September 24, 2013 7:35 pm

Results: 3,209 StarTalk Radio Fans Pick Their Favorite Classic Television Sci-Fi Series

Thank you to all 3,209 of you who completed our “Favorite Classic Television Sci-Fi Series” survey. That’s pretty impressive participation, so pat yourselves on the back. (Except you Firefly fans. You’re just typical, net-savvy… Browncoats.)

Now, before we get to the results, a few notes. For the purposes of this survey, we said a show was classic if it was no longer currently running. (The “official” definition of “30 years or older” used by The Classic Car Club of America, for instance, would have left us with a very short list of TV shows.) So since Futurama ended its run after the survey started but before the survey ended, it was great that some of you wrote it in once it became an instant classic. (And yes, I included Doctor Who, even though it’s still running. But can you imagine a show that’s any more classic sci-fi than Doctor Who, which has been on the air for 50 years? Heck, they still use toilet plungers for Dalek arms!)

Also, since I stretched the definition of Sci-Fi to include fantasy shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and comic-book based shows like The Incredible Hulk, it’s no surprise that some of you wrote in shows like Charmed, although The Magic Schoolbus might be stretching it a bit!

That said, there were a few write-ins that I couldn’t add to the list. Continuum, Defiance, Falling Skies, Haven, Lost Girl, Orphan Black, Under the Dome and Warehouse 13 are all current (although the last will have its final season in 2014). StarWars: Clone Wars has been cancelled, but there are still 1.5 seasons left that will make their appearance somehow. Cosmos and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman are not Sci-Fi. And to the person who wrote in “Star Trek– All”, that’s just cheating. If it wasn’t, many of us would have gone where only you went before. (You know who you are!)

CORRECTION: As our fan Matt points out in the comments below, we made a mistake in our survey, and listed Stargate and Stargate SG-1 as separate shows. As there was no Stargate series, I have added its votes into the votes for the correctly named Stargate SG-1, which now has 625 votes. This has resulted in Stargate SG-1 moving up to 5th place. Thank you, Matt.

If you asked for the digitally autographed photo of Neil deGrasse Tyson, you should have received that by email today. If you did not, please email jeff@startalkradio and let me know, and I’ll send you out your photo.

And now, without further ado (of which there was much, I admit), here are the Top Ten Shows as voted by you, our audience, with the vote count listed after the show name, as well as the Top Five Write-Ins, and the full list of all shows in alphabetic order so it’s easier to find a show you’re looking for. (Although you may want to read the whole list. It certainly brought back memories of some long forgotten shows, and a few I had to look up that I’m sorry I missed seeing.)

Top Ten Classic Sci-Fi TV Series:

1. Firefly – 1269 votes
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation – 991 votes
3. Doctor Who – 931 votes
4. Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) – 686 votes
5. Stargate SG-1 – 625 votes
6. Star Trek: The Original Series – 580 votes
7. The X Files – 506 votes
8. The Twilight Zone – 429 votes
9. Babylon 5 – 299 votes
10. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – 255 votes

 

Top Five Write-Ins:

1. Stargate Universe – 39 votes
2. Blake’s 7 – 8 votes
3. Futurama – 7 votes
4. Mystery Science Theater 3000 – 6 votes
5. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – 5 votes

 

All Shows in Alphabetical Order:

Alf – 1 votes

Alien Nation – 25 votes

Alphas – 21 votes

Andromeda – 4 votes

Angel – 35 votes

Ashes to Ashes – 1 votes

Babylon 5 – 299 votes

Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979) – 46 votes

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) – 686 votes

Battletech – 1 votes

Blake’s 7 – 8 votes

Buck Rogers – 6 votes

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – 16 votes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 184 votes

Caprica – 36 votes

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons – 2 votes

Charmed – 1 votes

Cowboy Bebop – 3 votes

Creature Features – 1 votes

Dark Angel – 28 votes

Dark Skies – 1 votes

Doctor Who – 931 votes

Dollhouse – 45 votes

Earth 2 – 1 votes

Eerie Indiana – 13 votes

Eureka – 158 votes

Farscape – 219 votes

Fireball XL-5  – 1 votes

Firefly – 1269 votes

Flash Forward – 6 votes

Flash Gordon – 7 votes

Fringe – 212 votes

Futurama – 7 votes

Ghost in the Shell – 1 votes

Heroes – 78 votes

Highlander – 69 votes

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  – 5 votes

Invasion America (1998 animated) – 1 votes

Jeremiah – 4 votes

Jericho – 57 votes

John Doe – 7 votes

Johnny Quest – 1 votes

Journeyman – 1 votes

Knight Rider (1982) – 2 votes

Kolchak: The Night Stalker  – 2 votes

Land of the Giants – 2 votes

Land of the Lost – 18 votes

Lexx – 25 votes

Life on Mars – 1 votes

Logan’s Run – 12 votes

Lost – 132 votes

Lost in Space – 39 votes

M.A.N.T.I.S. – 7 votes

Max Headroom – 41 votes

Misfits of Science – 1 votes

Mystery Science Theater 3000 – 6 votes

Night Gallery – 19 votes

Nowhere Man – 1 votes

Odyssey 5 – 1 votes

One Step Beyond – 9 votes

Planet of the Apes – 32 votes

Primeval: New World – 1 votes

Probe  – 1 votes

Quantum Leap – 143 votes

Quark – 1 votes

Raumpatrouille orion (Space Patrol Orion) – 1 votes

Red Dwarf – 149 votes

Robotech – 1 votes

Roswell – 14 votes

Sanctuary – 26 votes

seaQuest DSV – 39 votes

Seven Days – 1 votes

Sightings – 1 votes

Sliders – 68 votes

Smallville – 3 votes

Space Cases – 1 votes

Space Precinct – 1 votes

Space: 1999 – 35 votes

Space: Above and Beyond – 29 votes

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – 255 votes

Star Trek: Enterprise – 130 votes

Star Trek: The Next Generation – 991 votes

Star Trek: The Original Series – 580 votes

Star Trek: Voyager – 177 votes

Stargate Atlantis – 140 votes

Stargate SG-1 – 625 votes

Stargate Universe – 39 votes

Steins;gate – 1 votes

Supercar – 1 votes

Supernatural – 1 votes

Swamp Thing – 3 votes

Tek War – 1 votes

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – 47 votes

Terra Nova – 47 votes

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. – 2 votes

The Bionic Woman – 1 votes

The Incredible Hulk – 40 votes

The Invaders – 2 votes

The Invisible Man – 9 votes

The Magic School Bus – 1 votes

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – 1 votes

The Outer Limits – 112 votes

The Prisoner – 48 votes

The Sarah Jane Adventures – 7 votes

The Six Million Dollar Man – 22 votes

The Time Tunnel – 15 votes

The Tomorrow People (1973-1979) – 1 votes

The Twilight Zone – 429 votes

The X Files – 506 votes

Thunderbirds – 18 votes

Torchwood – 75 votes

Total Recall: The Series – 1 votes

Twin Peaks – 1 votes

UFO – 14 votes

Unsolved Mysteries – 1 votes

V – 59 votes

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – 11 votes

Weird Science – 23 votes

X-Men – 1 votes

Xena: Warrior Princess – 1 votes

Remember, this Friday is StarTalk Live at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. We’ll see some of you there. If you’re live tweeting, please use #StarTalkLive.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!

–Jeffrey Simons