The TICK!

Samurai jack!

Read a book.

Star Wars: Clone Wars.

I'm really glad to see that Twilight Zone is doing so well at 2nd place.

The very first introduction I had to sci-fi happened to be the old school "Doctor Who" series with Tom Baker. The mix of British humor, crappy props and bizarre aliens hooked me from the very first episode.

There was never any sex or overt violence, so for parents truly nervous about that sort of thing, old school Doctor Who could be perfect.

Of course, kids today are pretty spoiled about wanting amazing visual effects, so they might smirk at K-9 and crew.

Smart people don't have kids.

Wait... I have to choose between Star Trek and Doctor Who?
But I want my (imaginary) progeny to have a well-rounded education.

@bonniegrrl: Similarly, mine was "The Tomorrow People." And I would want my kid to be hooked on that, but it's probably too cheesy for this generation.

@Plague: Or they just have one and send it off to school somewhere else.

@bonniegrrl: I voted for the current Dr Who up there. When I was a kid I loved Sci-Fi, but could never get past the effects and slow plotting of the BBC. Sacrilege I know.

@Tim Faulkner: Nothing did more than Hitchikers for me. that is a great Sci-Fi Primer and they can go back and read it later and realize how even more brilliant it is.

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: Have to agree that Hitchhikers is a perfect book to get kids in, but then if we are looking at books, then Robot City, Norby and Lucky Star are great Sci-Fi primers.

How can The Sarah Jane Adventures not be on this list. It's the only one She has any interest in

I would say Star Trek. Because in every episode they had a lesson to learn. If there is any variation of ST it would have to be Next Generation because it wouldn't have that much Kirk on Alien Girls action which I wouldn't want my kid to see until they hit puberty.

TV wise, Doctor Who hooked me back in the 70s and 80s, now it's hooking my kids in the 90s and 00s.

Book wise, he likes Discworld and things like that.

.@Plague: I agree somewhat, but smart people can make themselves useful by helping to raise the children that are already here. Let's not leave it to the dumbf@cks.
This week I've been introducing my godchildren to Firefly. I have to FFWD through any overt scenes of smooching lest screams of "EEEEEWWWW!!" ring through the neighborhood. They have already become weary of the flat characters and trite storylines in Star Trek & Star Wars (okay, their actual words were "boring" and "stupid"). The current Doctor Who may be next on the list.
It amazes me how many obscuro references they get from Futurama.
(sniff) i'm so proud.

@knots: I agree. It is for kids after all.

Doctor Who. Without a doubt. Though I almost voted for Ben 10 because I remember getting hooked on science fiction through cartoons.

Speaking of which, there just aren't that many science fiction cartoons on that aren't derived from comic books.

SURFACE!!!!

Of course, if you are a lazy parent and rather have TV do all your dirty work for you, I suggest letting your kids watch "Torchwood" instead of giving them the big Sex Talk.

Sesame Street

Red Dwarf!

I have to admit I agree with the aforementioned statement about well-rounded-ness.
First off, Star Trek has lots of good teaching for youngsters, but even TNG'effects often look campy now. So they'll bore of that quickly.
To round that out, though, I would spare them this Dr Who drivel of which you speak -- and head to where there's some serious meat: Babylon 5!! Where are the peeps out there that want their kids to understand the depths of Minbari and Narn philosophies?

Dexter's labratory?

I picked Doctor Who because it really served my kids well, but there were so many early on that captured their imaginations, most notably the original Land of the Lost and a bunch of Gerry Anderson shows - Thunderbirds, Stingray, Capatain Scarlett. Now they love the original Star Trek.

And The Sara Jane Adventures is a great girl-friendly show (as is the original Land of the Lost).

I couldn't choose "just one", but I'd have to politely insist on a case for Futurama: it's a cartoon, so visually, it's going to appeal to my kid (on Saturday Mornings or whenever), and furthermore, it's loaded with so many levels of curiosity-inducing intensity: all those quasipop cultural references to current events, double entendres, and the vivid art goes a long way. Alas, the series isn't continuing in regular seasons, but at least we get the DVD movies!

There's been many a time I looked up something after it was named on Futurama, and I'm the better for it.

Star Trek (vrs. incarnations) would of course be mah second choice.

@foolish-rain: Totally, worked for me.

Star Trek all the way. Think of all the valuable lessons a child would learn.

Now Holmes Jr how many lights are there?

"There are 4 lights."

Good for you.

@Velireon: Where are the peeps out there that want their kids to understand the depths of Minbari and Narn philosophies?

Thanks, but I'm worried about my daughter's ability to repel shitty dialog of that magnitude. B5's biggest weakness is the same as TNG, a complete inability by the writers to do anything other than stock dialog. I've no argument with the big picture (again same as TNG), which sounds like what your into but wow I shudder when watching some of those episodes now.

We are starting with the Dragonriders of Pern.

@Epaminondas: See, I always thought Pern was a bit too mature. I would probably go with Dragonlance Chronicles.

I voted for TNG because it deals with the most broad range of issues in the most easily-digestible manner. The main reason, though, is because TNG is all about the qualities we want our children to have: intelligence, compassion and hope. It's all very life-affirming, which I think is good for the children.

@Epaminondas: Some of the monologues by D'Lenn and G'Kar are really outstanding. The rest basically suck.

I gotta say ... McCaffrey? Eeeeek.
Susan Cooper! The Dark is Rising!

As a proud dad to 2 boys, this is a subject very close to my heart. I did, for this poll, vote for Trek, but realistically I fell in love with Sci-Fi movies first as a kid. I did not really get into any TV series till after having the spark of Sci-Fi in me. As for movies, it's funny because just about all the movies that I loved the most as a kid would not hold my kid's interest nowadays, because of the slow pace and lack of 'splodey things. Trying to get kids to like Sci-Fi with today's Sci-Fi shows is also difficult, because most are really "action dramas" with a small side of Sci-Fi added for flavor. Anyone else ponder this dilemma?

Invader Zim? ...!

@bonniegrrl: I actually voted for LEXX for the same reasons. I probably would have voted for ST: any series, SG1 pre season Ben Browder or Farscape.

@Priam: You me and what other sicko voted for Lexx?

Sarah Jane Adventures

@modernboy: Yes! Sarah Jane!

@modernboy: I sort of thought of SJA as being a subset of Doctor Who... but maybe I erred?

@valarmorghulis: We're tracking who votes for Lexx, and we'll be calling CPS on you.

@Tim Faulkner: Excellent Tick reference...

Shame shame shame.. "Jimmie Neutron." Hands down, best cartoon on the tube, kid friendly, really funny, great animation, and there is some actual reference to sort of science. And it lets kids see that people can actually be nerds and have fun.

After that, "Mythbusters" and then "Tripping the Rift".. well, maybe after puberty.

The Hoobs!

@Charlie Jane Anders: I don't see what everyone's problem with lexx is. It looked good at the time in comparison to other shows, and was decent scifi. It didn't hurt that female lead was a smokin' hot German lady.

I kinda thought we were talking about little kids, like 5 or so. I went with Transformers, because that was the show that did it for me. Giant transforming robots, lasers, explosions, human children for a kid to relate to, clear morality issues and a continuing (but not stringent) storyline makes it accessible and interesting to younger kids. I found Star Trek to be waaay to boring when I was that young, though I love it now (course, DS9 may STILL be too boring...)

Perhaps it shows my age, and society has moved on, but before any of the above list was shows to my kids, they'd get the one mix of sci-fi/fantasy that I was raised with: Dr. Seuss. After they got to reading on their own, then I'd let them watch something more like Ben 10 and Teen Titans. But then, they'd be reading Susan Cooper and Madeline l'Engle as well.

@Tim Faulkner:
Seconded.

Larry Niven
Arthur C. Clark
Isaac Asimov
Ray Bradbury

RAY BRADBURY!

@strider_mt2k: Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, though not the dozens of sequels) really hooked my kid. Now he's working on Frank Herbert (Dune, of course. Not the hundreds of sequels).
Next comes Tales from the White Hart!

My 6-year-old son and I are currently going through _Star Blazers_ (_Space Battleship Yamato_), and he loves it! It's as good as I remember it from 30 years ago.

We also tried watching _Battle of the Planets_ (_Gatchaman_), but while he liked it, it was way worse than I remember from 31 years ago.

I voted for Transformers, but I really meant Star Trek. I was obligated.

I like Star Trek (DS9)
however I picked DW just cause...

SLIDERS!!!

yeah Starblazers, would be awesome, bit of Robotech for good measure, it didn't do me any harm...twitch.....twitch.

My dad got me hooked on old school Star Trek in all it's syndicated, chopped for commercials glory. It was my gateway drug, so I'll probably do the same to my kids if I ever have any.

Hard to pick between Trek and Who. I was raised on TNG, but I voted Who because I'm guessing the idea is to start *really young* -- Who is a "family" show, good for the young'uns, and is brighter and more actiony, which might be more captivating to young eyes than the often-talky Trek.

But of course my hypothetical spawn would get everything eventually. Zim and Futurama are also great suggestions (although Futurama gets edgy, but maybe it's mostly over kids' heads). I dug Space Cases, too.

Also, Anne McCaffrey: I read Pern when I was pretty young, and I definitely remember blinking at a few parts. (I've actually been wanting to re-read it for some time, since it's been years and years.) The Menolly stories are more for the preteen/adolescent age group (an angsty coming-of-age tale), but the main series is a bit more mature.

Even though Star Trek is generally thought of as "bad science", it was a whole lot better science than Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or Lost in Space, and it planted the seed of the Scientific Method in my young brain.

My kid hates all these shows. He actually threw a shoe at the tv when I watched Firefly, and he laughs all the way through Doctor Who. He misses the OC, which was kind of sci-fi.

Oh, and to Plague: spoken like a true Lonely Guy. Your bitterness is overwhelming, and the world thanks you.

ZULA PATROL

I'm amazed at the stuff my 5 year old comes up with from watching this... It's a great show for the younger set... A mix of SciFi and SciEdu

Actually, for little kids, the HR Puf n' Stuf shows would be good: Land of the Lost, Sigmund the Seamonster, Dr. Shrinker, and the ever elusive Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. They're all pretty awful, but fun to watch as a wee one.

I loved Twilight Zone even as a small kid. I've got the latest box set.

sara jane adventures

Twilight Zone hooked me as a kid but Im going with Futurama or Farscape. Cartoons and muppets in space. No child or adult can resist.