I feel like the fictional faction war is an inevitable casualty of any genre show that lasts too long for its own good. Chuck is an iconic example of this to me; Continuum and Fringe had shades of it too, to varying degrees (Fringe I think managed to pull out of it, if I remember correctly).
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I really don´t know if it is still considered “budget” but to me “The Expanse” ist by far the best Sci-Fi i´ve seen in years. Since I don´t live in the US and only knew Syfy because of gaming podcasts, describing the quality of the Quantum Break Episodes as “syfy-ish”, i wasn´t expecting much. Did something change in the last couple years, like it did with music videos? Or is “The Expanse” just better looking than other shows because that space looks really good! Also I have to thank Danielle for mentioning it on Idle Weekend. 
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I think LOST was budget sci-fi full stop.
honestly i’d love an orphan black sitcom. just give me the clone club getting into wacky misadventures and loving each other and i’ll be happy forever
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Talking real low-budget: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icLQqVDk86Y&list=PLB3660316357A75BC
Pioneer One is an independent TV show about an old Soviet satellite that crashed somewhere in the US. I really enjoyed it at the time, but man is the budget tight.
Oh yeah! 100% with you here. I really, really loved these two films.
Oh man, was so into Farscape. Having the Jim Henson Creature Shop in on that made it such a treat for me and my sister back in the day.
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Does Quantum Leap count as budget sci-fi? I feel like it might be stretching the term. But my brother and I really, really enjoyed watching QL reruns on SciFi (now Syfy, or as I like to call it, Syffy) as kids. Every episode was completely different so they played with a lot of themes, and I remember the JFK episode being suitably intense. I haven’t watched it in years, and I’m sure some of the episodes don’t hold up anymore (I remember “lol Scott Bakula in drag” being used a bit too much) but it definitely left a mark on young me.
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From the gaming side… questions like “Can an AI have a soul?” get touched on in a lot of massive-budget AAA games, but I can’t imagine any of them EVER impacting me more than Choice of Robots, a text-based CYOA I played a couple years back. You’re just on the cusp of a breakthrough in the field of robotics and your choices change the course of the world, but are also remarkably emotionally effecting, given the scope and the format. It’s probably the best $5 I’ve ever spent on entertainment. https://www.choiceofgames.com/robots/ (You can also demo the first 2 chapters for free)
I’m gonna guess that “The Expanse” is pretty expensive. But you are absolutely right, it is some of the best SF on TV in a long time. Syfy do these headlining shows sometimes, Battlestar Galactica was similar, I think. Well-produced, expensive, well-written (well for the first few seasons at least).
This a good start? https://youtu.be/GNaljgEOUwo
(Agreed though, a large part of why the later bits of the show don’t work as well for me is we don’t get enough sister interaction)
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I used to watch a tonne of stuff which I assume qualifies, mostly through proxy of family watching it. Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, Farscape, and I’m sure at least one or two more than never stood out to child/early teen me to remember the titles. I definitely miss that kind of thing. Heck, the tabletop game I wrote as my last uni project was based heavily on the concept of a spaceship or base with a mostly unimportant crew other than the players, who go out and do all the cool stuff, which describes a fair few of those shows.
I think Stargate Universe wasn’t really given a chance because of its different style to the previous two Stargate series. Even though it cost more per episode than them (probably due to the effects), it went for a more enclosed low-budget look and I found it paid off immensely by the end of the first season. It really was a gem in the rough with some actors I’d love to see more of.
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Is a movie like Looper, which both spent a lot of money to look low cost sci fi but also is relative to movie sci fi low cost, considered Budget Sci Fi?
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I just started watching Babylon 5 again (hot tip - you can watch for free on go90, a free service with very few commercials thus far), and MAN is there some low-budge galaga-lookin’ space battles in that. The contemporaneous Star Trek shows looked way better (but probably cost a lot more). But, B5 is definitely not trash and I love it 
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Yeah I also gravitate towards all things sci-fi though I’m usually more inclined toward space related stories. I guess Europa Report would count as low budget (all Wikipedia has for its budget is “less than $10 million”)? It’s a bit of a slow burn and is sort of a hard sci-fi thriller about trying to find life on Europa. Not super memorable but has some good moments and I absolutely love the ending.
Orphan Black is also one of my favorite shows of all time. I love how creative they have to be and how Maslany’s performance(s) anchor the show.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Firefly. I love that show like one would a family member.
Ok! Since this thread is popping a bit, I want to talk a little about the appeal of low-budget sci-fi, for me!
- Because it is low (or lower) budget than a “prestige” series, it is allowed to be a little goofy, or campy, or playful. I love this in my sci-fi: Lost Girl is high camp all the way. Farscape has some seriously campy episodes. Orphan Black doesn’t seem to go high camp, but it gets a little bit goofy at times.
This playfulness is really fun for me, as, well, a certified goofball. I adore hard sci-fi, but sometimes, I want to laugh along with my favorite characters on a genre show.
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That lower budget allows it to take lots of narrative risks. Farscape did things with sci-fi tropes i’ve still never seen another show attempt, turning plenty of trusty Star Trek premises on their heads and going far darker (and sometimes far goofier) than that style of series ever goes. Killjoys seemingly has a budget of two dollars, but it does fascinating things with character relationships, religion, and moral grays.
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There’s something I just love about the look and feel of this type of series. The production designer and costume folks have to make things look good (or, at least interesting) with close to nothing, so they get creative. Even when it so clearly doesn’t work at all, I love that about it.
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I just realized that my favorite budget SF show ever is probably still Early Edition. It’s super cheezy, but it’s comfort TV at its best. Also: Kyle Chandler is a treasure.
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Cleopatra 2525 was just the weirdest idea for a sci fi show but it’s a show my sister and I loved to watch when we were kids. I think it was cool for us to see a black woman as a lead and not a caricature in a sci fi/future narrative, and she kicked ass. The corniness was kind of lost on us since we were kids. I’d like to see if it holds up, but it’s from the early 00’s so… IDK…
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