For me, it would be The Expanse, and Dark
(I am hopping to get recommendations for some good scifi shows I haven’t been introduced to from here)
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.
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.
Firefly. Especially the second season.
The Lazarus Project is good, and the new season starts soon.
Will check it out!
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! I adore the Wild West theme mixed with the sci-fi elements. Feels really unique, and it represents what the spacefaring future probably would look like to the average person. Like everyone else, I’m livid it only got one series, even after all these years.
(I even made a magazine for it: https://kbin.social/m/browncoats )
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.
Fringe, Continuum, BSG, Firefly, TNG, and SG1 are by far the best there was to offer. I rewatch Continuum atleast once a year at this point.
New shows: Silo and Peripheral are fantastic.
I liked Counterpart - J.K Simmons is brilliant in it, and the premise is really good.
Agreed!
There was this old miniseries directed by Steven Spielberg called Taken on the scifi channel. Another one I loved was The Lost Room.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
