Awhile back there was a thread that asked whether we were living in a "golden age of sci-fi." Numerous shows were mentioned, but it didn't really give me a sense of how people might rank them. So, fine, I decided, I'll play the ranking game. If anything, I'm more curious to see other people's lists, to see exactly where said shows come from in terms of timeframe - 90s? 2000s? 2010s? Am I alone in thinking that Star Trek is overrated, and that Doctor Who is unclassifiable (more on that later)? Well, we'll see (hopefully), but I thought I'd start by posting. So, top ten fantasy shows for me are:
10: Star vs. the Forces of Evil
9: The Legend of Korra
8: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
7: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
6: Atlantis
5: Merlin
4: Camelot
3: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
2: Avatar: The Last Airbender
1: A Game of Thrones
I'm not going to go in-depth for each of these, but I'm going to make quick points on the rankings:
-It was either Star or Xena at no. 10 - the former is a show I've seen little of, but like, the latter is a show I've seen more of, but don't like that much, and even then I only saw both it (and Hercules) way back in the day when I was young and impressionable (consequently, I have no idea how well Hercules holds up). So, fine, Star slides in, on the basis of enjoyment.
-I really don't like The Legend of Korra, or at least the first two seasons that I saw - does that say more about me, or that there aren't actually that many fantasy shows out there?
-Yes, Star Wars is space fantasy, deal with it. ;p
-Atlantis, Merlin, and Camelot are pretty much interchangeable. Atlantis is basically in the same style as Merlin, but in a Greek setting. Camelot is similar to Merlin only in as much that it's a case of "let's tell the story of King Arthur differently," and is wildly different in tone. Merlin has the benefit of actually having a full run and not being canceled, but is marred by a decline towards the end and an atrocious ending that's soured the series for me.
-With the presence of My Little Pony, I've either made this list 20% cooler, or dragged it down into the depths of fandom that I refuse to tread in. But, I guess it's here, because season 6 aside, it's managed to be consistently good, if not great - I think that's the best way to put it.
-Avatar and Game of Thrones are kind of interchangeable - they're both excellent shows, with excellent writing, and excellent characters. Still, I have no hesitation with putting Game of Thrones higher because while Avatar managed to be excellent for three seasons, GoT has managed to be excellent for four seasons (possibly beyond, not that far yet), and is far more ambituous and complex. I don't mean to put down Last Airbender, but, well, GoT still stands at the top. It stands at the top so high that any upcoming fantasy show seems to be trying to stay as far clear from GoT as possible in terms of style, or has already done so (e.g. Shannara, which I haven't seen yet).
So, that said, on to sci-fi:
10) Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles
9) Futurama
8) Stargate: SG-1
7) Star Trek: The Next Generation
6) Firefly
5) The Walking Dead
4) Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined series)
3) Blake's 7
2) Farscape
1) Babylon 5
General points:
-Shadup, Red vs. Blue gets to be on here, but only the Blood Gulch Chronicles (similar to how TNG gets on here, but not a blanket "Star Trek"). While season 6 is, IMO, the best season, seasons 7 and 8 aren't, and seasons 9-10 were so horrible that I quit during the latter. So, Red vs. Blue as a whole doesn't get into the top ten list, but the first five seasons that form the first arc? Yeah, just about.
-SG-1 and TNG are very close in quality for me. I've seen all of SG-1 but only the first two seasons of TNG, but thanks to sfdebris, I'm reasonably familiar with the series regardless (hey, no-one said the list had to be objective). TOS used to be on this list before it got bumped off, Enterprise never was, and I haven't seen enough of Voyager or Deep Space Nine to comment. So, in a way, I feel SG-1 should be higher, because season 1 of TNG was...well, "bleh."
On the other hand, there's lots of little things in SG-1 that bug me, and not just how divorced it feels from the original movie. Nothing that breaks the deal, but add them all together, and it means that while I like SG-1, I can't "love" it, even if I rank it above Atlantis, Universe, and God help me, Infinity (of which I've only seen one, terrible episode). TNG has a flawed first season, but I can't help but like it more. I've read that "when TNG zigged, SG-1 zagged," so maybe I like zigging more than zagging? I dunno. But TNG just manages to squeeze ahead of SG-1.
-Firefly is a solid show, but it's a show that lasted one season and got a movie. Calm down, Browncoats.
-The Walking Dead is an iffy choice, but I do feel it comes under the sci-fi label, namely because while you could easily squeeze it into the horror genre, it does deal with a post-apocalyptic setting that would be post-apocalyptic with or without the walkers. As I've said elsewhere, the walkers aren't even the point of the show arguably, they're more the driving force that drives the characters to react in different ways.
There's also the issue that scuttlebutt has it that the show has gone into decline in recent seasons - I've only seen up to season 5, and I'd still rank that at the weakest, after it peaked in 3. So, maybe this is higher than it should be, but in the scope of my experience, I feel this is the best place for it.
-Battlestar Galactica and Blake's 7 are extremely close. In most ways, I feel BSG is the superior show, but on the other hand, it's weighed down by its fourth season. With Blake's 7, I've seen seasons 1-3, and while 3 is the weakest, it's a less noticable gap in quality than the others. On one hand, BSG is a more complex show with more complex characters, but oftentimes resorts to lewd content to sell to the audience. Blake's 7 also has characters like Avon and Servalan (and Villa, I guess). Blake's 7 taps into the unease of the 70s (e.g. Thatcherism), while BSG taps into the unease of the 2000s (War on Terror). I guess in the end, BSG's highs surpass Blake, but its lows go lower.
So, very tough choice, but for me, Blake's 7 just manages to edge out BSG.
-Farscape used to be no. 1 until Babylon 5 sent it kicking and screaming into Thirdspace (and yes, you get a brownie if you understand that reference). I almost feel bad really, since BSG is pretty much to sci-fi what Game of Thrones is to fantasy, at least for me personally - great characters, great writing, an interesting setting, a story that has its share of political intrigue while also being an epic, effectively covering both ends of the spectrum. It's a crying shame that B5 has mostly faded into obscurity. When I was doing creative writing courses, our teacher would often sing its praises, and yeah, I see why. I see why many people share its praises.
But, that doesn't mean that Farscape isn't also worthy of mention, another show that's faded into obscurity, that kind of had a spiritual successor in Defiance (supposedly), and while I've seen season 1 of Defiance...yeah, it's not getting into the top ten list. Defiance is to Farscape what Andromeda is to Babylon 5 - similar concepts, but the former executes them far better than the latter. But, well, Farscape. Great characters, good story, interesting, if slightly underdeveloped setting...It kind of peters out towards the end, but it's a good ride. Sex, drugs, and muppets. What more do you want?
-Well, you may want to know about Doctor Who, and that I say, I dunno. I see Doctor Who more as science fantasy than anything else, but even that aside, I don't think I can rank it. It's gone on for so long, and run the full spectrum of excellence to abhorence, that it can't have any one ranking. Even if I divided it between Old and New Who (New wins), that still doesn't help me much. I mean, yes, I like Doctor Who, it's still a net positive, but I don't know where I'd rank it.
Overall, it's kind of a shame about sci-fi - there's a lot of shows I think bear mention, but I'm confining this to a top 10. Star Trek: The Original Series would come #11, and Cowboy Bebop would come #12 (I think), but apart from that, it's all guesswork and honourable mentions.
I'm considering trying to compile a top 10 crime shows list (hint, Foyle's War comes at #1), but in the meantime, discuss, debate, post, whatever. Or not, and let me have wasted the last hour typing this up.
10: Star vs. the Forces of Evil
9: The Legend of Korra
8: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
7: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
6: Atlantis
5: Merlin
4: Camelot
3: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
2: Avatar: The Last Airbender
1: A Game of Thrones
I'm not going to go in-depth for each of these, but I'm going to make quick points on the rankings:
-It was either Star or Xena at no. 10 - the former is a show I've seen little of, but like, the latter is a show I've seen more of, but don't like that much, and even then I only saw both it (and Hercules) way back in the day when I was young and impressionable (consequently, I have no idea how well Hercules holds up). So, fine, Star slides in, on the basis of enjoyment.
-I really don't like The Legend of Korra, or at least the first two seasons that I saw - does that say more about me, or that there aren't actually that many fantasy shows out there?
-Yes, Star Wars is space fantasy, deal with it. ;p
-Atlantis, Merlin, and Camelot are pretty much interchangeable. Atlantis is basically in the same style as Merlin, but in a Greek setting. Camelot is similar to Merlin only in as much that it's a case of "let's tell the story of King Arthur differently," and is wildly different in tone. Merlin has the benefit of actually having a full run and not being canceled, but is marred by a decline towards the end and an atrocious ending that's soured the series for me.
-With the presence of My Little Pony, I've either made this list 20% cooler, or dragged it down into the depths of fandom that I refuse to tread in. But, I guess it's here, because season 6 aside, it's managed to be consistently good, if not great - I think that's the best way to put it.
-Avatar and Game of Thrones are kind of interchangeable - they're both excellent shows, with excellent writing, and excellent characters. Still, I have no hesitation with putting Game of Thrones higher because while Avatar managed to be excellent for three seasons, GoT has managed to be excellent for four seasons (possibly beyond, not that far yet), and is far more ambituous and complex. I don't mean to put down Last Airbender, but, well, GoT still stands at the top. It stands at the top so high that any upcoming fantasy show seems to be trying to stay as far clear from GoT as possible in terms of style, or has already done so (e.g. Shannara, which I haven't seen yet).
So, that said, on to sci-fi:
10) Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles
9) Futurama
8) Stargate: SG-1
7) Star Trek: The Next Generation
6) Firefly
5) The Walking Dead
4) Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined series)
3) Blake's 7
2) Farscape
1) Babylon 5
General points:
-Shadup, Red vs. Blue gets to be on here, but only the Blood Gulch Chronicles (similar to how TNG gets on here, but not a blanket "Star Trek"). While season 6 is, IMO, the best season, seasons 7 and 8 aren't, and seasons 9-10 were so horrible that I quit during the latter. So, Red vs. Blue as a whole doesn't get into the top ten list, but the first five seasons that form the first arc? Yeah, just about.
-SG-1 and TNG are very close in quality for me. I've seen all of SG-1 but only the first two seasons of TNG, but thanks to sfdebris, I'm reasonably familiar with the series regardless (hey, no-one said the list had to be objective). TOS used to be on this list before it got bumped off, Enterprise never was, and I haven't seen enough of Voyager or Deep Space Nine to comment. So, in a way, I feel SG-1 should be higher, because season 1 of TNG was...well, "bleh."
On the other hand, there's lots of little things in SG-1 that bug me, and not just how divorced it feels from the original movie. Nothing that breaks the deal, but add them all together, and it means that while I like SG-1, I can't "love" it, even if I rank it above Atlantis, Universe, and God help me, Infinity (of which I've only seen one, terrible episode). TNG has a flawed first season, but I can't help but like it more. I've read that "when TNG zigged, SG-1 zagged," so maybe I like zigging more than zagging? I dunno. But TNG just manages to squeeze ahead of SG-1.
-Firefly is a solid show, but it's a show that lasted one season and got a movie. Calm down, Browncoats.
-The Walking Dead is an iffy choice, but I do feel it comes under the sci-fi label, namely because while you could easily squeeze it into the horror genre, it does deal with a post-apocalyptic setting that would be post-apocalyptic with or without the walkers. As I've said elsewhere, the walkers aren't even the point of the show arguably, they're more the driving force that drives the characters to react in different ways.
There's also the issue that scuttlebutt has it that the show has gone into decline in recent seasons - I've only seen up to season 5, and I'd still rank that at the weakest, after it peaked in 3. So, maybe this is higher than it should be, but in the scope of my experience, I feel this is the best place for it.
-Battlestar Galactica and Blake's 7 are extremely close. In most ways, I feel BSG is the superior show, but on the other hand, it's weighed down by its fourth season. With Blake's 7, I've seen seasons 1-3, and while 3 is the weakest, it's a less noticable gap in quality than the others. On one hand, BSG is a more complex show with more complex characters, but oftentimes resorts to lewd content to sell to the audience. Blake's 7 also has characters like Avon and Servalan (and Villa, I guess). Blake's 7 taps into the unease of the 70s (e.g. Thatcherism), while BSG taps into the unease of the 2000s (War on Terror). I guess in the end, BSG's highs surpass Blake, but its lows go lower.
So, very tough choice, but for me, Blake's 7 just manages to edge out BSG.
-Farscape used to be no. 1 until Babylon 5 sent it kicking and screaming into Thirdspace (and yes, you get a brownie if you understand that reference). I almost feel bad really, since BSG is pretty much to sci-fi what Game of Thrones is to fantasy, at least for me personally - great characters, great writing, an interesting setting, a story that has its share of political intrigue while also being an epic, effectively covering both ends of the spectrum. It's a crying shame that B5 has mostly faded into obscurity. When I was doing creative writing courses, our teacher would often sing its praises, and yeah, I see why. I see why many people share its praises.
But, that doesn't mean that Farscape isn't also worthy of mention, another show that's faded into obscurity, that kind of had a spiritual successor in Defiance (supposedly), and while I've seen season 1 of Defiance...yeah, it's not getting into the top ten list. Defiance is to Farscape what Andromeda is to Babylon 5 - similar concepts, but the former executes them far better than the latter. But, well, Farscape. Great characters, good story, interesting, if slightly underdeveloped setting...It kind of peters out towards the end, but it's a good ride. Sex, drugs, and muppets. What more do you want?
-Well, you may want to know about Doctor Who, and that I say, I dunno. I see Doctor Who more as science fantasy than anything else, but even that aside, I don't think I can rank it. It's gone on for so long, and run the full spectrum of excellence to abhorence, that it can't have any one ranking. Even if I divided it between Old and New Who (New wins), that still doesn't help me much. I mean, yes, I like Doctor Who, it's still a net positive, but I don't know where I'd rank it.
Overall, it's kind of a shame about sci-fi - there's a lot of shows I think bear mention, but I'm confining this to a top 10. Star Trek: The Original Series would come #11, and Cowboy Bebop would come #12 (I think), but apart from that, it's all guesswork and honourable mentions.
I'm considering trying to compile a top 10 crime shows list (hint, Foyle's War comes at #1), but in the meantime, discuss, debate, post, whatever. Or not, and let me have wasted the last hour typing this up.
