John’s Top 7 Sci-Fi TV Shows

I am a HUGE fan of science fiction so, when Christine brought up the topic of this new Top 7, I was immediately on board!!  Sci-Fi is really a part of my everyday life.  It’s in the games that I play, the books that I read, and it’s one of my favorite forms of television.  I watch Sci-Fi TV shows on a regular basis.

These are seven of my favorite Sci-Fi TV shows.  I decided to go with a more recent selection, as I could fill a list with older shows quite easily.  These are NOT in any particular order because it would be really hard for me to choose one over another!  Well, except for one, which you’ll see.

X ALWAYS stands for something mysterious!

The X-Files­

Agents Mulder and Scully were a big part of my teenaged life.  I looked forward to what crazy things they were going to investigate each week.  Though I was always a fan of science fiction, this show really cemented my love of the genre.  Even though out-of-this-world things were constantly happening, the two agents and the incredible cast of supporting characters was believable. I know a show like The X-Files­ requires a suspension of disbelief when you start watching.  I can’t help but think that there is a little paranoid person in all of us that can easily find something to latch onto.

Crown (second from left) is easily my favorite character.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

This is one of my favorite shows, hands down.  And not just in the genre of science fiction.  The premise of the show was totally science fiction:  As a means of experiment, a human worker Joel (replaced by Mike as the show went on) was shot into space on the Satellite of Love and forced to watch horrible B-movies.  While watching these movies Joel (or Mike) and his only companions, some wisecracking robots, did what everyone likes to do when they see a terrible movie: mock it mercilessly.  They not only made a terrible movie watchable, they made it enjoyable AND hilarious!

Fringe

Fringe takes a page from The X-Files. An FBI lead group, the Fringe Division, investigates a slew of strange disturbances called “The Pattern”.  The characters drive the show a bit more than the occurrences they are responsible for investigating.  Walter, a deranged scientist who just happens to be the cause of some of these occurrences, really steals the spotlight, in my opinion.  The show’s current venture into a parallel universe is great!  Especially seeing what could have been in our universe.  With the third season on the way, and one of the members of the Fringe Division from our side stuck in the other universe, things are bound to be exciting!

The Doctor and a bunch of his old friends

Doctor Who

THE epitome of time travel television!  Doctor Who is an amazing series that has been going for many (many many) seasons!  The exotic locales, and exotic beings, have nothing on the characters of the show.  The show may be called Doctor Who but it really is a show about The Doctor’s companions, and their lives.  Some of my favorite episodes are the ones dealing with historical figures, rather than those that deal with alien beings, etc.

This picture, alone, cannot show the awesomeness of the show! I tries, though.

Futurama

The only animated series on my list, though not the only animated series I enjoy, Futurama really does have it all.  Aliens?  Got them.  Robots?  Yep.  Sewer mutants?  You’re damn straight!  What other show has a man from the past that is his own grandfather?  None that I know of.  The thing is, Futurama takes all of these abnormal things, and makes them completely…well not mundane, but close.  It really is a slice of everyday life (well sometimes), just set 1,000 years in the future.  Let’s hope that its rebirth, after a seven year cancellation, lasts a bit longer than its first run!

Eureka

Eureka it touted as America’s smartest little town, and it very well is.  Eureka is basically a town where all the smartest people in the world live and work.  However, what I love about this show featuring incredibly brilliant scientists is that the man that winds up saving the day is an everyman.  Sheriff Jack Carter may not be the smartest person in the town, but he certainly has pulled the town out of the “fire” on many occasions.  Jack manages to do so with a sense of humor, even when things look their worse.

This is what sexy supernatural beings do in their time off.

True Blood

This show, drawn from the series of books (Southern Vampire Mysteries) by Charlaine Harris has a bit of everything.  Vampires, werewolves and other werebeings, witches and faeries…you name it!  Even with this eclectic mix of fantastical beings, True Blood is intense, sometimes campy, and always incredibly sexy.  Though the second season was crazy, and really all over the place (even for True Blood), the third season is brilliant.  Sure, it’s just as crazy as last season, but it’s a much more focused kind of crazy.

A few honorable mentions, because I had a hard time keeping my list at seven: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (both the micro-series, and the current series—I am an unabashed Star Wars fan!), Dead Like Me, and Pushing Daisies.