Limiting the number of choices to nine perr the poll's structure was hard to do, of course, as gone missing (among many others) are the great-but-cheezy Sliders, the  more current Lost and 24, as well as classics like Andromeda and Space: 1999. Fantasy series like Xena  were not considered and are a different category.

A Batter's Box No-Prize to the first person who can name all six Trek series without looking it up! 

I would have thought that X-Files would've warranted at least a spot on the list, no?

The X Files doesn't make the cut over Quantum Leap ???

I agree. Not only should the X-Files have at least been on the list, in my opinion it is clearly the best of the 10, although it sort of fell apart at the very end.

(puts hand up)

Oh! Oh!

Star Trek: The Original Series
                   The Animated Series (70's)
                   Next Generation
                   Deep Space Nine
                   Voyager
                   Enterprise

Oh man, what a great list, it was a tough choice, but I went with Trek.

I'm addicted to BSG right now, and it is BY FAR the best Sci-Fi show on TV right now and I love the Dead Zone - also loved Andromeda and Sliders. 

In retrospect, I can't believe I actually watched Sliders, given how terrible Jerry O'Connell is as an actor, and how cheezy the show was.  Artru who looked like Pavorati and Rembrant Brown.  I mean come on.  I haven't seen it in a good 10 years tho.

My other vote went to "The Jetsons"

MacGyver!

The original (Rod Serling hosted) Twilight Zone set the standard for sci-fi TV, including any of the Star Drek franchises.

I chose "Other". I have yet to see any science fiction program come close to The O'Reilly Factor.

Other: Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

Harsh Realm was great.  Sure, it was canceled by Fox after just three episodes (nine were made), but it was an an awesome show while it lasted.

choices offered, it has to be Star Trek because - say what you will about the original series having equal measures of brilliant writing and unmitigated cheese - DS9 was stunning in it's later seasons.

I'm also a fan of "The Dead Zone" and pleased to see the often-overlooked excellence get some props. the 4400 is another often overlooked show. BOTH of these are creations of alumi of ...wait for it...Deep Space Nine. (as is BSG btw)

That said, the mention of the wonderful "Harsh Relm" opens the door for me to extend kudos to other short lived series:

Thank you Sean Casidy (yes THAT Sean Cassidy) for brilliant work on "Invasion" and "American Gothic"

Everyone nod in the general direction of the wonderful (but obscure) "Nowhere Man"

And by all means, stand up and cheer for a show that was not only one of the great SF series of all time (easily top 5) but deserving of a mention amongh the best drama's of all time regardless of genre - FIREFLY!

And having said that, there's nothing more I can add.

:D

Ooh, Nowhere Man. That was a good one.

No love for Captain Power and the Soliders of the Future, I guess.

I hate when someone describes a show/movie/book as "good, even for people who don't like sci fi", as I think it implies that most sci fi isn't good.

That said.... Battlestar galactica really is that show.  For the most part they don't talk about parsecs or getting power to the dillenium crystals.   It's about conflict, relationships, and how people respond when their life is thrown upside down.  I've been a huge sci fi fan for a long time now, and one of the troubles that the genre has is that so much of the TV (in contrast to novels and to a lesser extent movies) is cheap crap.   Battlestar Galactica has managed to rise above this, and will hopefully inspire other stations to take risks on sci fi shows.  We're already seen Heroes become a sucess.

Also, although I'm voting for BSG, I'd like to say something for Firefly.  Great show, fun combination of sci fi and Western.

Firefly.  Battlestar Galactica is a close number two, but nothing beats Joss Whedon's best scripted television show.  Plus, I think it's pretty obvious that Troy Glaus is Jayne Cobb.

Take my love, take my land / Take me where I cannot stand / I don't care, I'm still free / You can't take the sky from me / Take me out to the black / Tell 'em I ain't comin' back / Burn the land and boil the sea / You can't take the sky from me / There's no place I can be / Since I found serenity / But you can't take the sky from me

Brilliant.

Tough one, but Quantum Leap is either my favorite or darn close to it for all shows period so it wins for me.  Shame the new series never came out (Sam's daughter goes looking for him by leaping, had the same 'sidekick' Al). 

Star Trek DS9 is another darn close to favorite, but Enterprise (especially the final episode) keeps that series from winning.

The original Twilight Zone is my 3rd 'favorite depending on mood' show, but the redone version(s) were not entertaining.

The missing show is Red Dwarf - now _that_ is cheezy sci-fi at the best with tons of British humour and just sick stuff (such as the end of 'backwards' ).  Quite often I list that series as my all-time favorite much to my wife's dismay.

Write-in vote for Babylon 5.

I'm not surprised at all to see Star Trek winning the poll.  TOS and TNG were great, as were parts of DS9.  Unfortunately I can't just overlook the complete and utter rubbish that was Voyager and Enterprise.

Battlestar Galactica is easily the best on TV right now.  And if goes for another season or so and stays this good I'd put it up with Trek.  Consistent excellence over 4 or 5 seasons is arguably superior to 20 years of hit and miss.

That being said, and seemingly in complete disregard of my previous statement, my actual vote went to Dr Who.

Another write-in for Firefly - the best sci-fi I have ever had the pleasure to watch.  Brilliant, compelling, funny as hell.

Yes it is.

Voyagers!

Time travel. History lessons. Phineas Bogg! There would be no Quantam Leap without Voyagers.

I'm really impressed with all the answers here.  Sci fi is one of my hobbies that I'm really passionate about, and it's nice to see that there are lots of others here at the Box who share a similar passion.

I thought the head games of "The Prisoner" with Patrick McGoohan were pretty neat.

I'm also a big fan of sci-fi and Star Trek gets my vote.  I'd also like to add that I loved Nowhere Man as well (although the ending was a bit hurried, though through no fault of the writers).

As much as I like watching these types of shows, I love reading sci-fi even better.

I voted other. And I'd agree that Firefly is definitely # 1. It had everything you could want in an action series (except baseball, damnit): guns; tough, smart, hot chicks; space battles; train robbery; chase scenes; comedy; a sword fight; etc., etc. Plus the added bonuses of strong characters and character development, not to mention the brilliant narrative structures (esp. in the episodes "Out Of Gas" and "The Message").

As for other shows, I'd rank them as

2. BSG (the current series)
3. ST: DS9
4. Dr. Who (all of it)
5: The Prisoner
6. The original Star Trek
7. Red Dwarf
8. ST: TNG (it was good enough that even the supremely useless character of the "empathic" counsellor couldn't scuttle it)

And that's it. I can't get to ten.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any votes for Babylon 5.

Personally, I've never seen it, but I've been meaning to get around to it.  Anyone have any thoughts on it?  Or Farscape?

I voted for The Twilight Zone as it set the standard for Sci-Fi. But a show that wasnt on the list, seeing how it only had one season, is a show called Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It is the funniest show I have ever seen. It is a perfect spoof on bad science fiction and its done brilliantly. It was on the BBC so it only has six episodes. Its something very worth checking out.

And of course the best science fiction writing of all time is Douglas Adams with The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Incidentally, doyle wins the No-Prize. It's the cartoon most people miss on, though as comments have shown, others consider some of the live-action Trek shows to be at least worthy off forgettability.

But I am surprised that someone named "doyle" isn't stumping for Andromeda. (A decent show, though not great overall. Couldn't get past the "Kevin Sorbo as Hercules" hurdle myself) ... say, doyle, you aren't by any chance a tall blonde supermodel-ish android, are you? Not that that would be outside Da Box's standard demographic.