Current Sci-Fi / Fantasy Shows
By Mark Wilson, About.com Guide to Sci-Fi / Fantasy
What's going on with your favorite sci-fi / fantasy shows? Who are these characters, and what are they about? What's going on behind the scenes? You'll find answers here. (For times and networks, see What's On When.)
Battlestar Galactica
The last survivors of humanity, escaping the destruction of the twelve colonies by the artificially created Cylons, battle internal friction and enemy infiltration on a quest to find the home of the lost thirteenth colony -- Earth.
- Essential information
- What it's about and why it's different
- Characters and cast
- Image gallery
- Quiz yourself: Kara Thrace, callsign: Starbuck
Bionic Woman
Jaime Sommers, turned into a bionic superwoman without her permission, is drawn into the complex world of a secret agent while still trying to keep a life of her own for herself and her kid sister.
Chuck
Chuck Bartowski is an ordinary computer techie helping shoppers at a big-box electronics store when an old college buddy sends him an email that downloads millions of government secrets from a destroyed supercomputer straight into Chuck's head. Now shadowed by secret agents, including the beautiful Sarah, Chuck reluctantly uses insights from the database in his brain to foil bad guys.
Doctor Who
The Doctor -- 900 years old and the last of the Time Lords -- travels the universe in a space-time machine called the TARDIS, fighting injustice and evil wherever he finds it.
- Essential information
- Characters and cast
- Review: Season 3
- Review: Doctor Who New Beginnings
- Quiz: How well do you know regeneration?
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon, finding out that his father didn't die but in fact disappeared into a rift leading to the planet Mongo, ruled by the merciless dictator Ming, is drawn to Mongo himself to find his father and help the victims of Ming's rule. Helping him are Ming's former bounty hunter, Bailin; Flash's ex-girlfiend, Dale; and his father's colleague, Dr. Zarkov.
Heroes
Ordinary people discover that they have extraordinary abilities, and that they're not alone -- not only are there others like them scattered atround the world, but there are those who seek to use their abilities for destruction and domination, and others who want to rid humanity of those with special powers.
Jericho
Jericho, Kansas was a quiet, ordinary town before a nuclear explosion on the horizon was followed by complete isolation from the rest of the world. After the initial panic, the citizens -- led by Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) -- wonder how to deal with fear and possible danger from threats both external (like the neighboring town of New Bern, and possibly even the new government in Cheyenne) and internal (power struggles and spies).
Journeyman
Reporter Dan Vassar finds himself unexpectedly traveling in time, tracking people in trouble and extemporizing ways to resolve the crises that ruined their lives. Meanwhile, his own life becomes more complicated, as his disappearances take a toll on his relationships with his wife and son, his boss, and his increasingly suspicious brother, who used to be engaged to Dan's wife.
Moonlight
Mick St. John is a vampire. He's also a private investigator. Once he saved the life of a little girl named Beth by destroying the vampire who had kidnapped her -- who happened to be his wife, as well as the one who "turned" him. Having always watched out for the girl, who's grown up to be a reporter, Mick struggles with feelings they're developing for each other despite the seeming impossibility of a human-vampire relationship.
New Amsterdam
John Amsterdam saved a Native American girl's life in 1642, and was given immortal life until he finds his true love. Now a New York City police detective, having lived the entire history of the metropolis, he hides his secret from all but his trusted friend Omar.
Pushing Daisies
Ned can touch dead things and bring them back to life. But if he touches them again, they go back to being dead, forever. So he can never touch the girl he loves, a woman named Chuck whom he accidentally brought back to life. Meanwhile Ned works with a private detective named Emerson to solve murders by momentarily bringing the victims back to life and asking them who killed them.
Reaper
Sam's stress-free life as a college dropout working at a home supply store is suddenly complicated by the news that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born -- and the devil has shown up to make good on the deal. Now Sam must work as the devil's bounty hunter, tracking down hell's escaped souls with the help of his friends Sock and Ben; but he can't share his secret with the girl he likes, a co-worker named Andi.
Sarah Connor Chronicles
A sci-fi drama based on the Terminator movies, following the fugitive Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) on the run from cyborgs sent from the future.
Stargate Atlantis
Having discovered a means of traveling to the Pegasus Galaxy by means of the stargate technology created by the race of humans known as the Ancients, Stargate Command sent an expedition to the Ancients' long-abandoned base there, Atlantis. Only after arriving does the expedition discover that the Pegasus Galaxy is infested with the life-sucking race that defeated the Ancients -- the Wraith.
- Essential information
- Characters and cast
- Whither Atlantis?
- Killing Off Carson Beckett
- Review: Season 3 DVD
Supernatural
Sam and Dean Winchester are demon-hunters trained by their father. With hundreds of evil souls having recently been released from hell, the brothers find themselves facing a war, while Sam must deal with Dean's bargain to be sent to hell in a year in exchange for saving Sam's life.
Torchwood
In this spin-off of Doctor Who, Jack Harkness heads a secret task force to protect the Earth from alien threats called Torchwood. He's unusually well qualified for the job -- not only is he a friend and occasional traveling companion of the Time Lord known as The Doctor, he also -- thanks to a strange accident in the far future -- has become a "fact in time" who cannot die.
