Sci Fi on TV
By Timothy O. Goyette

What's good on TV tonight?

As it turns out, quite a bit. Once we get over lamenting the loss of "Babylon 5" and its short lived sequel "Crusade." There are many choices that are at least, not bad.

UPN had Star Trek Voyager, which has many good episodes. My wife likes it probably because the strong female characters. The only real problem with it is the lack of continuity. If it fits the plot they'll throw out a main character's personality and replace it with something else. This alter ego will never reappear or have lasting consequences.

UPN also has 7 Days, usually on just before Voyager. Watching this show is a good way to catch up on some old movies and favorite plots. They usually take a movie plot or some current event and adapt the story to the show. This keeps them fresh, as long as other creative people are doing their jobs. The characters are interesting and the show is genuinely entertaining. We do not watch it regularly; it's on fencing night.

The sci-fi channel was added to basic cable and that's where we spend most of our time. Well, that and the cartoon channel. There are a variety of options there. The best is Farscape on Friday nights. It's produced by Jim Hensons company and there are a few Muppets, but you'd never tell. Think of it as Star Trek where no one gets along with each other. Good stories, excellent characters and enough conflict to keep your head spinning.

The weaker cousin to this is Lexx. It's a lower budget version of Farscape where one of the main characters is dead. I've only watched it a few times. It's not interesting enough to keep my finger off the channel button.

Sci-fi also puts out Good vs. Evil with is best compared to the X-files. They are going for the look and feel thing.

The Sci-fi channel kept Sliders alive for a few more seasons. It's in permanent reruns now. As with the greatly missed Mystery Science 3000. Mike Nelson came home.

Earth Final Conflict, as I understand it, this was a product conceived by Gene Rodenberry and produced by his wife, and others, after his death. Some people like it, although we haven't gotten into it. They have good special effects, but don't use many during each episode, thus keeping costs down.

The X-files is like the ratings champ of the group. I haven't gotten into it. Many, or most, of my friends have recommended it. Every time I come across it, the have shots of people from the shoulders up, talking. Not being in the story it's hard to figure out what's going on. That's an advantage over Voyager, where you can figure out the plot in just a couple of minutes. But still, it's not enough to keep my finger off the remote.

I'm a channel flipper. I'm sick, I need help.

On the fantasy side, you have Xena. Ok, and Hercules, but they take themselves too seriously. Xena is campy and usually has some laughs, with plenty of unique characters. The writers do a good job. As with all episode series, some are better than others are.

And now the random antics of syndication. All varieties of Star Trek can be found all hours of the day and night all over the dial; the king of syndication.

Babylon 5 may still be on TNT in the afternoons. If not, come to our house, we have them recorded.

We only get basic cable, but it seems that ShowTime is making a place for sci-fi. Their programs The Outer Limits and Stargate S.G.1 have filtered out to syndication. Stargate is hard to find, but the sci-fi channel picked up The Outer Limits. The sci-fi channel is a good thing.

In summary, watch Farscape. Voyager is easy to watch and should be your second choice. After that, let your heart decide.

If I've missed anything here, it isn't important. But feel free to point it out. It doesn't take a 4 million-megawatt laser pointing at my head for me to get the point.

Keep Surfing,

Timothy O. Goyette MDM

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