Top 10 Sci Fi TV Shows

We'll do movies next month. But now, we're talking about the TV series that have not only glued us to our seats, but also withstood the test of time as pure classics or as cult classics. But, we're going to have a simple top 10, regardless of whether or not its a cult classic or a pure classic.

Personally, I have been a Star Wars/ Trek guy all my life. I had seen all of the original Star Trek series and the movies long before Star Trek: The Next Generation came out. I saw the original Star Wars films in the theater too, when they were first released. I had also seen many Sci Fi movies. But, I never got into sci fi TV other than Star Trek and the original V, and Battlestar Galactica until very recently. Yes, I did a lot of catching up.

A tornado was responsible for taking me to a new world.
Sound familiar?

In early 2011, I lived in Chattanooga, TN. During a very dangerous storm that spawned hundreds of tornadoes throughout the region, a tornado hit my place. My satellite dish was broken, and because of the damage to the entire area, they estimated a week before they would be able to fix it. Once the power was restored, I went to Blockbuster, and was there specifically to find TV shows. I decided upon the remake of Battlestar Galactica because I had heard great things about it. I watched the 3 disks that I rented in one day, and had returned them for 3 more later that evening. I was hooked. I didn't even care when the satellite TV company fixed my dish. I didn't watch anything other than Battlestar Galactica until I had finished the series. After that, I decided to watch as many sci fi shows as I could. All of the shows listed in this list with the exception of Star Trek and V, I have seen for the first time since 2011. I have seen every single episode of all these shows except for one of them. And no, these are not just the only ones I've seen. I've seen much more in addition to these. So, enough of my yacking..Lets get on with it!

Number 10: Lexx. A dumb security guard, an assassin, a love slave, and a robot head who is obsessed with the love slave wind up in charge of an enormous bug shaped doomsday weapon, and set off to escape tyranny. But, tyranny follows, especially when you are carrying the living brains of the various tyrants from the past. This is an adult show that doesn't take itself seriously. Its a sci fi comedy that hits on all cylinders. However, it definitely isn't for everyone. NOTE: The first season is 4 full length movies. Just watch the first and fourth movies. The second and third simply are not watchable. The rest of the series? Great! Plus, the show ran 4 seasons, and was not cancelled.



Number 9: The Original V. No, not the remake in 2009. That was getting very good, but it was cancelled on a brutal cliffhanger. No, the original with Marc Singer was a masterpiece. It was scary, and the special effects were excellent for their time. It looked real, and it made you question the mental capacity of those in the human race who would sell out their own kind for a few scraps from an invading dictator's table. It showed the choice that we all would have to make should something like that happen...Fight or be a slave. The Original V was amazing. I've seen it straight through many times, and I could watch it all over again right now without being bored.

Number 8: Babylon 5. The humans picked a fight with a superior enemy. A war breaks out. Humanity is about to be wiped out, but they...win? The enemy surrendered on the eve of victory? What the hell? The humans built an outpost in neutral territory for all races to converge and do business, work out treaties, etc. But, there are of course other dangers, both from within and from a distance. Its a show that explores relationships in various species, politics, and religion, all with the threat of war hanging over everyone. The CGI looks cheesy now, but when the series aired, they represented cutting edge CGI. This is a great show that will hook you.

Number 7: Stargate. I am talking about all 3 of the shows that were created as a result of the movie. The gate that transports you to other worlds, and even galaxies using devices that create wormholes. You also get to explore the origins of Earth mythology. 3 shows. SG1, which continued where the movie left off, Atlantis, where humans find the lost city of Atlantis..in another galaxy, and meet one of the scariest villains ever shown on screen, and Universe. Humans discover a ship that is programmed on a mission to the end of the universe. A franchise that had 3 shows, 17 20+ episode seasons, and spawned 2 movies? Yeah, this has to be on the list. It would have listed higher, but some of the very early seasons didn't age very well. But, don't let that stop you from watching! You will be addicted!


Number 6: Fringe. A story of parallel universes, one of which has a bronze Statue of Liberty and a World Trade Center, mad scientists, aliens, looming Dystopian future and a secret division of the FBI. You like sci fi suspense? This is your show. Great characters, and stories. Look...If Leonard Nimoy is in it, its gotta be good right? See this one. In fact, see all of the shows listed here.


Number 5: Firefly. It only ran for one season, and its airing was botched, but it was one of the best inaugural seasons of all time. This series hits the ground running, grabs you, and refuses to let go. Its a sci-fi western for lack of a better term. Takes place in the future, where humans have migrated into deep space to escape an oppressive government, and they do what they need to do to stay alive. It has great characters, with development that doesn't take place in most series until the third season or after. It was cancelled, but the fans kept it alive, and a full length feature film was made and released. Considering how great this one season is, if this show had been allowed to continue, it would undoubtedly be the greatest sci fi TV show of all time.

Number 4: Farscape. The story of a present day astronaut who gets sucked into a distant part of space with all sorts of aliens, danger, and humor as well. This series is very well done. The main plot line is that the lead character has wormhole knowledge in his head, put there by aliens. There is a powerful villain who is chasing him from one side of the galaxy to another. This one ran 4 seasons, and was cancelled (stupidly) by SyFy. Like Firefly, the fans rallied, and a mini series was made to tie up the loose ends. A feature Farscape film is in the works as I write this.



Number 3: Battlestar Galactica Remake. The show that got me into sci fi TV shows. Although This is a re imagining of the 1978 series, the main premise is the same. A robotic race annihilates most of humanity except for a rag tag fleet of survivors; the Cylons who hunt the humans relentlessly. It does have several differences though. The Cylons look like people, and the show actually has the mood that the whole universe has been torn apart by a superior enemy. Although there are several nods to the original series, and the general premise is the same, the story is completely new, and the characters are believable. They are flawed like everyone else. The series focuses on human relationships, duty in the face of annihilation, religion and politics. BSG is also super addicting. Since 2011, I've seen it from start to finish 4 times.

Number 2: Star Trek. What can you say? 5 series, 28 20+ episode seasons, 10 movies, and a current reboot that has 2 movies, and new series in the works. Although Star Trek: The Next Generation is hard to watch these days in my opinion. Star Trek has not only influenced future sci fi, it has also influenced lots of technology. This franchise will be along for many generations to come.



And finally, Number One. If Star Trek is Number Two, there can only be one possibility for number one. And, it is none other than Doctor Who. Its the story of a man from another planet. A time lord who travels time and space, experiencing history and the future, doing good, accompanied by human companions. 13 different people have played The Doctor, and the show has been borrowed from on many different sci fi shows and movies. For example, the Borg on Star Trek? Cybermen. There have been 35 seasons, countless movies, spinoff series, etc. It has even survived a 15 year hiatus, and came back and was immediately adopted by a brand new generation of fans. Doctor Who started it all. A madman in a box. Another show that will be around for many generations to come. (Doctor Who is the show I mentioned that I haven't seen every episode, but I am working on it. At the time I write this, I have seen all of the first and second Doctors, over half of the third, some of the fourth, and everything from the ninth, tenth, and eleventh, and am eagerly awaiting the 12th Doctor next month.)

So, there you have it. My top 10. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know! Some great shows that I am currently watching or that didn't make the list are Falling Skies, Continuum, and while it may not be sci fi, The Last Ship is a pretty damn good show so far.

Five of the Best and Five of the Worst Halloween Costumes...

Happy 50'th blog post to me!

...That I've seen! ...well, that I've seen pictures of. Come on now, you really didn't think I've been taking Maybe I was. WOOOOOOOO!!!!!
pictures of the good and bad costumes over the years, and saving them for a blog that I would officially start in early 2013 did you?

And, the way, this is my 50'th blog post on this blog. YAY! WOO HOO! CLICK HERE!!! Ok, so, I've written 50 blog posts now, and I guess its pretty cool that the big 5-0 comes to us on Halloween. Of course, that also means that it will take a little while longer to get this one viewed and read by my loyal readers since you will all be out with the kids trick or treating, or dressing up in super revealing scary or silly costumes, and going out to the bar to get completely obliterated, and go to work tomorrow completely hung over, with spirit gum in your hair! Or, maybe you'll be the one yelling at kids telling them that they are all going to hell for glorifying the devil. Ok, I got a little carried away there. Me? I'll be at home watching my Miami Dolphins lose their fifth game in a row to the Bengals. Anyway, enough of my filibuster. Enjoy this, my 50'th blog post!

Show some freaking creativity!

We'll start with the best. I have a brief criteria on Halloween costumes to be considered for either the best or worst. Its simple. They have to be homemade. None of these kit costumes that you buy from a costume show that are made from the cheapest material, and look fake as hell. That's my criteria. And, keep in mind that my worst costume that I list here will be 10 times better than any costume you buy from a store. I have more respect for something that someone put effort into that didn't turn out that great than I do someone that looks great in a store bought costume. So, here we go.


In no particular order, I give you...The 5 Best Halloween Costumes! 

Number 5: This might be the best. Look at the detail. Someone spent alot of time on this masterpiece. This would terrify any kid, and maybe even some adults too. This is everything that a Halloween costume should be. The origins of the costumes were to blend in with the evil spirits in order to stay safe. This costume would accomplish that, and it may even scare some of the REAL evil spirits! You think those 2 morons in the picture above would scare anybody? Maybe Billy Ray Cyrus, but that's about it. So, whoever this is, BRAVO!  By the way, this was home made. It was not made in a movie studio.



Number 4: So, maybe you don't have the money, time or skill to do something like this badass above, but you still want to look scary. No problem. You can be the best looking zombie at your Halloween party. All it takes is a little time and creativity. There are instructions on Youtube for doing petty much any FX makeup job you want. Find them, and you can look like this. Although, be careful. If Daryl sees you, he might be tempted to give you a lobotomy with an arrow from his crossbow. 

Don't blink!

Number 3: So, maybe gruesome or scary demon monster isn't your thing. You can still pull off a great costume with a little paint or Rit Dye, some styrofoam, some cloth, and some cotton or ruffles. Even though this costume is very plain, it is also very detailed. This person put just as much effort into the costume as our zombie hottie above put into hers. Believe it or not, there is a culture of people 'WHO' would find this costume VERY scary. If you don't know 'WHO' I'm talking about, do a little bit of Googling. Hint: I am not talking about Pete Townsend or Roger Daltrey, and I am not talking about Abbot and Costello fans.

Hulk MISSED A SPOT!

Number 2: Maybe you're on a budget. You want to look good, and don't want to be a statue. You can still easily make yourself into a number of very recognizable movie icons. Ok, sure. Not everyone is a muscle head like this guy, but you get my point. He looks better than any crappy Hulk costume that you could buy. And if you're one of my female readers, and you're thinking I'm not much help because you're a woman and Hulk is a man? Well, click here. (I promise it isn't another Kool and the Gang video)

Number 1: Cosplay! (you have NO idea how hard it was to find a completely  homemade cosplay example that would fall into the 'best homemade' category. But I finally found one. Its the gorgeous redhead love slave, Zev Bellringer from the cult Sci Fi series, Lexx, played by the lovely Xenia Seeberg. This is not a picture of Seeberg. The costume is homemade. Its made from layers of snake skin fabric. Click here to see a photo of Seeberg in her Zev outfit and all her beauty. 





Those were freaking awesome weren't they? 

And NOW, I give you the BAD ones!!


Keep in mind, I said that the worst bad homemade costume is better than the 
best store bought costume.


Number 5: I know its just a kid, but come on. A pizza? Really? That's almost as scary as the wind in the 'The Happening.' That kid's parents obviously put alot of work into that. So, why not come up with something cool? A for effort, F for effect.
movie

And, that's another thing. Costumes should never be something that gets eaten unless its a character in a movie that gets eaten by a monster. Like this guy. Hey, it works. It takes slightly more thought than a freaking pizza!

Number 4: This might just be the worst one. Thankfully, I am out of college, and I don't have to worry about seeing this type of costume. Homemade? Yes. Clever? No. Stupid? Yes. Scary? No. Fail? You betcha! And, I am not going to give the walking box of tampons a view here, but it is the same thing.

Really, people! When I was looking for these pictures, I saw some pretty creative stuff that people did with boxes. Like this guy.




Number 3: Cosplay! Yes, cosplay makes yet another appearance. Scantily clad sexy woman with a mask on. They win some contests too from time to time, usually beating out something cool that someone worked really hard on. And, usually the contests they win are attended by people like the ones in photo number 4. Its Halloween. Not Spring Break. A mask on top of a bikini does not make a good costume. Sexy, yes. Good, no. And, look at the woman behind and to the right of our Spring Break Stormtrooper. Jealous much? Geez! I can feel the scorn coming right off the picture!

Number 2: The zero effort guy. Here is the exception to my rule about a homemade costume being better than a store bought one. A store bought Iron Man costume would be MUCH better than this. Here are a couple things he didn't take into consideration: 1, he is a walking fire hazard. 2, A tree died so he could have a costume. 3, his costume will later in the party fall victim to a guy needing a piece of paper to get a girl's phone number. At least try, dude!

BOOOOO!!!! No, not "BOO!" I am BOOING you.
As in YOU SUCK!!

Number 1: Ghosts. Need I say more? Its slightly better than the knucklehead above, but not much.

It isn't hard to whip up costumes from movie characters, as numbers 1 and 2 in the good costume category
show. All I am saying here is that you only get one day a year to dress up. Would you rather put effort into it, or just go buy a costume. Either way, you're only going to wear it once, and you buy your clothes from a store. Why not put effort into it, and make a costume that people will remember, rather than buying cheap clothes that vaguely resemble something from a movie? If you make it, it will look 10 times better than those cheap costumes. 

Gotta have an honorable mention for something that is as much bad as it is awesome!

I know I'm a little late with this post for this year, but, I put effort into it. If you read it, you WILL remember it next year, and you'll likely look into making your own costume. So, be creative! Have fun! And above all,

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!