nobody even mentioned battle star galactica, there are handful of good scifi shows including BSG and firefly
Good mentions!
Space battles are awesome in BSG, it's too bad the show was messed up by the writer's strike...
Firefly is a magnificent show. Characters, writing quality, scenario, there's something in it for everyone.
That said, out of all the sci fi shows I've watched including :
Star Trek TNG
Star Trek Voyager
Stargate SG-1
BSG
Firefly
The finest writing and acting were in none of the above, Babylon 5 takes first place in my book. Low budget show that used recycled star trek sets and unknown actors, and it's totally awesome.
It was so influential. Deep space nine was apparently re-worked to be a show about a space station after Babylon 5 aired. The main character of voyager, captain Jainway was modelled after Lt Ivanova from Babylon 5. The entire plot and premise of the popular video game franchise Mass Effect was inspired from the original space opera, B5.
The characterization, the social commentary, the overall feel and vibe... If you enjoyed firefly, don't ask too many questions, watch B5, thank me later.
Actually thank the writers, the entire plot of the show was written before the first episode was even shot, and you can tell, it's an excellent work.