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I occasionally save TV Guides. A year ago, last August 1st, they put out a special issue on the 25 Greatest SciFi Legends. And erm... I just stashed it away and never read it. Well, I recently dug it out and read the list. My jaw dropped to the floor for good and bad reasons. The bad being the WTF reaction.
So to recap for those who'd never read it or heard about it, here's their list:
(where there's no mention of a network, assume ABC, NBC, or CBS. Syndie means Syndicated)
25. Captain Video, Captain Video (1949-1955)
24. Dick Solomon, Third Rock From the Sun (1996-2001)
23. Ultraman, Ultraman (Syndie, 1966)
22. Doctor Who, Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-1989)
21. Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica (1978-79, one season though)
20. John Crichton, Farscape (SciFi, 1999-2003)
19. Steve Austin and Jamie Sommers, The Six Million Dollar Man (1973-78) and The Bionic Woman (1976-78)
18. Captain Mal Reynolds, Firefly (Fox, 2002)
17. Max Guevera, Dark Angel (Fox, 2000-02)
16. Allie Keys, Taken (Scifi, 2002)
15. The Coneheads, Saturday Night Live (1977-79)
14. The Robot, Lost in Space (1965-68)
13. The crew of MST3K, MST3K (Comedy Central, 1989-96; SciFi, 1997-99)
12. Doctor Sam Beckett, Quantum Leap (1989-93)
11. Duncan MacLeod, Highlander (Syndie, 1992-98)
10. Colonel/General Jack O'Neill, Stargate SG-1 (Showtime, 1997-2001; Scifi, 2002-present?)
09. Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5 (Syndie, TNT, 1994-1998)
08. Alf, Alf (1986-90)
07. Fox Mulder, The X-Files (Fox, 1993-2002)
06. David Vincent, The Invaders (1967-68)
05. Diana, V (1983-85)
04. George Jetson, The Jetsons (1962-63)
03. Uncle Martin, My Favorite Martian (1963-66)
02. The crews of all the Star Trek series (NBC, Syndie, UPN, 1966-2004)
01. Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone (1959-64)
So... what exactly constitutes a Legend, in the case of the above, plus others not mentioned? Is it someone memorable, whether we like them or not? If so, then the list is a fair one. Not good, but fair. However, the list title says Scifi legends, not TV Legends. Some of those listed are not, imo, Scifi. I'd eliminate a few and rearrange the numbers so that I'm left with a total of ten. The rest can pretty much hang in space.
My top ten would be, in order of first to last (going by list number above instead of retyping them):
1, 10, 2, 7, 9, 20, 12, 11, 18, and 21/22 tied (can't make up my mind).
This isn't all though. I just *know* I'm leaving out someone not on that 25-list. Who?
So to recap for those who'd never read it or heard about it, here's their list:
(where there's no mention of a network, assume ABC, NBC, or CBS. Syndie means Syndicated)
25. Captain Video, Captain Video (1949-1955)
24. Dick Solomon, Third Rock From the Sun (1996-2001)
23. Ultraman, Ultraman (Syndie, 1966)
22. Doctor Who, Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-1989)
21. Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica (1978-79, one season though)
20. John Crichton, Farscape (SciFi, 1999-2003)
19. Steve Austin and Jamie Sommers, The Six Million Dollar Man (1973-78) and The Bionic Woman (1976-78)
18. Captain Mal Reynolds, Firefly (Fox, 2002)
17. Max Guevera, Dark Angel (Fox, 2000-02)
16. Allie Keys, Taken (Scifi, 2002)
15. The Coneheads, Saturday Night Live (1977-79)
14. The Robot, Lost in Space (1965-68)
13. The crew of MST3K, MST3K (Comedy Central, 1989-96; SciFi, 1997-99)
12. Doctor Sam Beckett, Quantum Leap (1989-93)
11. Duncan MacLeod, Highlander (Syndie, 1992-98)
10. Colonel/General Jack O'Neill, Stargate SG-1 (Showtime, 1997-2001; Scifi, 2002-present?)
09. Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5 (Syndie, TNT, 1994-1998)
08. Alf, Alf (1986-90)
07. Fox Mulder, The X-Files (Fox, 1993-2002)
06. David Vincent, The Invaders (1967-68)
05. Diana, V (1983-85)
04. George Jetson, The Jetsons (1962-63)
03. Uncle Martin, My Favorite Martian (1963-66)
02. The crews of all the Star Trek series (NBC, Syndie, UPN, 1966-2004)
01. Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone (1959-64)
So... what exactly constitutes a Legend, in the case of the above, plus others not mentioned? Is it someone memorable, whether we like them or not? If so, then the list is a fair one. Not good, but fair. However, the list title says Scifi legends, not TV Legends. Some of those listed are not, imo, Scifi. I'd eliminate a few and rearrange the numbers so that I'm left with a total of ten. The rest can pretty much hang in space.
My top ten would be, in order of first to last (going by list number above instead of retyping them):
1, 10, 2, 7, 9, 20, 12, 11, 18, and 21/22 tied (can't make up my mind).
This isn't all though. I just *know* I'm leaving out someone not on that 25-list. Who?
Who do you see as non-sci-fi? Dr. Who would be much higher on my lists. *G*
Alf, MST3K, 6 Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Dick Solomon from 3rd Rock.
And I don't like Dr. Who, so regardless of his obvious Scifi legendry, he wouldn't have made my list.
How are you defining sci-fi? Because as dumb as they were, I think the Bionic Boy and Girl qualify. Whereas I'm shaky on Highlander because it's more like fantasy.
I just remembered the one main SciFi legend that wasn't included in the list, but then, wouldn't have because it's not a character, but a *series* and that wasn't the point of the top 25 list: The original Outer Limits. That would probably be my definition of Scifi, as would the other legends I left on the list. Dr. Who would qualify, as I said. He just wasn't one of my favs.
What defined Scifi for me growing up was Star Trek, and more specifically, Mr. Spock, so out of all those Star Trek characters, he'd be the man... er, Vulcan. :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainmen