The X-Files

The strange universe of science fiction novelty records

We’ve all grooved to William Shatner’s “singing.” But the history of science-fiction novelty records is much bigger, and weirder. From Weird Al’s tribute to Yoda to Wonder Woman covering Toto, there have been many bizarre discs that celebrated science fiction. For convenience, we’ve broken up this list of the greatest novelty records into several categories…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Oct 7

Most frustrating TV shows canceled on a cliffhanger

As the fall TV season starts up, shows are resolving their agonizing summer cliffhangers — but for some unlucky shows, that resolution never arrived. Here are the most frustrating “cancel-hangers,” cliffhanger endings for shows that got cancelled too soon. First of all, let me apologize for giving away spoilers for last week’s Warehouse 13 in…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Sep 21

The best SF/fantasy cliffhangers ever shown on television

The best science fiction and fantasy television hooks you with endless suspense… including hair-raising cliffhangers. But only the greatest cliffhangers can make you throw your remote at the screen, and keep you wondering for weeks. Here are the 20 awesomest. After we did the best Doctor Who cliffhangers, we felt like we should do a…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Sep 15

Best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy

There’s still only one way to bring a new person into this universe. Many science fiction/fantasy stories have featured the drama of childbirth… and some have done it better than others. Here are the best and worst SF/fantasy childbirth scenes. Note: We’re leaving out most of the “human gets pregnant and gives birth all in…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders and Kelly Faircloth Sep 10

How to get into 20 classic science fiction shows: The ultimate guide

Even if you’re a massive science fiction fan, there are probably still some great shows you’ve yet to discover. But for massively long-running shows, where to begin? Here’s our guide to how to start watching twenty classic science fiction shows. It should be pointed out that this guide is meant for potential new fans, not…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Sep 3

The top 20 essential science fiction TV shows

Science fiction has ruled television for over 50 years, but some shows have brightened our screens and supercharged our brains more than others. Here are the 20 science fiction shows that everybody interested in the genre should see. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Cybernetic police officer Motoko Kusanagi keeps New Port City safe…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 26

Torchwood season four’s writers: a television dream team!

The writers of the next season of Doctor Who’s more grown-up spinoff, Torchwood, have been announced… and they’re some of our favorite televisual geniuses, including former Buffy, House and Supernatural writers. According to Maureen Ryan over at the Chicago Tribune, the writers of Torchwood season four, besides creator Russell T. Davies, will be: John Shiban…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 6

The 11 greatest, craziest sci-fi crossovers in television history

Tonight’s conclusion of the already epic Eureka/Warehouse 13 crossover is just scratching the surface of science fiction’s greatest TV crossovers. You may not believe some of what we’re about to tell you about actually happened…that’s why we brought video evidence. Warehouse 13 meets Eureka Well, we really ought to start here, shouldn’t we? We’ve already…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Aug 6

First pages from Mulder and Scully’s crossover with 30 Days of Night’s vampires

The X-Files meets the blood-thirsty vampires from 30 Days of Night, written by the guitarist from Tool! We’ve got the first pages from this insane crossover comic from Wildstorm. Check out Scully and Mulder dealing with extreme gore. The series is co-written by original 30 Days creator Steve Niles and Adam Jones, and Tool guitarist…

Movies Meredith Woerner Jul 9

The Secret Key to Building a Franchise’s Enduring Fandom

One thing ensures that fans of a book series, TV show, or movie will remain legion long after new material has faded. Just one thing separates Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Firefly from Lost, The X-Files, and Buffy. You’ve seen them. Whether you’ve ever been to a convention like San Diego Comic Con or simply…

io9 Marc Bernardin Apr 28

When Keeping It Skeptical In Science Fiction Goes Wrong

A defining thread of modern scientific thought is skepticism, the tendency to question accepted ideas until evidence is found to confirm or reject them. But what do skeptics do in worlds of magic, aliens, and other matters fantastic? Science fiction authors often face a difficult task in incorporating skepticism into their works. After all, they’re…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Mar 24

Tim Minear Producing An Android Journey Of Self-Discovery? Yes Please!

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are developing a new TV show based on Gene Roddenberry‘s scrapped android-angst show The Questor Tapes. Bland, preachy and insipid, Questor doesn’t seem like a good template… unless it’s true Tim Minear is on board. Imagine the most boring “Data questions his humanity” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation,…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jan 21

Does Lost Have The Biggest Ensemble Cast Of All Time?

When Lost returns next month, you’ll be seeing lots of familiar faces turning up… including a few you might have forgotten. But does Lost have the biggest cast of recurring characters of any science-fiction show? The answer might surprise you. The sprawling ensemble cast is a hallmark of the modern-day science fiction series. Shows like…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Jan 12

Graphic Designers Reinvent Science Fiction Television

Graphic designers are facing off as they re-envision pop culture. Something Awful turned some of our favorite video games into graphic book covers. Olly Moss did the same with more games. Now another artist has turned to television for inspiration. https://kotaku.com/a-second-serving-of-classic-reimagined-game-covers-5145909 https://kotaku.com/if-only-game-covers-were-as-classy-as-book-covers-5140732 These posters of well known scifi shows (and a few purely geeky shows)…

Television Sonia Zjawinski Dec 28

How To Jog Your Memory, The Science Fiction Hero Way

The busier you get, the more stuff you forget, and navigating that mental clutter can be worse than steering through an asteroid field. Luckily, lots of intrepid galactic heroes have faced faulty memories, and created some handy techniques for remembering. Here’s a complete list of all the methods we found for jogging your memory from…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 7

Seven Ways the World Could End in 2012

So, the world probably won’t end in 2012, but that’s the date for plenty of imagined apocalypses. We look at the various ways the world ends (or at least radically changes) when the Mayan Long Count Calendar runs out. Eco-Apocalypse 2012: It’s pure global catastrophe in Roland Emmerich’s film. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions — every…

io9 Lauren Davis Nov 10

Robot Detectives Battle Superhero Bastards For Your Comics Dollars

Hope you’ve been saving up your pennies for this week’s comic haul: There’s an impressive amount of new releases that you’ll want to take home and cherish for at least the next seven days. Yes, these are Comics We Crave. Let’s start with Electropolis, the new Dark Horse collection of Dean Motter’s Retrofuture Deco Noir…

Books & Comics Graeme McMillan Nov 10

V Is Not Doomed, And You Should Still Watch

It’s hard to have faith in ABC’s remake of alien-Trojan-horse show V. Paradoxically for a show about aliens who inspire unquestioning love and loyalty, it’s been questioned constantly. But there’s still hope, and you should still tune in tonight. The reason why I say that so emphatically is, there’s a tendency to avoid watching a…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Nov 3

Why Does Science Fiction Love Dream Sequences?

Why do we step inside the dreams of science-fiction heroes so often? We’re already in the future, or on an alien world, so why take an extra leap into the world of the unreal? Here are some theories. After compiling 43 clips of science-fiction dream sequences, we started to wonder exactly why we invade people’s…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Oct 27

More Asgardian Heroes for Thor? Apocalyptic Images from BSG: The Plan, And More of Summer Glau in Dollhouse!

Casting slides reveal more of Thor’s divine helpers. Witness more Colonial destruction from BSG: The Plan. More pictures show Summer Glau inside the Dollhouse, and Smallville’s Justice Society gets three new members. Plus 2012, Inception, Supernatural, Eclipse, and Doctor Parnassus. Inception Cillian Murphy has apparently read the Inception script. His thoughts? Excited but vague: “It’s…

io9 Lauren Davis Oct 20

The strange universe of science fiction novelty records

Most frustrating TV shows canceled on a cliffhanger

The best SF/fantasy cliffhangers ever shown on television

Best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy

How to get into 20 classic science fiction shows: The ultimate guide

The top 20 essential science fiction TV shows

Torchwood season four’s writers: a television dream team!

The 11 greatest, craziest sci-fi crossovers in television history

First pages from Mulder and Scully’s crossover with 30 Days of Night’s vampires

The Secret Key to Building a Franchise’s Enduring Fandom

When Keeping It Skeptical In Science Fiction Goes Wrong

Tim Minear Producing An Android Journey Of Self-Discovery? Yes Please!

Does Lost Have The Biggest Ensemble Cast Of All Time?

Graphic Designers Reinvent Science Fiction Television

How To Jog Your Memory, The Science Fiction Hero Way

Seven Ways the World Could End in 2012

Robot Detectives Battle Superhero Bastards For Your Comics Dollars

V Is Not Doomed, And You Should Still Watch

Why Does Science Fiction Love Dream Sequences?

More Asgardian Heroes for Thor? Apocalyptic Images from BSG: The Plan, And More of Summer Glau in Dollhouse!

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

Russia Allegedly Swung at VPNs but Accidentally Hit Its Own Banking Sector Instead

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The Best Gadgets of March 2026

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MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

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