Top 5 Most Successful Science-Fiction Universes

Yesterday, for no reason in particular, I began to think about the most successful science-fiction universes in film and television.  After a bit of internet research, I’ve come up with my top 5.

Star Wars

Feature Films: 6

Made-For-TV-Films: 3

Cartoons: 4

                Droids (1 season, 13 episodes)

                Ewoks (2 seasons, 26 episodes)

                Star Wars: Clone Wars (2 seasons, 25 episodes)

                The Clone Wars (5 seasons, 95 episodes, ongoing)

Although the Star Wars universe is not that far ahead of some of its rivals in terms of production, it is at least an order of magnitude above all of the others in terms of recognisability and market penetration. Also, with its recent purchase by Disney, its level of production is set to sky-rocket.

Star Trek

Feature Films: 12

Television Series: 5

                Star Trek (3 seasons, 79 episodes)

                The Next Generation (7 seasons, 178 episodes)

                Deep Space Nine (7 seasons, 176 episodes)

                Voyager (7 seasons, 172 episodes)

                Enterprise (4 seasons, 98 episodes)

Cartoons: 1

                Star Trek: The Animated Series (2 seasons, 24 episodes)

With five major television series, producing over 700 episodes, and an even dozen movies, Star Trek is a clear second place.  It is also the most ‘high-brow’ science-fiction universe to make the list.  While most of its competitors went down the action/adventure route, Star Trek tended to explore larger ideas of social mores, morality, and the human experience.  Although set for another major film release soon, the universe really needs a new television show to carry it forward.

Doctor Who

Feature Films: 2

Made-for-TV Films: 1

Television Series:

                Doctor Who (33 seasons, 789 episodes, ongoing)

                Torchwood (4 seasons, 41 episodes)

                The Sarah Jane Adventures (5 seasons, 53 episodes)

                K-9 (1 season, 26 episodes)

                K-9 and Company (1 episode)

The Doctor Who universe is the only entry in the top five produced outside of the United States, which means it might not be as familiar to a lot of Americans, but this is just one of its many unique features.  It is certainly the oldest of the Universes, having first aired in 1963, three years before the first Star Trek.  It contains, by far, the longest running television show (even if you separate out the modern incarnation of the show, the original ran for 26 seasons).   It is also the only one of the top 5 Universes currently producing a live-action television series.

Also, Doctor Who has permeated the culture of Britain far more than even Star Wars has done in America.  Included amongst the Doctor Who episode count is 5 Christmas specials, but not included are the numerous short specials that have been produced for charity events, nor the numerous radio broadcasts, the audio plays, the stage plays, etc.

Star Gate

Feature Films: 1

Made-for-DVD Films: 2

Television Series: 3

                Stargate SG1 (10 seasons, 214 episodes)

                Stargate Atlantis (5 seasons, 100 episodes)

                Stargate Universe (2 seasons, 40 episodes)

Cartoons Series: 1

                Stargate Infinity (1 season, 26 episodes)

The ten seasons of Stargate SG1 makes it the longest running, science-fiction television show produced in North America.  However, as none of the shows in the series were originally broadcast on a ‘mainstream’ channel, it never reached the level of profile of those above it on the list. While its last series, Universe, was essentially a failure, this science-fiction universe is still fresh enough, with a large enough fan base, to make a new series a possibility.

Babylon 5

Made-for-TV Films: 6

Television Series: 2

                Babylon 5 (5 seasons, 110 episodes)

                Crusade (1 seasons, 13 episodes)

While I doubt that too many people would argue that my first four universes belong in the top 5, I’m sure my last would generate some debate.  It is certainly true that Babylon 5 is significantly less successful than any of those above it, and its position over some of those below is more a matter of taste than quantifiable success.  Still, Babylon 5 deserves a lot of credit for its impact on science-fiction, being the first show to really attempt to tell one, epic, tale over the entire length of its run.  Unfortunately, television politics managed to make a bit of a mess of it at the end.  Still, there was a time when Babylon 5 was the best science-fiction going on television.

                Unlike the others on the list, it seems probably that Babylon 5 is essentially a ‘dead’ universe, with little hope of there ever being any new films or television series.

Honourable Mentions

Battlestar Galactica

The Terminator

Aliens and Predator

Great Gifts for Geeks - Lego Star War Advent Calendar

Kids of today have no idea how lucky they are.  I think if someone had given me a Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar when I was ten, my brain might have exploded with excitement.  Seriously, a full month of little legos? Not only that, but it has a nice combination of figures and tiny little space ship models. Heck, I’d still love to receive one of these to brighten my advent.

Even if Star Wars isn’t for you, they’ve also got calendars with Lego Kingdoms (comes with a wizard!), Lego City, and I even found one for Lego Pirates (including a couple of redcoats)! I’m not sure all of these are from this year, but I don’t suppose it makes any difference.

Great Geek Gifts - The Star Wars Moleskine

Confession time. I am a notebook addict. I just really love buying blank notebooks, even though I have more than enough already, and almost never actually fill one up. I think there is just something about the ‘potential’ of blank notebook that really appeals to me.

For me, the best blank books currently available are the jet black Moleskines, which can now be found in most major bookshops and stationary shops.  I carry one with me nearly everywhere I go, just in case I need to jot something down.

A couple of days ago, my wife bought me this Great Geek Gift, just because she knew I would love it -  A Limited-Edition Star Wars Moleskine!


The picture pretty much shows it all. It’s just a normal Moleskine but with the Star Wars logo embossed on the cover, along with the introductory words from the first movie receding into space. That, and a little reproduction of the movie poster that comes tucked in the back pocket, are the only things that distinguish it from a regular Moleskine.  But life is in the details. I have no idea what I’m going to use it for, something suitably geeky, I hope.

Tell me you don’t want one?

Star Wars - Republic Commando: Hard Contact

Bad news on the reading front, after 180 pages, I have abandoned Star Wars – Republic Commando: Hard Contact . 

[Spoiler Warning]

In many ways, this book turned out to be the exact opposite of my expectation. I bought the book thinking it would be a bit of light, action-packed pulp fiction with mediocre writing. What I got, however, was a well-written, but somewhat dull, novel.

Having read plenty of purple-prose in my time, I can honestly say that Karen Traviss is a much better writer than many who make their life churning out tie-in fiction. She has a smooth, easy style and shows considerable restraint in using unnecessary literary devices.  Normally, when reading a book, I go by the 100 page rule. If I am not interested after the first 100 pages, I don’t bother to finish the book (there are too many other books I could be reading), but Karen’s good writing kept me going for an extra 80, even after my interest in the story began to wane.

The problem with the book was the general lack of plot. Essentially a team of four clone commandos is dropped ‘behind enemy lines’ with orders to kidnap a scientist and destroy her work. As a secondary objective, they are to locate a missing Jedi. The plan almost immediately hits a snag. The commandos' insertion vehicle is damaged during the drop, and one of the four clones is separated from the rest of the team. This lone clone eventually teams up with the missing Jedi’s padawan.

It all started pretty well, but then the novel seemed to come to a stand-still. For the next hundred or more pages, all of the characters seem to just wander about in the woods and fields. There is a little bit of action, but it is quick and lacks tension. 

Also, the book includes one of my least favourite story-telling devices. It spends long sections of the book following the bad guy (a rather one-dimensional ruthless Mandoloran).   Having not finished the book, I can’t say for certain that these passages weren’t necessary, but I have read far too many books where sections showing the bad guy were obviously used to pad out a story that otherwise wouldn’t be long enough to be considered a novel.  Bad guys in these stories are rarely interesting and almost never sympathetic, so why bother showing them? Tell the story from the protagonist’s point of view. Let us learn important facts as he learns him. Sorry, minor rant over.

Perhaps those who read a lot of Star Wars fiction are used to a certain pace and style of storytelling, and this book will be right up their alley. For me though, good-writing not withstanding, I need a bit more plot and a lot more action in my tie-in fiction.

What I’m Reading

Thanks to the wonders of Amazon, a pristine copy of Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

Now, despite my love of the original Star Wars film trilogy, I haven’t read a lot of their ‘Expanded Universe’ books.  Okay, I read a couple of books about Boba Fett as a youngster, but that’s it.  For the most part, I’m not that interested in tie-in fiction that uses movie characters. I really just don’t need to know everything that Han Solo was doing before, after, and even during all of the movies.

That said, I love military/adventure science fiction novels. If I find some good ones, such as Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet, I gobble them up. I’m always on the lookout for new series, or one-offs to give me a few hours of laser battles and space-ship actions.

Hard Contact, written by Karen Traviss, is apparently based on a video game (making it a book based on a video game based on a movie). Usually this isn’t the sign of a great book, but us sci-fi-battle geeks can’t afford to be too picky.

Two things attracted me to this book. First it doesn’t deal with any of the main characters from any of the movies, instead it is about a squad of ‘grunts’. Well, clone commandos. The book isn’t about galaxy changing battles, but just about a bunch of grunts on a behind-the-lines mission. This was enough to peak my interest, so I checked out the book on Amazon, where it has gotten a whole host of good reviews. 

Now, as I work in publishing, I know to take Amazon reviews with a pinch of salt. However, if a book has loads of reviews, including a few really good and a few really bad, you can often trust the average.

We shall see. Hey, it’s got a bunch of guys in combat armor on the cover; it ought to be good for some entertainment.

I’ll let you know.