Here are somethings that every Sci-Fi Fan should Watch / Play / Read / Experience, before trying to claim guru status.
The Rules. Each item has a point value, add them to get your score. A Guru is not an obsessive fanboy who knows how many windows there are on the Enterprise D or how far Tattooine is from Dagobah. Gurus have a broad base, and that is for the good. I invite you to pass send your friends to this note. Ideally I'd like lots of feedback so I can tweak and improve it. I also think it would be cool to have a website of it, where one could register and mark as experienced various items and keep see a running score. Of course, it would have to be honor based. I'd also love to get input from industry experts, commentary on the impact and merit of a particular item.
Please note that I make no distinction for or against humor, only on quality.
My original idea for this note didn't include a point scheme... but then I thought, "If I include a point scheme, people will be offended by the scores I gave" and controversy is always good.
TV & Movies: Most of us experience our Sci-fi in a visual format, usually on TV or at the movies. That said, most of your points will be had here. The scoring matrix I use is a mixture of cultural (fandom) relevance and cultural (real world) impact. So yes, most of the points here will be scored on Star Trek, because it's had the largest effect. Sorry Star Wars fans, 8 movies and an animated TV series doesn't compare with 6 series and 11 movies. Anything I've left off, please, feel free to credit yourself 1/10th of a point per movie or TV series Season. Some movies are grouped, because I don't feel that individually they contribute overwhelmingly, but when viewed in relationship to others they have a significant effect.
Star Trek TOS (3)
Star Trek TNG (5)
Star Trek DS9 (4)
Star Trek Voyager (3)
Star Trek Enterprise (2)
Star Trek Animated (1)
Star Trek Movies (5)
Farscape (2)
Babylon 5 (4) +1 for all the movies, +1 for Crusade, +1 for Tales
Andromeda (1)
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, District 9, 2001 & 2010, The Thing (5)
Doctor Who 20+ Episodes Pre Baker (5)
Doctor Who 20+ Episdoes Baker (5)
Doctor Who Entire Modern Run (5)
Firefly (2) would be worth more, but its only 13 eps, if you can't sit through the whole thing, you loose at life.
Dollshouse (1)
Buffy & Angel (1)
Lost (2)
Alias (2)
Battlestar Galactica Original Series (2)
Battlestar Galactica Modern (2)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (2)
Alien Nation Movies and TV Series and TV Movies (3)
Sliders (2)
Stargate SG-1 (3)
Stargate Atlantis (1)
Stargate Universe (1)
Star Wars Trilogy (4)
Star Wars Prequels (3)
Star Wars Clone Wars (1) +1 for the TV series
Star Wars Ewoks whatever (0.0001)
ET (1)
Spaceballs (2)
Planet of the Apes Series (3)
Soylent Green (2)
Blade Runner (1)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1) In the Theatre (+1)
Terminator & T2: Judgement Day (3)
Total Recall (0.5)
Pluto Nash (0.0000000000000000001)
Plan 9... while sober (2)
Pandorum (0.5)
Alien & Aliens (3)
Avatar... who hasn't seen Avatar (1)
Scanners (1)
Buckaroo Banzai & Flash Gordon (1)
V for Vendetta & A Clockwork Orange (3)
Metropolis (1)
Frankenstien & Bride of Frankenstien (1)
The Matrix (1) the Trilogy (+1)
Short Circuit, Batteries Not Included, My Stepmother is an Alien, Mom and Dad save the Universe, & MIB (4)
Critters, Enemy Mine, Predator, Event Horizon, & Pitch Black (4)
The Chronicles of Riddick, Tales from a Parallel Universe, Death Race 2000 (5)
The Cold Equations (1)
Galaxy Quest (1)
Back to the Future Trilogy (1)
Wall-E (0.5)
Gozilla (1) with an additional +1 for more than 3 other movies in the series.
Heavy Metal (1)
Forbidden Planet (2)
Lost in Space TV (2)
Barbarella (1)
Equilibrium (1)
Zardoz (3)
Anime (Shut it, haters). The trade off with Anime is that much of it is worthwhile, but little is of massive cultural signifigance and the required investment in time often runs to several days. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is excellent, but at more than 100 episodes, its a dense slog, especially considering it isn't commerically availible in the US. Fire Star Stories is shorter, but even harder to find. Robotech and Gundam are easily availible, but their vast length can be offputting. Serial Experiements Lain is only 13 episodes, but it, like Evangelion, run significantly deeper into metaphysics and motivation than many westerners are comfortable seeing in animated format. Akira is a classic, and worth watch, while Starblazers (more correctly known as Space Battleship Yamato) and Gunbuster are intriguing and interesting, well worth it for people who enjoy space battles. There are dozens more, and some, like Tenchi or Glass Fleet or El Hazard are excellent views, but not for everyone. Still, any Sci-Fi anime, yes, even Galaxy Angel, Battle Athletes, and... shudder... Digimon, should be counted as 1/10th of a point per show, with 20 hours (roughly 50 episodes) or the entire series being the credit point.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1)
Five Star Stories (1)
Robotech 50+ Episodes (2)
Neon Genesis Evangelion (2)
Gundam 50+ Episodes (2)
Serial Experiments Lain (1)
Space Battleship Yamato (1)
Akira (1)
Gunbuster (1)
Books: Clearly there are too many Sci-Fi books and series of books for me to even come close to listing them all, but some are significantly more vital or amusing than others. Any novel is worth 1/10th of a point, except Star Trek Novels, which are worth 1/20th, except where noted.
Stranger in a Strange Land (2)
Valis (1)
Foundation Trilogy (4)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (2)
Honor Harrington Series (3)
Empire of Man Series (1)
The Posleen War Series (the main arc and Watch on the Rhine) (3)
A Scanner Darkly (1)
Bio of a Space Tyrant Series (2)
Caiaphas Cain Series (1)
Star Trek: Kobiashi Maru (1)
Star Trek Excalibur Series (2)
Heechee Series (1)
Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy (1)
Dune (3)
The rest of the Dune Series (2)
The Dune Prequels (1)
Starship Trooper (2)
The Diamond Age (2)
Snow Crash (1)
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (5)
1984 (1)
Fahrenheit 451 (1)
I, Robot & The Caves of Steel (5)
Neuromancer (1)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1)
Ringworld (2)
Rendezvous With Rama (1)
Eon (1)
Hyperion (1)
Brave New World (3)
The Time Machine (2)
Childhood's End (1)
The War of the Worlds (2)
The Forever War (1)
The Martian Chronicles (1)
The John Carter of Mars Series (2)
Slaughterhouse Five (1)
The Left Hand of Darkness (2)
The Stars My Destination (1)
Solaris (2)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (2)
A Wrinkle In Time (1)
Contact (0.5)
The Andromeda Strain (0.5)
The Gods Themselves (0.5)
A Fire Upon the Deep (1)
A Clockwork Orange (2)
Stand on Zanzibar (0.5)
Videogames
Borderlands (1)
Star Wars Tie Fighter (1)
Knights of the Old Republic (1)
Knights of the Old Republic II (1)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (1)
Bioshock (3)
Mass Effect (3)
Lego Starwars (1)
Better Dead than Alien,Galaga, Galaxian, or Space Invaders (1)
Missile Command (1)
Zack McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders (1)
Maniac Mansion & Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (2)
Starcraft (2) +1 if you are Korean
Starcraft II (1)
Might and Magic Series (1 per game), only 1-9
Final Fantasy VII (3)
Final Fantasy VIII (2)
Final Fantasy VI (1)
Chrono Trigger (2)
Xenosaga (2) +1 for Xenogears
Traditional Role Playing Games and Board Games
Cosmic Encounter (1)
Twilight Imperium (1)
Starfarers of Catan (1)
Mage the Ascension (1)
Mag-Blaster (1)
Renegade Legion (1)
Starfleet Battles (1)
Solarquest (1)
Buck Rogers Battle for the XXVth century (1)
Comicbooks
The Airtight Garage (1)
The Incal (2)
The Metabarons (1)
2000 AD (1 per 200 issues) Includes ABC Warriors, Rouge Trooper, Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, and Strontium Dogs, among others.
A Distant Soil (1)
Red Star (1)
The Authority (1)
Harsh Realm (1)
Watchmen (1)
Nexus (1)
Grimjack (1)
Luthor Arkwright (1)
Addendum
Dark City (2)
The Fifth Element (1)
Gattaca (1)
Stargate the Movie (1)
Serenity (1)
Logan's Run (1)
The Mad Max Trilogy (1)
The Abyss (1)
Donny Darko (1)
The Iron Giant (1)
When World's Collide (1)
West World (1)
They Live (0.5)
Superman (1) or the entire Superman series (1.7)
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