The Greatest Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Considering the case for the sci fi and fantasy television shows that should be counted among the greatest of all time.
What Is It?
Arthur Dent has a problem. His house is about to be torn down to make way for a new highway bypass, and he won’t stand for it (in fact, he lays down in front of the tractor heading to demolish it). But then he discovers he has a bigger problem. The Vogons have just arrived to destroy Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. He then learns, much to his surprise, that his friend Ford Prefect is actually an alien from the planet Betelgeuse and that he works for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and that he has a way to get off the planet before the Vogons destroy it, as long as they both have towels. They make their escape moments before Earth is wiped out and their adventures across the galaxy begin, all while Arthur is still wearing his bathrobe.
Aired: BBC/PBS, 1981, 1 Season Totaling 6 Episodes
Created By: Douglas Adams
Starring: Simon Jones, David Dixon, Mark Wing-Davey, Sandra Dickinson, David Learner, Stephen Moore
Argument to Count It as One of the Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy got its start as a radio series broadcast in 1978 and then as a book published in 1979. The television adaptation was the third incarnation and followed very closely to the radio show. Many of the voice actors reprised their roles in the live-action version, and the scripts were practically a word-for-word reproduction.
This property delivers a send-up of the sci-fi genre, but part of the reason it works so well is that it does not shoot for an obvious parody of one particular work like Spaceballs did in the ’80s. Douglas Adams skewers the genre as a whole, taking on the pretensions and grand concepts of science fiction along with all of the leaps of logic that follow. This gives it more of a timeless appeal, as you do not have to understand the specifics of one work or era to enjoy the humor. And that humor draws heavily from the irony and absurdity implicit in many science fiction concepts while also immersing itself in the minutiae and doldrums of everyday life, all with a cheeky British/Pythonesque bent to it.
The cast is, of course, essential to the television version. I don’t know how often in British productions a radio cast made the jump to the small screen, but in this case it works without a hitch. The actors were already comfortable with the characters, and they carried the roles perfectly over to the small screen with their familiar voices intact. David Dixon was one of the few changes among the major characters (taking over as Ford Prefect from Geoffrey McGivern), but he slipped into the role quite easily and sounded very similar to the radio actor.
Basically, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy delivered the perfect sci-fi parody, and even though it never continued to a second season, it works just fine as a stand-alone, six-episode series. Its BBC budget hampered it at times, but they actually did quite well with what they had, especially the animation. And this one certainly has to be counted as one of the greatest sci-fi TV shows of all time.
Argument Against:
While the television adaptation of this series did follow closely to the original radio series as far as the scripts, it fell short as a visual adaptation. It had a BBC budget from the 1980s, and very much looked like the cheap production you would expect from that network. While the animation was good (made to look like it was computer-generated, but it was actually traditional animation), most of the other visuals from this SFX-heavy series looked rather cheesy even for that time. And their version of Marvin the Paranoid Android is downright laughable (in a bad way), making it a shame that the original actor’s voice was attached to it.
Another miss from the television adaptation is the actress they cast for Trillian. Susan Sheridan played the role in the radio series and gave us an intelligent female character who held her own next to the male leads. But they subbed in Sandra Dickinson for the TV version and played her more as a blonde bimbo. That, along with the bad visuals, really hampered the show, and it was also cut short and not allowed to continue its story in line with the radio series and books. So while the television adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has its merits, it ultimately ends up as a disappointing entry in the franchise.
Johnny Jay’s Take:
I first stumbled upon the radio series during its original run on NPR, and I was immediately hooked on the show. I did not feel like the book did justice to the franchise (though many would disagree with me on that) because some of the humor just did not translate well to the written page without those cheeky British voices delivering the lines. But when the television series arrived (it aired on PBS in the States), I was all onboard.
The show had most of the actors from the radio version, and it followed very closely to the original story, and I thought the cheesy special effects worked quite well in the context of the series. I agree that they could have done better with the design of Marvin (though he was still better than the movie version), and I was disappointed with the changes they made to Trillian, but overall, I loved the television series. It delivers a great visual translation of one of the best sci-fi parodies and certainly deserves to be counted as an all-time genre great.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, and you can also purchase it VOD. It is available for streaming with a subscription to BritBox.
Stream or Purchase VOD
Do you consider The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy one of the greatest sci fi/fantasy shows of all time or has it not stood the test of time? Chime in with your thoughts below or at our discussion thread at r/SciFiTV.
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