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| Good Sci-fi & Fantasy Shows on TV |
 STAR
TREK
After 45 years, the most successful TV and movie franchise
of all times is still around. Well, actually, the latest
installment, Star Trek: Voyager (photo) is in its final
season, but there are already talks of a new show, and
the tenth feature film should be released shortly.
Trek is always good fun to watch, no matter what decade
the show is from. The original series, The Next Generation,
and Deep Space Nine should all be on reruns on one channel
or another. The current series, Voyager, is presently
being shows on BBC2 and Sky One (for the latest new episodes)
in the UK. |
 BUFFY
THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Based on an easily forgettable early 90s movie, Buffy
is currently going strongly in her 5th season. She not
only fights vampires, monsters and all kind of demons,
but also manages to always wear the right clothes and
change her hair every other episode.
Don't get me wrong... Buffy is a clever, well-crafted,
funny show, with awesome fight scenes, tongue-in-cheek
dialogs but also very nice characterization, moments of
profound emotion and others of laugh-out-loud comedy.
Now, all we want from the Scooby gang is at least another
2 or 3 fine seasons and a feature film, and we'll be happy
campers. On BBC2 & Sky One - reruns only at the
moment, since season 5 has just ended. |
 ANGEL
Spin-off Buffy, Angel, now in its second season, has turned
into a solid show, dark but still funny. After years of
a tortured relationship with Buffy, the vampire with a
soul moved to LA when he plays detectives with the help
of good old Cordy and Wesley - who obviously got very
lucky to be called back in the Buffyverse halfway through
the first season.
In my view not as good as Buffy, but also playing on a
slightly different and darker scene, Angel should be around
for a while. It also lacks the wonderful supporting characters
its sister show enjoys (Willow, Xander, Spike, Giles,
Anya, Tara), but thanks to a good effort from Charisma
Carpenter and J. August Richards as Gunn, it's getting
there - in the UK on Channel 4 (s1 reruns) and Sky
One (season 2 has just finished, so reruns at the moment). |
 XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS
Another show that is about to leave the screens for good.
A spin-off from children-oriented Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys, Xena, in 6 seasons, has largely surpassed its
sister show. Darker, more violent, but also gifted with
a wicked sense of humor, the Xenaverse doesn't respect
anything, or anybody... least of all History. But who
cares?
Born from the wild imagination Sam Raimi and greatly inspired
by Hong-Kong movies, XWP also imposed a pair of strong
female characters as its leads, and has probably paved
the way for such other fighting chicks as Buffy, Max from
Dark Angel, and even Trinity from the Matrix. Now one
question remains: will they kiss before the end of the
show? - On UK TV, XWP has not always been well treated,
but season 6 is finally to start on Sky One on July 1st.
Phew. |
 FARSCAPE
I caught that one by chance on the BBC last year and have
been hooked since. An UK-Australian-US production, with
a few of Jim Henson's puppets, Farscape is a very good
sci-fi show, with its own mind, its own style, and completely
different from Star Trek or other similar series. Hard
to believe that someone could come up with a different
sci-fi concept, but they did it.
Although the "fish out the water" (in this case
John Crichton catapulted at the other end of the galaxy
on a "strange living ship, full of alien life forms")
idea is not exactly a new one, Farscape has imposed original
storylines, unexpected twists and turns, and a solid cast
(humans and non-humans, as well as an awesome baddie)
led by the very likable Ben Browder. Currently, BBC2
has finished season 2 (ahead of SciFi Channel in the US)
and should start season 3 in March with the follow-up
to the unbearable cliffhanger started in 'Die Me Dichotomy'.
In the meantime, UK Sci-fi is rerunning season 2. |
 DARK
ANGEL
Talking about fighting chicks, here's another one. Produced
by James (Titanic-Terminator) Cameron, this brand new
show is set in a post-apocalyptic America where corruption
and bad guys are so powerful that it makes our problems
seem benign. Max, a genetically enhanced young woman who
escaped 10 years earlier from the horrible institution
that created her, tries to live unnoticed, looking for
her lost siblings, while helping good guy Logan to flush
out the baddies.
It's dark, but not too dark, with a nice sense of humor,
good character development and good-paced action. Still
in its first season, there's no way to know if the show
is here to stay, but it's definitely worth a look. - In
the UK on Sky One only for now - season 1 has just ended
on a dramatic note. |
 THE
X-FILES
Who would have thought when it first started in the early
90s that this small weird paranoid show would last this
long?
Now in its 8th season, and in spite of the partial loss
of one of its main two leads, the series has managed to
find a new pace, with the introduction of a new partner
for Scully, and her transformation from skeptical scientist
into a Mulder-like believer... well, almost. And meanwhile,
the man everybody - including Scully - would like to hate,
new G-man Doggett, is quickly proving himself very likable.
Darn. Those who thought Mulder couldn't be replaced might
have to rethink their theory. - Back on BBC2 in the
UK (season 7), and also on Sky One for brand new episodes. |
 NOW
AND AGAIN
This one is new to the UK, and unfortunately, it looks
like the show was cancelled after the first season, so
you'd better enjoy it while it last. Halfway between fantasy
and tongue-in-cheek drama, Now and Again tells the unlikely
story of insurer Mike Wiseman who, after making a close
encounter with the NYC subway, is offered a second chance
as a better, faster, and definitely cuter man.
There is of a course a catch, and Wiseman, while playing
superspy for a secret government organization, is strictly
forbidden - under death threat - to have any kind of contact
with his family and friends. Which he does, every chance
he gets. Because it plays more on the human side than
on the action, the show is very pleasant and nicely refreshing.
Too bad it didn't last. Just ended on Sci-Fi in the
UK. |
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