I discovered Blastr this morning thanks to a link going around showing off an Empire Strikes Back chess set made of legos and have officially added the site to my ever growing google reader.
The first article I discovered was one naming the ten best Sci Fi Television Episodes of all time. And, I gotta say, it's a pretty damn good list. Open in up in a new window, read it, then come back here. Don't worry. I'll wait.
While I absolutely agree with their Buffy, Dr. Who, X-Files, Lost & Firefly episodes (and don't consider myself fluent enough in Outer Limits or Star Trek to have an opinion), I question their Battlestar choice. 33 is a great episode and as the first ep after the mini-series it DOES establish the tone of what's to come and all that, but I tend to lean more towards the season 2 or 3 finales...not that they were brilliant stand alone sci fi pieces, but they WERE breathtaking episodes of science fiction television. I won't be so silly as to suggest my own favorite BSG episode, Unfinished Business, as a candidate, considering there's practically no sci-fi in that episode whatsoever (but a whole of love and shipping!), but 33? I'm just not so sure.
Twilight Zone has so many classic episodes that Eye of the Beholder seems like a perfectly fine choice. It's classic, but disturbing & relevant classic, not almost-silly-at-this-point classic like let's say Nightmare at 2000 feet or overdone classic like To Serve Man. So while I suspect many will object to this selection, I'm actually fine with it.
If I had to add to this list...might I suggest a showing from Angel? If we are talking fantastic episodes that both played with & showed off the conventions of Science Fiction, it's hard to not look to season five's Smile Time. Watching that episode single handedly sold me on watching all of Angel's final season, and I sure am glad I made the effort - GREAT season, by far the best of the spin-off's five years.
So what would you add to this list? What would you take off? What would you tweak? Eager to hear your thoughts, especially from those of you who watch the Sci fi shows I haven't checked out yet i.e. Supernatural and....um...that might be it.
5 comments:
A fine list... but is it for me alone to stand up for Deep Space Nine's "Far Beyond the Stars"...?
glad you dug the list. it's always hard, picking just ten. I stand by these, but totally understand when the people, they pick their nits...
marc, I didn't even realize you wrote the list! damn, you know your scifi. though I never suspected anything less :).
were there any episodes that almost made it on the list, but that you ultimately decided against? dying to know!
need to add FARSCAPE: Scatch & Sniff and STARGATE ATLANTIS: Las Vegas. If you love a great soundtrack, the latter will blow your mind!
I think one of the the best sci fi show was Babylon 5. It had a beginning,a middle, and an end. Nothing was left unanswered.I'm currently watching Battlestar Galactica and half way through the series. It's a dark and gritty show, almost void of humour. Babylon 5 is still my all time favourite sci fi...it has a great cast of alien characters like Londo and G'kar and bits of humour too.
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