Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

Well, we have finally come to the end of this year’s Hulu Awards.  It has been a long, and at times tedious, process, but in the end it was definitely worth the effort.  I definitely want to thank Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling from the Hulu Review for giving myself and Sam Christopher the opportunity to participate on the panel.  Sure, it wasn’t always a picnic having to sample offerings like Living Lohan and The Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, but for every turkey like those that I watched I also discovered gems like Spacerip and The Devil’s Trade.  My time as a panelist over the last few months has definitely been a rewarding experience (okay, I couldn’t resist the pun).

For my final column from this year’s awards I will first run quickly through the last two categories awaiting their final nods, then I will reflect on some of the best television shows available at Hulu.com and some of the discoveries I made during the nominations process.

First, my final two nominations:

Best Comedic Clip

Unfortunately, none of the ones that I had in my top five in the semi-finals round made it to the finals.  Sure, most all of the final selections have their merit, but almost none of them make me laugh out loud like the two SNL clips I picked or Comedy Gumbo.  Still, the one I’m going with was pretty darn funny so it’s worthy of the nod: Shaun of the Dead: Throwing Records

Best Clip (Non-Comedy)

Many of us have only read about pivotal moments in history like John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address or Martin Luther King’s march on Washington and did not have the opportunity to witness them in person or at least live on television.  Years from now, President Obama’s inaugural address will rank among these pivotal moments and we will say that we witnessed as it happened.  And this doesn’t mean that I am gloating over the victory of the Democratic Party in the 2008 elections.  I am not a Democrat (or a Republican either).  This moment transcends party politics and shows that a people who for many years accepted inequality and discrimination based on irrational prejudices can overcome their biases and move forward with a person as their leader who never would have been accepted previously simply because of the color of his skin.  This moment represents the culmination of a step forward in the maturity of the people of this nation: Presidential Inaugurations: Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Now on to some of my select highlights from Hulu.com

Top 10 Television Shows on Hulu.com:

I did not get the chance to vote on Babylon 5 and Picket Fences in the top slot during the awards since they were both snubbed in the finals, so I’m presenting my own Top 10 list here.  Note that I have left Battlestar Galactica (the new version) off this list because Hulu only offers the most recent three episodes.  So I went with entries that provided a more extensive sampling of episodes:

1. Babylon 5 – J. Michael Stracynzski’s epic television series represents a high point for Science Fiction and Fantasy television as it gives us an over-arching storyline that unfolds across five seasons, highlighted by some of the best science fiction and dramatic stories ever seen on the small screen.  Unfortunately, Hulu only has the first two seasons available at the current time, but that still represents some of the show’s best moments (especially Season 2).  Highlighted episodes:  “Deathwalker”, “Babylon Squared”, “The Coming of Shadows”, “Confessions and Lamentations” (the latter being one the best episodes of any television series).

2.  Picket Fences – This early David Kelley series flew under the radar, but really pushed the boundaries of Prime Time television when it aired.  It ranged from police procedural to courtroom drama to riveting social commentary.  It did descend into melodrama during its final season, but still provided plenty of engaging viewing during its four year run.  If you are looking for proof, watch the Season 2 episode “Cross Examination“.  A powerful question of faith episode that provides a true challenge to the viewers by presenting multiple perspectives instead of simply skewing to one side.  An all-time high point for television.

3. Firefly – Joss Whedon’s space western only made it through fourteen episodes (and a subsequent big-screen sequel), but what an amazing handful of episodes he gave us!  FOX’s cancellation of this show is one of the greatest injustices in the history of television and it truncated what could have been the next major Science Fiction franchise.  Even if you’ve seen the entire series already, it’s worth watching it all over again.

4. Hill Street Blues – For better or worse, this show changed the cop show genre and moved it away from action-oriented shows to drama.  And Hill Street Blues presented some pretty riveting drama throughout its run (while also adding a healthy dose of black humor).  This show set the template for many of the crime dramas that would follow in the years to come.

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I’ve been slammed by a few for not including Joss Whedon’s seminal work on my Best-of Science Fiction and Fantasy list, and I admit to the deficiency.  Mostly its because I stopped following the series after its first season (no particular reason really) and I never encountered some of its better episodes.  Hulu has Season 2, so it has given me the chance to pick up where I left off, so expect to see this one find its way to my Best-of list before too long.

6. Barney Miller – An intelligent comedy that managed to be funny as well.  How come they can’t figure out how to do shows like this anymore?

7. Alfred Hitchcock Presents / Alfred Hitchcock Hour – Presented well crafted stories with unexpected twist endings framed by Hitchcock’s sardonic quips as series host.  A good representation of the lost art of the anthology show.

8. The White Shadow – A unique series that took a rather real look at urban life among predominately minority teen-agers.  It wasn’t afraid to address the issues faced by young people and to sometimes provide realistic if unsatisfying conclusions.

9. WKRP in Cincinnati – This irreverent and often chaotic series ranks as one of the all-time best sitcoms and managed to stay funny throughout its run.

10. The Tick – This short-lived series provided a great skewering of the superhero genre and delivered more laughs during its nine episodes than some series do over multiple seasons.

Best Discoveries of the Hulu Awards:

I was a Hulu regular before joining the panel for the Hulu Awards, but the nomination process, which took me on a in depth tour of the site’s content, led me to discover some gems I had not previously known about.  Following is a list of the best of those finds:

Television Series:

Raines – I glimpsed this one during its brief network run, but the Hulu Awards presented the opportunity to revisit it in depth.  Yeah, yeah, I know it’s another of those “talk to the dead” shows, but it gives an interesting spin on the well-worn device.  I’m a huge fan of Jeff Goldblum and this odd little series seemed like the perfect vehicle for his talents.  Unfortunately almost no one tuned in and it disappeared after seven episodes.  The good news is that Hulu has the full run of the show available.

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven – I caught bits of this during its initial run, then rediscovered it during the Hulu Awards.  Probably not too many people remember this rather well done one-season wonder.  Imagine if you will that Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide but instead became goth/grunge superhero and you will get a good idea of what to expect.

Uncorked – Comedian Billy Merritt is an average Joe who knows nothing about wine so he decides to go on a tour to educate himself on the subject.  Presents a good rundown on wine for the non-connoisseur and you will learn a thing or two along the way.

Kitchen Nightmares – If you ever thought about opening a [beep]ing restaurant, watch this first.  It will [beep]ing scare you the [beep] away from the [beep]ing idea.  Oh, and be prepared for half the [beep]ing dialogue to be beeped the [beep] out.  Pure guilty pleasure and actually quite addictive.

Anime:

Death Note – A teenager finds a notebook that will kill anybody whose name is written in it and decides to use it to kill evil people.  The episodes I have seen so far present some compelling moral ambiguities along with the dilemmas that follow from them.  I would have considered putting this one in my Top 10 above, but I have not seen enough episodes yet to know if the series maintains its quality throughout.

Mushi-shi – This is an interesting and beautifully illustrated tale about a man who seeks out the supernatural creatures known as Mushi and helps people who they have brought misfortune to.

Web Originals:

Devil’s Trade – This seven part mini from FearNet.com really hits the mark.  It presents a scary and engaging story that does not have to rely on gore or violence.  It outdid any of the episodes from last summer’s failed horror anthology Fear Itself on NBC and I would love to see more in this vein.

Spacerip – This fascinating series of clips and shorts takes us on a tour of the universe brought to life with stellar (pun intended) computer animation.

Comedy Gumbo – Like any sketch show, it has its hits and misses, but averaging around 4 – 6 minutes per episode means that it moves along a quick pace.  At times this show had me laughing out loud, and I don’t understand why it did not get any respect from the other awards panelists.

Beyond Human – I stumbled upon this series while browsing through available clips for the Best Clip nomination.  It is a really interesting look at the potential of cyborg technology; science fiction meets science fact.  

Carpet Bros – I can’t find his name attached to it anywhere, but I would swear that Quentin Tarantino had a hand in this one with its sharp, droll dialogue and retro look.

Short Clips:

Shaolin Delivery Boy – A Chinese Canadian actor gets lessons on how to be more Asian.  A great parody on the entertainment industry.

Non Fat – For those who did not die laughing at this short one-minute film, we know how often you go to Starbucks and what you order!

Poor God – There are several world leaders who should be locked up in a room and forced to watch this repeatedly until they finally get it.

Nun Fight Club – The name says it all.

Given more time, I’ll bet I could find twice as many gems on the site if not more.  But that’s all for now.  For more information on the Hulu Awards and the upcoming ceremony and to cast your own votes for the winners, go to the Hulu Review site.

Previous Column:

Hulu Awards Week 13

No Round 3 nominations this week as we are working our way through the finals set of categories.  I’m just going to run quickly through these as I have already commented at length on most of these entries.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Comedic Clip:
All but one of my six My Round 3 nominations progressed to the semi-finals, so I’m sticking with them and these five add-ons:

1. Saturday Night Live: Bush Endorsement
2. Saturday Night Live: Gitmo Ad
3. Comedy Gumbo: Hummus
4. Young Frankenstein: Inspector Kemp
5. Edward Scissorhands: A Good Astringent
6. Shaun of the Dead: Throwing Records – What to do with those vinyl copies of Peter Frampton Comes Alive and The Bee Gees Greatest Hits that you have at the back of the closet.
7. Animal House: Toga Guitar Smash – A classic comedy moment.
8. Office Space: Peter’s Interview – Got to give a nod to this classic of the cubicle world.
9. 30 Rock: Jenna on Hardball – I don’t follow the show but may have to check it out after seeing this hilarious clip.
10. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Spin Class – Don’t know much about this show, but this clip was pretty funny.

Best Clip (Non-Comedy):
Sticking with my six Round 3 nominations and tacking on the MLK piece to round out seven for the semi-finals

1. Presidential Inauguration: Obama’s Inaugural Speech
2. Spacerip: Voyager’s Legacy
3. Beyond Human: Cyborg Revolution
4. Field of Dreams: People Will Come
5. The Birds: Birds Amass
6. Psycho: Mrs. Bates
7. NBC News Time Capsule: Martin Luther King, Jr.: Look Here

Round 1 Nominations:

Best Talk and Interview Show:
No Tonight Show?  What’s up with that?  Oh well, I’ll just go to the next one from my Round 2 list:

Late Night With Conan O’Brien

Best Informational Show:
Hand’s down winner for this category:

Nova

Best News Show:
For this category, I’ll stick with the option more relevant to this site:

Comic Con 2008

Best Television Network:
Sticking with my top pick from the semi-finals:

20th Century Fox

Best Movie:
Tempted to give the nod to Night of the Living Dead here, but I will leave that honor to Mr. Christopher.

Men in Black

Best Television Show (Scripted):
Babylon 5.  Oh wait, that didn’t make it to the finals.  Then Picket Fences.  Oh wait, neither did that one.  In fact, is this the right list for the finals?  Chuck?  Chuck?  How did that get here?  Not that it is a bad show, but best on Hulu?  Well BSG, Alfred Hitchcock, and Buffy are all acceptable choices.  I know that Sam will go with Buffy, so I will go with this one:

Battlestar Galactica

Best Unscripted Television Show:
Blah!  I had hoped that at least one of the more palatable choices would have slipped into the finals.  Well this one isn’t too bad and its actually somewhat addictive:

Kitchen Nightmares

(Editor’s Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

Last week of new categories in the nominations and then the countdown to the awards presentation begins.

Round 3 Nominations:

Best Television Show (Scripted):
Unfortunately, I cannot pick from all of the television shows available on Hulu in this category as it has been condensed down to the finalists from the television categories we previously voted upon.  This means that I cannot nominate Babylon 5 and Picket Fences because for reasons well beyond my understanding they did not advance to the finals in their categories.  So consider them my ghost picks number one and two.  For the actual nominations, I could just focus on Science Fiction and Fantasy because that’s really my thing, but I have to acknowledge some of the non-genre options in this category because of their importance to the medium of television.  Here are my picks:

1. Firefly – I’ve said it before and I will say it again, FOX committed one of the greatest injustices in the history of television when it cancelled this show (and yet somehow some ABC executive have seen fit to give both Cupid and V a second chance).
2. Alfred Hitchcock Presents – This kicks of a Hitchcock trend that will continue into one of the categories below.  A masterful series of horror and suspense stories.
3. Barney Miller – One of the all time great television comedies (I feel I would debase it if I referred to it as a sitcom).
4. The Bob Newhart Show – Second only to Barney Miller on my list of the comedy series included on Hulu.
5. Battlestar Galactica – A hard-hitting series that brings drama to Science Fiction.  It’s on its way toward its grand finale and Hulu will follow it to the end.

Best Unscripted Television Show:
I just can’t get away from these darn reality shows.  But at least I can mostly ignore them here and vote for the informational/cooking shows.

1. Uncorked – I still want to know how I can get in on this gig.
2. Good Eats – Food nerds rule!
3. After Hours with Daniel – Oh man!  Now I’m hungry again after revisiting a few of these clips.
4. 30 Minute Meals – Well, at least this will help me satisfy my hunger within half an hour.
5. Queer Eye – Good, dispensable fun.

Best Movie:
Again, with these we are picking from the finalists in previous categories.  Some pretty easy choices, though, and I have already commented on each of these elsewhere:

1. John Carpenter’s The Thing
2. Men in Black
3. Ghostbusters
4. Night of the Living Dead
5. The Karate Kid

Best Comedic Clip:
The two Best Clip categories are pretty daunting as we can select from pretty much any and all clips available on Hulu.  It could take weeks to sort through all that, but I already had a good idea of which ones I would focus upon.  Of course, I could take the easy route and just sift through the Saturday Night Live clips for my six nominations, but I wanted to expand my consideration further than that (still, I did include to SNL clips).  Following are my recommendations:

1. Saturday Night Live: Bush Endorsement – This skit, in which Will Ferrell’s George Bush tries his hardest give his endorsement to John McCain (Darrell Hammond) and Sarah Palin (Tina Fey), ran shortly before last year’s election.  I died laughing when I saw it then and still consider it one of the funniest things SNL has done in years.
2. Saturday Night Live: Gitmo Ad – Hurry up and get to the Gitmo going-out-of-business sale before everything is gone!
3. Comedy Gumbo: Hummus – I rather like this web-original comedy show and I was quite perturbed to see advance to the finals in the Worst Web Original category.  So I thought I would give it a plug here to counter that dubious honor.  Pretty much any of the ten episodes that Hulu has available are representative of the show, but I especially liked this one for the WII Dishwasher Champion ad.
4. Non Fat – I nominated this clip back in the Best Comedic Short category and still think it is pretty darn funny.
5. Young Frankenstein: Inspector Kemp – This clip comes from one of my all time favorite movies and I wanted to nominate it here because present day audiences may not be as familiar with it.  This was a great send-up of the Universal Frankenstein/Monster movies and it is Mel Brooks’ best movie.
6. Edward Scissorhands: A Good Astringent – Another of my all-time favorite movies.  Any of these clips would have sufficed, but I especially liked this scene where Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) applies her suburban Avon-Lady sensibilities to gothic misfit Edward (Johnny Depp).  Classic Tim Burton.

Best Clip (Non-Comedy):
There are plenty of movie and documentary clips that I could cast nominations for, but my first choice captures a moment in history that I believe we will be telling our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren about.

1. Presidential Inauguration: Obama’s Inaugural Speech – Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that Obama is one hell of a speaker.  I watched his inaugural speech live on TV and it still resonates with me.
2. Spacerip: Voyager’s Legacy – Yeah, I’ve already recognized this scientific series in other categories, but it’s really good so I thought I would give it the nod here as well.  Any of the clips are worth watching, but I particularly liked this one.
3. Beyond Human: Cyborg Revolution – I stumbled upon this series while browsing through available clips.  It is a really interesting look at the potential of cyborg technology; science fiction meets science fact.  Watched several of the clips, but liked this one the best.
4. Field of Dreams: People Will Come – Another of my favorite movies and this clip really captures the heart of the film.
5. The Birds – An excellent and terrifying film and this moment really captures both the suspense and horror that Hitchcock conveyed throughout the movie (without excessive blood, gore, or mayhem I might add) as the children can be heard singing happily in the background while the birds amass menacingly around the schoolhouse.  A classic moment in film.
6. Psycho: Mrs. Bates – Too much Hitchcock you say?  You can never have too much Hitchcock.  Yet another classic moment in film history (as are all of the clips for this movie).

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Television Network:
I would have liked to have seen FEARNet or Chiller advance to the semi-finals, but oh well.

1. 20th Century Fox – This has the best selection of television shows among the choices in this category including such standouts as Picket Fences, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and The White Shadow.
2. Sci Fi – I can do without most of their reality offerings, but they do have Battlestar Galactica and Eureka.
3. PBS – You have to give Public Broadcast a nod here.
4. Funimation – Has some good Anime offerings.
5. National Geographic Channel – You could make an argument for Universal because they have things like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, American Gothic, and Exosquad.  But then they also have things like Galactica: 1980, Cleopatra 2525, and The Munsters Today.  The bad outweighs the good.  And you can never go wrong with National Geographic.

Best Talk and Interview Show:
Three of my initial nominations made it through and the other two are acceptable:

1. The Tonight Show
2. Late Night with Conan O’Brien
3. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
4. Attack of the Show
5. Inside the Actor’s Studio

Best Informational Show:
All four of my nominees made it to the semi-finals and I will tack on the last one to round out the five.

1. Nova
2. Scientific American Frontiers
3. Spacerip
4. Wired Science
5. National Geographic News

Best News Show:
Again, my four nominees made it through.  NBC News Times Capsule has some interesting stuff as well.

1. Comic Con 2008 San Diego
2. NBC News Special
3. CNET News
4. Access Hollywood
5. NBC News Time Capsule

Round 1 Nominations:

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Show:
What?  No Babylon 5 in the finals?  That’s as big of a travesty as Picket Fences not making it to the finals in the Best Dramatic Television Series category (and it messed with my Best Television Show nominations above).  And how did J.J. Abrams’ X-Files retread Fringe make it this far?  I can just skip to the next entry on my semi-finals list for this category, which deserves the nod as well, but B5 really should get this vote.  My pick:

Firefly

Worst Scripted Television Show:
Cleopatra 2525 avoided the finals here?  How did that happen?  And come on, I realize that Heroes has seen a drop in quality since its brilliant first season, but it doesn’t deserve this company.  Anyway, my pick does:

The Munsters Today

Worst Movie:
This pick is a no-brainer (as was the movie):

The Planet of the Apes

Best Movie Studio:
I’ll stick with my top choice from last week because this studio has some strong representation on Hulu:

PIX

(Editor’s Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

We are almost at the end of the Hulu Awards now. A few more cleanup rounds next week then it’s onto to the final awards presentation on March 2nd.  But first, on to this week’s categories:

Round 3 Nominations:

Best Talk and Interview Show:
Pretty obvious which one goes to the top of this list.  Can we vote on Worst Talk Show as well?  Bill O’Reilly’s abusive diatribe show goes straight to the top of that list.

1. The Tonight Show – This one has ruled late night for what seems like forever.  I like the way Hulu has it because you can just watch the clips you want (which for me is mostly the monologues).
2. FEARnet All Access – FEARnet.com is quickly becoming a force in the horror/supernatural market with its original series and other offerings.  This show offers some good info for fans of the genre.
3. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart – Offers plenty of laughs.
4. Late Night With Conan O’Brien – Not quite as good as its lead-in, but still worth a look.

Best Informational Show:
I’m leaning a bit heavy on PBS Science shows here, but hey, they’re all excellent.

1. Nova – Still providing excellent documentaries after all this time.  Wish that Hulu had more episodes available.
2. Scientific American Frontiers – Not quite up to Nova’s level, but still quite good.
3. Spacerip – Already nominated it in the Best Web Original category, but it doesn’t have a chance against Dr. Horrible.  I’ll give it one more opportunity here.
4. Wired Science – Another excellent PBS product.

Best News Show:

1. Comic Con 2008 San Diego – I’m giving it the top nod here because it is the most relevant to the Axiom’s Edge site and it provided some great coverage for that convention.
2. NBC News Specials – Some interesting, indepth looks at various topics.
3. CNET News – Some decently interesting news quickies.
4. Access Hollywood – More than just a gossip forum, this offers some decent and quite up-to-date news on the entertainment industry.

Best Network and Movie Studio:
This category offers a three-fer of sub-categories.

Best Major Network:

NBC – Could only choose between Fox and NBC for this one.  Both have some really strong offerings on Hulu (Heroes for NBC and Firefly for Fox), but I’m giving NBC the nod because of Fox’s history with the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre where it has been particularly brutal when it comes to renewing series (not that NBC is all that much better, just not quite as bad).

Best Movie Studio:

PIX – Guess I will go with this one because they have quite a number of movies that I have nominated in other categories:  Men in Black, Ghostbusters, Fifth Element, Starship Troopers, and Karate Kid.

Best Television Network:

FEARnet – There are several of these that you can make some strong arguments for, but I’m giving the nod to FEARnet to give them some recognition I think they deserve.  They are currently producing some good original stuff for the web, particularly in the horror/supernatural genre.  So let’s give the upstart the nomination.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Series:
This category is pretty easy as my four nominations from Round 3 advanced to the semi-finals.  I will take on my honorable mention entry to round out the five required for this round.  (See my previous post for my comments on each of these entries.)

1. Babylon 5
2. Firefly
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. Eureka

Worst Scripted Television Series:
Four of my Round 3 nominations had the dubious honor of progressing in this category (and to my great surprise, Galactica: 1980 didn’t get enough votes to advance).  I will tack on The Return of Jezebel James to round out the five for its rather ridiculous premise and annoying delivery (er . . . pun not intended, but accepted).

1. Cleopatra 2525
2. The Munsters Today
3. Knight Rider
4. Team Knight Rider
5. The Return of Jezebel James

Worst Movie:
Three of my Round 3 nominations progressed and the next two are worthy of this list as well.

1. Planet of the Apes
2. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
3. Hercules in New York
4. National Lampoon’s Spring Break
5. Ghoulies II

Round 1 Nominations:

Best Web Original:

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog – If nothing else, we can thank last year’s writer’s strike for this, because Joss Whedon came up with the idea for his masterpiece while awaiting the resolution of that situation.  And for some additional good news:  he is currently working on a sequel.

Worst Web Original:

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show – No, you do not see any other entries in this category.  If you do, then you are just hallucinating again.  Just cast your vote for this wretched web refugee and move along.

Best Science Fiction Movie:

John Carpenter’s The Thing – I know I already nominated it for Best Horror Movie, but it deserves the nod again here as well.  Now someone please tell Matt he made a mistake and accidentally included Planet of the Apes in the finals for this category (for its proper category, please see Worst Movie).

Best Videogame Coverage:

Game Reviews – Like I said before, this isn’t really my forte, but this one seems to deliver what gamers should want in news and reviews on video games.

(Editor’s Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)

This is the second to last week with new categories for the Hulu Awards.  And finally we get past the Reality show drivel and on to some good stuff.

Round 3 Nominations:

Best Science Fiction/Fantasy TV Series:
Finally, after ten weeks, we get to the category most closely associated with the main focus of this site.  We have waded through such extremely off-topic (and at times intolerable) categories as Best Competitive Reality Show, Best Celebrity-Driven Reality Show, and Best Travel and Leisure Show.  Still, among the other categories and I managed to find some gems of genre interest and we really have been able to demonstrate the vast offerings of Hulu.com.

My selections in this category came quite easily.  The first three were right off my Best-of list (in fact, the first two are in my Top 10), and the fourth is destined for the Best-of list.

1. Babylon 5 – J. Michael Stracynzski’s epic television series represents a high point for Science Fiction and Fantasy television as it gives us an over-arching storyline that unfolds across five seasons, highlighted by some of the best science fiction and dramatic stories ever seen on the small screen.  Unfortunately, Hulu only has the first two seasons available at the current time, but that still represents some of the show’s best moments (especially Season 2).  Highlighted episodes:  “Deathwalker”, “Babylon Squared”, “The Coming of Shadows”, “Confessions and Lamentations” (the latter being one the best episodes of any television series).
2. Firefly – Joss Whedon’s space western only made it through fourteen episodes (and a subsequent big-screen sequel), but what an amazing handful of episodes he gave us!  FOX’s cancellation of this show is one of the greatest injustices in the history of television and it truncated what could have been the next major Science Fiction franchise.  Even if you’ve seen the entire series already, it’s worth watching it all over again.  Highlighted episodes:  all of them.
3. Battlestar Galactica (New) – No cute kids or cuddly robot dogs in this re-imagining of the 1978 iconic series.  And if there were, they would probably meet with a grisly demise in short order.  This series takes its viewers on a rollercoaster ride and presents some pretty hard-hitting drama.  Unfortunately, Hulu only has the most recent episodes available, but that provides a good chance to get caught up before the final ten episodes air (which already began on January 16th).
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I’ve been slammed by a few for not including Joss Whedon’s seminal work on my Best-of list, and I admit to the deficiency.  Mostly its because I stopped following the series after its first season (no particular reason really) and I never encountered some of its better episodes.  Hulu has Season 2, so it has given me the chance to pick up where I left off, so expect to see this one find its way to my Best-of list before too long.

Honorable Mention: Eureka – I wish we had five or six choices in this category because I could fill up that and more.  The Sci Fi Channel’s Eureka made Science Fiction fun again.  It’s an enjoyable little series that will make you laugh out loud at times while also challenging your noggin from time to time.  If you’ve never watched it, here’s your chance to go back to the beginning.

Not as Bad as You Might Think: Tremors – Seems like way too much of a stretch to make a series from a movie franchise already exhausted creatively by what seems like a never-ending run sequels.  But this odd mix of horror/monster movies and government conspiracy actually was not too bad (genre mainstay Christopher Lloyd even made frequent appearances as a recurring character).  It failed to live beyond its first season more because Sci Fi replaced the hugely popular Farscape with this (much cheaper) attempt to kick off a new franchise and viewers refused to tune in out of protest.  Check out a few episodes, you might be pleasantly surprised.

As Bad as You Might Think: Cleopatra 2525 – Bad acting, bad directing, bad scripts, bad special effects, bad dialogue (“Hey, do you want a kidney or not?”), bad idea.  Even worse, the one thing it should have going for it, the eye-candy factor, falls flat.  Sorry, but I just don’t consider these women too hot (sorry Gina, but at least I loved you in Firefly).  Doesn’t even contain any real camp value.  Just plain awful, and I have no idea how it ever made it to a second season.

Best Science Fiction Movie:
Like all of the movie categories for the Hulu Awards, “Best” is a relative term because the site does not yet have a good representation of big-screen fare.  Still, they do have enough decent choices.  We will assume that the entry for the movie Heroes starring Henry Winkler and Sally Field made it here because of a categorization error on the part of Hulu.  And please, let’s assume the same thing with Xanadu.

1. John Carpenter’s The Thing – I gave it the nod for best Horror Movie, but this deserves consideration among Science Fiction movies as well.  Just a damn, well-made, engaging, and scary movie.
2. Men in Black – A good fun sci fi romp.  One of my all-time favorites.
3. The Fifth Element – A bit overhyped when it first came out, but this is still a pretty good Science Fiction entry.
4. Pitch Black – You might consider dinging this one because it opened the door for the dreadful The Chronicles of Riddick, but I will still give it the nod.  One of the best Alien clones.
5. Starship Troopers – Was Paul Verhoeven mocking or embracing the militarism of Robert A. Heinlein’s original novel?  You be the judge.  Either way, this was one of the best Sci Fi/Action movies of all-time.

Guilty Pleasure: The Toxic Avenger – This one is really pretty bad, but in all the right ways!

Worst Scripted TV Series:
Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh.  This one’s going to be fun.

You know, I love television.  I’ve watched a lot of it, I mean a whole lot of it.  And I probably let my kids watch too much of it as well.  Still, it can be entertaining, engaging, educational, and enlightening (I did not intentionally pick just words starting with “e”), but that is when it is hitting on all cylinders.  My Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television documents quite a number of these successes.  The ones that really pushed the medium to its limits and produced engaging, worthwhile entertainment.

Unfortunately, the best examples of the medium only represent a very small percentage of its total output.  Too often it tries to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and in the process, provides us with some pretty dismal fair.  Reality television probably best embodies the nadir of television output, but there are plenty of scripted shows that vie for top (bottom?) honors there as well.  Three of the following have already appeared on my Worst of Science Fiction and Fantasy list (and a couple will be joining it soon).

1. Galactica: 1980 – This ill-advised attempt to restart the Battlestar Galactica franchise came about when ABC execs suddenly changed their minds about cancelling the original series.  Unfortunately, most of the principals had already found work elsewhere, so they had to re-tool the concept and bring in a new cast.  Now geared more towards kids, it produced episodes (and only eight at that) hardly better than some of the worst Saturday morning fare.
2. Cleopatra 2525 – See my comments on this one under the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Television Show category above (hint: it didn’t make it t0 that list).
3. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – In its first season, this series gave us a tongue-in-cheek Sci Fi romp.  It’s scripts were pretty bad, but at least it didn’t take itself too seriously.  But in its second season, the show did an about-face and tried to make statements with its episodes (a la Star Trek).  Lesson of the day: if you have bad scripts, it’s much better not to take yourself too seriously.
4. The Munsters Today – The original series provided a rather enjoyable visit with an eccentric though ghoulish family.  Some of the comic interchange between Fred Gwynne as Herman and Al Lewis as Grandpa ranks among the classic comedy moments of television.  But there was no excuse for this horrid attempt to revive the franchise.  I’m thinking this ones needs to find its way to my Worst-of list along with Cleopatra 2525 above.
5. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – This series started out as a fairly standard action adventure show, but with Irwin Allen at the helm, it quickly descended into a creature-of-the-week debacle aimed mostly at children.  The crew of the Seaview encountered such absurdities as werewolves, evil leprechauns, lobster men, and killer toys, and they did it all with a straight face so it failed to even deliver any real camp appeal.
6. What’s Happening Now – The original What’s Happening was tolerable.  But there was just no excuse for this attempt to dredge up that franchise again.
7. Knight Rider – This is the recent revival of Knight Rider that bowed this past Fall on NBC.  Sad thing is that with a little bit of effort this could have been one of those good guilty pleasure shows.  Instead, it was only guilty of bad writing, bad acting, bad directing, and of wasting its exorbitant budget.
8. Team Knight Rider – Do we detect a trend here?  Did somebody say they were adding the original Knight Rider to Hulu as well . . .

Worst Movie:
There are some pretty bad movies out there (on Hulu and in general), but the problem with the selections in this category is that I do not feel strongly enough about too many of them to throw them onto a Worst-of list.  Oh sure, you could take some easy pot-shots at such B-Movie turkeys as The Giant Gila Monster or Frankenstein’s Daughter, but then those movies don’t really pretend to be something they’re not.  For that reason, I will focus on some of the more well-known and/or over-hyped properties that really fell flat.  And I sure wish the Austin Powers movies were on Hulu, because I never understood why people thought they were funny and would love to include them here.

1. Planet of the Apes – How on earth did one of the most talented and imaginative directors of all time, the person who produced literature on film with such tour de forces as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, and Big Fish, ever create such a mundane, uninspired, lackluster excuse for a film as this.  I guess when you reach such heights, you have to fall pretty low to create a proper balance in the universe.
2. The Nutty Professor II:  The Klumps – The first movie was okay.  The second should have provided sufficient cause for banning Eddie Murphy from ever making movies again with the exception of voice-overs in animated films.  Unfortunately he did make more movies which brought us such wonders as The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Dr. Doolittle, and Norbit.
3. Hercules in New York – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first film where his accent was so strong that they dubbed his lines.  This has to be seen to be believed.
4. Three Amigos – Three really great comedic talents and hardly a chuckle to be found among them.

Best Videogame Coverage:
Like Sam, I’m not much of a videogame person either.  Still I looked through the selections and found a few decent nominations.  I especially like the clip nature of each of these because then you can just search for the particular game that interests you.

1. Game Reviews – Good, concise, quick reviews covering a ton of games.  And for those of you interested in Cooking Mama: World Kitchen, you need to check out episode 3 of Comedy Gumbo to get a preview of Dishwashing Champion.
2. Videogame Specials – Information, previews, strategy tips and more.  I especially enjoyed the three part look at the early days of Atari’s game-developing group (hey, the Atari 2600 was big news when I was growing up).
3. X-Plays – Mostly more of what the previous two offered, but it has some good stuff as well.

Round 2 Nominations:

Best Web Original:
I’m really sorry that Comedy Gumbo didn’t make it through to the semi-finals, but as long as Dr. Horrible advanced, I’m okay.  Not too much else here of interest beyond Spacerip (and no, I do not see the Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show on this list, and if you do it’s just a hallucination), but like Mr. Christopher I’ll agree that you can’t go wrong with National Geographic.

1. Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog
2. Spacerip
3. National Geographic Animals
4. National Geographic Environment
5. National Geographic Travel

Worst Web Original:
See, you just got confused.  Here’s the list with the Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show.  It easily made it into the semi-finals on its way to winning this category by a landslide.

1. Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show – Uh . . . uh . . . huh, huh, huh, huh, this sucks! Give me the remote, dammit Beavis!
2. Dating Brad Garrett
3. ‘Sodes (er . . . uh . . . make that Funnysodes.  Or not.)
4. Retro Minute
5. Barely Political

Round 1 Nominations:

Best Travel/Leisure Show:
Uncorked – Decided to leapfrog this one over After hours with Daniel for the finals. Who do I send my resume to so that I can get on the next edition of this show?

Best Cooking/Food Show:
Good Eats – Food nerd Alton Brown takes the cake in this category.  Of course he also bakes it and breaks down the cooking process to its minutiae.

Worst Reality Series:
All of them.  No really, all of them.  Why do we have to narrow it down to one?  They’re all nothing but drivel and little more than a sorry excuse to scrap a few dollars from the waning popularity of these celebrities.  Okay, if I have to pick just one, I’ll stick with Living Lohan.

Best Classic Movie:
Night of the Living Dead – Is this really better than Some Like it Hot or Pride of the Yankees?  Just depends on your perspective.  I’m coming from the point of view of someone who writes on Science Fiction and Fantasy related media, so I will stick with my own particular idiom.  This one is a seminal piece of work and spawned its own sub-genre.

Best Action TV Series:
24 – This series embodies the “Action” genre and provides it with one of its best examples.  It definitely deserves top honors in the category.

(Editor’s Note: The general public can participate in the nominations as well. Go to the links above for any or all of the categories you are interested in and cast your vote for the shows you think should win. All of the general votes will be tallied up and count as one panelist in deciding the final winners. PSW)