Had it been plotted out to run 20-24 episodes, it would have been an all time classic.
Flashforward - Meh. I was turned off by the commercials. Sawyer’s book is better and even it has flaws.
V - Straight up primetime broadcast network science fiction. Watch the already aired episodes and starting watching when it returns next month. There is a chance the show can bite it big, but I am hopeful that it will continue to be strong.
Lost - I watched one or two episodes, and I don’t classify it as sci-fi. Might be fantasy, but really seems to be a confusing mess of plotlines that really had nowhere to go.
Stargate Universe - I also hated the Atlantis incarnation, also hated the final season or two of the original. SG-1 was strongest when it did not take itself seriously and allowed Richard Dean Anderson to have some fun. Universe takes the franchise in a new direction. It has been a little uneven, with some plotholes that are frustrating. Even so, I am interested in seeing where the show goes.
And not recent or even strictly sci-fi, try the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. It is avaiable through Netflix, Hulu, or maybe even your local library. Some episodes don’t work, some are great. In either case, its a format you don’t see much of anymore.
I vaguely remember a short-lived conspiracy-theory-themed SF series in the early '90s – the main protagonist was a woman, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life or something similar figured in it – can anyone ID this?
Nobody’s mentioned Misfits, another British series (6 episodes, but I believe more are planned) about a bunch of young thugs who are in a mysterious storm and are given superpowers. Not at ALL what you’re thinking it’s like right now. I wouldn’t say I recommend it, exactly, but you might want to check it out.
Millennium is worth a look. Initially it was a fairly straightforward detective series, with a late-'90s dark-and-edgy feel, based on the rather implausible premise that serial killers are common enough to support a specialized professional consulting firm helping law-enforcement agencies. In the second season, they started introducing supernatural elements.
