io9 post list of top 100 scifi shows, have big ugly face that’s as dumb as a butt

[Ben Paddon]

One of io9’s blogging monkeys has smacked randomly at his typewriter long enough to “compile” a list of the Top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows Of All Time. I’ve already written at length about the ridiculous nature of the list, but allow me to skip to the important bit – where did they put Red Dwarf?

Red Dwarf came in 54th place.

It was beaten by Knight Rider, which came in 52nd, Lexx, which rather inexplicably came in 34th place, and Mork & Mindy, which came in 30th.

Hyperdrive failed to make the list at all.

Topic

[Arlene Rimmer BSc SSc]

Red Dwarf came in 54th place.

It was beaten by Knight Rider, which came in 52nd, Lexx, which rather inexplicably came in 34th place, and Mork & Mindy, which came in 30th.

have big ugly face that’s as dumb as a butt

You make a highly persuasive argument here, Ben.

[TheLeen]

I liked Lexx

[hummingbird]

> It was beaten by Knight Rider, which came in 52nd, Lexx, which rather inexplicably came in 34th place, and Mork & Mindy, which came in 30th.

WTF ?!??

[Ben Paddon]

Marleen, do you think that Lexx is, in all honesty, a better show than Red Dwarf?

For the record I didn’t really get on with Lexx.

[Bob Loblaw]

37. Supernatural – could be a bit higher up.
26. Angel – could be a lot higher up.
18. Fringe – really?
16. Dollhouse – “It’s hard to think of a TV show that’s created as much controversy in recent years as this one”…for being disappointing?

The top 10 seems fair enough.

[ChrisM]

>I liked Lexx

Me too. Well partly, it got a bit repetitive and irritating at times but I quite liked the dark toungue in cheek humour and the universe(s) they created. (Got a bit nonsensical in the last couple of series though.) It was a nice surprise to see Craig and Hattie turn up in it though. Kind of amusing that Craig actually turned out to be one of the straightest actors. Everyone else seemed to over-act. A lot.

And then there was Xev. One of the sauciest minxes to appear in the whole of sci-fi.

I’d certainly rate Red Dwarf higher though, but the tone of the shows is rather different.

[JamesTC]

54?

Lets take a look.
Out of the shows I watch on the list.
Torchwood beat Red Dwarf? Shit.
Quantum Leap beat Red Dwarf? Nah.
Angel beat Red Dwarf? What?
Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles beat Red Dwarf? Hold on, I need to make a refrence to god.
Dollhouse beat Red Dwarf? Actually I should be saying “Dollhouse beat Angel?”
Futurama beat Red Dwarf? I don’t agree but I can see why it did.
DS9 beat Red Dwarf? If a Trek series is to beat it I am glad it is that one.
Babylon 5 beat Red Dwarf? I don’t watch Babylon 5, I just thought it needed a mention because I think it is shit.
Buffy beat Red Dwarf? I have nothing to say, except Red Dwarf is obviously better.
TNG beat Red Dwarf? I guess it would appear higher up, but I can easily say after re-watching every episode of TNG in that past 2 months that Red Dwarf is better!
Firefly beat Red Dwarf? Fair enough, I am glad Firefly is getting recognition is deserves.
Doctor Who beat Red Dwarf? I guess since after Red Dwarf, Doctor Who is my favourite show, I would say it deserves number two, but not when number one is…
TOS, it beat Red Dwarf? Hold on, I have to go back in time and fight a god like being on a planet that is a replica of a certain period of past earth.

Every show I mentioned is a show I like, except Babylon 5 that is.

[Andrew]

> I don?t watch Babylon 5, I just thought it needed a mention because I think it is shit.

That you see zero irony in this statement speaks volumes.

It’s probably all those confusing levels the show has…

[JamesTC]

I have seen Babylon 5, I tried to get into it watching the first 3 or 4 episodes but there none of the characters gripped me and there was one character I found really annoying.

[ChrisM]

I wasn’t keen on Babylon 5 in the early days. I found it a bit soap-operaish for my tastes.

On watching some later series on repeats it ended up one of my favourite science fiction shows though. The ongoing story arcs (the shadow war stuff, etc) is very interesting. I think I generally prefer it to Star Trek now. I say ‘generally’ as I have a soft spot for the Star Trek films, and the good episodes of Trek are very good.

I’ve yet to see the new Babylon 5 stuff. Most reviews I’ve read are negative, but I prefer to judge for myself. Most people disliked Enterprise and I liked that one. ;)

[JamesTC]

I loved Enterprise, certainly Season 3 and 4 were two of the best Trek has ever done.

[Dave]

>I have nothing to say, except Red Dwarf is obviously better.

That sentence starts off well.

[JamesTC]

Well I can’t really put down Buffy like some other shows that I watch (even the ones that I love), it is a wonderful show, just when I compare it to Red Dwarf it isn’t as good.

[Jonathan Capps]

If Babylon 5 bashing is going to start don’t be surprised when me and Andrew start kicking shins with our spiked boots and Mick starts oiling himself up for some ass kicking…

[Ian Symes]

Derek! Babylon 5’s a big pile of shit!

[Danny Stephenson]

GET IN!

[Ben Paddon]

Dad, you’re right. But let’s give Krull a try, and we’ll discuss it later.

[hummingbird]

I love you. You know that, don’t you?

[Ben Paddon]

I love you too, but alas we can never be. Hopefully we can still be friends.

[TheLeen]

> Marleen, do you think that Lexx is, in all honesty, a better show than Red Dwarf?

I think that all those programmes shouldn’t even be on the same list. I don’t think you can really rank / compare shows of so different genres.

I personally like Red Dwarf better (and own the DVDs, and I don’t have the Lexx ones).

Anyway.

I thought Red Dwarf deserved to be placed higher.
But that doesn’t mean I thought all the other shows deserved to be placed lower. You know what I mean?

[pfm]

> The top 10 seems fair enough.

I haven’t seen Firefly yet but it seems a tad ridiculous to place it as the 3rd greatest sci-fi show of all-time. Above The X-Files? Above Dwarf, for that matter?? Above Galactica and Lost? Above SLIDERS????

[Dave]

>I haven?t seen Firefly yet but it seems a tad ridiculous to place it as the 3rd greatest sci-fi show of all-time. Above The X-Files? Above Dwarf, for that matter?? Above Galactica and Lost? Above SLIDERS????

When you watch it, you will reconsider this.

[Ben Paddon]

Firefly’s position is deserved.

[hummingbird]

> When you watch it, you will reconsider this.

This.
Go buy it. Now.

I’m probably going to get shot down for this, but I’ve never been able to understand why BSG is rated so highly. I’ve seen the first season and, yes, it was enjoyable and the production values were good, etc, etc, but I’ve never liked it enough to stick around for subsequent series. Or indeed re-watch S1.
It was decent TV, but it never engaged me the way, say, Firefly or Lost does, or a lot of others on the list.

Is it just me? Did I bail out too soon?

[pfm]

I’m gonna watch Firefly. Just like I’m gonna watch The Wire (I actually have all 5 seasons now so Baltimore, here I soon come).

[peas_and_corn]

>I haven?t seen Firefly yet but it seems a tad ridiculous to place it as the 3rd greatest sci-fi show of all-time. Above The X-Files? Above Dwarf, for that matter?? Above Galactica and Lost? Above SLIDERS????

The X Files is sci fi? I always saw it as “horror”/drama.

[JamesTC]

You can get Firefly for about ?10 at the moment, for 14 brilliant episodes it is a bargain. You can also get the film Serenity for only a few quid.

[Ben Paddon]

Don’t watch Serenity without watching Firefly first.

[JamesTC]

I did, Serenity got me into it despite how bloody confusing it was.

[TheLeen]

I?m probably going to get shot down for this, but I?ve never been able to understand why BSG is rated so highly. I?ve seen the first season and, yes, it was enjoyable and the production values were good, etc, etc, but I?ve never liked it enough to stick around for subsequent series. Or indeed re-watch S1.

When you watch (all of) it, you will reconsider this.

[pfm]

Season 4 should have been so much better. All Ronald D Moore seems to want to do is apologise for it, and rightly so. I’d say only around 5-6 of the episodes were up there with anything before it.

The finale is pretty good (I’m one of the people who actually likes Starbuck’s ending and the Caprica flashbacks, even though they should have connected more with the plot). It’s far from perfect though. Stuff like Moore’s cameo fucks it up. Even if you didn’t know it was Moore you’d be like ‘who the heck is this guy?’ because it’s as subtle as a redtube clip. The CGI for the last fight around the singularity is seriously impressive for a TV show. The Star Wars live-action TV series has this to beat (if they EVER get around to making it).

[Ben Paddon]

Wow, monkey. You really do not like anything, do you? I thought season 4 was marvellous from start to finish.

[Phil1034]

> I thought season 4 was marvellous from start to finish.

I second that.

[The PerformingMonkey]

The Starbuck piano episode was excellent, and the mutiny episodes. Those and the finale aside I find it hard to even think of any other truly great moments. The first episode back after the break was pretty good, I suppose, with the revelation that the Five were on ‘Earth’ before the nukes hit and giving us the identity of the Fifth once and for all.

Moore got completely lost though. Trying to tie in the Caprica series AND a 2,000-year-old Cylon history. The exposition episode with Ellen and Cavill was pretty unforgivable. It’s like they went ‘oh shit, the plot, the BACKSTORY!!! We forgot to tell it, let’s cram it into one episode, that’ll work!!’

[TheLeen]

I prefer season 3 to season 4, but all of it was fun to watch, and anyway I was so addicted at that point that it probably didn’t matter anymore.

[Author]

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