Space … there’s a lot of it. And if we’re to believe the futurists in Hollywood, it’s filled with hot cadets in little red uniforms making out with pointy-eared aliens, cyborgs who have all the grace of those hippos from “Fantasia” and wormholes curiously devoid of worms. Every good space opera needs a good theme, but some of the better shows have forgone luscious John Williams-esque bombastic scores and have taken a different route around Rigel 7. Here are the:

Top 5 unusual space opera themes

1. “Firefly”
“Star Trek” may have been described as a “wagon train to the stars,” but Joss Whedon’s sadly short-lived series took the concept to a new level. Characters in “Firefly” inhabited a universe where the two strongest cultural forces are the Old West and Chinese. Whedon penned a theme performed by Sonny Rhodes that reflects a future that draws heavily from the past.

2. “Battlestar Galactica”
The original 1970s-era “Galactica” had a main title theme quite reminiscent of “Star Wars.” When Ron Moore rebooted the series over 20 years later, his percussion-laden closing theme reflected a far more darker and brutal version of BSG.

3. “Farscape”
Brian Henson’s series followed lone human John Crichton lost in the universe, surrounded by aliens – some who are friends and some who wanted him dead. At times atonal and sung in what appears to be an alien language, the theme to “Farscape” mirrored the alien spacescape in which Crichton lived.

4. “Star Trek”
The original “Star Trek” could be as compelling as it was downright cheesy. The theme itself was less reminscent of exploring strange new worlds, more like something you’d hear at a night club owned by Desi Arnaz. The original Trek theme would be hinted at in subsequent films, but it would take 40 years before the theme would make a full-blown comeback in J.J. Abrams’ reboot film.

5. “Stargate SG-1″
The Stargate mythology is heavily linked with Egyptology. And while SG-1 would bring viewers to distant galaxies with wormholes and starships, the theme itself conjures images of Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones.

Time and Space Runner up:  The theremin-laced theme to “Dr. Who,” music so bizarre and unworldly it makes you forget cut-rate BBC special effects.