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sci-fi show reccommendations
hey, i was wondering if i could get reccommendations on sci-fi shows to either start watching or to pick up on dvd. the only sci-fi ive ever been into was stargate and i was interested in trying out some new ones. any reccommondations would be great.
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Babylon 5
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I think there are a lot of threads concerning this.
Farscape and Babylon 5 Buffy and Angel. Not so much Sci Fi but very cool Genre shows. |
Another enthusiastic vote for Farscape...
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Another vote for Babylon 5 and Farscape. Deep Space Nine too.
tasha |
Lets take a look at my shelf, shall we?
* Doctor Who - There's a reason this show ran for 26 years (with a 27th in production now). It's got some clunkers, of course - but a disc like The Talons of Weing Chiang or Pyramid of Mars spotlights the show at the height of it's powers, with a tight cast and great story. Also, the DVD releases are REALLY high quality - most other TV shows would be green with envy if they knew what they did to Doctor Who. For starters, try a frame by frame reconstruction of the episode. Wanna see the results - try here: http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonde...comparison.htm Then they get loaded down with commentary, behind the scenes, trailers (when they exist), documentaries of various aspects of the show, segements from other shows (like Blue Peter) about Who, a trivia subtitle track, isolated music scores, and easter eggs. These things are chockerblocked full. A value for the money to be sure. * Red Dwarf - An argumenent could be made that this is more comedy with Science Fiction trappings - and they very well may be right. But the show is so damn funny, who cares. Those are probably the two series on my shelf that I couldnt do without. The must have list, if you will. |
Babylon 5 and Farscape. Deep Space Nine if you like Trek.
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Oh, the recommendations I could make!
Definitely Babylon 5 and Farscape. Babylon 5 has a really great arc over the course of the show. Farscape is a bit different, but if you can hang in there through a strange episode or two, it has a fantastic payoff in a number of late-in-the-season episode arcs. Don't know if you've tried any Trek or not, but Deep Space Nine is one of the best Trek series and is well-worth trying. |
I'm going to go with the crowd here. <i>Babylon 5</i> and <i>Farscape</i> are the two best and most significant science fiction shows of the last decade. If you haven't seen them yet, what are you waiting for? If you want the greatest television arc ever and fascinating characters, <i>Babylon 5</i> would be a good choice. If you want something a little more inventive and "out there" with the best visual effects TV has ever seen (and better than most movies), you'll want <i>Farscape</i>.
While not as consistent, <i>Deep Space Nine</i> will give you some great arc storytelling as well and is a good choice if you're familiar with the <i>TNG</i>-era Trek universe. If not, then perhaps <i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> would be a good choice. It's a lot closer to the style of <i>SG-1</i> than the others. The others will demand more of you than <i>SG-1</i>, but they'll also be much more rewarding. Still, if you want something more episodic with spectacular highs and laughable lows, <i>TNG</i> fits the bill. You haven't specified a location, but if you can get it from Region 2 and want something more lighthearted and recent, <i>The Invisible Man</i> is a very entertaining show with some great humor and creativity. It's hard to go wrong with <i>Dr. Who</i> or <i>Red Dwarf</i> either. Also from those wacky Brits, consider <i>The Prisoner</i>. It's one complete story told across 17 episodes, and you can buy the box set on DVD. More from the short-lived files, I'd recommend <i>Firefly</i> (from Joss) and <i>Jeremiah</i> (from jms). If you can acquire it, <i>Odyssey 5</i> is intriguing for its 20 episodes. Don't forget <i>The Twilight Zone</i> and <i>Quantum Leap</i>. And if you want to branch out a bit into general genre shows, there's always <i>Buffy</i> and <i>Angel</i>, or even <i>Xena</i> and <i>Highlander: The Series</i>. Lots to choose from. Now get to watching it! ;) das |
Originally posted by das Monkey Also from those wacky Brits, consider <i>The Prisoner</i>. It's one complete story told across 17 episodes, and you can buy the box set on DVD. |
The only problem with Doctor Who is that there's so much there, it's impossible to know where to start unless you have a friend who knows it well.
I, of course, will as usual add an enthusiastic vote for Babylon 5, the best damn show ever. |
wow thanks a lot for all the reccommendations, its seems like everyone overwhelmingly reccomennds babylon 5 and farscape so ill definitly check those out :). i saw that babylon 5 has a bunch of movies mostly cause i saw that new set that just came out, do those fit throughout the tv storyline or are they seperate. also for star trek if i start watching deep space 9 or next generation will i have to know back stories from other star trek series. ive caught random star trek episodes from probably all different series on tv but never really watched it straight through in order heh, thats the extent of my star trek knowledge ;). was firefly a recent one, cause i think i remember watching it a little in the beginning and then it got cancled or something right? ill also look into the other shows mentioned. i actually just got into watching buffy and ive also seen a lot of buffy and angel episodes on tv even though they maybe be ranom ones both shows are still amazing :).
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• metssuck3186 • wow thanks a lot for all the reccommendations, its seems like everyone overwhelmingly reccomennds babylon 5 and farscape so ill definitly check those out :). i saw that babylon 5 has a bunch of movies mostly cause i saw that new set that just came out, do those fit throughout the tv storyline or are they seperate. And on the off chance you don't already know this, watch until midway through the second season before giving up. You might wonder what we were smoking when recommending it early on, but do yourself a favor, and trust us. • metssuck3186 • also for star trek if i start watching deep space 9 or next generation will i have to know back stories from other star trek series. ive caught random star trek episodes from probably all different series on tv but never really watched it straight through in order heh, thats the extent of my star trek knowledge ;). • metssuck3186 • was firefly a recent one, cause i think i remember watching it a little in the beginning and then it got cancled or something right? Good luck! das |
Originally posted by metsrule3186 wow thanks a lot for all the reccommendations, its seems like everyone overwhelmingly reccomennds babylon 5 and farscape so ill definitly check those out :). i saw that babylon 5 has a bunch of movies mostly cause i saw that new set that just came out, do those fit throughout the tv storyline or are they seperate. The Gathering: The series' pilot episode. It takes place a short while (around six months, if I remember correctly) before the beginning of the first season. I'd recommend watching it first, but try to keep an open mind. The same goes for the first half of the first season, as well. The show takes a little getting used to, and the first group of episodes tend towards the "crisis of the week" sort of thing. They're still good, but the better story elements don't start happening until about the sixth episode, with the larger story really starting to get set up in the 13th episode. In The Beginning: Timeline-wise, it takes place 16 years after (most of) the series, but it's almost entirely a flashback to ten years before the series. However, even though the bulk of the story being told takes place way before the series starts, it still spoils several major plot points throughout the first four seasons. Not only that, but it's also not nearly as enjoyable if you're not familiar with the characters and events from the first four seasons, to understand how what you're seeing is connecting to them. I've tried showing ItB to people to get them into the show, and they end up more confused than anything else, because it relies so heavily on prior knowledge of the characters and events. That said, it was originally aired between the fourth and fifth seasons, but you could safely watch it any time after the 9th episode of Season 4 ("Atonement"). Thirdspace: This one is more of a sidestory than anything else. Even though the events in it are pretty grand in scale, it doesn't really connect to the rest of the series all that much. It takes place sometime in the middle of the fourth season, and should be watched any time between "Into The Fire" and "No Surrender, No Retreat". The River Of Souls: I haven't actually seen this one yet. From what I understand, however, it's another side story, with not a whole lot of connection to the main story. It takes place between the last two episodes of the fifth season. A Call To Arms: This one was actually a sort of pilot movie for the B5 spin-off, Crusade. Unfortunately, Crusade was cancelled before they even got to finish their first season. I personally didn't care for this movie all that much. While it does tie into part of the whole B5 story, the fact that the Crusade was cancelled makes it harder to enjoy. It also takes place between the last two episodes of the fifth season. If you're interested in just watching the more important movies, you could easily get by with just buying the "The Gathering/In The Beginning" DVD that was made a few years back. Just watch The Gathering, and save In The Beginning for much later. If you really get into the story, several of the B5 novels are also well worth reading, as they fill in other interesting plot points here and there. However, none of them can be read at least until almost the end of the third season, so you've got a bit of a wait there... |
Between Babylon 5 and Farscape, If you like Stargate, I'd check out Farscape, not exactly the same kind of show, but the same in that it's fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.
also... Doctor Who : The greatest sci fi TV series of all time! (Sorry Trek fans) It's very British, it's very low budget, but what fun. Some of the best sci fi television ever. 26 seasons, over 700 episodes making up 160 stories, with 8 different actors playing the Doctor. What's it about? The Doctor (his name is "The Doctor" not Doctor Who, the show is called Doctor Who because nobody is knows who he is) is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He travels around time and space, with a companion or two, (usually a sexy young lady) he picks up in his travels. the Time Lords have 13 lives, so when his body dies it regenerates into a new body, his happens everytime a new actor comes in to play the part. His time machine can go to any time and any planet, making it one of the most open ended TV shows. It's more like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits than other sci fi series, because every story is completely different, except for the main character (The Doctor) and his traveling companions. One story he might be in ancient Rome and the next he'll be on a future planet fighting giant ant creatures. With a very few exceptions it's not really a series with a major on-going story line or "arc". Most Doctor Who adventures pretty much stand on thier own, except the coming and going of companions, one Doctor changing to the next and such. Doctor Who was shown in stories of multi-episodes, usually 4 or 6, so each Doctor Who DVD has one story with several episodes (episode 1, episode 2, ect...) , not all the Doctor Who stories are on DVD right now, in the US there's about 25 stories on DVD, with 26 seasons and 8 actors worth of Doctor Who you might see one and love it and see another and hate it, so give at least two different stories a chance..... sorry about being so long winded, I'm a big Doctor Who fan. Battlestar Galactica - I just watched the box set of the full series and was amazed how well it's stood up (except for the bad 70's haircuts). most the model spaceship effects look 10 times better than CGI stuff shows are using now. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - If you are like me, when you first heard of this show you rolled your eyes and thought "Buffy the Vampire Slayer?!? with Sarah Michelle Gellar!?!? give me a break!!" Well, someone bought me the Season 1 DVD set and I was hopelessly hooked, one of the most well written fun shows I've ever seen, the characters in the series are so good. Oddly enough, Gellar's Buffy is the weakest character of the show, IMO. Also, it's a show with a very strong on-going storyline, you MUST watch it in order to "get it". |
The only problem with Doctor Who is that there's so much there, it's impossible to know where to start unless you have a friend who knows it well. BUT... having said that, it still IS better to watch Doctor Who in order if you can. it's fun to watch the coming and going of his companions and it works better when a villian or alien returns because you know the back story of that villian. the roadblock is that only a handful of stories are on DVD now, but they have all been released on VHS and Doctor Who stories on VHS are now dirt cheap at 8 or 7 each at the most. I can think of two best places to start with Doctor Who and watch it in order... 1. From the very first episode "An Unearthly Child" (1963) with the first Doctor. really no better way to get introduced to the series than the first episode. However, the down side of starting at the very beginning is 1. It's in Black and White, I don't mind B&W at all, but some can't handle it, plus the slow british 60's storytelling might be a little dull for people used to modern sci fi. 2. sadly nearly half of the 60's B&W era of Doctor Who (Seasons 1-6, the first two Doctors) are missing, the tapes and films destroyed. Seasons 1 and 2 almost completely exist, but when you get to Season 3 it's like hitting a brick wall, sadly Seasons 3, 4 and 5, with the exception of a few episodes here and there is completely lost, so watching it in order is hard, because you skip around. unless you REALLY want to get into it, then you can listen to the missing episodes audio CD's because all the audio soundtracks of the lost stories were saved. 2. Start with "Spearhead from Space" it's the first story of the 70's and the first color Doctor Who and the first story with the new 3rd Doctor. It was kind of a new beginning for the show, the Time Lords leave The Doctor stuck on earth with a broken time machine, so the first 3 or so seasons of the 70's is about the Doctor tring to repair his time machine and get off earth, while working for an X-Files/Project Blue Book type division of the United Nations and helping them stop alien invasions and such. great stuff. one last thing about Doctor Who... don't take my word, check out the clips web page on the offical Doctor Who web site, it has lots of clips of all the diffetent eras of the show and will give you a much better idea if you will enjoy it than my ramblings will :D Doctor Who clips page... http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/clips/index.shtml |
thanks a lot turborobb for all the doctor who info. you answered a lot of questions i would have ended up asking hehe. so many sci-fi shows, so little time. and now you reminded me about the x-files too lol. i guess i can eitherbuy a couple at watch the beginning of each to see what i like or just pick one and stick with it :). some of the dvd sets are expensive, like babylon 5 were 80 each, but i guess i can always rent. when you say that farscape is more like stargate is it that babylon is just straight serious and farscape has that richard dean anderson touch ;). if so i might want to get into farscape, cause the comedy in stargate is one of my favorite things about the show
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The X-Files.
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Originally posted by dstrauss The only problem with Doctor Who is that there's so much there, it's impossible to know where to start unless you have a friend who knows it well. If you go with the two discs I suggested, you'll find those as a good jumping on point. The Talons of Weing Chiang and Pyramids of Mars are both pretty straight foward and mostly free of troublesome continiuity. |
SMALL WONDER
A thoughtful examination on the introduction of technology into the nuclear family unit. |
Don't forget <i>My Secret Identity</i> and <i>Out of This World</i>. The former is an analysis of the human condition through one man's growth through adolescence and the responsibilities he faces both at home and in the world at large. This is one of the first shows to address aerosol cans and the potential CFC dangers posed to the environment. The latter deconstructs the traditional family, examining how absentee fathers profoundly affect our lives in both positive and negative ways.
das |
SMALL WONDER |
I'll toss in another recommendation for Firefly. If you're anything like most of the people who watch it, by the end you'll be downright pissed at Fox Television for ripping it away from you.
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Originally posted by Pistol Pete I'll toss in another recommendation for Firefly. If you're anything like most of the people who watch it, by the end you'll be downright pissed at Fox Television for ripping it away from you. |
Babylon 5 (Star Trek came up with the "five year mission" but Babylon 5 actually did it. Science fiction on an epic scale.)
Farscape (I'm eventually going to get the DVD sets on this sight unseen, but enough people seem to be into it that I'm willing to go for it. I'm just sort of waiting to see if the DVD sets drop in price any time soon.) Buffy/Angel (Not strictly sci-fi, but if you're fan of the genre you can't go wrong. Don't worry if you didn't like the movie, the TV series is very different. Nothing named "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has any right to be as good as the show actually was.) Dr. Who (This is an excellent series, but the DVDs are ridiculously expensive, and there's little rhyme or reason to how they're released. It ran for twenty-six years, and they only put out a handful of DVDs a year.) |
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