Well, I'm sorry that the Martian Chronicles by Bradbury didn't make it there but I like the rest of the winners. And Firefly/Serenity taking top two? Can't ask for a stronger show of force from the fans than that.

Lioness | October 26, 21:54 CET

Wow, what a result.

I know some people will probably claim that the only reason Firefly and Serenity got so high was because we sort of united as fans to vote for them, but its fair enough that everyone is entitled to a vote, and I'm sure that a lot of people outside of the Browncoats must have voted to.

I mean our votes were split between two different items instead of counting them as one, so really the "franchise" received 37% in total, which is very high, especially compared with the Star Wars fandom, who I'm sure would also have contributed their votes. My suspiscion is that a lot of the people who enjoyed Serenity also picked up Firefly so we have a lot of new fans of both.

I also believe that both deserve a place in the top ten. Yes, I have tremendous respect for many of the other items in the list, and am a big Star Wars fan, but I just think in terms of the whole package, a good story, interesting and believable characters, an interesting take on the future, the acting and writing involved, Firefly and Serenity do deserve a place in sci-fi history, and hopefully in the future we will see more movies or series set in the 'verse.

Razor | October 26, 23:13 CET

I just started Ender's Game (if the author liked Firefly, it was worth a look) & it is really interesting.

gingeriffic | October 26, 23:19 CET

This is sort of silly, dividing them up all seperately like that. Firefly and Serenity, and then EACH of the Star Wars films. I have a feeling things would be different if it was the whole of Star Wars.

numbereleven | October 26, 23:43 CET

Oh, yes. Like Joss, Card is a writer who understands the "value" of putting his characters through tremendous pain. Ender is a very memorable character, too, even if he is not very quotable.

MissKittysMom | October 26, 23:54 CET

I'm very happy with this selection though I can correlate with Lioness that I'm at a lost the Martian Chronicles didn't make the top ten.

Still, our series and BDM taking the top two spots, quite a statement. Also pleased to see Dune in there as well as Battlestar (Wonder if they're referring to the old or new series?). I feel the Empire Strikes Back was the best of the SW saga with Star Wars a close second. The others don't include mentioning. Overall, good list IMO.

Madhatter | October 27, 01:13 CET

Cool. I suspect this says more about who was actually voting as opposed to the feeling in scifi fandom in general though.

Grounded | October 27, 01:38 CET

Ya think?

Simon | October 27, 02:01 CET

But no indication on whether that's the new or old Battlestar Galactica? I assume it's the new one...

crossoverman | October 27, 03:07 CET

To paraquote Steve Urkel: "Did we do that?". Oups...

Djungelurban | October 27, 03:07 CET

" But no indication on whether that's the new or old Battlestar Galactica? I assume it's the new one..."


It's the new one.

Here is a list of what was nominated.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/best-sci-fi-vote.ns

[ edited by SpookyRiverFan on 2005-10-27 01:17 ]

SpookyRiverFan | October 27, 03:17 CET

And if you've seen both of the old and new BSGs, KeithG's assumption is . . . well, no offense to lovers of the other show, but there ain't much doubt about which show is groundbreaking, and which is, um, headscratching.

SoddingNancyTribe | October 27, 03:38 CET

Hey, SNT, what's not to love about a show with a robot dog? And Patrick MacNee as the Devil!

The Devil's Robot | October 27, 03:51 CET

It's not a dog...it's a daggett! And Patrick MacNee isn't really playing the devil, he's John Steed gone really, really bad.

bobster | October 27, 03:54 CET

Oh, and I forgot the Space Basketball! Not to mention the planet with the Space Russians! Who could doubt this was the greatest sci-fi tv ever?

The Devil's Robot | October 27, 04:07 CET

Don't forget the cylon Gunslinger with the Aluminum hat, A Western in Space, how did anyone think that was going to work.....oh wait.

adventures in spelling | October 27, 05:32 CET

To be fair, there was the endearing '70s habit of ending each show on a freeze-frame of Apollo and Starbuck laughing and pointing at each other. Who does that any more?

The Devil's Robot | October 27, 06:21 CET

I am sure it is the new one. The new BSG is much better then the original. Better writing and better acting. I still love the original but BSG is the best sci fi on TV right now.

DarenG | October 27, 06:56 CET

I was quite heartbroken when Jane Seymour died...

ETA: This relentless mockery of the original BSG is dating me, isn't it?

The Devil's Robot | October 27, 07:25 CET

I'm just glad to see that Episode III didn't make it to the top 10. It's already in the imdb top 250.

StaffOSimon | October 27, 08:45 CET

Heh. Woo! I like to think that me posting the nomination round and voting round to whedonesque helped a bit in this result :-p. Other than that, it's a pretty cool list. I'm a tad surprised Ep III only got 17 votes though. We 'beat' SW by a wide mile...now if only we could do the same in BO results ;-).

GVH | October 27, 09:40 CET

I think it's really sad that there are only three books in those lists. For this subject matter written word is a superior format. As a tv-series, Firefly was as good as it gets, but as science fiction? Pick for example, one Iain M. Banks -novel and there is no contest. Or any good science fiction novel. Budgets, target audiences, special effects and visualisability of ideas don't limit where the written word can go, and generally it has gone much farther.

[ edited by futile on 2005-10-27 14:15 ]

futile | October 27, 16:14 CET

I think it's fairly obvious that the top three (Firefly, Serenity and Farscape) ended up as the top three due to their extremely dedicated fanbases. I mean, Firefly fans got themselves a movie and Farscape fans got themselves a mini series, both from prematurely cancelled series. Getting the top three spots in a poll is nothing compared to that. Don't get me wrong, i love both Firefly and Farscape dearly but there is no point in deluding ourselves that these two shows were given the top spots in an entirely fair way.

Besides, if these things were really done fairly then the brilliant Stargate would get a lot more recognition! I'm just saying, that's all!

Buffysmglover | October 27, 16:37 CET

Well, I don't know if I completely agree. Yes, written science fiction tends to be superior in both ideas and scale. But chraracterisation is of equal importance to me, and tv series have that part down perfectly, having time to devellop and look into characters. But yes, science fiction as a genre of ideas and wonder is better in the written form.

Now I want to point you to a quote from the no-longer linked article, that adresses the same issue (only three books in the top 10):


It appears as though books still play a big part :-)

ETA: fixed quote

[ edited by GVH on 2005-10-27 15:21 ]

GVH | October 27, 17:21 CET

Yeah, I found myself labeling it "meaningless internet poll" when so few of the SF classic books and stories made it near the top.

...and I'm not even a big enough SF fan to feel I have the right to suggest things that should be on the list. :-D

newcj | October 27, 19:32 CET