io9

I'm satisfied when and if there IS a plot.

Let's not forget the "It's a Wonderful Life"/"Last Temptation of Christ" plot, when the character is shown an alternative reality and then pleads to be restored. (Recall when Q gave Picard the chance to go back in time and avoid a bar fight...which led to him becoming a milquetoast junior officer.)

The first Torchwood episode I saw was that 'Adam' one.

Which made for an ... interesting introduction to the series.

As long as it doesn't end as a dream or the fantasies of an autistic kid, I'm cool.

There's also this list.

That episode from which the above pic came was on a few days ago and it's a good one, tired plot or not.

"the living-someone-else's-life-in-your-head plot - TNG did it with Picard to commemorate a civilisation"

Another great episode, arguably one of the best of the series, which coincidently aired today (and will again at 9pm on Space).

And didn't all of these originate in various PKD novels?

rule of thumb: If it's a twist, twilight zone probably did it, if so, they did it better

TNG was admittedly hit and miss. However, they aired a LOT of episodes. So while there are more than a few stinkers in there, they also managed to produce many of the definitive episodes of the genre. Every genre has its touchstones that everyone has to take a shot at. TNG managed to do many as well as they have ever been done.

Personally, the TNG finale is the second best* end of a series created.

*I'm a little perverse, but I always loved how the last season of Farscape just ended. The idea of them triumphing over the universe only to be killed randomly and meaninglessly was somehow perfect.

@Bluecell: ditto on the living-someone-else's-life-in-your-head plot episode of TNG, one of the best. Unfortunatly most of what TNG had to offer was rehashed tripe of one form or another.

@lostinshangrila: Yup, it's Dick's future, Lucas and Roddenberry are (were) just living in it.

Did I mention Jayhawks FTW?

@TheRealVeon: I prefer tvtropes.com (I mean, come on, the plot to terminator gets the lowest rating?)

@Epaminondas: Well put on PKD's influence. In his later stuff, he takes this to the metaphysical level. If you haven't read the Divine Invasion, find it, buy it, read it. Then read it again. It features all the conventions here: time-looping, false reality (or is it?), alternate personalities, mirror dimensions, and possible futures.

I wrote my thesis on his use of Gnosticism and was blown away by how much he influenced the community.

There's a Buffy with each of the above-mentioned plots as well. Actually, kind of two Buffies for the "new character" type of ep if you count both the arrival of Dawn and the Jonathan-centric universe.

@Bluecell: "The Inner Light"

Best TNG episode evar. Huge turning point in the character too. Before it, he was decisive; after it, he was wise.

@Illuminatus: I have not, but Radio Free Albemuth was the first book of his I read and that's what got me hooked.

Jayhawks FTW!

A new castmember joins the show, but everybody acts as if he/she has always been there?

Pinky and the Brain (and Larry) did it best.

@Hes-Dead-Jim: Ahh, the Last Temptation of Christ episode. ST:TNG, as mentioned. Doctor Who, amazingly. X-Files, embarrassingly. Did Buffy do it? Might be the only one Buffy didn't do... but I suppose the one where her whole life was a hallucination had the same themes.

Another spin on the Shipwreck storyline was done on Airwolf.

Stringfellow Hawk got in a crash and woke up years later with a newspaper that had the headline: "Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce!" (Remember this was 1984.)

Turns out the bad guys wanted the location of the hideout for Airwolf. He figured it all out. The end.

@Illuminatus: Is your name Gabe?

@Lizzie24601: I think there's a Buffy where Cordelia wishes that "Buffy never came here" and of course that doesn't work out too well. Is it demony Anya who grants the wish?

ST:TNG was about one episode away from a "trapped on the holodeck while the ship is stuck in a time rift in an alternate universe where Lore is reassembled" kind of episode.

@NefariousNewt:
Yeah, but you know Patrick Stewart would have handled it with style.

@oudemia: Yes, Anya granted Cordelia's wish and later evil Willow came out of that dimension and caused all sorts of trouble.

I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm going to cheat and link to an old Slashdot comment of mine: Every Sci-Fi show uses Nazis eventually. If it's not outright time travel, it's a flashback, a Nazi experiment, a parallel universe, or something.

I think we should all get together and write one script that packs every one of these recurring plots into a single show.

Buffy spin-off Angel went for a twofer. They had an episode which combined the "out of phase" plot with the "it's a wonderful life" plot. Cordelia spends part of the episode out of phase and unable to communicate, then is brought by an all-powerful being (Skip) to an alternate life in which she is rich and famous. Inevitably, she decides to return to her friends.

What frightens me the most about this is how few of her reference points go beyond Stargate, Buffy and STNG.

The most fun with a repeat-a-day plot was in the TV "Weird Science" where realizing that without a future, there can be no consequences, one of the teen-aged characters grabs and kisses his attractive French teacher. The most fun with a repeat-a-day plot was in the TV "Weird Science" where realizing that without a future, there can be no consequences, one of the teen-aged characters grabs and kisses his attractive French teacher. The most fun with a repeat-a-day plot was in the TV "Weird Science" where realizing that without a future, there can be no consequences, one of the teen-aged characters grabs and kisses his attractive

As an aside, there also seems to be some rule that every sci-fi tv show MUST have at least one episode named "Tabula Rasa".

Go ahead, look it up. At least two Trek series have had it, both StarGate series have done it, Andromeda did it, Buffy did it (not sure if Angel did too), X-Files had one. I wouldn't be surprised if Dr Who has done it.

It's usually tied to a memory loss story.

@Chiper: Angel didn't have one named Tabula Rasa, but they did have a memory loss episode (everyone went back to having only the memories of their teenaged selves).