Really the top 50?

[laurion]

Boston Globe has posted their list of what they consider the top 50 sci-fi shows of all time. Not sure as I agree with all of it, but it's pretty interesting. Nice to see a couple of rare gems land on the list too.

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Comments

[taellosse.livejournal.com]

How on earth did Andromeda, Xena, and Earth: Final Conflict get spots on that list when Farscape, DS9</>, and Angel didn't even get mentioned? I'd argue with the order of a number of those, too. Still, it is a reasonably comprehensive list.

[taellosse.livejournal.com]

Crap. Must've forgotten to close my italics markup at the end there. Oh well.

[laurion]

See, Angel and Buffy I don't hold to be Sci-fi, and Xena definitely not. Angel and Buffy don't usually present a world significantly technologically advanced from our own, and when they do, that tech is in the hands of, and representative of, an elite group (Collective, E.G.). Xena is purely fantasy, or fantastical mythology.

For me, a sci-fi show is one where the advanced technology is part of the universe or setting of the show. My Favorite Martian wouldn't work if it didn't incorporate UFOs. Buffy and Angel can operate perfectly well within the technological limitations of today, and usually did.

Not to say they weren't good shows...

[taellosse.livejournal.com]

Anyone that isn't a member of the subculture themselves (as the people writing that article almost certainly were not) makes no distinction between science-fiction and fantasy. They are both shelved together in bookstores, and all movies and television shows that are one or the other are lumped into "sci-fi." While those of us who actually care understand that there is a distinction, no one else ever will, so I've largely given up fighting that particular battle. If there isn't going to be a public distinction, then they need to be considered equally, and, as such, Angel is certainly more meritorious than Xena: Warrior Princess (at least Hercules: The Legendary Journeys wasn't added in).