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5.The tribe
This is more than likely the one show on my list that most of the people reading this have never heard of.The Tribe was a 5 season long made in New Zealand show from the early 2000s. Depending on what country and what year you watched the show,each season either had 52 episodes that run about 22 minutes. Or it has 26 episodes that run close to 45 minutes each. When I saw it for the first time it was the 52 episode seasons.
The basic premise is pretty simple. A virus gets out of some top secret lab. Anyone over the age of 16 or 17,been a bit since I watched the first season so I am not sure of the age,catches this fast spreading super contagious virus. The virus causes anyone that catches it to rapidly age. Usually at the rate of 5 to 10 years per day. There appears to be no cure or vaccine against the virus.
So all the teens end up forming up in "tribes". Each tribe has a name and kind of theme. Like there is a tribe that is an evil circus. The tribe the show follows is the Mall Rats.In the first episode the teen girl who becomes the lead of the seasons for 4 of the 5 seasons,this is Amber,ends up running with her best friend Dal and 3 young kids they have found into the near by mall. And Jack,a nerdy tech guy,has started living in the mall. Using the security gates they realize they will have some kind of safety living in the mall. Plus you got the added bonus of all the stuff in the mall is yours to use.
I have always described the show to people as "Imagine if Degrassi the Next generation was set in a Mad Max world." Like Degrassi this show isn't afraid to touch on subjects that most shows made for and starring teens wouldn't touch. Stuff like teen pregnancy,abortion and all kinds of stuff.
With this show I actually first saw it when one Labor Day weekend Encore WAM did a marathon of the first two seasons,before premireing season 3 early Sunday morning. I had gotten home from hanging out with some friends at like 1am Sunday morning. Laid down and couldn't sleep. Flipped to Encore WAM(which was Encore's kids channel) and caught the last 4 episodes of season 2 before catching the first few episodes of season 3. From then until I moved in 2007 I watched this show over and over on Encore WAM.
The show has gotten all 5 seasons released on DVD in the UK and many other countries. These DVDs are region coded so you will need a region free dvd player to play them. Season 1 got a DVD release,as two sets,in the US from Shout Factory. I think this release was a big bomb. I never saw the DVDs on any store shelves. And there was no other seasons released. Guessing by the time in 2010 or so when this region 1 set of season 1 got released the fans in the States had either imported the UK season sets. Bought one of the many bootleg sets floating around,most of which were either straight up rips of that UK set or made from the airings on Encore WAM. Or had did like I did in 2006ish and downloaded each season off a torrent tracker.
Now sure I really do love this show. And think it is one of the best sci fi shows it has some flaws.One is the last episode of the final season ends on a cliffhanger. Over the past 12 years at least 2 books have come out that are seasons 6 and 7. And they resolve this cliffhanger. Another flaw is usually the actors/actresses playing the main roles are normally fairly close to the age of their characters on the show. So most of the young kids are not good at acting. And finally with each season being 52 episodes,most countries got it as 52 episodes a season,that means watching the full run will take you a lot of time.
The company that made and owns the Tribe has a youtube channel where they have uploaded almost all the episodes. And if you are in the USA and have a roku/firestick/etc PlutoTV has every episode in their on demand section. Pretty sure the Roku Channel and Tubi also have every season. All three of these streaming apps are free.
4.Lexx
Look another non-US Sci Fi show on my list. There is four seasons of this German/Canadian made show. Season 1 is made up of 4 movies,which in the US aired on Showtime and TMC. You have a janitor for the big evil empire that controls most of the known universe. Stanley Tweedle is his name. And he ends up with the key to the most powerful warship in the universe imprinted in his hand. He escapes the evil empire on this ship,The Lexx,along with Kai,Zev/Xev and the head of a robot that is programmed to love the first person it sees when it is rebooted.
It was getting close to midnight one night in the late 90s. I couldn't sleep so was flipping through the channels. Saw what is the second film in season 1 of Lexx and was like shocked and impressed with the show. The budget is low. But they manage to do a lot with this low budget. The writing is comedic and at times appears to be taking well deserved shots at Star Wars and Star Trek. And to me it felt a bit like a variant of Red Dwarf.
After that first season of the 4 films the next 3 seasons aired on Sci Fi Channel in the States. With episodes being an hour with ads and around 12 or 15 episodes a season. I had just gotten Sci Fi Channel a week before season 2 started. And from then until the final episode of the series I watched Lexx each week. I even recorded each episode and kept the tapes thinking I would never see legit home video releases.
The main cast is a major reason why I enjoy this show. Stanley is a shubbly janitor that is a total coward. But because he has the key to the Lexx in his hand he is considered one of the most powerful people alive,even if Stanley at times seems to be about as smart as a plastic plant someone keeps on their desk at work.
Kai is a Brunen Jee. Which is this shows version of Jedi Knights. They got a all kinds of mind powers. Kai is dead,and the last of the Brunen Jees,and is only able to still function cause of his small remaining amount of some liquid that powers him. Which means for the first few seasons Kai is kept in cryo-stasis until he is needed. IIRC season 3 they find a renewable source for the liquid that powers Kai.
Xev/Zev is a former very fat lady. She was gonna be changed into a sex slave for someone in the Evil Empire. They had put her into this machine that would change her body and also put her mind under the control of the bad guys. A cluser lizard,lmagine if you took the graboids from Tremors and added a rollie pollie bug.,gets into the machine so Xev/Zev becomes this really attractive blonde who has a scream that can paralize people and has the aggressive of the cluster lizard. In the first season they had this blonde actress in the role. I can't remember if in this season her name was Zev or Xev. There was a year or longer break between when season 1 stopped and season 2 started filming. So this actress had another job. And Xenia Seeberg replaced her. And the spelling of the character;s name changed.
The robot head is the last main member of the cast. At various times the head is in love with Stanley then Xev then Kai. While appearing to be a one note character ,and they kinda are,the head gets some of the best lines in the entire series. And many times had me laughing hard.
If you want to see this I have noticed that seasons 2,3 and 4 are on various free streaming services. I haven't seen any service with season 1. All 4 seasons have had at least 2 releases in region 1. The first releases are long OOP and get a bit pricey. There is a Echo Bridge release of each season that even now hasn't went up too much. Do some searching and you can usually find each season for 5 to 10 bucks.
Besides the main cast another reason this show is one of my favorite Sci Fi shows is it is one of the few sciene fiction shows to come out in the late 90s/early 2000s era that got the chance to have a proper ending. That last episode of the show is not only well done,and gives Kai a nice closure to his story arc,it also wrapped up all the plot threads while leaving the show open to doing another season or a future series.
3.Red Dwarf-Now this is the only series on my list that I haven't seen the entire run. Mostly cause over the past 20 years Red Dwarf will out of no where get a new season.
Anyways,I had seen the VHS collectin 2 or 3 episodes of Red Dwarf advertised in various genre mags. And new it was a UK show that was a sci fi/comedy blending. No way was I gonna drop 20 bucks,plus 3 more for shipping,and risking getting a shitty show. So it wasn't until 1998 that I started watching Red Dwarf.
At the time one of my best friends was a dude we all called Hippie Mike. He was the biggest sci fi/fantasy/comic book/D&D nerd I have ever met. And one Saturday night when him and I were hanging out,building MTG decks,he put on the UK block on PBS. And after Keeping Up Appearances was a season 3 episode of Red Dwarf. Boom I became a huge fan. Every Saturday from then until 2002ish,when PBS stopped airing the show,I had the vcr set to record the show.
The premise of the show is fairly simple. Way far in the future the human race is all but gone. The only known human in all the galaxies is Dave Lister. I low level Space jockey. And he is stuck on this huge mining ship,the Red Dwarf,with only a hologram recreation of Lister's frenemy Arnold Rimmer. And can't forget the thousands of years in the future cat/human like creature,born from a cat that Lister smuggled on board,known as Cat.
Yea I know it sounds stupid. But the show managed to do a great blending of comedy and science fiction. Yea the first season is cheap looking and paced oddly. But after that until about season 7 the budget went up and the pacing was spot on.
The PBS I used to watch the show on one Saturday night ,as part of Pledge Week,did a Red Dwarf night. Started at 7pm and went to midnight. They aired what I think are 3 of the best episodes of the show.
1.The Red Dwarf gains the ability to travel through time. They go back and prevent JFK from getting assassinated. Which turns out is a bad thing. The world goes to total shit. So Lister and the boys go grab JFK,as he is being sent to jail,take him back in time. And JFK becomes to shooter on the grassy knoll.
2. Another member of the crew I haven't mentioned yet is Kryton. Appearing in season 2 IIRC,he is a android that the crew ffinds and he becomes the ships house keeper,cook,mother basicly. Imagine a less paranoid version of Marvin from HGTG. He has to go into the holodeck and fight off a virus invading the ship. In the holodeck Kryton becomes a drunk sheriff in a old west town. The virus of course is the outlaws that invade the town. The rest of the crew become the western heroes,with Cat having a great dance/entrance move. So this comedy/sci fi show managed to have a really entertaining Western episode. With it not feeling out of place.
3.Then there is my favorite. The crew ends up on a planet were everything is in reverse. Been a bit since I saw this one,so I might get a few things slightly wrong. But from what I remember Rimmer and Kryton end up on this world. And become a traveling comedy troup. Since the way they do things is backwards to the people of this world. When Cat and Lister show up it causes a panic. What starts off as a bar fight,going in reverse of course,becomes Rimmer and Kryton being a huge hit on the stage of the bar.
And there is so many more episodes I love of this series. 10 years or more ago,there was a new season of Red Dwarf,Aired on the channel Dave in the UK. In this one the crew of the Red Dwarf end up in the real world. Where they learn they are a TV show. While I liked this idea I wasn't enjoying the season,then the finale episode hits. It ends up being this great homage and parody of the scene in Blade runner where Rutger Howard confronts his creator. Lister,Rimmer,Cat and Kryton confront the lead writer for all of the Red Dwarf seasons. Such a great ending that made up for the kind of just ok episodes before it.
I doubt PBS airs this anymore. Looks like the US release dvds are in and out of print. And no streaming service I checked has the series,I know years and years ago Netflix had the first 8 seasons. I've been tempted to just order the region 2 dvds,that are cheap,and rip them to watch on my home media network.
2.The Prisoner-Like the previous show I had known about The Prisoner long before I got a chance to see it. Thankfully the shitty cable offered in my area got SciFI Channel as soon as it went live. Every Sunday at 9pm Central they aired The Prisoner. I started with episode 1 and for the next few months I would be there watching it and recording the episode onto a blank VHS. I found out somehow about a few Prisoner zines and ordered them. I got obessed with the show. Tracked down the 4 issue mini series DC published.
Set in the modern day of it's airing,late 60s IIRC,the Prisoner is about a top level clearance government agent. He retires,goes home and someone gasses his home. He passes out and when he wakes up he is in The Village. A place were various high level agents and other people of interest are sent. And you can live a good life in The Village,if you are willing to follow the rules and also tell #2 what you know. Oh yea forgot,everybody goes by a number. Our lead is #7.
Over the course of 17 episode Number 7 tries to escape/learn about/take control of The Village. And #2 tries to break #7. When a #2 fails they get replaced. Then there is the whole thing about who is #1. Number 7 asks this early on,and I would refer to number 7 by their name but in the show we are never told his name....
For a show of it's era this is way more than what you would see on TV normally. Part of that is this is a UK show. From what I have read at least 2 of the episodes didn't air in the US when the show was originally aired. One is an episode where #2 tries to break #7 by giving him LSD. Which leads to a great episode made like a western.
And that final episode. One that even now what 50 years later is hotly debated. I have seen that episode more than any other in the series. And still am not sure what all is happening and what the writer wanted us to think. After defeating the newest #2 our "hero" 7 meet #1,rips off the mask #1 is wearing and yea not gonna spoil that. But I will say the show ends with #7 leavin g The Village,Maybe??!?!?
1.Battlestar Galactica Remake-I was the perfect age when the original aired. I was 5 or so. After that one season aired it got put into the local syndication package. For like 5 years every Sunday at 11pm,after Benny Hill,channel 5 aired BSG reruns. So I saw every episode a pile of times.
As I got older I got all the BSG novels and read them. Started picking up ,when I could find them,the Marvel BSG comics. I even bought the BSG stuff Rob Liefeld put out through Maximum Press.
When the BSG remake got announced I wasn't that excited. When the mini series that started the remake series aired I didn't have cable,but got a friend who did to record it for me. I watched it didn't like it and that was it.
Until 2007,IIRC season 4 was about to air. SciFi was airing all the previous seasons daily in 8 hour blocks. I gave the show a second chance and by episode 2 was hooked.
While I still love the original. I do realize it was very much aimed at kids that wanted more Star Wars. And when it was airing that is what I was,A kid that wanted way way more Star Wars. This remake took the bare bones of the original series and created a great story about creation and humanity. A story about war and how it effects those in it. And like one of my favorite movies,Blade Runner,asked what is a human?
Now I have watched so many science fiction shows in my close to 50 years on this planet. Nothing so far comes close to BSG remake in my mind,unless you count Twin Peaks as a Science Fiction show. I don't count it but can see how some might argue it is. BSG is a show that almost every 3 years I watch it again. Each time I rewatch it I notice something new or find something else to love about it. Almost perfectly cast,using mostly actors/actresses that were unknown to US viewers. Containing ,for the time,really well done FX work. And thankfully it ended before it jumped the shark. Plus that ending. Yea I am far from being a religious person. But that ending is just the perfect way to end the voyage of a warship named Galactica.
