Doni’s TV Recommendations For Sci-Fi & Action TV Fans

I love Sci-Fi and Action TV shows and action too. I recently chatted with Dave Dahmer about TV watching habits.  Dave has a hard time finding “good shows” to watch. Dave can’t find anything good to watch on TV because he’s doing it wrong.  Check out our conversation.

You’d rather watch a bad series rather than a good movie?  Are you crazy?  The answer MAY BE “yes.” MAYBE… but maybe not… but probably.  <- That’s my Dahmer impersonation for today.  I’d prefer to have a series too so you don’t have to go looking for something new immediately, but I’d still rather watch a good movie over a bad series.  Side note, I recently watched Grey Man.  I mostly liked it but the last 20 minutes seemed really drawn out.  I get that they were trying to leave some ends open and set up a future movie, but I think they could have gotten that job done better, in my opinion.

Rotten Tomatoes has a cool list of the 100 greatest Sci-fi TV shows of all time.  I think the list is pretty awesome (it includes Logan’s Run, one of my favorite 70’s sci-fi movies).  It also made me remember shows I forgot about like V: The Final Battle from the 80’s with Marc Singer. It’s also great for farming Tv shows I may have missed.  Did you ever watch Almost Human?  I never saw it but I thought I might after checking it out.  It got an 83% rating from audiences.  The highest tomato rating went to the Battlestar Galactica reboot from 2004-2009!  I never saw that either, but I watched the heck out of the original back in the day.  With a 95% average tomato rating and 94% from the audience, this show has to have something going on.

Big Jim and Ryan love TV too but don’t let Ryan watch a TV show before you.  Here’s Ryan the TV spoiler.  Don’t let it happen to you… and don’t say we didn’t warn you.

My favorite Sci-Fi and Action TV shows:

• The Boys

  Dave can’t get into this show and I can’t get enough of it! The Boys has juicy flawed characters, tons of action and so many scenes that leave me with my jaw hanging open.  The fourth season of The Boys was just released.  I think they’ve done a great job with character development and every season has been strong.  Also, one of the lead characters, Hughie, is played by Dennis Quaid’s son, Jack Quaid.

  WARNING: The show does have some definitely adult content.  Here’s the season one trailer.  In case you haven’t seen the show, I didn’t want to risk any spoilers.

  The Boys airs on Prime.

• Stranger Things

  Again, juicy characters and strong development.  Stranger Things has done a wonderful job with plot evolution too.  They split season four into two pieces.  At the end of the first set of episodes, I was mind-blown at how well they had brought the whole thing full circle.  Questions that I didn’t know I had were answered.  Truly impressive.  Stranger Things isn’t for YOUNG viewers, but I do know a lot of families with older kids that watched this show together. Here’s the season one trailer.  In case you haven’t seen the show, I didn’t want to risk any spoilers.

   

  Stranger Things airs on Netflix

• The Mandalorian / Book of Boba Fet

  I loved both of these series and they definitely intertwine (more spinoffs coming soon).  As much as I loved Jon Favreau as Mike Peters in the movie Swingers, it’s hard to believe just how huge his career has been since then.  These shows are directed by Jon Favreau and they are visually stunning and well produced.  Pedro Pascal is beyond charming as the morally conflicted Mandalorian.  Book of Boba Fett is one of the better transition, spinoff series that I’ve seen with plenty of character crossover from The Mandalorian.  Some violence and death, but I think these shows are family-friendly.  Here’s the season one trailer for Mandalorian to guard against possible spoilers. 🙂

   

  The Mandalorian airs on The Disney Channel

   

• Young Rock

  Young Rock is not sci-fi, but it is Dwayne Johnson and he is a man of action.  Young Rock has two seasons with a third coming this fall on NBC.  The show recounts Dwayne’s life growing up with a bunch of professional wrestlers, but is set in the future and revolves around Dwayne’s run for president of the USA in 2032.  It reminds me of the old-school sitcoms with a lesson to the episode, but without shoving it down your throat. Awesome for the whole family. Dwayne is my favorite actor.  Here’s the season one trailer:

   

  Young Rock airs on NBC.

• The Expanse

  If you’re looking for a sci-fi show with LOTS of episodes, I would recommend The Expanse.  It’s dripping in sci-fi, offers 56 episodes, and has tons of action.  I watched them all and thought the quality of the writing held up well.  I would not consider this family-friendly.  It’s not filthy, but there are some scenes that aren’t ideal for all viewers plus language, violence, etc. Here’s the first scene from The Expanse series.
  

  The Expanse was originally on Prime, but there are multiple options now, including Blu-Ray.