It was January when Buck Rogers aired its Halloween episode, but audiences hardly forgot the over-the-top portrayal of a "Space Vampire" who had quite an effect on Col. Wilma Deering. Hear the story behind the story on today's' Sci-Fi 5.
TNT's last-minute rescue of Babylon 5 from its failing syndication package meant that the series' much-lauded five-year pre-planned storyline might be completed, but TNT also wanted to make sure a new audience could catch up.
While Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy was still in production as a radio series, the BBC decided it wanted a TV version as well. The choices to be made along the way were just part of this ambitious project.
His screen career has seen him serving on Her Majesty's Secret Service - well, sort of - and at the controls of the TARDIS. But who else has actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson "Bean" in his career? Find out in today's Sci-Fi 5.
Science fiction was having its great renaissance in the late 1970s (hello, Star Wars...), and producers were looking for the next epic story. It was the perfect time for a revival of the classic radio drama, and Alien Worlds fit the bill.
It was a bold new take on the Batman mythos for a younger audience, while still being dark and pulling few of its dramatic punches. The story of how Batman Beyond came to be, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
With TV sci-fi's sophistication steadily growing, the BBC commissioned a new genre workplace comedy to fill the gap left by an audience favorite. Find out how an evolving cast kicked into Hyperdrive on today's Sci-Fi 5.
An on-the-nose anti-war statement in a sixties episode of Star Trek may have inadvertently spawned a long-running enemy who would take cues from Trelaine in harassing future Starfleet crews. We look at the origins of The Squire Of Gothos.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles premiered on January 13, 2008 and never quite got the recognition it deserved, leading to an early cancellation. Today we look back at what made the show a worthy entry into the Terminator saga.
It was the show that wasn't supposed to happen, but audiences fell in love with Jamie Sommers on "The Six Million Dollar Man" and demanded more. On this day in 1976, "The Bionic Woman" came back from the dead.
Ray Brandbury retooled one of his Twilight Zone scripts for a 1982 TV movie that entertained and seriously creeped out kids in the audience. Hear the story from Whitman to Serling to "The Electric Grandmother."
He was a sci-fi writer steeped in '60s counterculture. Then he decided to turn the counterculture on its head by weaving outlandish conspiracy tales with pointed social critique along the way.
They came from below, and found themselves up against a cast straight out of sitcoms, Nashville, and, yes, every degree of Kevin Bacon as Tremors kicked off an entire genre franchise on this day in 1990.
In the days before billionaires launching themselves into space, the thought of inventive, resourceful people doing home-grown spaceflight was pure science fiction. Sci-Fi 5 revisits the Andy Griffith vehicle Salvage One.
The Marvel universe is known for a tightly integrated slate of characters and stories, then DC came along and said, "hold my cape." DC's Legends of Tomorrow turned that convention upside down with "the Justice League meets Doctor Who."
His acting career started later than most of his contemporaries, but Ernest Borgnine played an astonishing number of roles over the years, including more sci-fi parts than you may remember.
Irwin Allen had a string of TV hits in the 1960s, and he was ready to dazzle the networks again with a sci-fi spectacular to replace Star Trek. In 1971, NBC aired "City Beneath the Sea," and it quickly sank.
Fast-spreading contagious diseases aren't just for the nightly news. In 1979, the Canadian movie "Plague" predicted, with eerie accuracy, how we'd react to a global pandemic.
Translating an offbeat comic book to the screen is a challenge, and Resident Alien underwent a few changes, mostly to highlight the talents of its fan-favorite star. Find out what this unusual series is about in today's Sci-Fi 5.
A mid-season episode of a glitzy disco-era sci-fi series seems like the last place you'd expect to find Hollywood royalty, and yet it was on this day in 1979 that Fred Astaire guest starred on Battlestar Galactica.
It was a movie designed to gain a foothold in the family entertainment market for a studio renowned for madcap horror movies - and whether you've heard of it or not, Eliminators has a surprising amount of influence on later media.
It's hard to boil down Bill Mumy's career - from Barnes and Barnes to Babylon 5, he has been a part of the pop-culture since before he was in first grade. Celebrate his birthday with Sci-Fi 5, unless you end up in the corn field.
It was a bold move by the producers of "Xena: Warrior Princess" - heighten the drama with - a musical. The third-season "Bitter Suite" was a standout episode that delighted fans and set a precedent for other genre shows.
His first brush with stardom came when he lived every kid's dream - working on a Star Wars movie. Since then, Warwick Davis holds the distinction of being the most bankable supporting actor in film history.
Horror maestro George A. Romero was born on this day in 1940. While he's best known for popularizing an entire genre of filmmaking about zombies, his start was something far different: a short film for Mr. Rogers.
It was meant to be NBC's centerpiece - a romantic comedy to compete with "The Love Boat." Find out how "Supertrain" bombed with the audience and nearly took down an entire network in the process - today on Sci-Fi 5.
The roster of talent that came together to make a movie about talking apes was incredible. The impact it had on sci-fi cinema was indelible. Get your stinking paws on today's Sci-Fi 5 celebrating Planet of the Apes, released today in 1968.
His artwork for book covers, album covers, and movie posters are practically their own sub-genre of fantasy art, and his style is almost immediately summed up by his name alone: the late, great Frank Frazetta, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
Schlocky sci-fi aimed at a hopefully less-than-discriminating teen audience, or genuine genre classic? Learn more about Roger Corman's "Not Of This Earth", on today's Sci-Fi 5.
Doctor Who had a formidable enemy in the Cybermen. A year after their introduction, with the threat of losing the Daleks, the Cybermen came back in an all new and more terrifying form. Hear what happened on "The Moonbase."
Like so many of us, Simon Pegg grew up with an obsession for nerdy pop-culture. Unlike all of us, he has appeared in Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who - one of only three actors to do so. Find out who he wants to play next.
They came from another world to study life on Earth - and then it went all wrong. But for a few weeks, it resulted in high hilarity and lowbrow humor on British TV. Meet The Strangerers, which premiered today in 2000, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
As a kid, he was an Army brat with a love of comic books. As an adult, he has worked non-stop in front of and behind the camera while share his passion for reading with children. Sci-Fi 5 wishes LeVar Burton a happy birthday.
A mysterious visitor strikes sphere fear into the heart of a town's citizens, the military, and scientists - but the real fear that inspired 1959's The Cosmic Man was fear about our future, not theirs, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
John Constantine's journey from the comic book page to the big screen culminated in the premiere, on this day in 2005, of "Constantine" starring Keanu Reeves. Find out why this isn't necessarily the end of the story on today's Sci-Fi 5.
Buck Rogers faced many foes in his short TV run, but was he ready for the age-old danger of those kids with their rock and roll music? It was on this day in 1980 that Buck squared off with the "Space Rockers!"
Fans know her from her roles in a number of genre productions, and we'll be seeing her soon yet again in the upcoming second season of Star Trek: Picard. But what early role of Jeri Ryan's ended up on the cutting room floor?
In 2010, The Asylum released "Meteor Apocalypse" about Earth facing a threat from space. The low-budget action film fit firmly in their low-budget catalog, and we're certain we won't need to cover another "apocalypse" film for some time.
How many apocalypses can happen in the same week!? In the world of the "mockbuster", as many as your small budget can afford. We dive into the numbers behind this sub-genre of modern sci-fi filmmaking with Quantum Apocalypse.
George Duning was born in 1908. A pioneer in the industry, Duning composed original scores across all genres, but it was his childhood love of science-fiction that made him a perfect match for those films - and a few episodes of Star Trek.
It's far from the only update of the H.G. Wells classic, but the 2020 remake of The Invisible Man flipped the script by dealing with serious real-world issues, and then had its release complicated by more real-world issues.
It was the first original Star Wars novel ever to see print...but the storyline might have been the second Star Wars movie had things gone differently for the franchise. Delve into Splinter Of The Mind's Eye on today's Sci-Fi 5.
There are lots of familiar faces on the bridge of the Enterprise - and elsewhere in the universe of '90s Star Trek - but few have been seen as often as the unmistakable Tracee Lee Cocco, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
Logan was a daring attempt to plot an end-point for the X-Men saga on film, leaning heavily on a beloved story straight from the comics. Find out how this superhero movie broke the typical franchise-film mold on today's Sci-Fi 5.
By hitting rewind on the life and times of one Indiana Jones, George Lucas hoped not just to entertain, but to educate. But The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was also expected by its network to be a ratings hit, as well.
With an unlikely brew of historical drama, urban mystery, swordplay, and a Queen soundtrack, Highlander debuted in theaters on this day in 1986, starting an enduring franchise with a loyal fanbase.
Before the public had seen anything more than a trailer or a convention poster, it's possible that today is the day in 1977 that some lucky comic shop employees became the first to be exposed to the Star Wars saga, on today's Sci-Fi 5.
If anything could boost the aging art form of the radio drama, it was the biggest sci-fi franchise in the world. Hear how Star Wars went audio-only and gave listeners a more complex peek into George Lucas' world. Is it canon?
Debuting in arcades in 1978, Space Invaders was the first genuine video game smash hit, but it was in 1980 that Atari brought the game to the Atari 2600, invading homes everywhere. Learn about the Invaders' origins on today's Sci-Fi 5.
A young writer with "implausible" ideas found himself collaborating with members of Monty Python and writing for Doctor Who. Then his true calling came as a sci-fi novelist who shared his guide to the galaxy.