In the midst of trying to catch up on my pop culture news Tuesday afternoon, I ran across this poll on the new, but popular site IO9.com. Essentially it asked their readers to pick out of six shows, which was the most overrated. Here were the choices:
- Lost
- The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Firefly
- The new Battlestar Galactica
- The new Doctor Who series
- Heroes
It’s an interesting selection for sure, because they go back as far as Firefly and as recent as Sarah Connor for their options. But the kicker, and reason I’m even writing about this, is the results of this poll in which 4,000+ people have voted. See for yourself:
Firefly- 5.7% (228 votes)
Battlestar Galactica – 8.0% (320 votes)
Doctor Who – 13.2% (530 votes)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – 12.6% (507 votes)
Heroes – 20.8% (835 votes)
Lost – 39.6% (1588 votes)
It’s startling to me that Lost got so much hate. But in thinking back to the Tivo forums I used to frequent and reading the comments below the poll, it really shouldn’t be surprising.
There are people out there who just can’t handle shows that don’t give you answers right away. It’s almost part of the American society in which we live that we want what we WANT and we WANT IT NOW!
The comments below are full of people who just can’t get into the show. Which is amazing to me, because it seems that most people love a good mystery. But I firmly believe it’s because they don’t have the desire or patience to enjoy the journey.
Anyways, I do get that not everyone likes everything, but to me with the choices on that poll, it was shocking that Lost leads the way.
I would pick Sarah Connor or Heroes (I voted for Sarah Connor) among those six, having never seen a second of Doctor Who. Heroes obviously was pretty poor this year and Sarah Connor hasn’t impressed anyone yet that I know. It’s okay, but nothing exciting. And I don’t even think it’s loved enough to be “overrated” anyways.
So what do you think? Among those, which would you pick? Are you surprised by the results as much as I am?
Very surprising to me. 4 of those shows I watch regularly. I haven’t seen any Doctor Who, and the only one I agree that’s overrated is Firefly–just couldn’t get into it.
Lost and BSG, however, is kind of a slap in the face! Those are two of the most smartest shows on television right now. I’m surprised because sci-fi fans usually appreciate that.
Adam’s last blog post..Lost – “Confirmed Deadâ€Â? Pre-Game Show
I’m not surprised about LOST. People are not able to sustain mental focus for such a long period of time (3.5 seasons now with 2 to 2.5 more seasons to go). I have thought it was a huge risk on the part of the creators to put a show like LOST out there because it does require long-term dedication and some mental faculty.
Oh well – I guess if you are fed a steady diet of bumper sticker slogans then anything that lasts longer than 5 seconds is going to be a stretch.
I hate those people.
Lost and BSG are definitely two of the best shows out there right now, period. BSG is hardly overrated since it’s actually underrated. Doctor Who sucks…trust me. Firefly was okay, but I can see how some might say overrated by many. Sarah Connor hasn’t been around long enough to be overrated.
I’d have to give it to Heroes. People acted like it was the best thing that ever happened to TV. Even the first season a discerning person could see they were going to have story issues.
I agree with you all, but not on Firefly. The show was so underrated it got canceled, so I don’t see how it was OVERRATED.
Enough people I know have gone back and watched the show on DVD and loved it…
Anyways, agree with you on Heroes Jason.
That is such a no-brainer–Heroes is far and away the most overrated show on television period, not just sci-fi.
Firefly?! As an OVERATED Series?! Okay, yes people thought it was really good – and I agree with that. I loved it. But to put it on a “most overated list” seems to be missing one VITAL piece of information… they had their Budget cut and were shut down! They couldn’t have been all that over rated if their series was cancelled!!!
Okay, I admit it, I can’t even think of voting on a poll like this. BSG and Heroes are the only two of them that I’ve seen. Compared to what I have available to me (here in the Philippines), nothing I get a chance to see is overrated.
Brian I agree…
RT, must be hard getting good TV shows over there, but I’ll bet you probably have better things to do over there anyways.
My vote would be for the Stargate shows (zzzzzz). I never could get into them.
But, maybe, we should consider Star Trek Voyager or Star Trek Enterprise. Both had some promise at the start but ended up sucking something awful very quickly.
Frank C’s last blog post..Blog Review: Prince of Wall Street
Now, Frank, why you wanna go starting something? No one said anything about Stargate or the Star Treks, yet here you go dumping on them. That’s not right, man.
And I say this because I watch(ed) all of them…
Jason A Clark’s last blog post..The Ant & The Grasshopper – With Updated Version
Stargatetrek – it’s all the same…
Voyager sucked and Enterprise had such potential and just dropped the ball…and this is coming from a huge Trek fan.
I really feel Bakula was a good choice, but they missed a brilliant opportunity to explore awesome new worlds, but instead they made it into a political universe like TNG did…at least, that’s how I saw it.
I didn’t think Voyager was that bad…
Jason A Clark’s last blog post..The Ant & The Grasshopper – With Updated Version
Voyager was good for the short attention span. No matter what universe destroying calamity they encountered during the first 7/8ths of the show a Deus ex machina would show up to save the day in the last 5 minutes and all would be well again.
Not to mention that it had some of the worst characters and worst actors in Star Trek history. Even….Shatner…..was….better….
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Aw, Frank, I can do better than that. I! Finally! Figured! Out! How! To! Punctuate! Kirk! Speeches!
I know some people will disagree, but I believe some of the most overrated science fiction tv shows would include Space 1999, Lost in Space, Captain Video, Quark, Sliders, the old Batman, Quantum Leap, The Time Tunnel, My Favorite Martian, the old Superman, Spiderman 1970’s series, V, The Time Trap, Dr. Who, The Tomorrow People, The 4400, Nowhere Man, Manimal, Third Rock from the Sun, ALF, Eerie IN, and others
NOWHERE MAN????
I loved that show
@Mister X.. well compiled overrated list bud… =)
I cam back because a year later, I rewatched firefly again. It is brilliant! Really very good. If it is overated, it is only such because people were frustrated that they didn’t’ get to see where it went. I think that if they had run for a few series it would have been a ‘good’ show, but becasue it was axed it hyped it.
…bit like the martyre thing that happens when you kill a leader…
Still a good show mind.