I hear Babylon 5 and The Expanse is nice, but I hear so little about those two shows I don’t know what to expect of these stories.
live action as animated recommendation is allowed.
The Orville is very good, as it also explores ethics and philosophy like Star Trek and has refreshing ship designs (for example, more vulviform or squid-like, instead of the usual saucer or phallic designs)
Orville is the most TNG since TNG.
The Orville needs a disclaimer, reassuring people that Seth McFarlane’s humour is reined in eventually (starting in season 2, iirc) and it grows from an okay parody of Trek and scifi into a show with surprisingly deep plot and character development and gags sprinkled on top. (SMF is a cool guy and he can be funny as long as he’s not trying to)
Everything about the Moclans is some of the most courageous stuff I’ve seen on TV, with obvious and still clever parallels to reality and no easy answers offered. And I hate that some people are probably turned off by Seth being Seth in the beginning and never see those storylines.
Yeah the Orville is pretty open on that. The first couple eps were written for fox execs who wanted frat boy humour. If the stars should appear (ep 4) is the point where you go “oh shit this is real trek!”
Babylon 5’s is great if you like serialization. The first season is very weak due to a major health crisis in the principal character that occurred between the shooting of the pilot and the launch of the series. The story was adjusted so that a new station head and actor could take on the lead.
Farscape is an absolute gem and a wild ride. It really picks up after the first 12 episodes. It’s so incredibly influential on so many science fiction shows in the streaming era that it’s worth watching just for that alone. Be aware that the show was canceled before it could wrap up its full arc. A limited series was made later to wrap up the storyline — make sure you’ll be able to be able to get it.
I’m a fan of many of the old 1960s and 1970s shows but watching them really depends on your tolerance for older production styles and scripting. Space 1999 is worth tracking down for sure.
In terms of more recent shows, three serialized shows that involved time travel that actually stuck the landing are Continuum, Travelers, and 12 Monkeys. All are very good, with strong ensembles, but reflect the darker sci-fi trend of the 2010s.
plus one to farscape. should have listed it in my mentions.
Farscape had absolutely no right to be that good on a $4.99 AUD budget
I highly suggest the skip/watch list for Farscape so people don’t waste time on the filler episodes and mandatory flashback episodes.
Definitely a YMMV situation.
Many episodes that may be described as ‘filler’ are ones that have side adventures or character development. Farscape isn’t rigidly serialized. Just because it’s not moving the main plot narrative doesn’t mean it’s filler.
The flashback episodes are a scourge of that time period.
Stargate had these dumb episodes every season where they found some reason like a court martial to show us flashbacks in case we forgot or missed an episode.
Battlestar Galactica (2004) is my all-timer. A lot of it feels incredibly salient today imo.
Babylon 5 is fantastic - I guess if I were to describe it briefly (and vaguely), it would be “interstellar political drama with mythological undertones.”
The Two are nice. Babylone 5 could seems dated today but there’s some really cool things in it
I’m on my first watch of Farscape, so far so good, great puppets
Firefly maybe ? But Adam Baldwin and Joss Whedon are two very big asshole
How dated is Babylone 5 compared with Deep Space Nine?
“The Two” ?
Babylone 5 and The Expanse. This two. Don’t know why my keyboard capitalise « Two »
Any of the classics really are worth a watch.
The Expanse - more realistic sci-fi that actually accounts for thrust as gravity and slingshots around planets and such. Dystopian but not quite depressingly so. I’m on season 2. Much more serious. Still good. Read the books with a friend.
Babylon 5 - Deep space 9 basically. Complete with godlike alien beliefs and a Vulcan like character. Honestly holds up really well from what I recall though it’s been a while since I watched it.
Stargate - very fun. Campy. Not afraid to make fun of itself. Much more action and tropy but a very fun watch. Added bonus, between all three shows you’ve got like 18 seasons. Plenty to bite into. Honestly one of my favorite shows still.
Firefly - A Western, in space. Very good. Very fun. Love it.
Farscape - almost but not quite a sci-fi parody, but good. Guy gets lost in space, meets aliens, goes on adventure. Several of the actors also got roles in later seasons of Stargate.
Here to fanboy over Babylon 5.
B5 is a political comfort show for me, especially these days. It was brazen for the 90s, with characters facing questions like: recovering from drug addiction, cross-cultural romantic relationships and their hurdles, colonization and genocide, bisexual representation, the loss of family members, and what to do if you’re a military member serving a regime that you hate. It’s deeply philosophical and mature, and it’s had a profound impact on my life.
It had the time to develop complex relationships between characters. One of my favorite characters is an alien ambassador named G’kar, played by Andreas Katsulas.
Just to add while the CGI aged the content of the dialog hits harder to me an adult than it did as a kids. Top work.
Apple TV has had such an amazing run of good sci-fi lately
Silo, Foundation, For all mankind, Murderbot (honestly my favorite), Dark Matter, Pluribus
They are putting out a ton of great stuff.
Their scifi is pretty much the only reason I keep my AppleTV subscription. They put out so much good stuff.
And Pluribus surprised me. I had no interest in it until I found out there are aliens.
Murderbot is fantastic and the Trek type show he’s obsessed with has actors who’ve been in actual Trek shows, it’s brilliant
If you want funny scifi but with a frequent emotional edge, Red Dwarf is fantastic.
I’m here to recommend The Expanse. It’s more of a near-future dystopian scifi setting than Star Trek, with humanity petty much limited to our own solar system by technology. I read the books before the show became a thing, and I like them both.
Lexx.
I hated it, but it’s something alright.
Upvoting the Lexx. Loved it. Some episodes were weak but that’s true of many shows.
I loved it because it was different.
Episode 2.18 - Brigadoom. Normally, musical episodes are shite, but that one is brilliant.
What’s to hate?
That shit is hilarious.
It didn’t really resonate with me in the sense that it does its thing well, but that thing is not compatible with me.
Like you can respect someone’s work ethics or dedication to their hobby, but you don’t have to like them as a person.
Well, I’d do a disservice to my hyperfixation if I didn’t at least bring up Doctor Who which does count as science fiction. If you’re looking for more in the vein of Star Trek, disregard and do go watch B5 and The Expanse.
I loved it as a child but it’s hard to rewatch. It’s not good.
Gotta be honest, I lost interest after a while because the basic premise needs juuust a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Although I’m sure, if you can accept the premise, the individual episodes can be entertaining.
Yeah if the initial premise seems too far out for you, probably best to stop there. The first season gets pretty weird in very 1970s ways at times.
Somebody’s got to mention Red Dwarf. It’s kind of like if The Office (UK) and Farscape had a baby and raised it on an old Dr. Who set.
Not sure if you’re actually wanting animated or not, but Scavenger’s Reign is a good animated sci-fi miniseries of a spaceship crew stranded on a strange planet.
For live action check out the two Callister episodes of Black Mirror.
