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It’s odd to think that, once upon a time, a TV show set in space — one that declared, in its opening narration, as the cosmos being the “final frontier” — was considered the pop-cultural equivalent of an unwanted party-crasher. Yes, a concept like Star Trek was both of its time and clearly ahead of it; history has more than vindicated Gene Rodenberry’s notion of boldly going where no man had gone before. But given the number of top-notch shows set in the far reaches of the galaxy and that used genre for pulpy and profound purposes over the last 30 or so years, it seems crazy to think that one of the most groundbreaking SF series was a network pariah and a ratings dud. Today, there’s an entire cable network devoted to this kind of programming. You can’t turn on your TV/Roku/cut-cord viewing device without bumping into spaceships, alien invasion and wonky sci-fi food-for-thought.
Science fiction has been around in one form or another since the early-ish days of television, both here and abroad, and its legacy now looms larger than ever. So what better time to count down the 50 best sci-fi TV shows of all time? From anime classics to outer-space soap operas, spooky British anthology shows to worst-case-scenario postapocalyptic dramas, primetime pop hits to obscure but beloved cult classics, here are our choices for the best the television genre has to offer — submitted, for your approval.
Colin Hutton/Kudos/CH4/AMC
50. ‘Humans’ (2015-2018)
This British import was drowned out by buzzier shows when it debuted with its unique mix of Blade Runner, A.I. and Parenthood. Set in a near future where lifelike androids function as humanity’s servants, the series cuts between enlightened rogue robots and the mechanically aided government agency trying to capture them, with frequent stops in the household of a dysfunctional flesh-and-blood family caught in the middle. It’s brainy and thrilling, balancing fantasy, drama, and trippy “Who’s the real automaton, man?” philosophizing. NM
Watch Humans on Amazon Prime here
49. ‘Aeon Flux’ (1991-1995)
Created by Peter Chung — a veteran of Rugrats, of all things — this unique animated series began as a series of shorts on MTV’s still-mindblowing experimental-animation showcase Liquid Television. Once it developed into its own separate show, this dystopic drama added an unmistakably, uncomfortably sexual vibe to its story of the titular leather-clad secret agent, battling against a repressive futuristic society and her very intimate enemy Trevor Goodchild. Some of Flux’s images — a fly trapped by the lashes of a human eyeball; two tongues intertwining like worms in a wrestling match — still haunt us. STC
Watch Aeon Flux on Amazon Prime here
48. ‘Red Dwarf’ (1988-Present)
For a certain generation of nerd, this comedy lived up to the promise of its title — a deep, dense, radiant cult classic that sucked its diehard fans into its gravitational maw and never let go. Combining the BBC’s charmingly ramshackle, distinctly non-Hollywood sci-fi style with a Britcom set-up about antagonistic coworkers stranded together in deep space, it’s been revived multiple times to international acclaim. STC
Watch Red Dwarf on Amazon Prime here
YouTube
47. ‘Thunderbirds’ (1965-1966)
A peerless example of the innovative, creative spirit of the genre infecting its production as well, this beloved British children’s series used an elaborate puppeteering process called “Supermarionation” to give the jet-setting heroes of International Rescue its distinctive look. (Matt Stone and Trey Parker dug it so much they lifted it wholesale for their War on Terror satire Team America: World Police.) Generations of kids on both sides of the pond have thrilled to those magic words: “5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Thunderbirds are go!” STC
Watch Thunderbirds on Amazon Prime here
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46. ‘The 100’ (2014-2020)
Loosely based on a series of YA novels by Kass Morgan, the CW show takes place a century after Earth has been wiped clean by nuclear devastation. A group of juvenile delinquents get sent down planetside from mankind’s last outpost — a failing space station — to see if the ground is safe once more. What began in its first episodes as Lord of the Flies with hot people quickly established itself as the precocious stepchild of Battlestar Galactica and Lost, marked by unsolvable moral quandaries, deepening mysteries and a rogue’s gallery of fascinatingly screwed-up characters. JS
45. ‘Now and Again’ (1999-2000)
Born just a few years before viewers went crazy for Lost‘s cliffhangers and conspiracies, this ambitious CBS series imagines what would happen if the brain of an affable suburban family man were stuck into the body of a government-engineered super-soldier. Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron pitched the show as an action-adventure version of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees, and considered it to be primarily a show about the dashed dreams of the middle-aged. But the Saturn Awards were rightly impressed by the wild plots and superheroics, and ranked it among the best science-fiction TV of its era. NM
Watch Now and Again on Amazon Prime here
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44. ‘Max Headroom’ (1987-1988)
As a character, computer-generated TV host Max Headroom is remembered as a very Eighties-centric send-up, mocking vapid MTV VJs and the media’s embrace of corny-looking “futuristic” digital technology. But he’s also the anarchic hero of this dystopian cyberpunk series, set in a universe where pirate broadcasters and anti-consumerist rebels resist being controlled by corporate conglomerates. The TV show had a hard time catching on in the Reagan era, but today it looks remarkably prescient — like a Bernie Sanders campaign speech run through Video Toaster. NM
Watch Max Headroom on Amazon Prime here
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43. ‘Man in the High Castle’ (2015-2019)
Philip K. Dick’s 1963 novel entertained a popular thought experiment: What would the United States be like if the Axis powers had won World War II? This Amazon TV adaptation presents its alt-America is a slate-gray nightmare of pick-your-poison oppression, with Japanese imperialists in the West, Nazis in the East and Midwest, and a “neutral” no-man’s-land running along the Rockies. Hitler’s declining health, combined with an ongoing East-West Cold War, turns a bad situation worse; don’t even get us started about that mysterious reel of film that everyone is after. If the series departs from Dick’s book by necessity, its paranoiac grimness perfectly honors the author in spirit. ST
Watch Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime here
42. ‘Misfits’ (2009-2013)
Though it’s about a bunch of felonious kids with uncanny abilities, it would be a misnomer to call Misfits a superhero show. These ne’er-do-well teens aren’t out to save the day so much as make it through the drudgery of their daily lives without accidentally killing anyone. Darkly funny and tinged with a punk sensibility, this cult favorite explores what happens when the disenfranchised find themselves literally empowered — sometimes in terrifying ways. Though the cast turned over several times in the course of the series’ five seasons, it never lost its sense of twisted fun. JS
Nicola Goode/Netflix
41. ‘The OA’ (2016-2019)
Hip indie filmmakers Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij explored the eerie mysteries of modern life in their movies Sound of My Voice and The East; they then brought that same smart, arty sensibility to their Netflix series about a long-missing young woman who declares herself to be a dimension-hopping angel. As the heroine assembles a team of disciples for a rescue mission, her story follows a kind of dream logic, designed to get the audience to look deeper into the inconsistencies in their own reality. It’s a bummer this show was cancelled after just two seasons — but the lack of resolution is also oddly apt. NM
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40. ‘The Six-Million Dollar Man’ (1974-1978)
“We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better … stronger … faster.” As science-fiction classics from Star Trek to The Twilight Zone had long proved, opening narration can set the tone for everything to come, and few shows have ever begun with a spiel as confident and urgent as this Seventies TV staple. The story of test pilot Steve Austin, who survives a crash thanks to bionic implants that enhance his speed, strength, and vision, the Lee Majors–starring series was an action-packed proto-superhero thriller that’d make Tony Stark proud. STC
Watch The Six-Million Dollar Man on Peacock here
Getty Images for Fox
39. ‘Futurama’ (1999-2013)
Arguably the nerdiest sitcom ever to air on network TV — so sorry, Big Bang Theory — The Simpsons‘ 30th-century sci-fi cousin is full of jokes only a PhD could love. (There were three on the writing staff.) But it’s an absurdist workplace comedy at heart, suggesting there’s no technological innovation that will eliminate incompetent bosses or shiftless, alcoholic co-workers, even if the latter happen to be robots. SA
Kurt Iswarienkio/ABC
38. ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ (2013-2020)
While only sticklers tend to append the possessive sobriquet “Marvel’s” to this show’s title, it’s absolutely worth noting: After all, S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s mission is to dance between the raindrops of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s constant stream of big-screen blockbusters, reflecting changes to the status quo while still telling an engaging story about a team of super-spies in its own right. Ambitious action set pieces and likable performances from an ensemble that includes Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennett and Ming Na-Wen ensure that it succeeds. And what started as a sort of MCU sidebar series has, over six seasons (its seventh and final season is expected to air in 2020), gone to some seriously weird places. STC
Watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Netflix here
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37. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ (1981)
This tale of a wayward Earthling cast into the world of space travel from the late, great Douglas Adams (pictured above) is so great that even its third-best version — after the original radio play and Adams’ series of novels — is a classic. Forged in the same crucible as Monty Python, this BBC adaptation did for space operas what Holy Grail did for medieval epics, smartly subverting the genre and in the process creating one of its masterpieces. Profound, absurd, and perfect for all you paranoid androids out there. So long, and thanks for all the fish. SA
Watch The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Amazon Prime here
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36. ‘Stargate SG-1’ (1997-2007)
One of the unlikeliest success stories in sci-fi TV history, this show’s origins lie in the offbeat 1994 film by future Independence Day impresarios Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Sensing something special, MGM snapped up the rights and spun it into a sprawling, ambitious saga of ancient alien civilizations and human soldiers and scientists tasked with uniting with the good ones against the bad ones. Strong, Egypt-inspired visuals and a memorable cast headed by MacGyver‘s Richard Dean Anderson helped generate several spinoffs and made the show the longest-running sci-fi series at the time. STC
Watch Stargate SG-1 on Hulu here
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35. ‘V’ (1983-1985)
Children of the 1980s had their brains rewired by the first V miniseries, which introduces a seemingly benevolent alien race and then exposes them as rat-eating Earth-conquerors, acquiesced to by a world yearning for saviors. The subsequent sequel and short-lived weekly TV show continue in that vein, encouraging viewers to question authority by pitting scrappy rebels against overlords who offer easy answers. We also recommend the 21st-century remake, which works those same “be careful what you wish for” themes into the age of Obama. NM
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34. ‘Jessica Jones’ (2015-2019)
Melissa Rosenberg’s Marvel sleeper hit worked precisely because it lacked the bells and whistles of other superhero tales. There’s nary a cape nor a clean white hat to be found in the Netflix show’s morally gray universe, and super powers almost felt like an afterthought for this particular heroine. It just so happened that Jessica (Krysten Ritter), a world-weary, hard-drinking P.I., happened to have advanced reflexes and an out-of-this-world strength — something that came in handy when she was squaring off against the show’s primary villain, a mind-controlling megalomaniac (David Tennant). It was a gritty fiercely feminist noir with just a dusting of sci-fi around the edges — which ended up making it one of the stronger entries in the streaming services Marvel shows, as well as being the perfect combo to hit a genre fan right in the gut. JS
Watch Jessica Jones on Netflix here
33. ‘Life on Mars’ (2006-2007)
One of the damnedest cop show that’s ever been, this British series concerns a comatose Manchester cop who’s slipped through time — or is perhaps just hallucinating — and finds himself solving crimes in 1973. Like the best speculative fiction, Life on Mars features a hero who questions what’s happening to him and why, all while exploring a strange alien world. It’s just that this exotic locale isn’t the Red Planet so much as a smoky gray city from the recent past, where violent bigots decide what’s right and wrong. (Warning: Avoid the U.S. remake, which misses the flavor and context of the original, and changes the ending to something mind-bogglingly stupid.) NM
Watch Life on Mars on Amazon Prime here
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32. ‘The Flash’ (2014-Present)
You can keep your cinematic universes: The best comic-book adaptation of all time is going into its third season on the CW. Although Grant Gustin’s scarlet speedster gets his powers from a particle-accelerator meltdown, the show’s perfect mixture of giddy adventure and heart-tugging drama feels less like a matter of science than magic. It’s grown-up enough to realize there’s nothing juvenile about enjoying comics’ lighter side. Let’s face it: The movies have their dark knights and stoic avengers, but if you’re craving a hyperintelligent telepathic gorilla, there’s only one place to get your fix. SA
Watch The Flash on Netflix here
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31. ‘Space: 1999’ (1975-1977)
When Star Trek became a belated hit in syndication, smart producers set out to capitalize on the “space is the place” trend — which is how “Supermarionation” mavens Gerry and Sylvia Anderson ended up making this stylish, high-toned live-action series. Their highly Trek-esque plots saw Earth’s human-inhabited moon hurtling through the universe after an explosion and getting embroiled in interplanetary conflicts. Today, fans love the show for its snazzy disco uniforms and elaborate spaceship models — both of which resemble a certain blockbuster motion picture that was still in production at the time. If only the show had stayed on the air just one year longer, it could’ve ridden that Star Wars wave to bigger glory. NM
Watch Space: 1999 on Amazon Prime here
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30. ‘Quantum Leap’ (1989-1993)
Who among us hasn’t wished we could go back to the past and set things to right? And who wouldn’t want a charming, funny holographic companion for buddy-comedy shenanigans along for the ride? These two elements constitute the core appeal of Quantum Leap, in which Dr. Sam Beckett leaps through time and inhabits people’s bodies to fix the mistakes of the past, egged on all the while by his advisor Admiral Al Calavicci. Starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, two of the genre’s most endearing actors, it made its high concept work with down-to-earth heart. STC
Watch Quantum Leap on Peacock here
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29. ‘Babylon 5’ (1994-1998)
Imagine a five-mile-long space station that doubled as a sort of intergalactic U.N., in which humans and aliens have a neutral ground in which to work out trade relations, solve cosmic tiffs and hopefully avoid the sort of warfare that almost destroyed the universe in the only-slightly-distant future. Having done time in the writers’ room of the 1980s Twilight Zone update, creator J. Michael Straczynski was no stranger to the genre’s metaphorical possibilities. But this show became a fan-favorite because it wasn’t content to just use tales of outer-space diplomacy as a cover for ideological beard-stroking — this was unabashed hard sci-fi, full of its own self-contained mythology and blessed with a kick-ass make-up department. DF
Watch Babylon 5 on HBO Max here
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28. ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ (1953)
Created by sci-fi Hall of Famer Nigel Kneale for the BBC, the hero of this gamechanging British TV series — Bernard Quatermass, a professor with a keen interest in extraterrestrials — would become iconic shortly after this original series’ broadcast; not even a technical glitch during the airing of the final episode could derail the show’s impact. Reginald Tate was one of numerous actors to portray the alien-fighting intellectual, who’d further capture the public’s imagination via radio programs, movies (including a big-screen remake of this serial in 1955, known as The Quatermass Xperiment) and several other TV shows; the 1979 four-episode miniseries, in which John Mills battles postapocalyptic hippies with a cosmic Stonehenge obsession, is a highpoint of U.K. sci-fi. But you never forget your first. DF
Watch The Quatermass Experiment on Amazon Prime here
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27. ‘Dollhouse’ (2009-2010)
Set in an underground facility where “actives” like Echo (Eliza Dushku) are imprinted with temporary personalities and offered to rich clients, Joss Whedon’s series had the built-in flexibility to do something new with its characters every week. The show initially sent Echo on episodic adventures, ranging from prostitution to kidnapping negotiation. But as Dollhouse continued to evolve through its first and improbable second season, it grew into an immensely disturbing hour about corporate conspiracies, fluid identities, and — in a surprise twist — a tech-fueled Armageddon. ST
26. ‘Torchwood’ (2006-2011)
Doctor Who‘s earthier spinoff started simple, tracking the two-fisted alien-hunting exploits of polysexual immortal Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman), his Cardiff-based lover Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) and his right-hand woman Gwen (Eve Myles). But as the series developed — and moves into the complex multi-part stories such as “Children of Earth” and “Miracle Day” — it turned into something like a tense, taut political thriller with laser-guns. Forget good guys and bad guys; at its best, the show delved into the dreadful moral compromises that the powerful make on our behalf. NM
Watch Torchwood on HBO Max here
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25. ‘Fringe’ (2008-2013)
Beginning life as a so-so X-Files knockoff, this Fox series blossomed when it went from investigating unexplained phenomena to exploring other universes. Shifting between worlds allowed the show to indulge some fanciful “what-ifs” — What if the Statue of Liberty was gold? What if traveling by blimp was all the rage? — but it also gave the cast, including John Noble and the great Anna Torv, a chance to riff on multiple personalities years before Orphan Black hatched its first clone. SA
Watch Fringe on Amazon Prime here
Michelle Faye/Syfy
24. ‘Wynonna Earp’ (2016-Present)
What if the great-great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp lived today in the Canadian Rockies — and spent most of her time battling the vengeful spirits of the outlaws her ancestors killed? That’s the story of this Syfy TV show: an inspired take on frontier justice that’s part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part Supernatural. Sure, this heroine rides a motorcycle instead of a horse; and yeah, she now has a beloved gay half-sister instead of a pair of loyal lawman brothers. (Also, Doc Holliday has become immortal. Long story.) But Wynonna still carries the family’s old long-barreled Colt Buntline Special…along with the burden of all their past sins. NM
Watch Wynonna Earp on Netflix here
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23. ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987-1994)
It’s hard to imagine a sequel/reboot not only winning over fans of the original Star Trek but actually coming close to surpassing it. Sounds like blasphemy, right? Such is the strength of Gene Roddenberry’s update on his own legendary show, in which provocative philosophical quandaries, world-class new enemies (Q, the Borg), and a lovable cast centered on Shakespearean Patrick Stewart’s erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard earned this spinoff, set decades after the first series, a place in the pantheon alongside its forerunner. The producer made it so, in other words. And the fact that the good captain has once again graced us with his presence only reminds us that no frontier is ever final, not even space. STC
Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix here
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22. ‘Lost’ (2004-2010)
Sure, the ending was considered to be a letdown by many viewers. But only the stingiest purist would let that spoil a show that for six years packed in more lovable characters and spine-tingling moments than any serialized science-fiction series ever has. From teleporting polar bears to time-hopping super-islands, Lost‘s core creative team of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse kept coming up with ideas that sent fans scrambling to the Internet to theorize. All the while, the writers divvied a rich mythology into memorable individual episodes, telling stories filled with wit, awe, and heartbreak. NM
Watch Lost on Amazon Prime here
21. ‘Astroboy’ (1963-1966)
Imagine if Walt Disney also created the Marvel Universe and you’re close to understanding the impact of Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese comics and cartoons alike. First appearing in print, then on TV in the show that established this particular animation genre’s style, the titular character was a wide-eyed, ultra-powerful young robot, formed in the image of his scientist creator’s late son, who uses his extraordinary abilities to fight off science-fictional enemies like a pint-sized Superman. It introduced an entire generation of kids to anime, both in its native country and outside of the land of the rising sun, and you can see its influence everywhere. STC
Watch Astroboy on HBO Max here
Amazon Studios
20. ‘The Expanse’ (2015-2021)
Two centuries from now, tensions have arisen between our planet and a colonized Mars; a ring of blue-collar space stations called “The Belt” houses the solar system’s lowest social class. A distress signal leads to the mysterious destruction of a ship, stranding Captain Jim Holden (Steven Strait) and his ragtag crew in deep space. Meanwhile, a police detective named Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane) becomes obsessed with a missing girl named Julie Mao, who may be the key to understanding an escalating cosmic Cold War. The small-screen adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s novels started out with a pinch of Blade Runner here and a sprinkle of BSG there. But over its three seasons on Syfy — and, thanks to an aggressive fan campaign, at its new home on Amazon — the series has wonderfully, er, “expanded” its scope and taken on a political resonance regarding the machinations of those in power and the people impacted by these interstellar policy decisions. BT
Watch The Expanse on Amazon Prime here
19. ‘Utopia’ (2013-2014)
“Who is Jessica Hyde?” There are paranoid-conspiracy thrillers, and then there’s Dennis Kelly’s extraordinary, sui generis show about a bootleg graphic novel that may contain hidden clues about a government plan too nefarious to mention. And when the members of an Internet chat forum devoted to the comic come across the last remaining copy … well, let’s just say there are people in power who’d do anything to make sure all traces of it are erased. Featuring creepy sadistic assassins, a diverse cast of every-men and -women heroes, and a strong contender for the single most badass antisocial female character ever to grace the small-screen (we bow before you, Fiona O’Shaughnessy), the series started out weird and only proceeded to get weirder during its second season — and better. We’re sorry that David Fincher’s American version was ixnayed by HBO; we’re even sorrier that the original show has never been officially shown on those shores. We blame “the Network.” DF
Watch Utopia on Amazon Prime here
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18. ‘Orphan Black’ (2013-2017)
This genre-spanning thriller about human cloning was so committed to its out-there premise that it employed a science advisor to keep its fringe genetics on the up and up. Like all great science fiction, the BBC America show spun out from an all-too-real premise: the commodification of women’s bodies by those in power. But Orphan Black’s true secret weapon was Tatiana Maslany, a virtuoso actor capable of slipping into the skin of 11 different characters — from a cockney con artist to a tightly wound soccer mom to a fanatical serial killer. A show that might have become bogged down in a million conspiracies kept itself compulsively engaging thanks to whip-smart dialogue and that mesmerizing central performance. JS
Watch Orphan Black on Amazon Prime here
Sophie Giraud/Hulu
17. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (2017-Present)
The searing prescience of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel — a dystopian nightmare in which the United States has become a totalitarian theocracy, its remaining fertile women enslaved to bear children for the ruling class — comes all too vividly to life in this dark, nail-bitingly tense adaptation for Hulu. Elisabeth Moss carries the series alongside a brilliant supporting cast (especially Ann Dowd as handmaid overseer Aunt Lydia and Yvonne Strahovski as an elite commander’s wife), even as it extends beyond Atwood’s original vision. The first ritualized rape of Moss’ defiant handmaid Offred is harrowing in its banality; the public hangings and ceremonial stonings a haunting part of the show’s visual imprint. In between, quieter moments of furtive eye contact among the women of the lower rungs hint at brewing insurrections, giving you just enough hope to keep watching — even if it’s through your fingers. It cuts so close to the bone in Trump’s America, most women would sooner call it a docuseries than a work of science-fiction. MF
Watch The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu here
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16. ‘Devs’ (2020)
Yes, at the time of this writing, writer-director Alex Garland’s FX show is still in the middle of its first season’s run — but it only takes a few episodes to realize that this new series is already the sort of sci-fi exercise that is nudging the genre into some interesting, unexplored existential territory. Parks & Recreation‘s Nick Offerman is Forest, the Silicon Valley guru who’s heading up a team of engineers that are focused on the discovery of…something. Sonoya Mizuno is an employee of the innovator’s massive firm whose boyfriend gets invited to join the elite team behind this project, then promptly ends up dead. Soon, the young woman finds herself trying to unravel the mystery that led to this tragedy before the company’s security team deems her a threat. As to what exactly is going on in that bunker in the middle of the company’s woodsy campus? Let’s just say that Garland is doing for bleeding-edge tech what he did for A.I. with Ex Machina and extraterrestrial evolution in Annihilation. DF
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15. ‘The Outer Limits’ (1963-1965)
Its reputation suffered from being born in the shadow of The Twilight Zone, but in the eyes of some genre fans, the original Outer Limits is the superior sci-fi show, with pulp heroes confronting alien villains in fully imagined, smartly crafted plots. Creator Leslie Stevens took advantage of his low budgets and lower profile, letting a staff of young writers, directors, and technicians take creative chances. The result is a B-movie-inspired anthology series that looks like a European art film — one that’s aged surprisingly well. NM
Watch The Outer Limits on Amazon Prime here
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14. ‘Legion’ (2017-2019)
A first-rate mindfuck and easily the weirdest, most stream-of-consciousness superhero series ever, Noah Hawley’s contribution to the X-Men universe focused on David Haller (Dan Stevens, shedding his Downton Abbey persona once and for all), a telepath who’s arguably the world’s most dangerous mutant. This makes him Public Enemy No. 1 to a mystery government agency known as “Division 3,” and a potential prize recruit for a rogue group of fellow Homo superiors. First, however, he has to rid himself of a psychic parasite — who often appears in the form of an unhinged Aubrey Plaza — before he can truly tap into his powers. The FX show’s first season takes place in an insane asylum; the final season rewinds to the 1960s Haight Ashbury, all the better to mount a psychedelic assault on your frontal lobe. In between, Hawley delivers thrills, chills, some oddball musical numbers and the highest per capita for Kubrick references in the medium’s history. Genius. DF
Netflix
13. ‘Black Mirror’ (2011-Present)
Judging science fiction by how much it gets right is a tricky business: Is 2001 any less great because we’re not flying Pan Am space shuttles to the moon? But this stellar British anthology series — seven episodes so far, with more coming to Netflix — is positively eerie in how accurately it diagnoses the potential perils of technology. Maybe we won’t one day be able to download images from our brains like recordings from a DVR, or block people in person the way we do on social media. But the show’s extrapolations feel logical, even inevitable: It’s less a matter of if they’ll happen, but when. SA
Watch Black Mirror on Netflix here
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12. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (1997-2003)
Resurrecting his horror-meets-high-school movie as a TV show, Joss Whedon took full advantage of the serial medium, turning the silly-seeming premise of a ditz with supernatural powers into an expansive, witty, emotional, and creatively adventurous seven seasons. In addition to the humor and teen-angst-with-fangs drama, you could always find numerous sci-fi aspects popping up: an Internet-connected demon, a Frankenstein’s monster of a cyborg, an evil-dad android — even a Buffybot. And like a lot of genre-based shows on this list, it kept circling back to a lot of the same big-picture issues: Specifically, what does it mean to be humanity’s guardian? And what makes us worth saving, anyway? ST
Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Amazon Prime here
Netflix
11. ‘Stranger Things’ (2016-Present)
Take a little bit of vintage Spielberg, a whole lot of Stephen King, wrap it all up in a lot of Reagan-era period design and set the delirium knob to 11. Boom, you’ve got Matt and Ross Duffer’s insanely popular Netflix show, which re-introduced several generations to the joys of ’80s genre nostalgia. There’s a lot of horror in the mix — see the Demogorgon, and that Lovecraftian monstrosity that shows up in Season 3. But the series’ science-fiction elements are just as crucial to the show’s throwback D.N.A., with its portals to otherwordly dimensions, psychic experiments run amuck and nods to numerous S.F. pop-culture totems of the past. And you could not ask for a better heroine than Eleven, Millie Bobbie Brown’s telekinetic teen who gradually becomes a force to be reckoned with. See you in the Upside Down. DF
Watch Stranger Things on Netflix here
Mutant Enemy/20th Century Fox Tv
10. ‘Firefly’ (2002-2003)
Combining the space adventure with the Western was always going to test the limits of primetime television, but Joss Whedon’s one-season wonder was doomed from the start thanks to network indifference. Still, the show’s diehard fans (who’d eventually call themselves “Browncoats”) helped make this ambitious series about a band of rebels fighting both a galaxy-wide government and cannibalistic “reavers” a posthumous cult hit; Whedon would eventually continue its story on the big-screen with the 2005 movie Serenity. At its best , Firefly felt like the essence of Han Solo distilled into 14 episodes. ST
Mark Hill/HBO
9. ‘Watchmen’ (2019)
The idea of adapting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ era-defining, genre-exploding superhero comic into a TV series seemed like a no-win situation; when Lost/ Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof was first approached by HBO with an offer to take a crack at it, he unequivocally passed. Then he hit upon the idea of using that particular universe to explore our country’s conflicted history with race, and the resulting limited series expands upon those original 12 issues in the most moving, smart, savvy way possible. Set three decades after the book’s events, the show imagines a future in which Rorschach’s writings have inspired a white-supremacist movement, Robert Redford’s the President and the cops are now the ones wearing masks. It’s Regina King’s Sister Knight — and her connection to not one but two reimagined iconic characters — that provides this Watchmen with its emotional center. Lindelof designed this as a one-off, but as a very wise and very blue man once said, “Nothing ever ends.” DF
John P. Johnson/HBO
8. ‘Westworld’ (2016-2022)
What is the Maze? Where is the Valley Beyond? Who is human, and who is secretly an android host? Welcome to Westworld, where the tech may turn against you at any moment. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s futuristic HBO show (based on Michael Crichton’s classic 1973 film) raises many cryptic questions in its depiction of an amusement park where visitors can play cowboy with — or against — the robotic staff. (It definitely puts the A.I. in “paranoia.”) But as mindbending as the material can get, the show’s strength is, appropriately, its Homo sapien cast: A suite of powerful performances by actors including Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ed Harris, Zahn McClarnon ( that Aketcheta stand-alone episode!), and Thandie Newton convey the existential hosts v. humans’ plight in terms it doesn’t take a subreddit to unravel. STC
Watch Westworld on HBO Max here
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7. ‘The X-Files’ (1993-2016)
Like its shape-shifting alien bounty hunters, Chris Carter’s pop-paranoia series could be a different show every week. David Duchovny’s true-believing Mulder and Gillian Anderson’s skeptical Scully might be hot on the trail of a government conspiracy, then track down a supernatural mystery or stumble straight into a horror movie. Its mutability gave writers and directors a chance to develop their own distinctive styles — you knew that if Kim Manners showed up in the credits you were in for a treat — and its visual sophistication paved the way for bringing cinematic values to the small screen. But the consistent way it treated paranormal phenomenon gave The X-Files some serious sci-fi bona fides regardless of the route it took. It made you want to believe. SA
Watch The X-Files on Hulu here
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6. ‘The Prisoner’ (1967-1968)
When mercurial writer-actor-director Patrick McGoohan parlayed his experience playing a secret agent on the British show Danger Man to create an espionage thriller of his own, he unexpectedly created the prestige drama 30 years ahead of its time. The Prisoner is a frightening, funny, philosophical, absolutely mesmerizing allegory in which McGoohan’s nameless title character, a retired spy dubbed Number Six by his mysterious captors, is imprisoned in a bizarre place called the Village. While crafting an escape plan, he’s subjected to psychological experiments designed to break him by a series of interchangeable superiors all named Number Two. It’s one of the mot visually striking and bracingly bleak shows ever; everything from Lost and Twin Peaks to The Americans owe it a debt. STC
Watch The Prisoner on Amazon Prime here
Disney+
5. ‘The Mandalorian’ (2019-Present)
You had us at “Baby Yoda.” Jon Favreau’s Star Wars spinoff series has become the stuff of memes, thanks to its inclusion of the almost painfully adorable critter who gives the nameless bounty-hunter character ( Game of Thrones badass Pedro Pascal) a chance to have Lone Wolf and Cub–style adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Plus you get plenty of bantering stormtroopers, killer droids and card-carrying members of Mos Eisley’s hive of scum and villainy engaging in various side adventures. At a time when the film franchise seems to be faltering, this Disney+ launch show delivers the popcorn-worthy goods, with fantastic actors from Giancarlo Esposito to Werner Herzog (!) coming along for the X-wing ride. STC
Watch The Mandalorian on Disney+ here
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4. ‘Doctor Who’ (1963-Present)
Longevity is the name of the game for this 52-year-old BBC series, which at this point is as hallowed a British institution as the monarchy. Despite decades of lore, the premise is winningly simple: A charming alien travels through time and space in a dinged-up blue box, doing his level best to save the day. He picks up traveling companions along the way, and every so often he regenerates into a brand-new body. Everyone has “their” Doctor, depending on when they first picked up the show (there’ve been 13 so far; currently it’s Jodie Whittaker, the first female incarnation of the good doc). Doctor Who slides giddily between silliness and profundity without ever losing momentum or heart. Like the TARDIS, it’s bigger on the inside; there’s space for all of it. JS
Watch Doctor Who on HBO Max here
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3. ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (2004-2009)
You can’t throw a remote without hitting one of TV’s infinite reboots, but none has done it better than new, vastly improved BSG. Working from the original idea of humanity’s last remnants seeking out a new home, (re-)creator Ronald D. Moore explored how societies are born and how they almost die, the temptations toward religious zealotry and fascism, and whether the human race was really worth saving at all. Its notorious finale polarized even diehard fans — but its turn toward mysticism was always part of the show’s abiding interest in the power of faith, and even that sting has faded over time, leaving it as one of the genre’s greatest accomplishments. So say we all. SA
Watch Battlestar Galactica on Peacock here
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2. ‘The Twilight Zone’ (1959-1964)
When Rod Serling got tired of TV networks watering down the social commentary in his scripts, he had a bright idea: to couch his politics in science-fiction scenarios. (Something Jordan Peele’s stellar 2019 update has managed to keep intact.) That was the original hook for The Twilight Zone, yet the reason this particular anthology series outshines all others is not because of the metaphor-heavy moralizing in its tales of “ugly” plastic-surgery patients, living dolls and tyrannical teens who can make adults disappear. Rather, its the way the spooky premises tapped into primal fears — hey, what’s that out on that plane wing?! — and how Serling’s cynical take on human nature manifested in memorably ironic twists: Take care of your eyeglasses after the apocalypse, kids, and beware of alien cookbooks. And what makes this show really creepy is how it suggests that ordinary American homes and workplaces can suddenly transform into something straight out of our collective nightmares. The monsters are due on Maple Street — and they are us. NM
Watch The Twilight Zone on Netflix here
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1. ‘Star Trek’ (1966-1969)
Nearly every word of its opening monologue entered the popular parlance. Nearly every nuance of its actor’s performances became (in)famous. Nearly every science-fiction series to come afterwards owes it a huge debt, up to and including the oh-so-similarly titled Star Wars. Yes, Gene Roddenberry’s groundbreaking show is the sun around which the entire SF genre orbits. Its yin-and-yang leads, hotheaded Captain James T. Kirk and coolly logical science officer Mr. Spock, rightfully made actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy icons. Its aliens and enemies — Tribbles and Klingons and Khan, oh my! — remain indelibly entertaining. And its muscular, humane cold-war liberalism still holds up, as does its New Frontier zeal for exploration and optimism. May the Starship Enterprise never stop boldly going into the hearts and minds of the sci-fi faithful. STC