List of 12 greatest sci-fi shows

Considering the nnews that the Push is being developed into a television series, I thought about what in fact are the best science fiction television series ever? Well ever may be a bit too long, but at least since I have been alive and that I have seen.

Every list I have come across seems to be geared toward promoting advertising sales, patronizing some target group of readers, and/or restricted or inclusive to shows that really don't qualify as sci-fi. So here is my list, from best to worst, without influence of advertising rates, job security, or pandering.

1. Star Trek. Make all the comparisons you want, argue the inconsistencies and quality all day but the fact is this is the best sci-fi television show ever. It influnced everything to come after it, and continues to endure decades after it ended.

2. Dr. Who. The same theme and plot continues to appear on televisions across the world since 1963, that says a lot. It may not have the reach of Star Trek, but every serious sci-fi fan knows the show. To many Americans it's the television equvalent of the World Cup - the world knows it but America thinks it can do better. And actually we did, just once.

3. Farscape. Besides the Fugitive name another show that had so much fan adoration that the network had to respond? This show put Sci-Fi Channel on the map, and the manner in which it was taken off television had a lot to do with the change of the cable network to Syfy. Literally the best collection of science fiction ideas done incedibly well on television.

4. Babylon 5. Another great assortment of sci-fi ideas, done with style and serious attention to plot and details. Way before it's time.

5. Superman. I mean the original George Reeves series. Yes it was campy, but it just had a spark to it. It took the incredulous and made it enjoyable. Something almost all shows on television since have failed miserably to do.

6. Flash Gordon. Yes this was a television series long before it was a cartoon, movie, or porno. Buster Keaton took you on an adventure and every week you wanted to join him. The effects were bad, the acting anything but stellar. Yet it came together as more than it's parts.

7. Futurama. Comedic, animated, and enjoyable. Who says sci-fi can't be funny?

8. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Serious anime, with strong plots and engaging characters. The science is solid, if futuristic. The art is cool. The themes are adult. The plots make more sense than almost anything on television. See it.

9. Star Trek Deep Space 9. Much of the flair and storytelling of the original came back in this series. The Federation stopped being wimps, Kingons got to fight, and aliens were alien. Amazing what a bit of imagination can do.

10. V. The miniseries shocked and amazed everyone. It reminded us that if an alien could get to Earth they likely were superior, since we can't get to them. It's a sci-fi future just seconds away from reality. And it encompassed political issues and human frailties that technology or delusions of granduer cannot conquer.

11. Alien Nation. The most honest depiction of the bias and incoherent fears that exist in the human race (and America) right now. Perhaps only Archie Bunker made it more obvious that we all have a long way to go still.

12. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It's British, bare-bones effects, funny, and completely silly. Another example of how the absurd, mixed with sci-fi, can be widly entertaining.

Other great shows worth mention: The Greatest American Hero, Wild Wild West, Twillight Zone, UFO, The Avengers, X-Files, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Space: 1999, Sliders, Six Million Dollar Man, Quantum Leap, Max Headroom, First Wave, Firefly, Torchwood

Not included for consideration: Cartoons - ie. Jetsons, Starblazers, Battle of the Planets, Code Lyocko, Digimon, ect.; Shows that have nothing to do with science - Get Smart, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Charmed, Bewitched, Batman, Dead Like Me, Night Stalker, Airwolf, Highlander, Highlander: The Raven, ect.

Shows to avoid forever: Homeboys in Space, Ark II, Automan, Battlestar Galactica (revision), Star Trek Enterprise, Knight Rider (remake), Logan's Run, Mutant X, Primeval, Roswell, any seaQuest, Swamp Thing

Like the list? Did I miss anything? Let me know.

Anime Music Videos

And just for those that enjoy anime and music videos, I found a collection of interesting items

Naruto


Rurouni Kenshin


Bleach


Trigun


Ghost in the Shell


Full Metal Alchemist

Greatest animated films ever - Yahoo's bogus list

Recently I saw a list of the top animated films ever. This was a list compiled by Yahoo in part to promote the new film Kung Fu Panda. Supposedly the list was voted on by Yahoo visitors and compiled. I think the list is a crock.

I really have to wonder what films were in the original choices to be voted on because there are a few massive omissions. Let me give you the names in the Yahoo list.

Bambi, The Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Over the Hedge, The Simpson’s Movie, Ice Age 2, and the original Ice Age, Snow White, Howl’s Moving Castle, Mulan, Peter Pan, Horton Hears a Who, Lady and the Tramp, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Princess Mononoke, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Enchanted, Shrek 2, Cars, Monster's Inc, Spirited Away, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Ratatouille, Shrek, The Incredibles, The Lion King and Finding Nemo.

That list is in order from lowest rated to highest. Or so Yahoo says. I think the list is just advertising for Disney and a few other advertisers for Yahoo. Oh and a few other films thrown in to make the list look honest.

Where is Ghost in the Shell? Or Akira? I mean seriously Akira is not on the list. That’s just stupid.

And to rate Ratatouille, The Little Mermaid, Cars, Mulan, and Over the Hedge in any list of greatest animated films is inane. Where is Fantasia, Dumbo, Charlottes’s Web (the original), Space Battleship Yamoto, Galaxy Express 999, The Lion The Witch & the Wardrobe, Heavy Metal, Secret of NIHM, Vampire Hunter D, Lilo & Stitch, and that’s just of the films I’ve seen.

I find the Yahoo list bogus not because of what is in it (though there is a lot of substandard recent garbage that is likely included just to pump up DVD sales) but because of the number of classic and acclaimed animated films that are left out.

At least Yahoo could have been honest and said ‘here is the list of movies out advertisers think were the greatest ever – if you never saw an animated film before or if you don’t mind increasing their profits with films in DVD libraries.’ But if you want a real greatest list you need to check out the films I mentioned that were omitted by Yahoo. I think you’ll agree with my list, without question.