Watching The 4400 yesterday, I got to thinking: is this my favorite TV show? And I started thinking about other shows I've loved. So here are my thoughts.
A quick word about some shows I've left out. I know that many people are huge fans of Firefly, but I tried watching the show and just couldn't get into it. Maybe that's because I've never been a fan of westerns, and apparently the show is a kind of space western. Likewise, I've watched an episode or two of Doctor Who and Stargate SG1, and for some reason could never really get into either of those.
I have yet to watch the show Surface, which I hear good things about, and I intend at some point to rent Sliders via Netflix. These shows may merit the list, but I haven't yet seen them. Lastly, Red Dwarf. Haven't seen it. Yet.
#5: Star Trek: The Next Generation A great show. I'm sure I'd catch flak if I listed TV SciFi and left Star Trek out. It might be higher were it not for the fact that it's a bit dated.
#4: Lost I shouldn't need to say much here, as this is the biggest show on TV right about now, and with good reason. The show has some excellent writing, and it's very encouraging to me that J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindeloff are saying in The Official Lost Podcast that they have in mind explanations for everything that's happening, even though it may seem that they're just making stuff up as they go. As long as the explanation isn't "they're all dead" or "The entire show is a dream", I'll be happy.
#3: Battlestar Galactica It kills me to place this show so low on my list, and I struggled between this and my #2 selection for a bit. Perhaps they should be tied.
I never followed the original BSG series, so any inconsistancies between the two series don't bother me. The whole human-looking-Silons thing put me off a bit at first, as did the female Starbuck and Boomer characters, but I got over it quickly.
The physics of spaceflight seem more realistic than any other show I've seen, and I like the fact that they're using slugthrower weapons rather than ray guns. The writers take a lot of risks, and aren't afraid to tackle serious issues or to move the show in new directions, as evidenced by the recent season finale.
#2: The 4400 Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon here - The season three premiere is this coming weekend, and I have no idea where the writers will take the show. Some huge things happened in the last thirty seconds of the season two finale: All of the 4400 are beginning to gain supernatural abilities, Kyle is turning himself in for Jordan Collier's murder at the same time as Jordan Collier has miraculously returned from the dead, and Dr.Burkhoff is injecting himself with Promicin, which I assume should give him supernatural abilities of his own. Actually, I suspect that the people from the future took Collier's body. I only realized yesterday that when he was stumbling around all scruffy-looking, he was at same lake at which all the 4400 originally appeared.
The biggest stretch for me is Isabelle's instantaneous aging. I'm hoping that it doesn't come off as Deus Ex Machina. I have very high hopes for this show.
#1: Farscape After giving it some thought, I had to give first place to Farscape. The show combines action with humor so very well, and it's amazing that each season is better than the season before it. They took so many Sci Fi staples and twisted them in delightful unconventional ways. After the first season, the show gives up on returning to any kind of status quo after each episode. And the fact that the main character comes from America means that he can spout all sorts of pop culture, much to the confusion of everyone around him.
I recently obtained a copy of Farscape Season One. I'm sure I'll eventually pick up all four seasons. Best show ever.
I'd have to put Firefly on the top of my list. I love westerns, so that helps, but the writing was so amazing, it could have been a sci-fi florist show and I would have loved it.