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My last column, "When Worlds Expand?Too Far," generated a number of responses, positive and otherwise. Included in the responses were suggestions of other worthy science-fiction worlds that I either overlooked or, more likely, chose not to mention.

The focus of the original article was to move from highly successful worlds like Star Trek and move gradually into ones that, in my view, expanded a bit too far. My criteria for selection were worlds that had made an impact, good or bad, in multiple formats (i.e. movies, television, literature).

I tried not to confuse "worlds" with "franchises." I view something like "Alien" or "The Matrix" as franchises more than a worlds, since they really only exist as a series of movies. Outside of the feature films, they simply have not made a noteworthy impact anywhere else.

Also, I ignored the Superman universe, in large part because these were just multiple remakes of the original idea. Sure the Superman myth exists in multiple formats, but from a media perspective, these have been little more than multiple remakes as opposed to an ever-expanding storyline. One could argue that "Smallville" did add to the story and, by pulling in actors from various versions of Superman, did try to tie all these elements together. Still, I see this as a franchise as opposed to a self-contained world.

So here is a continuation of the list of other noteworthy science-fiction worlds that have made an impact in multiple media formats. I?ll let you decide if they have expanded too far.

The Stargate Universe: Perhaps the biggest omission from my original list is the Stargate universe. By all rights it should have been mentioned. It started as a successful film, albeit not a blockbuster. Then it became a Showtime series that eventually migrated to the SciFi Channel.

A spinoff, ?Stargate: Atlantis? and non-theatrical movies have followed.

While Stargate always has been popular with science-fiction fans, its reach simply was limited by its presence on pay cable, then the SciFi Channel. At the time I wrote the original article, I simply overlooked its significance to the genre.

The Narnia Universe: Seven books, a miniseries, and now two successful Disney films makes the Narnia universe worthy of note. Still, I pushed my luck by using J.R.R. Tolkien?s fantasy world of Middle Earth to kick off the original list, so mentioning another fantasy-based world on a sci-fi site would have been tempting fate. I promise that this will be the only pure fantasy world on this list.

The "Doctor Who? Universe: I am not a regular viewer of ?Doctor Who,? so that would explain why it was not mentioned. It is the longest running science-fiction series in the world, beginning in 1963, spawning various sequels, including ?Torchwood? and ?The Sarah Jane Adventures.?

Two movies were made in the 1960s, which I remember, not so fondly, from my childhood.

The ?Firefly? Universe: You can?t mention Joss Whedon?s name without attracting at least some of the ?Firefly? zealots out there. I am one of them. Though I enjoyed ?Firefly? immensely, and the feature film ?Serenity? a bit less, I did not mention this originally because outside of Whedon?s small army of loyal fans, neither one made a significant cultural impact. Plus, I did not feel that it had expanded too far. In fact, I would have preferred to see more of the ?Firefly? universe.

The Battlestar Galactica Universe: I did not mention this originally because outside of television, Battlestar Galactica has not really been much of a force. Galactica?s theatrical presence during the 1970s and 1980s was little more than a retooling of its pilot and a few other episodes. But with three different series in the rearview mirror, a spinoff forthcoming, the 2004 miniseries, the ?Razor? telemovie, the ?Galactica? universe is definitely a noteworthy presence. Will the forthcoming series ?Caprica? be a worthy extension, or a point where the franchise jumps the shark?

"The X-Files? Universe: This is where the line between worlds and franchises gets blurred. With 10 television seasons and two feature films under its belt, "The X-Files? has now been a presence for the better part of two decades. Throw in a few video games, two spinoffs -- "Millennium" and "The Lone Gunmen" -- and a bunch of novelizations, and I think it is safe to say that it is a highly successful franchise.

Since it is rooted so firmly in the real world, I didn?t really consider it as part of the original list. Is it a franchise of a self-contained world? You decide.

Homework

Keep sending me your favorite science-fiction worlds.

Dan Compora is an associate professor at the University of Toledo, and contributes SciFi 101 twice monthly for Airlock Alpha. He can be reached at drdan@airlockalpha.com.