Out of those shows, Farscape is easily my favorite.

I'm currently rewatching BSG having not seen it since the first run and it's surprising how much foreshadowing is there from the very beginning. I do know that the creators didn't have it all planned from the start but from what I remember happens at the end, watching the beginning again does indicate that it more or less fits together. That's more than I can say for a lot of shows.

Also the effects and production design are awesome. I'd forgotten what a good job they did with space combat, how cool the Vipers are as fighters, and so on.

I don't care about crackers!

Does BSG get better after season 1 generally speaking?

Better? No, but I think it sustains its high quality through S2 and much of S3. But it nosedives after that.

But if you didn't care for S1, then I wouldn't bother with the rest. It's not a Babylon 5 situation.

I didn't think season one was bad, maybe just going into it hearing all the praises raised my expectations. I'm definitely going to stick with it.

Thanks man. I was musing catching up on BSG but if it's an advertisement for the Jesus crowd then I'll pass

This one's easy: The X-Files.

It's not explicitly Christian, more agnostic. Or new age. Or pagan.

It might end weak, but the first 4 seasons of X-Files are fantastic. S5 is still pretty strong. S6 and S7 probably had more good than bad episodes. After that watch at your own risk LOL.

I think I'd give a slight edge to B5 over BSG for second in the order. Both are excellent.

Farscape I can't comment other than to say the little I saw didn't do much for me.

Yeah I've attempted Babylon 5 and Farscape but man the first seasons of both are just rough. I know everyone praises both and says it gets better in season 2, but damn you shouldn't have to force your way through 18 hours of show before getting to "the good stuff."

Both were better then the first season Stargate and ST:TNG at least. These sort of shows traditionally started out weak, sadly some never escape that start (I'm looking at you Andromeda!)

I've only seen The X-Files out of the shows in the poll, but since it's one of my favorite shows ever, I vote for The X-Files.

X-Files starts well, gets stronger and then kind of fizzles out with a brief uptick in season 8. The show's running "mythology" is total a mess, don't try to make any sense of it. It is inconsistent and I think the writers made it up as they went along.

Farscape is a great show, though as a few mentioned already, it may not be for everyone. It's still finding it feet through the first season and half of the second, but by it's third season the show really shines.

The modern Battlestar Galactica is fantastic. It's smart and very well done. I highly recommend it.

I have not watched the Babylon 5 series, though I've caught a couple episodes here and there and always thought "meh". I've been told by several people that if you watch it from beginning to end that it's very good.

I think Fringe is a great show as well.

I love The X-Files, but the biggest problem with it is that the main conspiracy arc was pretty much wrapped up completely midway through season six. Once that happened, that's when it started to feel as if they were making things up as they went along, especially with the wrap-up they gave to Mulder's sister in season seven.

I was a big fan of the arc that started in "Biogenesis," though (that opening sequence is incredible). It polarized a lot of fans, but I thought it was great stuff.

The last couple of seasons still have some real gems and Doggett was a cool cat. Too bad the introduction of Reyes dragged him down.

The problem with the X-Files seems to be that, around season six or seven, they didn't know if DD was going to stick around or not, so they stuck season seven in a kind of holding pattern with a bunch of one-offs and comedy episodes. They also told us Mulder was dying.

They should have just used season seven to close off the alien arc once and for all, and then let Duchovney shit or get off of the toilet. Cancel the show, bring in a new lead, or if DD returned give them a new conspiracy (super soldiers?) or just do procedurals for season eight.

From what I remember, it was a done deal that Duchovny was only staying through the seventh season (with him suing Fox and all that jazz) & it was heavily promoted as the last season of the show. Then Fox wanted to milk the tits even dryer and Carter basically stayed on with the mentality that if anyone was going to f*ck up his show, it was going to be him.

If they hadn't introduced Reyes, it never would have gotten as bad as it did during the last season. They had a decent thing going with Scully essentially taking Mulder's role as the believer & Doggett taking Scully's role as the skeptic. By introducing Annabeth Gish's character and sidelining Gillian Anderson, it was bound to fail.

A radical suggestion, start with Season 2. That's the way I saw Babylon 5 when it first aired (pre DVD) and it's one of my favorite shows.