FTA-TV Top 10 Sci Fi Shows of All Time

Hey they rebooted Equalizer with Queen Latifah! And I was fine with it.

You call it straw manning but I think being a white dude was a central concept in many episodes, and there's some reaching going on about how that can be redone appropriately with a minority lead.

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I think the reaching is in thinking that the show was dependent on having a white male lead.
 
Apr 27, 2008
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I think the reaching is in thinking that the show was dependent on having a white male lead.
Well, the original was sometimes.

Not sure how you can look at some plots and episode and think yep, all of these would work if the lead wasn't a white guy getting a culture shock. Cause he's white and knows nothing of other cultures or perspectives. And all of those experiences make him a richer, better person.

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Well, the original was sometimes.

Not sure how you can look at some plots and episode and think yep, all of these would work if the lead wasn't a white guy getting a culture shock. Cause he's white and knows nothing of other cultures or perspectives. And all of those experiences make him a richer, better person.

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Lol think you're missing the point here mate.

I've gotta say this is the first time I've seen someone argue that a lack of diverse casting is integral to making a show great.
 
Sep 15, 2011
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Well, the original was sometimes.

Not sure how you can look at some plots and episode and think yep, all of these would work if the lead wasn't a white guy getting a culture shock. Cause he's white and knows nothing of other cultures or perspectives. And all of those experiences make him a richer, better person.

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You’re confusing how they opted to use the main character with it being integral to the plot. It’s not. They did a wonderful job of exploring race and gender and disability in some (not all) episodes. But you could have any person of any age or colour or gender and they would be able to experience different perspectives.

This was my favourite show as a kid and I’m not going to be losing my mind over any casting decisions. In reality, Quantum Leap was a wholesome, cheesy network show very much of its era. TV has changed a lot. It may end up being not good and not of any interest to me. But let’s save the pre-emptive outrage.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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Translation: if it’s not portrayed by people that look like me, I’ll have a whinge.

Quantum Leap isn’t inherently tied by its premise to white male actors. Mixing it up would hurt the show in no way whatsoever. Only bad writing would do that.
his comment was about young nerdy people who are mostly focussed on getting laid In between being nerds. That could hurt it.

why did you feel the need to being colour into it?
 
Jul 25, 2019
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Here is my list (in order)

1 -Doctor Who (granted more sci-fantasy than Fi tbh)
2 - Stargate-Sg1
3 - Star Trek (the original series, its cultural and historical significance can be never be under sold)
4 - The X-Files
5 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
6 - Babylon 5 (probably should be higher really)
7 - Futurama (it counts !!!)
8 - Supernatural (contentious but I count it as part of the genre)
9 -The Twilight Zone (original)
10 - The Boys
 
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From what I remember it was pretty good, maybe not the best sci-fi TV ever but solid and original.

Imo it ended on bit of a sour note .
But deserves a lot of credit for being imaginative, creative and Aussie Made (unfortunately that POS Matthew Newton appears in a few episodes)
 
Jul 19, 2008
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Here is my list (in order)

1 -Doctor Who (granted more sci-fantasy than Fi tbh)
2 - Stargate-Sg1
3 - Star Trek (the original series, its cultural and historical significance can be never be under sold)
4 - The X-Files
5 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
6 - Babylon 5 (probably should be higher really)
7 - Futurama (it counts !!!)
8 - Supernatural (contentious but I count it as part of the genre)
9 -The Twilight Zone (original)
10 - The Boys
I wouldn't count Supernatural and The Boys as sci-fi
 
Mar 7, 2009
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1. Star Trek TOS
2. Black Mirror
3. The Expanse
4. Firefly
5. Babylon 5
6. Star Trek DS9
7. Rick & Morty
8. Star Trek TNG
9. Battlestar Galactica
10. Lost in Space (Netflix Remake)

11. The Orville
12. SG1
13. Space 1999
14. Red Dwarf
15. Star Trek Voyager

This list excludes futuristic fantasy shows like those from Star Wars or Marvel/DC because to me the abilities shown are magical in nature, so they're not science fiction IMHO.
 
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Old Stargate is a funny one.

It's either quite high on lists or not at all.

Quite high for me.

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SG1 and Atlantis would be top 5 for me, possibly even top 3.
 
1. Star Trek TOS
2. Black Mirror
3. The Expanse
4. Firefly
5. Babylon 5
6. Star Trek DS9
7. Rick & Morty
8. Star Trek TNG
9. Battlestar Galactica
10. Lost in Space (Netflix Reboot)

This list excludes fantasy shows like those from Star Wars or Marvel/DC because to me the abilities shown are magical in nature, so it's not strictly science fiction.

But Star Trek TOS has plenty of magic too?
 
It's not even SciFi but the Vegas episode of Atlantis is one of my favourite TV episodes ever.

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Am up to that episode on about my 4th run through of Atlantis. Is a great one.
 
Star Wars is basically about sorcerers (Jedi/Sith) who have magical powers they call the Force. This is not science fiction, it's futuristic fantasy.

And yet you mentioned a show, Star Trek, that has magicians.
 
Mar 7, 2009
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A long time ago ...

Just taking the piss out of your usage of futuristic!
Fair enough. I use the term futuristic to mean they have space ships and androids and so on. It may have been set a long time ago, but the technological level of that universe is futuristic compared to ours. But the focus of the movies, in particular, is about the magical power called the force and those that wield it and that made it fantasy IMHO.
 
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Where to draw the lines with speculative fiction is definitely a 'imo' situation, I'd 100% include The Mandalorian as a SciFi TV series (and one of the better ones) and yet I probably wouldn't include any of the Marvel series even though Hawkeye and Captain America and the Winter Soldier pretty much sideline magical superpowers for abilities that are at least somewhat technology based. They're action/ superhero but not necessarily SciFi...
 
Mar 7, 2009
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Where to draw the lines with speculative fiction is definitely a 'imo' situation, I'd 100% include The Mandalorian as a SciFi TV series (and one of the better ones) and yet I probably wouldn't include any of the Marvel series even though Hawkeye and Captain America and the Winter Soldier pretty much sideline magical superpowers for abilities that are at least somewhat technology based. They're action/ superhero but not necessarily SciFi...
You had Grogu, Ashoka, and later Luke in The Mandalorian using the force, which is why I would disagree.
 
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