One reason for leaving breadcrumbs on the ground is to catch a bird. The bird sees the bread, swoops day and eats. The process is repeated as the bird, slowly, steadily walks (or hops; it looks like a hop to me) into the trap. Are we much different?

I think not. For example, browse the internet. You see a headline link which says, ‘Top 100 Most Beautiful Women for 2005.’ The natural tendency for most guys would be to click.

The bird has taken the first bite of a breadcrumb.

100 clicks later all the crumbs are gone and the Top 100 Most Beautiful Women are no longer unknown. In this case, though, the journey, 100 clicks, was the trap.

Since I was able to watch television and see movies as a child, Science Fiction was part of the visual menu. Recently, I came across a link similar to the above; ‘The Top 50 Science Fiction Television Shows of All Time.’

Click, click, click, click, ad nauseum.

What did I find? At first, I felt like an intelligent bird, knowing full well that the path of crumbs would take me to a trap (disappointment that my selection for Top Science Fiction TV Show wasn’t selected).

Then, I felt somewhat foolish knowing that the only reason the Top 50 was created was to capture birds like me, getting me to click 20 or 30 times at least, and help that web site gain clicks, visitors, and advertising impressions.

Mission accomplished. I clicked anyway.

At Number 10 was ‘Sliders,’ a good science fiction show featuring the typical ‘wormhole’ and ‘parallel universes’ that always leave the basic questions unanswered (for example, ‘why does everyone always speak English?’).

Then came ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ which is a ridiculous selection as it’s not really a science fiction TV show, but a spoof of fake viewers sitting and watching a wholly bad sci fi show and making fun of it.

There’s no justice.

Number 8 is the British entry and cult sci fi program, Dr. Who. It deserves a Top 10 nod simply for being around all these years, though I often had trouble figuring out which character was Dr. Who.

Rod Serling’s ‘The Twilight Zone’ comes in at Number 7, Stargate SG-1 at Number 6, rounding out the bottom end of the Top 10.

Then, it’s ‘Babylon 5.’ I would have placed SG-1 higher than Babylon 5. The former is still running, sans MacGuyver. Babylon 5 is a distant sci fi memory.

The Final Four of the Top 10 starts off with Mulder and Scully in ‘The X-Files.’ Good choice. Few science fiction programs were as efficiently produced as X-Files.

Trekkies will be pleased that the long-running Star Trek: Next Generation made it to Number 3. In fact, Star Trek’s many variations are well placed in a Top 50 list.

Out of nowhere comes the new Battlestar Galactica at Number 2. I like the characters of Battlestar Galactica, but not the video style or the over abundance of violence. It’s an extremely efficient production (not much really happens) but not worthy of a Top 10 slot.

Bad choice.

Good choice. Number 1 is the original, classic Star Trek. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and friends. That’s an acceptable choice, given Star Trek’s ability to spawn movies and TV shows for 40 years after the original.

There. You have the Top 10 but not the previous 40 of the Top 50. Click Here to start gobbling up your own breadcrumbs.

And don’t forget that you were warned.

Additional musings and nonsense can be read on the McElfresh.org site (with photos, stories, a photo gallery, and an audio podcast). Should you require non-licorice tasting musings, try RonMcElfresh.com. No photos, no podcasts-- no holds barred musings for the thoughtful generation. Either way, it's the same price.