Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 9 Firefly

Number 9 Firefly  2002-2003

Fox didn't know what they had.   Part western,  part Sci-Fi --the show was never properly promoted or show regularly in its time slot and died and early and unfortunate death.    The fans knew what they had though an amazing, cool sci-fi gem with a deep mythology that we never got to fully explore created by Joss Whedon.  The story follows a crew of travlers, each with their own secrets aboard the spaceship Serenity.  Traveling from frontier planet to frontier planet in search of earning a wage and avoiding entanglements with the authorities.

 It features a great cast starring Nathan Fillion (of Castle)  and excellent writing lead to a loyal fan base that eventually lead to a motion picture based on a TV show that only had about 9 episodes that aired on TV.  Serenity was a really good movie that delivered its loyal fans with some of the answers  that we would have eventually explored had the show itself lasted longer---but left us wanting more.   If this show had lasted longer it may have been one of my favorites of all-time.  

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 10 Dollhouse

Number 10   Dollhouse   2009-2010

The second of four  Joss Whedon creations on my favorite list.   Dollhouse starring  Eliza Dushku (Faith on Buffy another Whedon show).  It followed the story of a girl that was part of a futuristic lab that used their agents or "Dolls" for different highly paid assignments  be implanting different memories or skills in them by clearing their memories after each task. The premise was excellent.   The writing on the show was terrific both comedic and interesting.   The concept lead to cool stories  each week while slowing unfolding the main mythology of the main storyline about the Dollhouse.   It has a great cast starting with Eliza in the main role.   Fran Kranz as the main tech was great for comic relief and Tahmoh Penikett (of Battlestar fame) as the detective that is trying to figure the Dollhouse out was great as well.   The show was solid from start to finish and unfortunately ended to soon. Like all of Whedon's work I was left entertained and satisfied with the teases and pay offs of the shows stories.  

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 11 Quantum Leap

Number 11 Quantum Leap    1989-1993

Quantum Leap was a creative, fun, time travel show with a heart.  

Dr. Samuel Beckett ends up trapped in time leaping from person to person trying to set things right in order to hopefully eventually leap his way back home.   It was a great show with a heart and pulled the audience in each week to really care about the lives of the people that Dr. Beckett leapt into.  The story concept was a perfect concept for a show as it lead to many different types of stories across many different time periods.   I personally didn't like or except what they did with the series finale, but it was a really good solid sci-fi show about making things right.

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 12 The Outer Limits

Number 12  The Outer Limits  1963-1965

Following on the foot steps of The Twilight Zone came this black and white anthology sci-fi show.  The Outer Limits was very much like The Twilight Zone dealing mainly in Sci-Fi realm. It brought great hour long stories that dove into the mysterious.     In its 49 episode run it had many great episodes, but was less consistent than the Twilight Zone was.   Still a must watch for Sci-Fi fans.

Like the Twilight Zone it had a great opening.  You knew you were in for a good watch when the opening came on.

"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to — The Outer Limits."

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Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 13 Angel

Number #13  Angel 1999-2004

Angel was a spin off series from Buffy The Vampire Slayer featuring  characters established in Buffy of Angel (played by David Boreanaz) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter).  It follows Angel's move to Los Angeles where he becomes a detective in the Los Angeles underground dealing with supernatural cases and protecting the innocent. The show was basically about Angel (the Vampire with a soul) doing good to make up for all the bad he had done before as a form of redemption. 

 Angel was quailty show with some  really great episodes once it found its groove.   The mythology like the mythology on Buffy was strong and the show always paid off on the story arcs that it teased.    

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 14 Tron Uprising

Number 14  Tron Uprising   2012

I waited  over 20 plus years for  another Tron movie which I loved.  The world of Tron is fascinating and visually stunning.  When an animated TV series was announced I was really excited.  The show was stylish, cool and fun.  It had great storytelling,  an amazing soundtrack and ended way too soon.  Airing on Disney XD the show never really found an audience.  The show featured a program named Beck that  was recruited by a damaged Tron to begin a rebellion against Clu.  The themes of the show were interesting and seeing Lightcycles and grid battles on a weekly basis was a dream come true.   If you missed it check it out when it comes to DVD........END OF LINE.....

Top 25 Sci-Fi TV Shows Countdown: # 15 Stargate SG-1

Number 15  Stargate SG-1   1997 -2007

This series sprung from the cool Sci-Fi movie  Stargate from 1994 which starred Kurt Russell.   The movie had a great concept that perfectly lent itself to a TV series.   A Stargate was dug up in the desert which    lead to an alien world.  Logically the other symbols on the gate would lead  to other worlds.   The mythology of the show was strong with different worlds to visit throughout the galaxy.  The Stargate team would unlock some of the mysteries of the galaxy about who created the gates and face several enemies of   along the way.

 The series lasted for 10 years  eventually spawned 2 spin offs and direct to DVD movies had some great stories.  The TV version of the show starred Richard Dean Anderson of McGyver fame as Col. O'Neil and he part a great dry sense of humor to the show.    The show originally aired on  Showtime and made its way to the Sci-Fi channel.  Budget of course was the main drawback for the show which lead to many "Ship in a bottle" episodes or on Stargate  stuck in the base episodes. Being on the air for 10 years also lead   repetitive storlines,   but the strong mythology of the show made up for this episodes.  Even the departure of the shows main actor didn't mean the end for the show as Sci-Fi vet Ben Browder (Farscape) joined the show for a couple of seasons near the end.    Every once in awhile you would get a really good episode where the budget limitations didn't stick out as much.  I would really like to see what this show could have been had money not been an issue, with big budget special effects we could have had some much more interesting worlds to visit.  If the movie ever gets rebooted the concept which was gold could lead to worlds like something out of Avatar.