Sci-Fi Kick: A List

As of late, many of my fellow (and female) bloggers have been posting blogs concerning Star Trek and Star Wars. Having been a sci fi fan for what seems like a lifetime, I thought I would give my two cents worth. Actually, I already added my two cents worth with a post about Space:1999, but who says I cant write another?

Here is my list, in no particular order, of Sci-fi television shows from the past few decades, and (in my view) why they did or did not catch on.

1. StarLost- This was ULTRA BORING. Canada’s donation to the science fiction world was the boringest (is that a word?) show ever. The premise of the program was this ship called ‘Ark’, which was actually a colony from earth that gets lost. Generations later, the descendents of the original colony tell their story, which reads out like a soap. God help us if this ever makes a comeback on the big screen, but then again, who knows?
2. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. I used to love this show when I was a kid, although the show never lasted very long. In just two seasons, the hero, Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard in thinner times) was catapulted from the year 1987 (the year of my first and very short marriage), and into the 25th century some 500 years later. One can only imagine the adventures that awaited our hero. Only one force could stop our trusty hero, the actor’s strike of 1980.  After the strike, the show resumed for its second season, with a new team of writers and new dumb ideas which led to an end of the series. There was a comeback movie (isn’t there always) but little else. Check out the original comic strip for more adventures of Buck Rogers. Much better storylines than the TV show.
3. V (the original series) – I liked this ‘Invasion of Body Snatchers’ clone. The acting was great although the special effects were lame, and each episode was filled to the brim with action. I still remember the aliens eating rats. When I was younger, this scared the hell out of me. The series introduced the world to Freddie Kruger star Robert Englund, who starred as the harmless star child Willie. Willie was a child of alien and human, and for me, the star of the show. This show was ahead of its time and should have continued longer than its 2 year run. The show ran from 1984-85. A great series that later led to the sequel series that bombed last year.
4. Quantum Leap –  This show was so cool. Scott BaKula and former child actor Dean Stockwell starred as Sam and Al, who could jump through time, taking on the personas of other people. Although others seen them as the people they took over, we seen them as Sam and Al. The show ran from 89-93 and was interesting, comical, informative and above all, entertaining. I would watch this again if I could find it on DVD.
5. Dr. Who – I must be the only human being on the planet who hasn’t watched this program, but that may change soon. The students here at the school tune in to this program every chance they get, and one of them even bought me the box set. I will report on my opinion of this, the longest running science fiction program in history, when I finish watching a few episodes.
6. X-Files. I never missed an episode of the paranoid paranormal investigator Mulder and his beautiful associate Scully in their search for extraterrestrial life here on earth and beyond. An interesting series with a very disappointing and boring sequel movie that followed.
7. Lost – You can ask Kayjai and she will tell you that we both followed this television show with a passion until the end, when we were both left with the feeling that our pie lacked filling. In the six years that the show ran, we spent hours checking out online blogs, asking questions, and partaking in many discussions on what the hell was going on, and what we wanted to happen in the end. It didn’t. The ending left us asking more questions than the entire series.
8. Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Enterprise – I listed those two together because for me, they were space bombs.  Deep Space Nine had all the action and excitement of the Star Lost show, with even duller actors.  The ‘Space-Soap’ of the Star Trek series, I just couldn’t get interested in neither the TV show nor the novels.  Star Trek Enterprise starred Scott Bakula, from the above mentioned Quantum Leap series, and it showed how casting means everything. I found that there was a lack of continuity in the story lines, and each episode left me with a space soap feeling. B.O.R.I.N.G.
9. Battlestar Galactica – I listed this one only because so many of my friends were into the series. Personally, I found it confusing and boring. The series came back for a while in the 2000’s
10. Star Trek – I saved the best for the last. What can I say? Years ahead of its time (probably the reason the show didn’t last) and to this day, many of the technologies used in the series are a reality today. Cell phones, MRI and CT Scans, and computers, etc were all used in the series and now in our lives.  I can’t wait until they invent the transporter, imagine how much gas we will save. The show (for those who have been a coma since the fifties) follows the crew of the Star Ship Enterprise, and its five year mission to boldly go where no man (this was changed to the more politically correct ‘Where no one has gone before’ in the Star Trek The Next Generation’ series, which I also loved) has gone before. Several sequels, a ton of movies, comic books, novels, games and Trekkie conventions later, and the Star Trek world is still alive and ticking.
11. If this were a top eleven list, I would have included Star Gate, Star Trek TNG, and many more, but I limited myself to ten.

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Space:1999 Now That was science fiction

Lately, there have been many a post about the Seventies. I lived the seventies, mostly as a kid, but I was still there. Believe me, that stupid program ‘That 70’s Show’ had nothing to do with my Seventies experience.

When I was a kid (God I say that a lot!) one of my favorite television shows was Space 1999. The show ran from 1975-1977, and featured the adventures of Moonbase Alpha as a portion of the moon was ripped from its orbit and drifted through space.

Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, the husband and wife team that worked together in the old Mission Impossible series starred, along with actors from both Canada and the UK.

Special effects on the show were not that great, but with the great story lines, who really needed special effects?

Of course, Captain Koenig wasn’t nearly as cool as Captain Kirk, and he didn’t go around bedding half the females in the universe.  Koenig was a family man, which was quite a stretch from most male leads in Sci-Fi series of the day.

Since the show was produced in the Seventies, Polyester was the clothing of choice. I find it particularly funny to think that in 1975, the futuristic world existed in 1999; and here we are in 2012 and not all that much has changed, other than the lack of polyester clothing seen in the fashion shows and on the streets.

In the second season of the show, a new character was introduced, a sexy creature named Maya, who could change herself into any animal, being or alien that she chose. Man, was she sexy, at least for a kid of 12 years of age!

I hear that they are planning a sequel to the show entitled Space:2099. Please don’t do this, we do not need a 21th century version of the show, we all seen how that worked out in the past.