What si-fi/Fantasy you have watced

Vulture

Been running out of things to watch as i'v tracked down anything i'v actively wanted to watch and seen it already. So after watching the entire first season of stripperella i decided it was time to find something new to look at. Though i should point out i actually found stripperella very entertaining.

Anyway I'd like people to list all the si-fi/Fantasy/comedy they have seen with a rating from one to five and when i say seen, you have to have seen at least 80% of the series to coment,hopefully their's some good series i'm missing and you good people can provide the names. Also you might find something you might like to watch.

The rating system
1 = dont watch no matter what
2 = Watch if your desprate
3 = decent nothing special
4 = very good worth watching
5 = Legend Must see
* = Has it's moment/bizarre (example evangelion) This should be used as an additive, rate how good you felt the show was a if it was a bit strange include the *. Some people find strange shows appealing.

Anyway time to start the ball rolling.

1 = Andromeda(i have all five season but i could not watch past mid season 4 just awful)
1 = Bubble gum crisis Tokyo 2040
1 = Noir
1 = Nadesico
1 = DNA²
2 = First wave (I want to give it a 3 but it just does not deserve it)
2* = LEXX (not your usually si-fi bit disturbed in the head, had it's moments)
2* = Full metal panic(This show had it's moments in the first few eps then goes really bad)
3* = RahXephon(Just never grabbed me, many people think it's great:Anime)
3 = 4400(still being made and a decent show)
3* = Garth Merenghis Darkplace (Only 6 episodes quite strange humor)
3 = Stargate Atlantis
3 = Stargate SG 1
3 = Wonderfalls
3* = Lain(erie show bit of a reality questioner:Anime)
4 = Berserk (Hack and slash anime with lost of charging)
4 = Cowboy Bebop(Anime)
4 = FLCL (anime again 6 episodes but very fun)
4* = Neon Genesis Evangelion (If you havent heard of it before look it up)
4 = Invader Zim(Animated)
4 = Battlestar galactica
4 = Blackadder
4 = Red Dwarf
4 = Sledge hammer(Very dated now with lots of referneces to 80's american events that are lost to nearly everyone, Still worth a watch)
4 = Trailer Park Boys(this is a strange show you either like it or you dont thier is no middle ground, Tip watch the movie first it helps)
4 = Samurai Jack(Animated:I really like the show it does not have any bad episodes)
5 = Babylon 5 (The meter stick by which all si-fi is judged it must be watched)
5 = Farscape (My favourite show ever bar none)
5 = Fawlty Towers(just classic)
5 = FireFly(I adored this show it showed such potential it's early death probally upped it's rating in my mind)

If you disagree with any of my ratings feel free to say so.

moridin

Vulture wrote:

2* = Full metal panic(This show had it's moments in the first few eps then goes really bad)

Totally disagree... FMP is fantastic, and FMP the second raid is great too.

You might like Full Metal Alchemist, which is also very good, and I'd recommend Bleach to everyone

Pugsley

moridin wrote:

You might like Full Metal Alchemist, which is also very good.

Just after finishing my second watch through of FMA (all 51 ep's), unbelievably good anime.

Anyway my list would be (odd that your listing anime in a sci-fi forum, but I will too anyway):

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 4/5
Full Metal Alchemist - 5/5
Star Trek - Deep Space9 - 3/5
Neon Genesis Evangeleon - 4/5*
Virus - 2/5
Shadow Skill - 3/5
Samurai Jack - 4/5
Stargate - 4/5
Stargate atlatis - 4/5
Farscape -5/5
Babylon5 - 5/5
Andromeda - 1/5
Red Dwarf - 4/5 (would be 5/5 if the last 2 seasons were better and there was more of it)
Firefly - 4/5 (would also be 5/5 if they managed to get more of it)
Battlestar Galactica (new series) - 4/5
Lost - 4/5*
Patlabour (TV series) - 4/5
Scrubs - 4/5 (knew I forgot some, gotta love Cox)

I have no idea why you put in Fawlty Towers and Black Adder, both 5/5 comedies, but they have what to do with sci fi? or even fantasy for that matter. Theres probably others on that should be on that list that Ive forgetten for now, Ill update it if I remember any of them.

Vulture

Pugsley wrote:

I have no idea why you put in Fawlty Towers and Black Adder, both 5/5 comedies, but they have what to do with sci fi? or even fantasy for that matter. Theres probably others on that should be on that list that Ive forgetten for now, Ill update it if I remember any of them.

I'm trying not to limit myself to just si-fi/fantasy and this seemed like the best forum to do it in as si-fi is my favourite type of show. People who like si-fi tend to have the same taste in non si-fi shows as me. Cant think of any forum that will cater to si-fi/fantasy/anime and comedy if their is a better forum for this i like to apoligise and request it be moved their. I did not include shows like scrubs and malcom in the middle though possible i should as they are rather entertaining. Anyway i'll leave it up to the posters on this forum to decide wheather or not to include any tv series they feel like mentioning buffy/south park etc.

Full Metal Alchemist - 5/5 looks like the winner for me so far and moridin could you edit your post to give the shows you list a rating Bleach does look intresting.

Sleepy

One you'd probably like based on what you listed:

4 - Space: Above & Beyond

Vulture

Space: Above & Beyond i remember watching most of that when it was on tv it was good quality from what i recall I think i'll look into it.
As for Full Metal Alchemist i'm up as far as episode 37 and am not really impressed yet unless it manages to pull something out of the bag in the last 14 eps it will get a 2 from me. I think i'm just tired of anime's overused shock response. Character hears something profound, they freeze, their eye's start to "wobble" they say "UH.." this happens atleast twice an episode. Neon Genesis Evangeleon did that alot aswell but back then it was all new to me. I'll try second season of lost next, i'v had it for a while just want to set aside a weekend and watch it all in one sitting.

Pugsley

Vulture wrote:

As for Full Metal Alchemist i'm up as far as episode 37 and am not really impressed yet unless it manages to pull something out of the bag in the last 14 eps it will get a 2 from me. I think i'm just tired of anime's overused shock response. Character hears something profound, they freeze, their eye's start to "wobble" they say "UH.." this happens atleast twice an episode. Neon Genesis Evangeleon did that alot aswell but back then it was all new to me.

The charm of Full Metal Alchemist for me was the incredable charecter development, the charecters really change in a realistic way depending on what they encounter, Al continues to be a very innocent kid most of the way because Ed does most of the darker stuff, and they both evolve very differently, and the support cast was just incredable, loved Hughes especially, and I though that Mustang was just creepy and fit in really well, and scar is just excellent. Honestly if you dont like it yet, I doubt you will by the end although I would recommend you watch it anyway, I was hooked from start to finish (watched it all in 2 days).

As for space:above and beyond, will have to look into this one.

Vulture

Pugsley wrote:

The charm of Full Metal Alchemist for me was the incredable charecter development, the charecters really change in a realistic way depending on what they encounter, Al continues to be a very innocent kid most of the way because Ed does most of the darker stuff, and they both evolve very differently, and the support cast was just incredable, loved Hughes especially, and I though that Mustang was just creepy and fit in really well, and scar is just excellent.

The characters were great each in their own way except for winrey i hated her she was just so much of a sterotype. Ending was great, hell the last 4 or 5 eps were great and pulled everything together nicely but not to nicely. Will still have to give it a 3 as it was just a little to "young" for me. By the way scar really was great, if you ever need a fictional charcter to give you a hand or even a whole arm, he's you man.
Now that i think about it i'm a bit of a sadist i really like shows where the main character/s get tortured, beaten up, maimed, confused and generally have their mind messed with. (Berserk, first wave, Sledge hammer:he was an ultimate sadist) Looking at my 5 out of 5 selections only faulty towers does not have any torture scenes. Wow thinking of most the book series i like, most of the main characters also get tortured, thats creepy.
Can anyone reccomend any series where the main character/s goes through horiible trials and general maiming physical and/or mental? I'm fairly sure i'd like them. No snuff please.

Pugsley

How can you say its too childish? I found it pretty dark by and large, there are thousands of deaths throughout, and some of them are pretty graphic (most of scar's kills are pretty in your face), it also touch's on some pretty dark topics, it may have been laid out childishly (each to his own, my 7 year old brother watchs it and doesnt read the subs half the time and just asks) but the story thats being told is most definately adult. (but yes Winry was a bit annoying, so was the bookworm girl, but neither of them got much screentime)

As for things where the main charecter gets a pounding, Im going to assume you have seen Akira (if not, leave, now), the feist series 'Talon of the Silver Hawk' the main charecter gets a fair hiding pretty regularly, its not a very good trilogy and far from Feists best, but that guy does take some digs and its fairly entertaining. Was about to mention Farscape but seen its where it rightfully belongs already

Kaiser_Sma

I have no idea why babylon 5 lasted so long, it was watchable when it first started and had a couple of moments of mild intrigue but besides that it stuck to the star treck moniker of being kitchy and unconvincing

ixoy

Kaiser_Sma wrote:

I have no idea why babylon 5 lasted so long, it was watchable when it first started and had a couple of moments of mild intrigue but besides that it stuck to the star treck moniker of being kitchy and unconvincing

It was very unlike Trek in that it had season-spanning storylines and properly thought-out arcs.

In what regards was it "kitchy and unconvincing"? The alien politics were fairly well though out for a sci-fi show. Are you giving out about the science or xeno-biology? Something more concrete please! And has there been a show that does it convincingly for you (to my mind, "Farscape" should get a good nod for being the show that at least went the furtherest in trying to make more non-humanoid aliens that weren't just etheral other-plane beings).

Kaiser_Sma

not scientificaly unconvincing per say. I mean the characters and the story lines always felt unconvincing and unatural, alot of the story arches ended up muted and disapointing. Admitadly i didn't like the look of the aliens much, but theres no point in quibling about xeno-biology, i'm well aware of how a TV series budget can't make something theoretically perfect.

It became to soapy and self indulgent

ixoy

Kaiser_Sma wrote:

not scientificaly unconvincing per say. I mean the characters and the story lines always felt unconvincing and unatural, alot of the story arches ended up muted and disapointing. Admitadly i didn't like the look of the aliens much, but theres no point in quibling about xeno-biology, i'm well aware of how a TV series budget can't make something theoretically perfect.

It became to soapy and self indulgent

How did it become either of those though? Can you point out specific examples. The stories operated on a big scale, sure, but that doesn't mean it's self indulgent - surely a grand space war is a preferrable mode of story telling to the more mundane story-of-the-week that Star Trek employs (which is why I think they differ greatly). Soap opera is something I'd accuse Voyager of, definetely, but not really B5.

What do you look for in a sci-fi show or what would be a good example? Less focus on love relationships? More technical? Large plot arcs? Would Battlestar Galactica (great show) be more your styling? There's very little out there to cater for more hardcore sci-fi enthusiasts in either film or TV (last good example on the big screen was "Primer").

Vulture

I'll have to give a nod to Kaiser_Sma for actually saying he dislikes Babylon 5 thats a bold move in a SI-FI chat room. In my opinion their are more than a few episodes of Babylon 5 that sucked very badly, most of the first season and most of the last. I think most of the soapy and self indulgent stuff was in thoose seasons. But generally all of the characters were very well developed, some even had habits. The race politics were fairly coherent, the internal politcs were great, psy core and how they were treated very believable. Bar Farscape no other SI-FI can touch it... yet. We will see what happens with battlestar galactica i have hopes for it.
Anyway before i wandered further off the point
3 = Full Metal Alchemist (teaches you that if your hard enough you can lose both your arms and still run around afterwards, unfrotunatly you then become vunerable to bullets)
Space: Above & Beyond only seen the first 2 episodes but it's shaping up nicely, their drill instructor was the same drill instructor that is in "Full metal jacket" Lots of stuff out their with "full metal" in the title.
Also started watching "Eureka" only 3 episodes so far but it's entertaining, very far fetched but enjoyable. I'd advise checking the pilot out at least and making up your own mind.

AnCapaillMor

Could'nt agree more with the Andromeda opinion, after season 3, it became baywatch in space with Sorbo being Hoff in space.

there was a trailer park boys film? all i've seen is the 6 seasons and the christmas special.

Space above and beyond, got my hands on eventually. when i was young it was cool, but now its tacky. Marines that fly planes, do commando missions and pretty much every other armny job was a bit daft.

Vulture

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Could'nt agree more with the Andromeda opinion, after season 3, it became baywatch in space with Sorbo being Hoff in space.

oh hell yes, it's one of the two series i had to stop watching the other was married with children about 20 eps into the 259 eps i had dropped 20 IQ points. At that point i could not afford to lose any more or i would be unable to talk.

AnCapaillMor wrote:

there was a trailer park boys film? all i've seen is the 6 seasons and the christmas special.

Yes their is, it's in black and white and explains how they ended up in prison the first time. Also gives alot of other background, Randy is in it but as a diffrent character.

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Space above and beyond, got my hands on eventually. when i was young it was cool, but now its tacky. Marines that fly planes, do commando missions and pretty much every other armny job was a bit daft.

Took the words right out of my mouth, episode 4 they are guarding a refinery and all the way through i was thinking "Their trained pilots this is a silly use of manpower get some grunts with 6 weeks of training, pilots take ages to train"

Kojak

My tuppenceworth:

Andromeda - utter crap, never liked it and to make it worse Kevin Sorbo was the lead = 1
The 4400 (Brilliant show - didn't give it a five, have to see what season 3 is like first) = 4
Stargate Atlantis - Season 1 was very good. Season 2, however....:( = 3
Stargate SG 1 - my favourite by many miles. Season's 1-7 (maybe parts of 8) were brilliant. = 5
Star Trek TNG - Best Trek series, IMO. =5
Star Trek DS9 - second best = 4
Star Trek Voyager - not great = 3 (at best)
Enterprise - Season 3 was its best. I never really liked prequels (You know how everything turns out). - 1.5

Kaiser_Sma

Thanks vulture

I'm not saying startrek is better or anything (though i still watch it often out of some kind of nostalgic compulsion, its kinda relaxing i guess).
b5 i watched when it was on TV first (along time ago) and i enjoyed it to begin with but eventually it became less and less worth my time. As i grew older it became less and less appealing. Any plot line involving the psy core made me ill, i hate the way most scifi deals with pcychic powers, it's mostly just laziness. I even watched one or 2 of the movies in a fit of boredom.

I was in the UL scifi society comitee till it disbanded and i know a fair share of babylon 5 heads, it was never my cup of tea, sorry. I put it just below andromada on my scifi crap omiter. (in case thats not clear i think andromada is worse).

Space above and beyond i watched and enjoyed (it was sad that it was cut short) but i can barely remeber it now. It paved the way a bit for battlestar gallactica which is quite exceptionally.
I do like the technical side and i like my science plausible if possible. At least original.
I also like my characters to be believable. The prime example is firefly but i'm sure it's possible to make a serious original science fiction saga of the same calibur.

I also like stargate but it has its bad moments as well

What the hell was up with crusade? i haven't seen anything as crap as that in along time.

Vulture

Stargate should have died when they lost McGyver he was the heart and soul of the show, since he left the show just does not do it for me anymore they have tried to milk it to much. - 3 because it's usually entertaining

Stargate atlantis I can't really get into as the wraith are just zerg and don't have any style, the GoAuld at least were kinda like bond's enemies and had a bit of class even if they were insane. - 3 because it's usually entertaining

The 4400 was great up untill season 2, it had a bit of mystery about it. This season I find the writers are reaching and the plots are kinda sucky. I find myself taking the side of the bad guy's sometimes hoping they will win. They killed of the only 2 people who seemed to have knowledge of the whole plot, combined with their own agenda and replaced them with a corperation type bad guy who knows bugger all. With whats out this season so far it's dropped to a 2 in my estimation.

Star Trek TNG i watched when i was young, but watching it a few years later i was appaled at how badly it aged. Any tough decisions were solved by psudo science and most of the plots sucked. However i still watch it sometimes out of some kind of nostalgic compulsion as well. I'll give it a 2 simply because it's a classic. Never watched the other star treks just lost intrest after TNG ended.

Finished watching Space : Above and Beyond and i have to say i really liked it. All the characters were well developed and once you got over the fact they flew planes and were also grunt troops it was very enjoyable. Special effects did not age to badly and lots of fairly regular characters died. Episode 9 wang does an impersonation of their commander and i was in stiches, probally the funniest point in the show. Another good point is them stranded on a hostile planet for 2 months, no food, no ammunition and their burying alot of marines. One of them finds a condom on a corpse and is sticking it in his pocket when he gets a funny look. He says "WHAT, a guy's gotta have hope" Would have to give it a 4 and the ending will leave you begging for more.

Crusade : Watched that a month or so ago just terrible, turns out they aired the episodes out of order on purpose!!! and nearly all of the actors sucked. That techno mage guy made me want to take a rock to his face and show him the meaning of blunt force trauma. The two reasons i give it a 2 is it's still way better than Andromeda and it got cancled because the writers refused to put more sex and violence into it. I like sex and violence but atleast the writers had a bit of backbone. - 2