Lost, I have tried to watch that show so many times, it's ssooooooooo boring!

I love Lost. But compared to everything els it just keeps going and going... Plus, knowing exactly when it's going to end means that the third act is a ways away. They are just stringing us along because thats what the contract is slated for.

I watched the first episode of "Lost", and maybe the second one... never bothered again. I was already tired of J.J. Abrams schtick from "Alias": He's a bad guy! No, he's good! No wait, he's bad... but good... or... but...

I vote for Star Trek. No wait, Stargate. No wait, Highlander. Forever Knight. No, wait, some other Star Trek incarnation. Seaquest. Or countless others.

Seriously, the polls lately have been really limited on show options.

@coolfelix: If they keep to their claim that Lost is plotted out and they know when it ends, the waiting isn't so bad. But if it's not actually plotted out, and this is just another X-files all over again, there's going to be some pretty damn pissed people out there.
I personally like Lost alot, but it's definitely a series for those with patience. And don't even try starting on the series from anywhere except episode 1, you'll almost never understand it.

@Spiral: I don't recall anyone describing "Seaquest" as overrated. Or "Forever Knight", for that matter.

Firefly is way too overrated to win a poll about most overrated. The problem is right there in the description: "How can you say it's overrated? It's like Kurosawa."

Lost. Try as I might, I just cannot get into it.

@Spiral: First of all, I made a point of saying recent TV shows, which leaves out Seaquest and Highlander. And Forever Knight wasn't even science fiction, was it? Also, I've been told by experienced blogger types that it's better to have fewer poll options, so it doesn't just become a huge smorgasbord of blah. And finally, I agree with everyone else. Seaquest is overrated? By whom?

I vote for Star Trek. Also, Babylon 5. I'm sorry people, I TRIED to get into it. I TRIED. Still can't figure out why so many of my friends are obsessed with it.

@Frozen-Tex: I do. When they were out, I heard alot of buzz from scifi fans and then when I watched them, I was sorely disappointed.
But my point still stands. If we're going to include shows from 2002 as "recent" (Firefly), we should include more on polls. I love Farscape, but others find it overrated. That's another candidate for this poll. Stargate as well as I said. I just feel the polls anymore are the same 5 options. If we're in a golden age of scifi, you'd think there'd be more options to be overrated.

BSG would be great if they didn't cut to scenes with that insipie blonde cylon every five minutes in that first season. I was loving it hard all along and finally threw in the towel in the second to last epi of the season. Just couldn't take one more scene with her and Baltar.

@charliejane: Yeah, it wasn't a poll of "Which Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV show EVER produced do you think sucks?"

@charliejane: If you're trying to keep the polls down to a small number, fine. I don't agree with that, but okay.
I've just been disappointed with the poll options lately, and the last few I've looked at, most of the comments are people wanting to "write-in" options.

@Spiral: I think there's a difference between "buzz" and the kind of following generated by the shows on the list. Some, like the Star Trek franchise, just did what they did for a particular audience, without trying for broader appeal, or non-sci-fi critical acclaim. The Stargate franchise does a similar thing, and appeals to it's fan base, with the elements of humour and military action to broaden it a little (SG1 managed to last longer than any other sci-fi on TV for that reason, I think). The shows on the list are the sort that tried to get beyond sci-fi audiences to some degree. I'm sure a lot of "Lost" fans don't even think of it as "Sci-Fi" in the first place.

@coolfelix: "They are just stringing us along because thats what the contract is slated for."

No, actually, they committed to the same number of episodes the producers wanted, but producing fewer of them per year.

Instead of 2 x 24, they committed to 3 x 16. But now who knows? (1 x 8) + (2 x 20) ?

[Yes, I like Lost.]

@Spiral: Too many options leaves a poll with no clear winner. Good thing we can nominate other things in the comments, eh?

I think Charlie might have wanted to stay more recent than Firefly but some of the regulars on here would have started baying for blood if it was not included in this poll. They do loves their haterade.

@Spiral: Writing in your own options is part of the fun, I think... plus, do you really think anybody overrates Farscape? Really?

@inkymonkey: Of course, I also love haterade. Sweet, cool, and refreshing. Mmmmm.

@inkymonkey: You have a point there... almost left Firefly off the list, because it's no longer on the air. But I knew 10,000 people would want to nominate it.

Personally, of the choices listed, I'm torn between Dr. Who and Terminator.

Dr. Who is campy and boring. Terminator is just boring. [And it fails to follow the premise of the originals. They can send humans back in time? Why not just send back an adult John Connor and get it over with..?]

I voted Terminator because it's just an action show with above average technology. Nothing ground-breaking, new, exciting, or even fun really in the series.

@charliejane: I've had Farscape declared overrated on a few occasions. I think rather highly of Farscape, so maybe I'm the person who is lumping too much praise on it. I thought it was the best scifi show of the time.

But I think that since Scifi is one of the biggest genres of fandom, for every show, somewhere somebody is an obsessive fan and someone else thinks its overrated.

This needs to be a checkbox poll so I can vote for Firefly, Heroes, and Lost.

DR Who... I know the BBC is cheap. But i just keep wondering, when will they start spending the cash on writers, instead of cardboard sets? (IMO) ...also IMO i think Kurosawa is a bit over rated in the west. Not to say he didnt make some masterpieces he did. Yet i believe most people who claim that, have at most only watched 5 of his films, if that.

@Dybbuk: I like a few Kurosawa films, but I agree that some people believe he is the pinnacle of filmmaking that cannot be touched.
There's a movie reviewer here in Austin that admits in reviews that his favorite movie ever is Kurosawa's Ran, then goes and reviews Charlie's Angels, finding himself surprised he does not like it. It's maddening.

@ideaman2020: Sending a human back in time happened in the first Terminator movie. It is the premise of the series.

@Frozen-Tex: Yep me 2.After that it all went down hill

Lost, hands-down. Nothing of any importance happens until the last 10 seconds. Plus, an 8-episode season, that can't even be blamed on the writer's strike. Eight episodes. Even if I was still interested in it, watching Lost would be a vote for cut corners and shoddy production ethics.

@FEMTO: Exactly what I was about to post. Without a human going back in time there would be NO John Connor, so I fail to see how it goes against the premise.

So, once we've voted, how can we get back to reread those oh-so-clever candidate descriptions?

The problem with LOST is it caters to a very specific group of people who A: started watching at the beginning, and B: are patient. I'm not saying that the impatient people are wrong or bad, but expecting hard answers anytime soon isn't gonna happen.

Heroes. A show about people with superpowers! How original! And it has Lost-esque mysteries! How original! And it has an ARG during the off-season! How original!

Heroes does nothing but take an unoriginal premise and then jump off of that to rip off Lost at every turn (of course I'm not saying Lost is any good either). Not to mention Hayden Panettiere is one of the shittiest actors I have ever seen.

"Stop repeating this stupid, lame catchphrase, save my sanity."

TORCHWOOD. I want to like it, but... well the first season was just MEAN: the characters were nasty, unlikeable, etc.,

Characterizations don't make sense and defy logic. Everyone is bi-sexual which is just weird (Ianto broken up after the death of his fiancee just falls for Jack?). Gwen is just miserable to her-boyfriend what's-his-face...

1/2 the plots are thin to the pointing of completely ripping in 2.

For every "Countrycide" or "Small Worlds" there are 2 or 3 "Cyberwoman" type episodes...

There's little to no tension or suspense. The thing is just poorly shot & edited.

For the UK's "X-Files" I think it is far from the mark. I also know that I am alone in this opinion as folks seem to LOVE Torchwood, even non-dorks.

And I don't get it. SORRY, I wanted to LOVE this show, as I love Jack... but Jack needs a new team.

@ComicDork: Thank you! I was going to ask where that option was.

I went with Terminator, that show is just leaving me completely cold. (Just a note to the complainer about sending humans back in time, they did that in the very first movie of the franchise, dunno if that was mentioned)

I almost voted for LOST, I love the show but the last season just annoyed the crap out of me. They've got some slight redemption going on right now but if they lose me again this season (what there is of it) I am done.

"golden age"? There's hardly a scrap of thought content in all of these series put together. Star Trek was closer to real SF, and that's not saying much.

Please, let's have some TV SF that's as good as written SF, just once!

@kisskisskiss: Torchwood isn't really overrated... all I ever hear is people bashing that show. I actually included it in the "underrated" poll last Friday, the flipside of this one.

It's not on the poll, but I'd vote for Buffy/Angel. I've never bothered with Lost so I can't comment on it, but the Buffyverse just failed to capture me in any way.

@ComicDork: Part of what I like about Torchwood is that no one is purely good. All the protagonists can be mean, petty, selfish... Just like real people!

I also appreciate that the actors LOOK like real people. Owen's kinda fugly, Gwen isn't mantis-thin. Yeah, the sexual-orientation musical chairs is weird, but I can't help but like a show like this.

The new Battlestar Gallactica literally sickens me. I understand space opera is not supposed to be in any way scientifically accurate or anything more than space-fantasy...but this programme makes the logic processors in my cortex ache. A half-human/half-Cylon baby? How is that even REMOTELY possible?

I think you should've made this poll about the most overrated CURRENT TV Show.
It would've saved having to throw Firefly in there because you thought people might be displeased if you didn't (lord knows this place never listens to it's readers anyway) while missing off other series like Stargate or Babylon 5.

What a great list. I can't decide which of these vastly overrated shows is more vastly overrated than the others. Probably Lost; I can't believe people still put up with that bull.

@PriorMarcus: You're probably right. But I'd consider Stargate in the running for underrated shows, not overrated. Nobody ever talks about how Stargate really deserves an Emmy.

For me it has to be Sarah Conner Chronicles. I wanted to vote for Lost, but the overhyping of the Terminator show, plus the wussification of Sarah Conner won out over the senseless meandering of Lost's storytelling.

@charliejane: Your right, and I actually really like Stargate, I just couldn't think of anything else recently cancelled that some people might find undeserving of praise.

Also, I don't really consider Firefly overrated, I'd say that it's adored by a lot of fans, and thought highly of by some, but it's never really generated the media buzz and attention of a show like Heroes or Lost.

So it looks like at the end of the day (more or less... could be too early to call), Firefly is the LEAST overrated show according to this poll by a small margin. Agreed. Firefly = good wine... gets better with age. My sentimental favorite of the bunch.

And the MOST overrated show is LOST, by a wide margin. Disagree. Happens to be my rational favorite of the bunch. LOST = crack... oh please oh please oh please just gimme another hit.

I voted for Terminator SCC. After watching the first 2 episodes I have more or less given up on it. I don't really have a clever anology for this one. Oh wait... yes I do: TSCC = double tray box of See's Candy chocolates that grandma gets you for Christmas... after you bite into two of them that have a shitty mystery filling, you are done.

How on Earth (or Raxacoricofallapatorius) is Dr. Who overrated. My friend got us all hooked on it back at the beginning of fall semester and it is included in our movie nights (and days when we don't have work to do, or we're all REALLY procrastinating), it is awesome. I haven't seen enough of SG-1 to know whether or not it is overrated, but my friends really like it, and I love Stargate Atlantis, we watch it all together as a tradition (no matter what else we have to do - club activities, work, class related stuff, etc, etc, etc).
Lost is just awful. I tried to watch it. Followed it for about half a season; then I missed maybe 2 episodes because I was busy with school and I haven't been able to follow it since (despite my sister not giving me any choice in watching it or not).

@Annalee: My take on B5 is that it is the single greatest work of art of the late 20th Century. ;;

Of these I voted for Doctor Who, but you may need to see from a British perspective to understand why. Most people I know have never even heard of BSG or Firefly, for example, but everyone knows Doctor Who and everyone thinks it's the bee's knees, when actually it's just a reasonably fun piece of utter incoherence.

You know, I used to be a Lost hater, but then I actually spent some time around the show. (Having a mother who's fanatical about it certainly helped the process.) I'm not a nut about it, but I've come to enjoy it.

Heroes, on the other hand... I don't understand the appeal. It's like a dull X-Men rip-off. I can appreciate the concept, and the series does sound cool, but the whole thing just feels botched, to me. Bleh.