Top 5 Sci-Fi Shows not on best of decade lists

I'm not going to make a best of the 00's list mostly because everyone has the same shows, and I think they all belong. A general rundown of what everyone has: The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, The Shield, West Wing, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, and a random spattering of comedies.

Other than Lost and Battlestar Galactica, there is a lack of sci-fi shows which is understandable. The award shows and critics regularly pass over the genre entirely, but I love the genre, so here's a list of sci-fi shows of the decade that I liked that made few or no lists.

1. Firefly

I know Firefly made it onto several lists, but for the most part, the show gets much more credit from the fans than the critics. Seamlessly blending humor, science fiction, and Westerns, Joss Whedon came up with another hit that viewers didn't care about. I know there are lots of excuses made the the show and Whedon shows in general, but in the end, there is one valid excuse. Joss Whedon belongs on cable. The potential for FIrefly was endless and the 14 episodes only scraped the surface of what it could have been. But even still, the 14 episodes by themselves represent an untouchable level of science fiction. The casting, settings, and writing is as close to perfect as I can imagine.

2. Alias

The last two seasons and most of the third were difficult to watch, but the first two seasons are my favorite two consecutive seasons of television ever. Whenever someone praises Fringe and its relationships, I always think back to Alias. There is no competition. Sydney, Jack, Dixon, Vaughn, Marshall, etc made the show and the acting was fantastic. Jennifer Garner may never been a hit on the big screen, but she is the greatest television ass-kicker of all time.

3. Supernatural

The WB/CW may have low budgets, but that doesn't mean they can't make an occasional gem. The show evolved from two brothers chasing down the creepy crawlies and branched out into an epic struggle of heavenly proportions. The relationship between the Winchesters rivals the best of cable, but the award shows continue to ignore it.

4. Farscape

Underrated by the critics and overrated by the fans, Farscape took big leaps and never turned back, giving those still watching an exhilarating ride. The writers were never afraid to take risks and significantly shake things up. Sometimes it didn't work, but I have to commend them for bold choices few shows take. The range of the series was incredible, and I'm not sure there are any series out there that matches it. What show could have a Farscape version of Looney Tunes (Revenging Angel) and in the very next episode have a gut wrenching episode focusing on Aeryn (The Choice)?


5. Stargate SG-1

Unlike Buffy and The X-Files which aired bad episodes in the 2000s that make me consider them solely shows of the 90s, I consider SG-1 as much a show of the 00s as the 90s. The writers never made the characters too complex (which is why I think SGU doesn't work), but Stargate was always a fun show. The dialogue and humor worked well, and the action speaks for itself.

Can a one season TV show be considered great? (Firefly)

I was reading some blogs the other day, and I don't know what to make of Firefly when comparing it with other shows. My brother tells me that it's his favorite show (he has really watched that much tv), but I keep thinking how a 14-episode show could be that good. I want to go into my psychology and see if I make any sense.

Every show has good episodes and bad episodes. The good shows will usually have more good than bad, and the bad shows will usually have more bad than good. Most good shows will continue for several season assuming that the ratings are reasonable. As the show progresses, the viewers are able to see character development, and story development which is part of what makes a show overall, great (serialized drama).

For me, Firefly is an enigma I can’t really wrap my head around it. There are some episodes that are absolutely amazing (Out of Gas, Objects in Space) while others (The Train Job) weren’t so great. Almost all the episodes were of high quality and the cast is wonderful. I thought whoever did the casting did an awesome job especially without any big names. The characters had personalities and the dialogue was always spot-on. The over-arching mythology was intriguing though it was not delved into that much. The stand-alone episodes had that western feel along with scifi elements that made the show so fun to watch.

That being said, it was only a half-season. There were many unresolved storylines and lots of missing background for Shepard and Inara. There was only some character development surrounding Mal, Simon, and River. No one is at fault other than Fox which refused to renew a show with such a rabid fanbase.

So now I’m totally confused. The concept of the show is great, the characters are great, the music is great, the visual effects are great, but with only 14 episodes, where do I place this show among my favorites? This also relates to another show that is one of my favorites: Alias. I consider the first two seasons of Alias the best consecutive seasons of any show. While the later seasons tanked, season one and two are still unbelievably good enough to raise the stock of the entire show.

I certainly enjoy watching the single season of Firefly, but it doesn’t contain number of good episodes that The X-Files has even though the one season of Firefly is comparable to any season of XF. When I compare the show to Farscape, I immediately think Firefly is better. I consider Farscape overrated with the bad acting and soap-opera moments. However, Farscape does have a fairly fleshed out (and compelling) storyline though it only has 4 seasons and IMO better wrap-up with the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries than the Serenity movie.

I’m in deep water now. Based on the later comparison, do shows with big story arcs really matter than much to me? I wouldn’t stop watching NCIS just to watch a serialized show. I’m quite fine with crime procedurals or any procedural for that matter with all or most standalone episodes, so what is my deal with Firefly. Do I need more episodes for a show to be considered great? Is it just my disappointment there were no more seasons?

I’ll assume no one will really read my entire ramblings, but I think I may be closer to why I don’t put Firefly near the top of my favorite/best shows. It is my underlying frustration that there are no more episodes of the show than the spare number we have. The show could have been so much greater. Please comment and slap me back into the realm of logic.