Chud top 50 SciFi shows.

Space Island One

Farscape

Babylon 5

Battlestar Galactica

Firefly

Blake's 7

Star Trek...not DS9, TNG and especially not either...Voyager or Enterprise, The Classic Original Series. Roddenberry's...Wagon Train to the stars was a unique vision of televised science fiction. The conceit to see, what's out there, to combine action, with interesting characters, and utilize the science fiction setting to discuss Vietnam, and other social issues while being fun and exciting was just too cool. Star Trek...Boldly went where no man had gone before, and it's popularity skyrocketed not in first run showings, but in syndication, after we landed on the moon.

1. Lost

Lost. It seemed SciFi right from the beginning. Polar Bears on a tropical island? I'm in. It had one of the best pilots in history. Later on it developed a great care for the characters (Walkabout!). It forced the lostie to pay attention to details, and it gave huge amounts of goodies as a reward.
On this show, the hardcore SciFi elements are still under suspicion. What is the island? Perhaps we will never know. Even if it ends like this, the last season will be fun to watch.

Can I joke post "Small Wonder"?

3. Star Trek

What Fleed said. And add in that few shows...ever...have given us as much star power as three seasons of Shatner and his girdle. And "The Menagerie Parts I & II" rule.

4. The Twilight Zone

Do I really need to defend this? Science Fiction with a social commentary, perfectly written by Rod Serling.

5. The Prisoner

Brilliant show. Part science fiction, part allegory, part political screed, part late 60's kitsch and all mindfuck. Might be the only 40+ year-old show that's as relevant today as when it first aired. "Be seeing you!"

DAMN YOU RATTY! You even signed your post off with the same thing I'd signed mine off with.

6. Space Above & Beyond.

A seemingly immortal squad of space marines (whilst everyone else seemed to take numerous casualties) with a guaranteed guest death each week. Written by Morgan & Wong of X-Files fame, which led to some fun stories - including one survival tale that was almost entirely dialogue-free. Some terrible acting and it's not exactly dated well, but i'll always have a fond spot for it.

7. Quantum Leap

If for no other reason than the fantastic chemistry between Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. The show was incredibly entertaining, able to successfully swing from comedy to drama with relative ease. It also had the guts to end without forcing a 'happy' ending on things.

Seconding Quantum Leap.

It's an essential show because of how it comfortably shifted between genres week to week. You could exclude it on a technicality. Because it wasn't until the overblown 5th season that things got very sci-fi. It was more like an anthology series with a sci-fi premise.

But Judas is right. Bakula and Stockwell made for two of the most engaging leads of all time. Even if the episode was a little on the weak side, it was always a joy to watch them work - and they brought real depth and gravitas to their characters. When Al reminisces about his disabled sister and how she died of pneumonia, that brings a knot to my throat every time.

I really hope they bring this back somehow.

8. - The X-Files

Because it brought sci-fi to a modern mass audience in a way that hadn't happened since The Twilight Zone. It showed that you could mix sci-fi ideas with a police procedural and maintain an overarching mythology whilst having monster of the week episodes. It essentially became the blueprint for every show to follow.

I think 50 is going to be hard to hit without including every sci-fi show that ever had a decent episode, but then it's not my personal area of expertise. That said, if you guys let this get past 10 without naming Futurama, I'll be ashamed of all of you.

9. Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Because it did what all good sci-fi should do -- hold a mirror up to our current society and still be recognizable, even with robots and spaceships. Its unflinching look at our War on Terror through its own lens, its musings on religion, politics, and destiny, and a corker of a finale that didn't feel the need to tie a pretty bow on everything all make this a classic of the genre.

Sorry! Had to make sure it at least made the Top 10!

Is Twin Peaks classifiable as Science Fiction?

10. Futurama.
Animated Science Fiction show that at first seemed like Matt Groenings cash in on the success of The Simpsons, but slowly revealed it to be an intelligent, witty, well written comedy head and shoulders above Groenings flag ship success. Chronicling the adventures of 20th Century pizza delivery boy Phillip J. Fry after he was was cryogenically frozen and thawed out in the 23rd Century, Futurama was and again soon will be, as much of a Sci-Fi show as anything else to be found on this list. Endlessly inventive and imaginative, the wait for it to return has been nothing short of purgatorial. Still to this day the best use of comedy severed heads on T.V.

I wouldn't think so but I'd be curious to hear the debate that it is.

What about Carnivale? Or does fantasy not count?

Fantasy and Science Fiction are two different things.

Also, Twin Peaks can't be called science fiction any more than you could call Naked Lunch or Breakfast Of Champions science fiction novels.

Or Kurt Vonnegut Jr a "sci-fi" writer. (Some actually do this. It confounds me.)

11) Glen A. Larson's Battlestar Galactica! Star Wars on the small screen! Lorne Greene is Commander Adama, his ship the...Battlestar, Galactica is the only surviving warship of a sneak attack on the 12 planets of the Colonies. The survivors of the attack seek a lost 13th tribe on a planet called earth. This BG had it all,great space battles, noble heroes vs...EEEEEEEEEEEvil Robotic Villains bent on conquest, a great score by Stu Phillips, and beautiful lead actresses too. Special Effects supervisor John Dykstra and his team created the most dynamic space craft since the original Star Trek with...The Battlestar Galactica...a space bourne aircraft carrier, and the fighter craft she carried vipers, and land rams (Tanks).

12) Lost In Space - yeah a little cheesy but the space-bound update of Swiss Family Robinson gave us two, maybe three, iconic characters (Dr Zachary Smith, Robot, and boy genius Will Robinson), not to mention some snappy if dated production design.

14. Sapphire and Steel
Unjustifiably obscure time travel-ghost story hybrid from the early 80s, with an intelligent, understated atmosphere that didn't even try to pander to the mainstream and thus got it cancelled after one season.
Apparantly a substantial influence on the X-Files, too.

15) Glen A. Larson's Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. One of the original superheroes...Buck Rogers fought EEEEEEEEEEvil villains, while defending Earth...in the 25th Century. Gil Gerard was perfectly cast as Buck Rogers, he was funny, a man of action, and had perfect chemistry with his co-star Erin Gray's Colonel Wilma Deering, as they defended Earth and New Chicago from the Draconian Empire. Pamela Hensley played Princess Ardala who wanted to rule Earth with Buck at her side. Buck Rogers was a fun show. Dog fights in space, fisticuffs, it was all high adventure, just like the movie serials that introduced us to our hero in the 30's.

16. Red Dwarf.

I'm under the impression it's generally hated in the US. Craig Charles' lacks of acting ability only increases with time and there's age showing in all but the latest seasons.

It's still filled with brilliant puns, great science fiction concepts, genuine chemistry between the leading cast and the best use of miniscule budget assigned to them by the BBC.

What? No 'Time Tunnel' or 'Land of the Giants'?

17) Farscape
Breath of fresh air as Science Fiction Tv was getting a bit stale...sure, it didnt invigorate or reinvent the genere much, but it had fantastic design and effects, original settings and great characterization; Its pretty much a "by the science fiction book" tv series, but I'll be damned if it wasnt entertaing as hell, and no wonder it has such a dedicated fanbase.
Notable Episodes:
- "A Human Reaction" (The crew returns to earth, but crichton's dream of getting back home clashes with humanity's own intolerance and ambition)
-"My Three Crichtons": A misterious energy creates duplicates of Crichton, each representing a different stage of human evolution...horror ensues.
-"Dog with two bones": If there one thing Farscape did right, was season cliffhangers..and this one doesnt dissapoint.

Quick question: are we going to just stick to live action? or is animation/anime granted a few mentions?
I?d say at least a couple of the more popular animated shows deserve mention, but Im having a hard time choosing between StarBlazers, Cowboy Bebop or Robotech.

Ryoken, You are right, excluding anime and other animated series is a...mistake.

18) Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato. I cannot refer to this as the Japanese take on...Star Wars, as Space Battleship Yamato...Leiji Matsumoto's tales of intergalactic war preceded...George Lucas' Magnum Opus, by 3 years. The US version...Star Blazers launched in 1979. The Earth has one year to be a place for the people of earth to live as the radiation bombs from the planet Gamilon will make our planet the new homeworld for Leader Desslock and his fellow blue skinned people. However, A daring plan concieved by Queen Starsha of Iscandar, sent schematics for a...Wave motion engine which will allow us to send a warship...The Argo (Star Blazers)/The Yamato (Space Battleship Yamato, the former WWII super battleship Yamato, which was upgraded for the mission. The WME allowed our heroes to go to light speed, as well as give the ship a superweapon...The Wave Motion Gun, which causes massive destruction against the Gamilon forces. The series lasted 3 years in Japan, and there were 5 feature films. Star Blazers originally lasted 2 seasons, until a 3rd season (with a new voice cast...UGH!) aired many years later. The music to Yamato/Star Blazers is stunningly operatic. Unlike other animated series in the US people got injured, died, and in some cases were reincarnated.

There is a new...Space Battleship Yamato film receiving a December release, in Japan. Leiji Matsumoto and the co-creator of SBY...Yoshinobu Nichizaki have parted ways, so this is YN's first SBY film without Matsumoto. I have seen the trailer to the new film and it is...Glorious. I wish that it was being shown in the USA, but so far there is no info about a possible US release.

Land of the Lost.

If you were at the right (read; very young and impressionable) age when this show aired, you would have been freaked out for a half hour every week. Major SF writers like Larry Niven, David Gerrold etc. wrote for this series. In each episode the Marshall family continues to explore a seemingly random object, event etc. In a way the whole show is a metaphor for childhood.

Also, The Prisoner

Classic UK TV Series that explores issues of privacy, personal integrity in sometimes literal, sometimes abstract ways.

Actually I think the BBC owns this thread once you factor in the Quartermass series, Dr Who, Space 1999 etc etc etc

Cylon Baby, I grew up on all the Kroft series. My favorite though was not...Land Of The Lost (it was 2nd), it was...Electra Woman and Dynagirl. I was...6, when Land Of The Lost aired, and I never was freaked out, as I thoroughly enjoyed the series.

19) MST3K

A terrific show which drove nails through the decayed hearts of all that is bad with sci-fi yet, unexpectedly, celebrated all that's great about it. Probably one of the best television shows of all time. And probably the only show which asked the viewer to circulate home recordings of the episodes. Joel, Crow, Tom Servo - what could be better? Mike Nelson maybe, but it's all gold.

Check it out if you've been living on a desert island.

20. Robotech

Hey, if we can allow 'Starblazers'...

'Robotech' was actually three separate Japanese cartoons that were re-written and given a connecting plotline for America audiences. The result is an epic story that spans three generations of a full scale intergalactic war. It was fairly adult in tone for the most part (characters fell in love, died, were transvestites), but it also contained a few cringe-worthy things (Minmei singing, for instance) that could NOT be written out but did not detract from the overall story. It has stood the test of time.

I got the Star Blazers series through Netflix. Found it to be sorta boring after about 3-4 episodes.

I really prefer Battle of the Planets - though the English version is heinously stupid (people who write for animation apparently think the 8-12 year olds are complete idiots) the Japanese version - Science Ninja Team Gatchaman - is really top-notch.*

It's got a good production design and even in the English version the slip some stuff through where the kids have to KNOW the bad guy ain't getting up from that.

* - then again, my nostalgia-fogged glasses may merely be set for BotP as opposed to SB.

21) Quatermass
As Cylon reminded me, this is pretty much the first of the great sci-fi shows. Effects and productuions values are obviously laughable today, but the atmosphere definitely is not, especially in the seminal Quatermass and the Pit.

Chavez, I enjoy both...Battle Of The planets and the original anime...Gatchaman. I have the entire 1st season of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and it is awesome. I am hopeful that Imagi's will finally arrive in theaters by 2011. If you are going to check out...Star Blazers, you should watch...Space Battleship Yamato, all 5 films are available in the US. The first 2 films are season 1 and 2, while the 3rd, 4th, and 5th films are new adventures, not based on the tv series. With the 6th film being readied for release in Japan, there is a possiblility that it will get at least a dvd release in the US.

Judas Booth, I really enjoy...The Macross Saga part of Robotech. Minmay's singing ended the EDF Zentradi conflict, and I love the songs.

22) Ufo Robot Grendizer, Not the first of Go Nagai's super robot anime series...just the best. Duke Fleed leader of the planet Fleed, sees his would be father in law, devastate his planet, and he escaped, along with the other survivors of a sneak attack to disparate planets nearby. After Duke crashes on Earth with the newest super robot of...Vega The Strong (his would be step father), he is aided by a kindly scientist, who has a secret base built next to a farm of a family friend. After Vega's war fleet reaches earth...Duke Fleed returns to action to protect his new home planet against the evil Vega and his minions. An anime epic...part War Of The Worlds, Superman, in an anime starring the super robot...Grendizer. This series lasted 74 episodes, and It is my fave of Go Nagai's anime series.

^Showtime broadcast a "movie" version of this back in the early 80's..I liked what I saw but that was maybe 4-5 episodes conglomerated into one.

Cylon Baby, I never had...Showtime, but Spotlight aired compilation films of...Grandizer, Starvengers, Danguard Ace, Gaiking and Spaceketeers. Jim Terry produced...Force Five, in the late 70's, and each series had 25 episodes, of 5 different anime series.

23) The Outer Limits

Some people may consider this inferior to The Twilight Zone, but when it was on, it was really on. Mostly a "cool concept" monster anthology show, but what's wrong with that? Also, had some excellent guest stars and writers.
And, Demon With a Glass Hand.

24) Stargate SG-1. Yes, it became an incoherent mess when it turned into "Farscape Lite" at the backend, but the initial run on Showtime had some outstanding episodes and RDA being his smart-assed best as the lead.

What about Orion Quest?