The 24 most universally-liked sci-fi/fantasy series

[Lord Jubjub]

These are the top 26 series from round 1. In the next round of polls, I'll will ask for your favorite shows out of this list. The poll will be multiple choice.

Star Trek: The Next Generation 32
Futurama 27
Star Trek (original series) 27
Firefly 23
Star Gate: SG-1 23
Doctor Who 22
Red Dwarf 21
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 20
The Prisoner 20
Twilight Zone (original series) 8 20
Blake's Seven 19
Farscape 19
Babylon 5 18
Battlestar Galactica (new series) 18
Outer Limits (original series) 18
Star Trek: DS9 18
X-Files 17
Space: Above and Beyond 16
V 14
Angel 13
Star Gate: Atlantis 13
Space: 1999 12
Star Trek: Enterprise 12
Battlestar Galactica (original series) 11
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 11
Lexx 11

[BigDon]

What! Invader Zim didn't make the cut?

Awww this is rigged! Where else did you get a water balloon five miles across or hear the line, "The more organs I have, the more human I am!" ? (The episodes The Wettening and the one that got them banned from Nicklelodeon, Dark Harvest)

Okay I'm joking. :)

I missed the first poll and cast a belated vote for Star Trek the Next Generation. The original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits tie for second. I watched them when they were new. (Dad was a big sci/fi buff)

Though can anybody tell me which show it was, Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, where Eddie Albert was driving through the desert and was menaced by hostile tumbleweeds and later rolling boulders?

That episode scared the tar out of me and gave me nightmares for weeks. (I distinctly recall having the flu and running a fever when I watched it, and having those darned fever dreams about it later.)

[Roy Batty]

Although I don't actually remember it, possibly this one (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0667811/)?

[BigDon]

Thanks Roy!

Thats the one! I remember the frogs now too! Good Lord! From the air date given I was four years old when I saw that one. I remember being sick and laying on the sofa with my head in my father's lap and wearing those sleepers with the feet attached. (Blue ones of course)

[SMEaton]

Wow, Lexx made the cut? The show was terrible! I know that what's-her-name had a short skirt, full lips, and a low cut top.... oh yeah. Nevermind.
I find no problem with Futurama in the #2 spot (tied), but I thought a few (new BSG, for one) would be higher.

[MG1962A]

Wow, Lexx made the cut? The show was terrible! I know that what's-her-name had a short skirt, full lips, and a low cut top.... oh yeah. Nevermind.
I find no problem with Futurama in the #2 spot (tied), but I thought a few (new BSG, for one) would be higher.

Thats too funny, I was thinking, wow, how cool that Lex made the cut

Although I respect the process, I was sad none of the classic Jerry Anderson stuff like the Thunderbirds made the cut

[Mellow]

Well, I too am very sad and slightly annoyed (heaven knows why, no-one to blame) that nothing from Gerry Anderson made the cut.

Thunderbirds, Joe90, Captain Scarlett, Terrahawks c'mon chaps!

[Mellow]

I apologise for the above post - Space1999 good choice chaps.

[MG1962A]

I apologise for the above post - Space1999 good choice chaps

Na - that show is a pale imitaion of the classics. I mean seriously half the puppets in Stingray could out act this lot :eh:

[ToSeek]

Definitely an American and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately bias in the list.

[Mellow]

Na - that show is a pale imitaion of the classics. I mean seriously half the puppets in Stingray could out act this lot :eh:

Well, Phones maybe, but I always thought Troy was somewhat.... wooden.

[Doodler]

Definitely an American and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately bias in the list.

Unfortunately, its only been pretty recently that scifi has been seen as something more than a niche market. There've been times its not been easy to be a scifi geek in TV land, especially when we start demanding a budget. Of course, then networks will turn and drop millions on the cast of pointless tripe like Friends and Seinfeld...

[Lord Jubjub]

Breakdown by decade. Note that some series showed over multiple decades. The top of the list is fairly evenly distributed. It is the lower half of the list that is dominated by shows started since 1990.

1950s: 1 series
1960s: 5 series
1970s: 3 series
1980s: 6 series
1990s: 12 series
2000s: 10 series

[ToSeek]

Yes, the great shows are great shows. But I think that if series like Thunderbirds, UFO, and maybe some of the Irwin Allen stuff from the 60's had been in production the last ten years, they'd be on the list instead of some of the stuff that actually was.

[Doodler]

Yes, the great shows are great shows. But I think that if series like Thunderbirds, UFO, and maybe some of the Irwin Allen stuff from the 60's had been in production the last ten years, they'd be on the list instead of some of the stuff that actually was.

Yeah, UFO I could believe. Unfortunately, our only modern exposure to the Thunderbirds is a REALLY REALLY lame live action version that absolutely wasted the concept...

Much the same fate as Lost in Space's revival. Even though I personally liked it, it really wasn't a great movie.

[Lord Jubjub]

These are the series that just missed the cut. Sorry, ToSeek, but UFO only needed a couple more votes. Thunderbirds is in the next group back.

Alien Nation 10
Dark Angel 10
Max Headroom 10
Quantum Leap 10
The Invaders 10
UFO 10
Martian Chronicles 9
Sapphire & Steel 9
Sliders 9
The Quatermass Experiment 9
Andromeda 8
Captain Scarlet (original series) 8
Greatest American Hero 8
Logan’s Run 8
The Dead Zone 8
Thunderbirds 8
Wonder Woman 8

[PhantomWolf]

I noted that all 3 Joss Whedon titles made the top 26.

I think only Firefly is going through to round 3 though, lol.

[parallaxicality]

Lexx was insane. I liked it. I'm more ****ed off to see Enterprise and Stargate: Atlantis on the list. And how did a show as innovative as "Max Headroom" not make the cut?

[Van Rijn]

Eh, we all have our preferences. The LEXX movies were interesting in a B-movie kind of way, but the series was pretty bad. I never could make sense out of Max Headroom. I don't get Enterprise, but Stargate: Atlantis isn't horrible, just not anything new. But, if it was my list, Buffy would be in the place of Firefly.

[ToSeek]

Alien Nation 10
Max Headroom 10
Quantum Leap 10
UFO 10
Sapphire & Steel 9
Sliders 9
The Quatermass Experiment 9
Captain Scarlet (original series) 8


I think just about any of these would have been well up the list if they were currently being produced, certainly ahead of, say, Stargate: Atlantis, at least.

[Lord Jubjub]

Interesting stats. Here is the straight vote for favorites as of now:

Star Trek: The Next Generation 21
Star Trek (original series) 21
Futurama 20
Babylon 5 18
Firefly 17

Here is the ratio of 'Favorites' to 'Like':
Babylon 5 100%
Star Trek (original series) 77.8%
Futurama 74.1%
Firefly 73.9%
Star Trek: DS9 66.7%

It appears that all those who have seen Babylon 5 consider it one of the best shows out there--but not a lot of people have seen it.

[mike alexander]

Sorry to see ol' Max Headroom didn't make it. I think it trailed off rather quickly, but the first half-dozen shows were so far out in front of most of the audience, and competition (my opinion) that it never had much of a chance.

I'll always have a soft spot for the blipverts, and Max's line: How can you tell if our President is lying? His lips move.

[Gillianren]

I'm pretty sure I only saw the movie, so I didn't feel entitled to an opinion--whichever I saw was about 15 years ago, too.

[Roy Batty]

Whey hey hey, a hey he he .. easy ze ze up up on the polit tic tic tics there M M Mike :D ;)

[PhantomWolf]

well the 10 top picks currently


# Show Title Votes Percentage

1 Star Trek (original series) 21 75.00%
2 Futurama 21 67.74%
3 Star Trek: The Next Generation 21 61.76%
4 Babylon 5 19 55.88%
5 Firefly 17 56.67%
6 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 13 61.90%
7 Star Trek: Deep Space 9 13 43.33%
8 Red Dwarf 12 63.16%
9 Stargate: SG-1 12 57.14%
10 The Prisoner 12 40.00%


Dr Who is just out of the current top ten with 11 votes.

[Lord Jubjub]

Watch for those percentages. They are meaningless. Only votes that were cast for that particular set of shows are counted toward that percentage. ST's high percentage means it was the most popular of the five movies in that particular poll.

The final top five 'favorite' to 'like':

Babylon 5 106%
Star Trek 78%
Futurama 78%
Firefly 74%
ST: Deep Space 9 72%

[PhantomWolf]

Watch for those percentages. They are meaningless.

I know, I put them in to give a idea of how popular they were with the people who voted in that poll. ;)