The Boston Globe released its list of the top 50 science fiction television series of all time. The only reason such lists exist is to pick them apart and cluck at how off-base the idiots who compile them are, so far be it from me to shirk my civic duty.
Here's the Globe list:
50. Earth: Final Conflict 49. The Wild Wild West 48. 3rd Rock From the Sun 47. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 46. That Was Then 45. The Greatest American Hero 44. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman 43. Nowhere Man 42. Science Fiction Theater 41. Futurama 40. The Thunderbirds 39. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 38. Batman 37. Space: 1999 36. The Bionic Woman 35. Battlestar Galactica (original) 34. The Avengers 33. Lost in Space 32. My Favorite Martian 31. Alien Nation 30. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 29. The Six Million Dollar Man 28. Adventures of Superman 27. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 26. Stargate Atlantis | 25. The Jetsons 24. Wonder Woman 23. Tales from the Crypt 22. Andromeda 21. Quantum Leap 20. The Hitchhiker 19. Dark Angel 18. V 17. Firefly 16. Flash Gordon 15. Logan's Run 14. Star Trek: Voyager 13. The Outer Limits 12. Xena: Warrior Princess 11. Lost 10. Sliders 9. Mystery Science Theater 3000 8. Doctor Who 7. The Twilight Zone 6. Stargate SG-1 5. Babylon 5 4. The X-Files 3. Star Trek: The Next Generation 2. Battlestar Galactica (new) 1. Star Trek |
Obviously, the Globe's concept of science fiction extends to anything with a hint of the impossible or the imaginary. One could argue about whether The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man were science fiction or spy action shows (I say the latter), but Xena was mythological fantasy with no hint of science fiction. In fact, I'd say 13 shows on the list (Nowhere Man, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Batman, The Avengers, The Greatest American Hero, Lois & Clark, The Adventures of Superman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wonder Woman, Tales From the Crypt, The Hitchhiker, Xena, and Lost) clearly don't fit the category, and 5 others (3rd Rock From the Sun, The Bionic Woman, My Favorite Martian, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The X-Files) are questionable. And if you're going to put Lost on the list at all, for God's sake rank it higher than a train wreck of a show like Sliders!
Next, let's question whether some of the genuine science fiction shows belong on any list with the word "best" in it. Earth: Final Conflict was at least three different shows over the course of its run, each less interesting than the last. By its final season, the show was something not even Gene Roddenberry would have foisted on the public. Buck Rogers also suffered an extreme makeover when the action shifted from New Chicago to the spaceship Searcher. Nobody called it a masterpiece during its initial run, and it hasn't aged well. The original Battlestar Galactica may be fondly remembered by some, but it's practically unwatchable. They recycled the same Viper shots over and over, and feathered hair is apparently alive and well in the far reaches of the galaxy. And let's not even get started about Dagget, the robotic pet. And Flash Gordon? Really?!
Now let's quibble about placement. Nostalgia notwithstanding, there is no way to justify ranking Futurama below The Jetsons. Alien Nation, a series that had some real intelligence behind it, should be much higher-- certainly above Andromeda. The aforementioned Sliders should slide way, way down the list. It's a crime to rank both Logan's Run and Voyager higher than the vastly superior Firefly, and I'd prefer to see Quantum Leap in the top 15. I think they're spot on with the high ranking of the new Battlestar Galactica, but I'd put Babylon 5 in the number 3 spot. While I can understand the emotional allure of putting the original Star Trek at the top of the list, I can't think of any sane metric by which it outshines the rightful chart-topper, The Next Generation.
Finally, a brief list off the top of my head of series missing from the list that should have been considered: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (a vastly underrated series that put Voyager to shame), Star Trek: Enterprise, Farscape, Red Dwarf, The Tomorrow People, Max Headroom, The Prisoner, Mork and Mindy.
Posted by Peter at October 3, 2005 10:21 PM | TrackBackThank you, Peter, you bastard... Now I can't get Chic's Le Freak out of my head...
Anyway...
I'd never have something like Thunderbirds on the list, not because Gerry Anderson can't tell a good story, no... It's because anything he did with his "Supermarionation" freaks the hell out of me. (No, I didn't like Team America, either.)
I loved Sliders, though... until John Rhys-Davies left.
And what's wrong with Buck Rogers and the original Battlestar? Have something against Glen Larson? Don't like Mormons?
Anyway... I'm rambling.
Posted by: Jack on October 4, 2005 9:50 AMI'd say MST3K should be on your "questionable" list at the very least. It's SciFi in the same way that Mary Tyler Moore was a news program.
Posted by: Dug Steen on October 4, 2005 9:52 AMThe Greatest American Hero... I've been trying to remember the name of that show for years. I could remember the theme song and that it was a funny show but that's it :) I knew I put your blog on my list for a reason!
I'm not surprised Farscape was left off; it was a good show, but however rabid its fan base was it was still relatively small.
Posted by: Steve Dupree on October 4, 2005 10:21 AMSteve: I remembered GAH that way too: great theme, funny show. Rent it on DVD & you'll be sorely disappointed.
I am surprised about Farscape, it has/had at least the popularity of Andromeda or Stargate Atlantis, doesn't it?
And Peter, now that you've got us all thinking about this, how about it: Give us your list of 50 greatest.
Posted by: Dug Steen on October 4, 2005 12:25 PMEverytime I see Yet Another Season of Sanford And Son (ba ba BA ba!) hit the shelves at the local Best Buy, I shed a tear that neither Alien Nation (the TV series) or Max Headroom are available for purchase on DVD. I STILL have a set of VHS tapes of the complete run of Headroom, recorded on our painfully old, mono, and dirty-headed VCR, when Bravo was running them commercial-free.
Posted by: Chris Lemon on October 4, 2005 12:28 PMAnd, after that post, let me offer some great news!
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4054
One down, one to go.
Posted by: Chris Lemon on October 4, 2005 12:33 PMWell, Superman is an alien, you know.
But the omission of Max Headroom is unforgivable.
Posted by: Matthew on October 4, 2005 6:22 PMI'd put Dr Who in the number 1 position without question.
Like Jack, I enjoyed Sliders while John Rhys-Davies was in it, despite the awful episode with the fake Australians with faked Australian accents.
I didn't realise The Tomorrow People had been shown in the US. Definitely belongs in the top 50, as does Red Dwarf, of course.
Posted by: Craig on October 4, 2005 8:35 PMYes, I realize Superman is an alien, and that Ralph's supersuit was given to him by aliens, and that the spy tech used in The Man From UNCLE was futuristic, and that Buffy had science fiction elements (Adam, Buffybot), and so forth. But those elements weren't core to the show.
I have neither the time nor desire to compose a top 50. But an off-the-cuff top 10 might look something like this:
1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Battlestar Galactica (new)
3. Babylon 5
4. Firefly
5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
6. The Twilight Zone
7. Stargate SG-1 (first few seasons)
8. Quantum Leap
9. Star Trek
10. Star Trek: Enterprise
Voyager doesn't quite make the cut. It had a few terrific episodes-- the one in which Kes ages backwards (and finally ditches her ridiculous hairstyle) was particularly memorable-- but it abandoned its core premise of integrating two rival crews early on, and that just left it with the tired trope of the long journey home to sustain it. Enterprise took more risks. The season-long Xindi arc was ill-conceived and tiresome, but its fourth season was fantastic. The show was cancelled just as it finally found its voice.
Remember that this list is off the cuff, and on another day I might have listed things differently. But I'm pretty happy with those as a set.
Posted by: Peter on October 5, 2005 1:39 PMAnd how about Quark? It may not have been that great a show, but I'll wager it's better than at least a dozen shows on that list... of course I am probably the only person on the planet who still remembers the thing.
Posted by: Dan Blum on October 5, 2005 1:41 PMI think 3rd Rock From the Sun should be higher up. I just bought Season One on DVD, and I almost forgot how funny that show is!
Posted by: Sandi on October 5, 2005 3:21 PMMy recollection is that there was a very good reason Quark didn't last more than a few episodes.
Tripping the Rift on Sci-Fi, on the other hand, is actually pretty funny.
Posted by: Peter on October 7, 2005 2:01 AMI didn't say Quark was good, I said it was better than a bunch of shows on that list.
Posted by: Dan Blum on October 7, 2005 10:45 PMI presume Blake's Seven is not widely known in the US? Given that US PBS stations occasionally pick up British shows, I'd be surprised if this hadn't made even some sort of impact.
Posted by: Chris M. Dickson on October 14, 2005 12:53 PM