Babylon 5 is my top pick. If you can get past the aging, low-budget visuals and corny dialogue, you will find a wonderfully crafted show. It can be hard to get into initially, but there is a huge payoff imo.
this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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I'm surprised no one's mentioned Lost in Space on Netflix. It's a fantastic show about the wonders and dangers of space exploration with great acting, amazing effects and follows a well-constructed story. Only 3 seasons and ends on a lovely little scene.
It is a very tough choice, but Deep Space 9 just can't ever seem to leave my top spot.
I've seen lots of great suggestions, but lots of repetition.
My recommendation is Foundation (2021), I've really enjoyed it.
I think it helped that it'd been so long since reading the series, or I might have been snobbish.
But yeah, the show is great.
Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis - got just the right amounts of science and fiction, drama and comedy, campiness and self-awareness, and is the reason I got interested in physics and programming. Undomesticated equines could not remove me from another rewatch.
Stargate was such huge part of my childhood! To this day I remember almost every episode of the original SG1. Atlantis ran on cable which we did not have, so the first time I saw it was later on in my adulthood. Sure, Star Wars, Star Trek, Expanse and BG are all great, but man, SG1 will always be my absolute fave.
Honorable mention goes to Farscape - what a ride that show was!
Firefly. Especially the second season.
Eureka was pretty fun ... do not expect hardcore scifi. I also like the first season of Star Trek Strange New Worlds.
Did you ever see the librarians TV show, thought it had similar vibe to eureka but crossed with warehouse 13
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3663490/
I liked warehouse 13, too. The Librarians was good, but for some reason I fell of of it. Not sure why. I may have to go back and watch it.
Yup. I’ve seen all of the Librarian movies (similarly goofy) the show, and warehouse 13. I liked them all.
Have to agree on Eureka. It's really dumb, but super entertaining, and something I can watch over, and over, and over, and it never gets old.
Yeah ... it really didn't put the science in Sci-fi, but the comedy was there. I actually rewatched it not that long ago. It still holds up.
Everything I was going to say has already been mentioned, some numerous times: The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Firefly, Farscape, Fringe, Altered Carbon season 1, Dark Matter, Killjoys, Twelve Monkeys.
So may I offer up Timeless and Warehouse 13? Both character-focussed and on the lighter side, but also dealing occasionally with some pretty deep character arcs. And they were just FUN (especially Warehouse 13).
Also, more recently I really enjoyed The Peripheral (though I would have preferred a proper ending, rather than the dangling threads we were left with - especially since, at the time, we didn't know if there would be a second season).
ETA: Oh, and I haven't seen any Star Wars shows mentioned besides Andor - which was admittedly fantastic. But my favourite Star Wars TV series are SW: Rebels and SW:The Clone Wars. The latter because it added so much depth to Anakin and Obi-Wan, along with many other characters, and also gave us great new characters like Ahsoka and Wrex. And Rebels holds a place in my heart - many of my favourite Star Wars characters come from that series (Hera, Kanan, Sabine... and Chopper!)
Babylon 5 is still one of my most favourite sci-fi series. There is a Babylon 5 animated movie being released soon, B5: The Road Home and i'm dying to see it.
Also Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, tonight is the first episode of season 2. It encapsulates what the original star trek felt like, and i like it.
I had no idea that there was an animated movie coming out; that is very interesting. I was looking forward to checking out the CW reboot before it got shelved.
Can't mention Warehouse 13 without Eureka - they had character cross overs. I liked The Peripheral, and even understood some of it...
Oh yes, Eureka was also great fun.
It's got to be Star Trek (Next Generation/Deep Space Nine/Early Voyager too) and Battlestar Galactica. I've tried watching The Expanse several times and I have no idea why I can't get into it - everyone recommends it!
Have you watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? Season 2 just started and it feels like a return to the golden age of Trek instead of the gritty overly dramatic direction Discovery and Picard went.
I haven't! Unfortunately it seems to only be available on paramount+ here and it's not one of the streaming platforms I sub to. I did get very tired of the gritty, dark take on Star Trek. I was purely watching for the Utopian ideals originally but I'll give almost anything with a Star Trek label a chance.
You can get a 1 week free trial of paramount on some platforms and binge season 1, or maybe wait until s2 is fully aired then binge both
That's a great idea, I think I'll do that when season 2 is fully out. Thanks!
everyone tells me the expanse is great, including in this thread! i don’t have a great way to watch it though. correct me if i’m misremembering, it’s on prime, right?
It is an excellent use of your time.
@MishaMouse Just as a heads-up, the first few episodes are a little slow, since the writers need to do some worldbuilding to get all their ducks in order before kicking off the plot. The advice for new fans is generally to give it a chance through at least the first four episodes. If you still don't like it by then, it's probably not for you-- but hopefully, by then you'll be hooked just like the rest of us!
thanks for the warning! it sounds like it is worth a try from what i’m hearing on all sides
Fringe, hands down. An amazing show from start to finish. I also have a soft spot for Warehouse 13, which leans more into the fantastical.
More recently, the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been great, and I'm also looking forward to seeing the second season of Severance.
Warehouse 13 and Eureka were similar, and had characters cross over.
I think this is a hard question, if you put a gun to my head I would likely choose the 2000's version of Battlestar Galactica even though I don't necessarily feel great about the final episodes. Unless other mini-series that didn't become tv shows aired on the Sci-Fi channel count, then I'd probably pick Frank Herbert's Dune.
I'm definitely in the minority but i didn't like the 2000's version which crammed BG with Terminator. I prefer the original series and story in which the Cylons were a technological remnant of a reptilian race who vanished hundreds of years before they encountered the human race, possibly due to a software bug turning the machines against them. I feel they should have just created their own stories and characters instead.
Dark, definitely. And Fringe!
I started to re-watch Fringe recently, and it still holds up. I stopped watching because of all the new stuff that's out there.
Since some mainline good stuff is already mentioned, I'll mention something not already said.
I enjoyed Travelers a lot. The budget constraints show at times, but it gets some very different and compelling overtones and images. The Director speaking from outside of time, one sentence at a time through different people about to die of natural causes... evocative stuff right there.
I really enjoyed Travelers as well. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed though, but overall a really good series.
I liked Travelers but didn't see it through to the end. There was one episode where they kept getting killed so someone had to go back and reset time until they survived that was exceptional.