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Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works
Science-fiction & fantasy literature: a critical list with discussions.
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Welcome to the Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works web site!
You have apparently come to this page from a link on a search engine or another site. If this is your first visit here, I much recommend that you take a few minutes to look over the introductory material accessible via the red “Introductory” zone of the Site Menu available from the “hamburger” icon in the upper right of this (and every) page. An understanding of the purposes and principles of organization of this site will, I hope and believe, much augment your experience here, for this page and in general. You can simply click this link to get at the site front page, which, unsurprisingly, is the best place to start. Thank you for visiting.
“You are the key to the whole process, Victoria. One, you are smart and capable. Two, you read science fiction.”
“No, I don’t. I watch Star Trek, the Next Generation, when there’s nothing else on.”
“Close enough.”
– In the Upper Room and other unlikely stories, “The Joe Show”,
Terry Bisson
I Thought This Was a Books Site
This site is about speculative fiction literature—but it would be a shame not to a at least cast a glance over at speculative fiction in other media, whether or not derived from books. This page deals with science-fiction and fantasy television programs (there’s a separate page on science-fiction and fantasy movies).
I have to first make clear that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, or anything close to it, of all the decently watchable science-fiction and fantasy television shows ever. I say “ever” because much of what is listed below is going to be programs no longer running. But the purpose of the list is first, to stimulate thought and conversation, and second to provide suggestions for further investigation for those interested in seeking out older works on DVD or via streaming.
Because I watch scarcely any television at all other than baseball—though you’d be amazed at how clear an impression one can get of a show just from two-minute segments picked up here and there between innings—the categories are based almost wholly on scattered reviews or discussions of the shows, not much on personal experience of them (with a few exceptions).
The category listings are in chronlogical order by first year of broadcast. Note well that this is a very preliminary attempt at such lists. Shows listed with a * are shows I myself have seen at least some of.
*Dr Who (1963 - 1989, then 2005 - the present)
[the period from October 2018 through October 2022—Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor—should really be omitted as untrue to the show]
X-Files, The (intermittantly 1993 - 2018)
[imensely popular; but Richard Dawkins has written that “The X-Files systematically purveys an anti-rational view of the world which, by virtue of its recurrent persistence, is insidious.”]
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