Science Fiction and Fantasy fans are enjoying a bit of a cultural surge lately, and there is a ton of genre related stuff being consumed. Thanks to authors like George R.R. Martin and Charlaine Harris, Fantasy is crushing best seller lists as well as television ratings. There is some very cool genre based stuff available on T.V. right now. Shows like The Wire, The Walking Dead, and Eureka are extremely well written. Past shows like Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the X-Files are excellent examples of quality SFF based television.
What are your favorite SFF shows of all time? What are your favorite shows on currently? How does the writing you see on television compare to what you find on bookstore shelves? As always we’ll choose a commenter to pick their choice of a book from our stacks.
My favorite past shows were The Twilight Zone and the original Star Trek series.
Me, too, Sandy!
I really enjoyed X-Files back in the day, but my favorite would probably be Battlestar Galactica. The funny part is, I didn’t watch it when it was running every week. I went back just a couple of years ago and watched straight through and just loved it.
I also enjoy Eureka, but that has a whole different vibe from BSG.
Too many to list, but some of my all time favorites are Buffy, Star Trek TNG and Farscape.
Currently, I really like Grimm.
I don’t currently watch a lot of tv (mainly due to not having a couch but that is another story) and while I’ve heard good things of Grimm and Once Upon a Time, I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of Once and none of Grimm. I’m interested enough that when we do get a couch, I’ll probably see about watching all the episodes in a marathon.
In the past though, I was dreadfully in love with Buck Rogers, the original Battlestar Galactica and the original Land of the Lost. As a family we also watched Star Trek together, which I enjoyed, but I never really loved it like the others I mentioned above.
I really wish there would be more fantasy on tv. Supernatural I hear is too scary for me. Sanctuary was very good but got bogged down and wasn’t consistently good. Things like Fringe and X-Files never appealed either.
My favourite really must be Firefly. The world development was fantastic and while speculative seemed somehow tangible and believable in it’s imagery of the future. Add in some Joss Whedon created dialogue and a cast whose chemistry positively sizzled on the screen and you had an intergalactic action packed western shindig with a healthy dollop of the funny. How Fox broke my heart with it’s cancellation.
Babylon 5 is the SFF that i grew up with though. I absolutely loved the various stories that all seemed to come back to the enjoyable arrogance that somehow humanity was the bravest, most stubborn and heroic species that ever existed. Go us, we kick evil alien ass with our mighty human emotions.
The Walking Dead is what fills my fix best these days. The excitable post apocalyptic escape from reality that makes any mundane activity seem ok, because you’re not fighting zombies for your life ever day.
I am enjoying Warehouse 13 and the new shows continuum and alphas are pretty good too
Josh Turner, if you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks. Please contact me (Tim) with your choice and a US address.