Alfred Bester's The Stars my Destination is the best SF book written in my opinion. His Demolished Man isn't bad either. Next would be the Weapon Shop series by A.E. Van Vogt (Weapon Shops of Isher and Weapon Makers of Ishar) Also his Slan is a classic. These are are old books. Some written in the 30's, 40's & some in the 50's.

I watched Babylon 5 because of the funny characters in it. The best movies I've seen were The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet and Invaders from Mars. Both Invaders & Invasion of the body Snatchers (original version) scared the tar out of me as I was around 10 or so when they came out.

I don't read much of the new stuff since it's pretty poor IMHO.