Top 50 Sci-Fi TV Series Countdown (LoC #79)

[Johnny Unusual]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/wdtr1GiEPpg" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/wdtr1GiEPpg</a>

Howdy, fellow travelers into the unknown.  The votes are all counted by a super-robot who achieved sentience, decided that counting the votes of which TV shows are liked by members of an internet forum group are a waste of his newfound omniscience, and escaped.  So I counted them.

Anyway, I'm really happy with how this list turned out.  Even though there were a few people who weren't able to participate, we still got in 18 lists this time around!  That's the most we've had in quite a while.  I hope to see more of this kind of interest... IN THE FUTURE.

Anyway, we have a great list.  Here's how the thing is set up.  Of course, you will see the numbers, the pictures, a description of the show, an opening sequence and such.  I also included an episode considered to be great (in the cases of shows I haven't seen, I had to take a stab so please feel free to correct me) and a "big idea" that the show gets to explore by doing something new or maybe something old in an interesting way.

For those wondering, yes, there is a tie.  But only one.  Which is very rare for these lists.

Today we have lots of fun stuff: cartoons, secret agents, space adventures and a sitcom!  So sit back and relax for...

THE TOP 50 SCI-FI TV SERIES AS VOTED BY YOU!

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[Johnny Unusual]

Number 50

26 Points, 3 of 18 lists, #16 MartyS (Gromit)

I like to think of it as America's attic.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/FuzqbduwSw8" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/FuzqbduwSw8</a>

The Premise
When US Secret Service Agents Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer are reassigned to warehouse in a small town in South Dakota, they assume it is a demotion.  Soon they learn quite the opposite: they are now responsible for a warehouse charged with collecting, protecting, studying and cataloguing paranormal artifacts with unique properties.

Great Episode
Time Will Tell
Former Warehouse employee H.G. Wells has just escaped and immediately begins causing a lot of trouble for the team.  Aside from being a good episode, this introduces a major character in the show’s mythology

Big Ideas   
What is it like to live in a town that houses the strangest and most powerful artifacts in the world?  “Beyond Our Control” looks at that and features a case where the team faces gladiators, marines and mad scientists start to appear, somehow escaping from a B-Movie Marathon.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 49

27 Points, 2 of 18 lists, #10 K1

Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/X2DUpDxFJyg" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/X2DUpDxFJyg</a>

The Premise
When twin siblings Mabel and Dipper are sent to spend the summer with their great uncle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon, they soon find that the town is a hotbed for paranormal phenomena.  Soon the two decide to spend their summer unearthing both the mysteries of Gravity Falls and of growing up, including how does one woo a girl 3 years older than you, how do you stop an escaped video game character and what is that thing behind the vending machine.

Great Episode
Gideon Rises
All seems lost when town villain Gideon takes over the Mystery Shack and seems to have the entire town under his sway.  With his home taken, Grunkle Stan considers sending the kids home.  But in their darkest hour, what seems like the end of the Summer is the beginning of an even bigger adventure.  This epic season finale both answers and raises questions, as well as allowing Dipper to become a true hero and deepening the series mythology.

Big Ideas   
Where do boy bands come from?  In “Boyz Crazy”, Mabel and Dipper discover that the next big band, Sev’ral Timez, is in fact genetically engineered to be the best boy band of all time and that they now need to be taught how to survive outside of the stage.

[Johnny Unusual]

BTW, I can't stop watching that Gravity Falls intro.  Great opening.

[Darth Geek]

Could you also include information on when the TV show aired?

[MartyS (Gromit)]

This should be interesting, to see how many I haven't seen.
I'd not heard of Gravity Falls before.

[CJones]

Damn, I can already see my #1 won't make it. Not unless by some miracle someone else also voted for it too.

[Space version 2.0]

I'm mostly hoping my #4 made it. I'm sure there's enough Harmon fans here to make it.

[Pak-Man]

I'm not a Harmon fan (yet!) but I think I've got you covered. :^)

[ColeStratton]

I'm mostly hoping my #4 made it. I'm sure there's enough Harmon fans here to make it.

Shit. Is that Heat Vision and Jack? Cuz I would have totally included that if I had thought of it. RIP Ron Silver.

[Tripe]

I'm mostly hoping my #4 made it. I'm sure there's enough Harmon fans here to make it.

I don't think NCIS counts as Sci Fi does it?

[Johnny Unusual]

It's certainly more implausible.

BTW, I'm making a list of cool sci-fi TV show openings for shows no one voted for.  Heat Vision and Jack is totally going on that!  I'll present it by evening's end.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 48

27 Points, 2 of 18 lists, #8 Pak Man

There's always a choice! To live in fear is no life at all!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/i5chHfK6sCc" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/i5chHfK6sCc</a>

The Premise
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a war rages between the Galactic Republic and a separatist movement known as the Confederation of Independent Systems.  Though the Confederation has a vast army of battle droids, the Republic has the Jedi Knights, powerful mystics trained in battle, and an army of clones based one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the galaxy.  But something waits in the shadows that threatens the Republic… from within.

Great Episode
The Wrong Jedi
Ahsoka is in a bad spot; framed for a crime she did not commit, she has been cast out of the Jedi Council and the upcoming trial looks hopeless.  While Anakin quests to prove her innocence, Ahsoka finds that whatever the outcome, things will never be the same.  This season 5 finale reveals the final fate of a major character and acts as a series finale (until season 6 was picked up by Netflix).

Big Ideas   
In the Star Wars films, the clone troopers were pretty interchangeable, but the episode “Rookies” explores the life of a clone trooper during a particularly dangerous battle where the audience gets to see that these clones might share the same genetic template, but are very different people.

[Space version 2.0]

It's certainly more implausible.

BTW, I'm making a list of cool sci-fi TV show openings for shows no one voted for.  Heat Vision and Jack is totally going on that!  I'll present it by evening's end.

I thought he was making some joke that was just going over my head. Apparently it's just something I need to look in to.

[Johnny Unusual]

Number 47

27 Points, 2 of 18 lists, #2 George Harrison

I am Kai, last of the Brunnen-G. Millennia ago, the Brunnen-G led humanity to victory in the war against the Insect civilization. The Time Prophet predicted that I would be the one to destroy the Divine Order and the League of 20,000 Planets. Some day, that will happen… but not today, as today is my day of death. The day our story begins.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/_2u2Cj16ufA" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/_2u2Cj16ufA</a>

The Premise
Stanley Tweedle was a freedom fighter who was captured and interrogated, leading to the fall of the resistance and turning him into a low ranking security guard for the very empire he fought against. Zev was a love slave raised in a box who was rejected by her husband for being too ugly and sentenced to genetic and mental modification.  Kai is an undead assassin who was once a noble poet and warrior.  All of these people end up finding freedom from their oppressors when Stanley accidentally ends up with the key to the Lexx, the most powerful weapon in the universe.  As the new crew searches for comfort and love (or at least sex), they find that freedom does not guarantee safety in a cruel, dark universe.

Great Episode
The Game
It’s a cliché to use chess as a short hand for a battle of wits, but not many would dedicate an entire episode to an actual match.  When Kai is offered a chance to regain his humanity from arch-villain Prince (who is basically Satan), Kai accepts, risking the lives of his friends.  Now the two play a match with their allies being used as literal chess pieces in a tense, bloody, board game battle.

Big Ideas   
Some sci-fi shows threaten to end the universe, but Lexx follows through in the episode “The End of the Universe”, as the crew find themselves the last things in the universe after the entity known as Mantrid converts all matter in the universe into part of his army of robot arms.  With little hope of survival, the Lexx crew has only one chance to destroy him before he starts travelling to the other universe; have Mantrid chase them to the centre of the universe and allowing him to bring enough mass to create a Big Crunch.