[dcc1]

The whole series is worth watching

Right now TV is in its "golden age" but there are no good sci-fi tv shows (hell even the word "scifi" is dirty somehow now, see > SyFy-lis).

Star Trek, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Outer Limits all gone replaced by Vampires and all sorts of supernatural rubbish.

Dr Who is the only interesting scifi show now worth watching, for the most part...

[pasbesoin]

I just stumbled across "Continuum" on Netflix streaming. The first two seasons kept me engaged.

I, too, am not one for the likes of SyFy's scary ("alien"!) monsters stuff.

[moron4hire]

Dr Who is fantasy, not sci-fi.

[dragonwriter]

Dr. Who is no less sci-fi than Star Trek.

[theophrastus]

someone needs to craft a Bechdel test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test) for sci-fi.

  1. has to have at least two established theories (cosmological or otherwise) in it
  2. they must combine to create a dramatic plot issue
  3. in a fashion which doesn't involve a time-loop paradox

that or some generic metric; "Firefly is delightful, but only scores 2.7 Asimovs"

...or not

[jerf]

You're probably looking for something like http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienc... , though it isn't entirely clear what you're fishing for.

[gknoy]

I agree that Dr. Who is most certainly science fiction, but I've __noticed__ a lot more instances of script-writer-protection of the heroes in the 2005+ Dr. Who. So many times that the bad guys decide to do something other than Just Kill Them.

I don't mind that the Sonic Screwdriver is a psychic Scotty in a stick ( ;) ), but the fact that the Doctor and friends don't get shot in the face (especially once he reveals who he is) more often is getting almost absurd.

Star Trek certainly has it's share of that kind of writer-armor for characters, but many more of them are less overt. As in, the Romulans/Klingons aren't going to just kill Kirk or Picard for $Reasons, or $Treaty.

[Frozenlock]

Dr. Who is frustrating.

Many seasons start with a great potential, only to fall on their face. It can create such nice ideas... and then destroy them by reusing and abusing them. (Weeping angels)

It also doesn't know how to 'scale'. In the first (2005+) episode with the Dalek, you see how terrible and brutally efficient they are. Fast forward a few episodes/seasons, and now you must have an entire army to show how things are 'bad'.

Did you notice how many times the overall arc changes? Or rather, how it isn't described at all so the writers can come up with whatever they want?

SPOILERS

"Bad wolf" ---> "Oh I've just taken these words and sent them myself in the past." Yeah, right.

"Silence will fall" ---> So it's an event? Eh... no... it's a species that make you forget when you watch them? Almost... It's a religious movement! There! Phew, we almost had to plan something!

[chrisgd]

Check out the 100 on the CW. Seriously

[nitrogen]

It's not in the same optimistic genre as Star Trek TNG, but the 100 is watchable. It has a younger cast, so it might be better at getting younger viewers into sci-fi. Other current sci-fi, also not in the TNG genre but still enjoyable: Continuum, Defiance.

[pwelch]

Dr Who is really the best one right now.

Continuum is pretty good but it's no Star Trek/Stargate.

Falling Skies is okay but I don't think it's technically Sci-Fi.

We could really use some new Sci-Fi shows.

[masmullin]

OMG its terrible.

[morganvachon]

Actually it's a great premise, but it is overshadowed by the "cool teen" factor which plagues other shows on the CW (though Arrow has mostly been able to escape that..for now).

The Vampire Diaries is a good example of what being on the CW does to a show. It started out in the first two seasons as a dark, violent, mostly serious take on the "teenage vampire" trope, and could be enjoyed by both teens and GenX/GenY fans of the vampire genre. It has a pretty good cast (Nina Dobrev's "Katie Holmes v2" notwithstanding). After those first seasons, however, it devolved into the stereotypical teen drama + nonsensical mysticism. Eventually, after seeing a school dance or town festival as the main plot device every two episodes, I had to stop watching it. My wife still watches, but she tends to enjoy the occasional plotless teen drama.