Hi all, maybe this community can help recommend some new shows. I’m looking for Star Trek-like ‘world-of-the-week’ stuff.
I’ve already seen the following:
The Orville
The Expanse
Battlestar Galactica
Farscape
Babylon 5 (I forgot that I never finished it, so it’s going back on the menu)
Stargate SG-1
Quantum Leap (looooove Scott Bakula)
Doctor Who (Not all of it, but pretty caught up since Eccleston)
Firefly
Sliders
Foundation (really enjoyed this one, especially the Cleon clones storyline)
Andor (not a big Star Wars guy, but I really liked this series)
Is Andromeda worth watching? What else is out there?
Thanks in advance!
Is The Expanse worth it? Thinking of starting that after strange new worlds.
The expanse is great! Highly recommend it, and the books are even better.
@maino82 @oehm Agreed. The show because of Shohreh Aghdashloo, whose casting was a stroke of genius. And the books because it’s a great story. Silo (on Apple TV) is also great. #ScienceFiction
@maino82
Slight disagreement: Books and series are both fantastic, and yet: There are a bunch of great #SciFi sagas and novels, but hard #SF as TV series on that level?
The series absolutely excels in its art form, the novels only shine very brightly in their, due to the much bigger competition.
@oehm
Oh boy you’re in for a treat! The first season is my favorite one. Not very Trekky though, I get a vibe of Alien mixed with cyberpunk.
Another big vote for The Expanse. I always tell people to give the first season 3-4 episodes before judging. The main plot doesn’t get started until around then and the full cast isn’t even fully introduced after the first episode (IIRC). It’s one of those shows that doesn’t make it easy early on, but rewards those who stick through for the whole ride.
It’s very, very good. Every season is basically a different genre though - within the context of the setting.
The first is my favorite and is basically a noir/detective story.
Second is my least favorite and is basically a monster movie.
Third is political thriller and I fell in love with the show again, fourth is like a western/frontier story and fifth is a family drama.
The best thing about the Expanse is the world-building. A lot of attention to detail. Great characters too.
I’m a huge fan of the first few seasons. When Amazon bought them I feel the quality really dropped (especially in the set pieces/visual effects) but the story is still good. A lot of people didn’t care for the first season or Miller’s character but I really enjoyed it.
It’s wild to me when fans of the show disregard the first season. To me, that season is pretty much perfect. Three arcs - a detective story, a motley crew, a political thriller - pay off feels so great when it all comes together at the end. Season 2 was such a drastic change in pacing, concept and ‘feel’ that I didn’t want to keep watching. I felt a little betrayed that Miller wasn’t actually the main character.
Besides Amos, I don’t really care about the Roci crew. I had to wait until Ashford came along in Season 3 for a new favorite character.
All in all - Avasarala, Bobby and Drummer carried the series for me.
It’s interesting that you felt betrayed by Miller not being the main character. In the book his chapters are a good example of unreliable narrator.
He comes across as a good guy and a good cop. It’s only later you realise he is unpopular which is why he was dumped with the Earther and his reputation as a drunk earned him an investigation they wanted done poorly.
Maybe the show got a similar result to the book in a different way.
I liked him too though and was gutted by his fate.
In the show, he was definitely a bad and corrupt cop that nobody liked. The Mao investigation was something he got really fixated on, mostly because of selfishness. He saw a picture of a pretty girl and made up an idea she could redeem who he became. Or love him.
I didn’t expect him to be reliable. But the season did such a great job focusing on him, making him three dimensional, that I didn’t expect him to be a relatively minor character in the grand scheme of things.  And also, besides Cowboy Bebop, there’s not a whole lot of noir detective/noir stories in space. I guess Doctor Who also, to some extent - though that’s more akin to Scooby Doo (not a criticism). So it wasn’t just Miller for me that made me feel betrayed. It was also the change of genre.
I didn’t read the books, but the show’s storyboarding is certainly atypical. I appreciated it a lot more starting in Season 3 when I was able to reflect on the series as a whole and see the genre changes in each season as a creative choice.
It’s bizarre hearing that as I’d long read the books so knew Miller’s fate.
Yes. IMO the best SciFi Series
Yes, the Expanse is wonderful … I miss it TBH. As “blasphemous” as it might be here, I’d be more excited for a new Expanse series than new a Trek series.
You may have heard already, but give the show 3-4 episodes before you give up on it.
I was told this and I recall a specific moment even where I felt myself switch from, “this is fine” to “ok I like this”. May not be that way for everyone, but give it 3-4 episodes.
Also, and others have said this, each season is different with a different vibe, however that alters your viewing.
They’d need to reduce the time jump between books 6 and 7 to make another series work. I think where they ended it was a really good point. That said I would love to have seen like a fucking valkyrie on screen.
Haven’t read the books so maybe easy in spoilers.
I’m aware of the time jump, and agree it ended on a good point. But I’d still be hyped about continuing the story which was clearly hinted at in the ending too.
Other than the time jump I thought my reference was cryptic enough that to get it you’d either need to have read the books, or already been spoilered. Sorry if it wasn’t.
Yeah. Hopefully there’ll be some kind of follow up, maybe a film or something.
No worries! Just a warning that you might not have realised I’ve not read the books.
Great series except for the first season. I nearly gave up many times until it really picked up in S2 and became a classic.
Damnit, I’ve been kinda planning on dropping it… guess I’ll be watching a bit more lol
What about S2+ changes things for you?
The separate plotlines converge and the characters start to understand what’s going on
@oehm @pinwurm some of the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen! I didn’t totally connect and buy in for the first few episodes, but after that? Incredible.
In a word, yes. In three words oh fuck yes.
Yes, but the books are better.