Twenty Stellar Sci-Fi Themes From TV
Among the most apparent reasons why Sci-Fi is so popular is simply because it’s highly unlikely that any of this stuff could ever realistically happen in your life time. Since the beginning of television, Sci-Fi has become one of the most popular staple mediums with many past classics including, “Buck Rogers”, “The Land of the Lost”, and “The Six-Million Dollar Man”. And the popularity has just risen exponentially throughout the years. Sci-Fi has branched into comedy, long-running shows that have spawned (or spawned from) movies, and even the inclusion of its own cable station (now called SyFy). Though often the plots and incoherent story lines do little to hang out in our memory banks, the best themes from these shows linger for far longer. Here are the greatest themes from Sci-Fi TV of all time.
Simple premise: An after-hours museum played backdrop to a series about Sci-Fi and the macabre. Written and often only vocally hosted by Rod Serling.
Follow along on the ‘Supermarionation’ adventures of Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon, Jon, Jeff, Brains, Lady, and Parker! Thunderbirds are GO!
Two Words: Erin Grey. Oooohhhhh…..
The new series was crap, as it seems happens with all attempted reduxes (as it were). But the original, now there was some quality Lizard TV!
The obvious precursor to Power Rangers, this Japanese import was an underground staple for kids in the Seventies with reruns in the Eighties.
A perfect example of a pretty forgettable show with a killer theme.
One of the few Sci-Fi spin-offs that actually surpassed the original in both run length and, to some, popularity. I’m a Picard man myself.
If I’m ever rebuilt bionically, I’d like to take the visage of Lee Majors, too. Just sayin’.
“The year is 2258. The Name of the Place is… wait, isn’t this Star Trek?” Nope. This has Bruce Boxleitner in it!
Who better to go with for a wholly unbelievable yet stunningly well conceived scientific masterpiece than Sid and Marty Krofft.
A Neo-Surfer theme, John Lithgow AND Jane Curtain? Oh, yeah.
Quite possibly one of the funniest aliens-living-with-a-family formulas of all time. The other has to be Roger on American Dad.
Quit possibly a shameless rip-off of Star Wars? Maybe so. Better than the newer version? Maybe so. All I can say is I only watched the original, so I have no comment on the new stuff. That’s it.
“Oh the pain… the pain of it all…” Dr. Smith was TV’s first pedophile. Deny that!
Treading the narrow border between Sci-Fi and just plain bizarre reality, The X-Files was to some (weirdos and myself included) the greatest show about potential reality to hit TV.
Great, short-lived show and because it’s a prerequisite to add Joss Whedon to a list whenever possible.
The second greatest show about time travel ever. And this one stars Scott Bakula! Score!
Bit of Trivia here: The opening ‘chime’ -as in the very first note- is the same ‘chime’ as the opening from the Beach Boys ‘Sloop John-B! Surprise your friends!
Absolutely without a doubt my favorite show. Ever.
In breathless anticipation of Matt Smith’s take-over of the series, here’s your number one.