Star Trek: The Next Generation
Where the original Star Trek provided us with a fresh new look on the future, The Next Generation expanded and perfected the setting. The series followed in the years after the original Star Trek, with a new crew and captain aboard the starship “Enterprise”. The series was enormously succesful, running for 7 seasons, and spawning off 4 motion pictures. Star Trek: The Next Generation was single-handedly responsible for the sci-fi revival starting in the 1980′s, and many of the shows on this list exist thanks to it’s success.
Firefly
This “space western” is one of Josh Whedon’s creations (of Buffy and Angel fame). The series follows a group of people on board “Serenity” and firefly-class ship as they roam the solar system. Unfortunately, the show failed to catch a big audience early and was cancelled after the first season. Backlash from fans and an internet writing campaign managed to ressurect the series temporarily for the movie “Serenity”. As of 2011, the series is still cancelled.
Farscape
Perhaps one of the best, yet unknown series, Farscape followed the adventures of astronaut John Chricton who was unwittingly sucked into a wormhole and tossed out in another part of the universe. What’s interesting about this show is it’s use of puppets as main characters, thanks to the Jim Hensen company. This gave the show’s “alien” characters a much more convincing look, and helped to visually differentiate the show from it’s competitors.
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| Worf (Star Trek: The Next Generation) | Rygel (Farscape) |
Stargate SG-1
A spin off of the 1994 Sci Fi movie “Stargate” starring James Spader and Kurt Russell, the show picks up sometime after the events of the movie. The series quickly hit its stride, running for 10 seasons and spawning off multiple movies and (at least) 2 spin-offs. Stargate SG1 has become one of the longest running sci-fi shows of all time.
Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Following in the footsteps of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was no easy task, but “Star Trek: Deep Space 9″ managed to carve out a respectable niche for itself, expanding on the Star Trek universe. While “Star Trek: The Next Generation” looked forward to the future with a certain optimism, “Star Trek: Deep Space 9″ explored the darker side of the Star Trek universe. The series centered on a space station on the edges of Federation space, and explored topics such as racism, war, enslavement, and difficult moral choices.
Battlestar Galactica
The original “Battlestar Galactica” was a minor hit in the 70′s, garnering a small but loyal fanbase. You might see them gathering at your local sci-fi convention, or in obscure chatrooms, but the show failed to hit the same heights that Star Trek did. In 2004, the series was completely rebooted with an exciting new visual style, and a fresh take on the original story. The result was an action packed sci-fi series that ran for 4 seasons and quickly solidified itself as a contender for one of the greatest sci-fi shows made.
Futurama
Courtesy of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen (of Simpsons fame), this cartoon series follows delivery boy Philip J. Fry as he’s frozen for 1000 years, waking up in the year 3000. The series ran for 5 seasons before being cancelled. But you can’t keep a good series down, and after extensive campaigning by fans online as well as strong DVD sales, the series was brought back from the dead and is currently airing on the Comedy Channel.
The X-Files
A great show that many feel may have overstayed its welcome, it’s still a series worth watching. The X-Files follows FBI agents Mulder and Scully as uncover alien abductions, mutants, and everything else paranormal in their pursuit of the “truth”. The first 6-7 seasons were fantastic, but the series ran a bit too long and should have had the sense to wrap up the storyline. By the time the movies came out, nobody cared what the “truth” was anymore.
Babylon 5
This little gem of a show began airing in the early 90′s, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation was beginning to hit it’s stride. Although overshadowed by the more popular Star Trek series, Bablyon 5 managed to carve out a loyal following among sci-fi fans who were drawn to it’s epic scope. While Star Trek was largely a show-by show series, with the story wrapping up neatly by the end of each episode (or 2/3 parter), Bablyon 5 told a multi-season story that took 5 seasons to fully play out.
For more cool tv shows, please check out our Consumer top 10 TV shows section.
