Need Real Sci-Fi Shows

[Saborio]

Hello,

Note: Long post ahead

This is my first post so let me mention a few things. A couple of years ago (3-4) my ex-girlfriend rented the Battlestar Galactica miniseries thorugh a UK rental service. We watched it and I was absolutely hooked, to me it was amazing and she was in the same boat! Anyway somehow we forgot about it through the daily grind of life etc. Once we had remembered it we started making the series a big occasion for each episode. It was unbelievably awesome in my eyes and that show was so gripping the first time around. I know a lot of people are indifferent about BSG but I thought it was the best thing ever after being so distant to sci-fi. Season 4 sucked, granted, but before that it was pure viewing pleasure!

So I am 25 currently and had the advantage a year or so ago of being a long way behind in the sci-fi area and loved the idea of so much to catch on! I started watching as many movies as possible and have been hooked ever since! What I find funny is that I failed to engage in much sci-fi as a child/adolescent even though I clearly remember catching an episode of SG-1/BSG every now again.

I started watching SGU after BSG and then found SGA. I was literally hooked on these shows and could easily watch 3-4 hours a day (with a full time job etc). After SGA I watched SG-1 and was so glad to see there were 10 seasons! Damn it took me a long time to get through them but I felt I had to! It was the best experience with TV I have ever had and I loved SGA/SG-1 beyond belief. Even the theme tune makes me nostalgic so I can't begin to imagine how that makes some people who have watched it from start to finish on air! It was a truly unforgettable experience that I highly doubt I will ever get again!

After that I stumbled across Farscape. Wow, what an awesome time to come across that show. Admitedly it took a few episodes (the start was bizarre to me) but once I was hooked that was another amazing series. So good in my opinion that at its peak it matches any SG to me. It had a brilliant villain and some great acting, all combined with an awesome crazy universe and story. Anyway...

Considering all of this I am not too keen on the likes of Star Wars which may seem odd. I think with the Sci-Fi shows listed above I actually feel privileged to have experienced them even though they were well past there air-date.

The only sci-fi I really *wish* I could get into is Babylon 5, which for some reason I cant! Ignoring that my fix has completely dried up and there obviously (from what I can see) isn't any 'real' sci-fi left anymore.

Sorry about the whole history part. My point is I am really struggling to find any futuristic and imaginative sci-fi like those mentioned before. I've seen (and enjoyed) Caprica for example. I can't stick Dr. Who as much as I can't stick Tea (being English its a bit bizarre).

Just thought I would say a nostalgic Hi I could go on forever but the beer isn't flowing so freely now. Peace.

[escyos]

Well there is Revolution coming this year (September?) which is technically sci-fi. It's about what would happen to the world if all electrical equipment was to stop working (including batteries).

Plus next year you have Defiance. Syfy is making a TV show and there is an online game coming out too. Its about seven alien races that arrive at Earth but aren't allowed to stay, so a war breaks out and many of the ships are shot down, releasing the plants and animals aboard and letting out terraforming technology. After several years the planet is a new place and the war finally ends, allowing the people to rebuild. By far one of the most promising new shows I have ever come across.

Scifi is not gone, not yet.

[DigiFluid]

Babylon 5 is one of the best sci-fi franchises that ever was. You really should give it another go and stick with it--completely rewarding. Stories that seem to mean nothing in the (admittedly) slow first season actually lay the groundwork for story arcs that are paid off in spades over the following four seasons. Really a masterwork of science fiction television. Plus, there's a number of books (which are considered part of the universe's canon by its creator) which enrich it even more once you're done with the show.

You could check out Continuum too. It's a new series that just launched two weeks ago on a channel here in Canada. It follows a cop from a corporate-ruled 2077 as she chases a group of economic freedom fighters/terrorists into the past (2012), and then spends her time trying to capture them and return home. There's some really interesting causality/determinism time travel stuff going on so far, it stars a lot of our favourite Vancouver sci-fi actors, and I think might be the first show to be filmed in Vancouver that's actually set in Vancouver

I note you didn't mention Firefly, which should be an obvious one. Of course, everyone knows by now that it was the victim of FOX, but what a phenomenal 14 episodes it was. And the movie, Serenity, was pretty good too.

I'd also recommend Fringe. I know it isn't the sort of space-based sci-fi which seems to be what you've leaned toward in your post, but it's another case of seemingly-unimportant stories in its first year really serving as catalysts for story development over the following seasons. Alternate timelines, alternate realities, bold storytelling choices galore!

[Ukko]

Was going to mention Continuum.

GWF = Has a Gateworld Folder you can check out.

Anywho, there is
Charlie Jade. (not a show to watch if you dont like to think or only want space ships and aliens)
Eureka. GWF (currently in its final season)
Alphas. GWF (second season coming soon.
The Outer Limits. (Always good.)
Outcasts. (British series, only one season)
Journeyman. (Time travel)

Some Movies.
Avatar.
The Matrix Trilogy.
Pandorum.
In Time.
John Carter of Mars.
I am Number Four.
Numerous Trek Movies.
Alien.

Lots of different types of Sci Fi there.

If you want lots of stuff set in space and on ships, the best thing to do (because there is just more of it) is read Sci Fi.

[maneth]

Oh, and don't forget Star Trek in all its incarnations! TOS and early TNG can seem a bit dated to modern viewers, but give it a go anyway and see what you think. Have you seen the JJ Abrams movie?

[DigiFluid]

Was going to mention Continuum.

GWF = Has a Gateworld Folder you can check out.

Anywho, there is
Charlie Jade. (not a show to watch if you dont like to think or only want space ships and aliens)
Eureka. GWF (currently in its final season)
Alphas. GWF (second season coming soon.
The Outer Limits. (Always good.)
Outcasts. (British series, only one season)
Journeyman. (Time travel)

Some Movies.
Avatar.
The Matrix Trilogy.
Pandorum.
In Time.
John Carter of Mars.
I am Number Four.
Numerous Trek Movies.
Alien.

Lots of different types of Sci Fi there.

If you want lots of stuff set in space and on ships, the best thing to do (because there is just more of it) is read Sci Fi.

You just lost the right to recommend anything. Ever.

[Ukko]

You just lost the right to recommend anything. Ever.

So i cant champion the greatness that is Alien Resurrection?

[DigiFluid]

You'll lose more than the right to recommend anything if you have anything positive to say about that steaming pile

[magictrick]

You just lost the right to recommend anything. Ever.

You mean you didn't get the urge to drop everything and move to Pandora?

[DigiFluid]

I got the urge to take a nap as Pocahontas In Blue entered its 400th hour

[Snowman37]

Saborio, have you seen any of these? The ones in bold are on Netflix.

Firefly (15 Episodes)
Jericho (29 Episodes)
Roswell (61 Episodes)
Sanctuary (59 Episodes)
Star Trek (79 Episodes + "The Cage," the original pilot)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (178 Episodes)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (176 Episodes)
Star Trek: Voyager (172 Episodes)
Star Trek: Enterprise (98 Episodes)
Surface (15 Episodes)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (31 Episodes)

[Brother Freyr]

You might also try:

Andromeda -- The effects are a bit dated, but the storytelling is excellent.
Lost. Is it science fiction? I dunno, but most fans of SF liked Lost.

[Gatefan1976]

Let me read off my TV series DVD collection (will include "fantasy" as well)
Alias
Angel
Babylon 5
Nu Battlestar Galactica
Beauty and the Beast
Buffy
Carnivalle
Charmed
Dark Angel
Eureka
Farscape
Firefly
Game of Thrones
Hercules- the legendary journeys
Kindred-the Embraced
Lexx
Red Dwarf
Sanctuary
Smallville
Stargate SG-1
Stargate Atlantis
True Blood
Warehouse 13

Now they are just the ones sitting on my shelf, there are others such as Andomeda, Space-Above and beyond, Trek (of course), Jericho, Terminator, Highlander, Roswell, Chuck, Seaquest DSV, Twilight zone, Outer limits, Amazing Stories, Alpha's, Heros, Being Human, Who, Torchwood, Grimm, Once upon a time, and god knows how many more I have accidently forgotten.

Trust me, there is PLENTY of scifi/fantasy out there in TV land

[RoK]

I have a couple of recommendations, though some of them have already been posted.

Heroes (A show that ran on NBC about ordinary people realizing that they had special powers. Sort of like X-Men. The first season was awesome, the second season suffered due to the writers strike back in 2008, and the last couple of seasons weren't that bad.)

Any Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and the movies. Set in the future where mankind's already out in space. I would suggest the newest movie, the one directed by JJ Abrams, as it has more action than the previous movies.)

Sliders (Where a group of people have to travel to alternate dimensions/realities/parallel universes, in order to get back to their own universe. The first three seasons were great, but then it went downhill after that.)

[Snowman37]

Gatefan1976, a lot of the shows you recommended are in the realm of fantasy and drama.

Any Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and the movies. Set in the future where mankind's already out in space. I would suggest the newest movie, the one directed by JJ Abrams, as it has more action than the previous movies.)

What has the amount of action got to do the richness of the story?