Sci Fi (or SF or Syfy)

I have long been a fan of science fiction and fantasy works. I love books, movies and TV shows that deal with these topics, though I prefer my science fiction to be mild and not violent. Some science fiction can be very violent, so I am not a fan of something like a Clockwork Orange.

When I was around six or seven I was enamored with a TV show called Land of the Giants. I do not really remember the show but I do remember being upset because we were at a circus and I was missing the show. Apparently it was must-see TV.

I liked some cheesy shows, such as Land of the Lost (not the 2009 movie), the Batman series (the one with Adam West), and others like The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, and the Six Million Dollar Man. I never saw much of Lost in Space; we couldn't get the channel.

Later I enjoyed shows such as Quantum Leap and Sliders, but managed to miss seeing Star Trek: The Next Generation and similar shows of that era (doesn't that make me sound old?).

These days, I like to watch TV while I am walking on the treadmill of mornings. I have gone through the entire Xena: Warrior Princess series several times, mostly because it was all I had here. Then I bought Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and walked through all seven seasons of that show. I've also walked through a season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and am getting ready to walk through yet another one.

Over the summer I walked through the first season of Babylon 5 and I am just finishing up the first season of Star Trek: Voyager.

Until someone gave me the DVD, Babylon 5 was a show I had never seen. This is because for a very long time we could only obtain two television stations, CBS and NBC. We could sometimes see ABC if the clouds were right.

It was not until 1994 that we purchased a C-Band satellite. That's one of those huge satellites. Suddenly I knew what MTV and VH1 was. I could watch HBO!

And series that were already in progress, like Babylon 5, went right on by me because (a) there was so much stuff to watch and (b) I didn't want to jump in the middle of something and (c) I am not sure we subscribed to the channel it was on.

So I watched the first season, or maybe the first two seasons, of Star Trek: Voyager but then my satellite subscription for the channel it was on (UPN? the WB? something like that) went away and I never finished the series. Hopefully as money permits I will eventually see all of B5 and Voyager.

Fortunately we purchased the satellite in time for me to see Hercules, Xena, Buffy, the Lost World and a few other shows.

Now we have DirecTV. The C-band satellite began to lose programing after the turn of the century and in 2004 we went to the smaller satellite. We are not unhappy with it. I don't watch a lot of TV to begin with and aside from losing the picture in heavy rains or other bad weather we don't have any trouble with it.

But they don't seem to be making very many TV shows like Voyager, Buffy, or B5 these days, although it is quite possible that there are things out there I am missing since I don't check out news shows very often.

I was never able to get into Lost or Heroes. I'm not sure why.

Anyone have recommendations for completed SF or fantasy series that I might look for?