MovieStillsDB
Published Apr 13, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT
Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.
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The '90s were a transformative time for sci-fi on television, and there were several shows that defined what the era looked like for the genre. While things have come a long way in the years since, the '90s brought a time of change for sci-fi, especially with the advent of specific technologies that helped create more compelling, realistic worlds on TV.
With better technology and more capabilities came the chance to tell bigger, more intensive stories that weren't limited by what could and couldn't be seen on screen. As technology got better and creatives learned how to use it to their advantage, TV shows were tasked with growing into their stories in new ways, and creating more of a stake in the game for their characters.
As the '90s continued, more character-driven sci-fi shows became popular, and some were even big enough to go mainstream. While sci-fi had long been a genre that felt like it was relegated to one group of people, the broadening of technology as a part of people's everyday lives made sci-fi more interesting as a concept, which gave new shows a bigger platform to find their footing.
Throughout the decade, sci-fi became a genre where taking creative risks could lead to a major payoff, and shows clearly chose to take the plunge rather than holding back. Bringing new methods to the table, new concepts to the genre, and developing new ideas as the decade went on, the 1990s wound up being a huge moment for sci-fi and what it would look like moving forward.
10 3rd Rock From The Sun
3rd Rock From The Sun may not seem like the ultimate sci-fi series, but a show that centers on a group of aliens sent to study human behavior finding its way in a crowded sitcom space was no easy feat. NBC's six-season series, led by John Lithgow and co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French Stewart, and Kristen Johnston, was able to bring a premise surrounding extra-terrestrials to life.
While the show began with the simple premise of an alien "family" coming to Earth to observe and study humans, it spun into an interesting combination of sitcom antics and commentary on human behavior. Though the sci-fi elements were somewhat limited, 3rd Rock From The Sun was only able to succeed because of a heightened interest in all things alien.
Release Date 1996 - 2001-00-00
9 Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 originally ran for 10 seasons, and in its time on the air, quickly became a cultural phenomenon. The series sees its host, in the '90s Joel Hodgson, trapped in space and forced to watch B-movies, riffing on them with a cast of robot companions and occasionally getting into sketches inspired by the films they were watching.
Redefining the way that audiences engaged with media, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was, at it's core, a sci-fi series. While the premise brought the landscape of B-Movies into perspective and the cultural conversation surrounding them wasn't necessarily sci-fi at every turn, the general premise of the show brought a sci-fi concept into the mainstream.
Release Date 1988 - 1999-00-00
Showrunner Joel Hodgson
Directors Joel Hodgson
Writers Joel Hodgson
8 The Outer Limits
A revival of the anthology series from the '60s, 1995's version of The Outer Limits was another look at an array of sci-fi stories through distinctive lenses. Mixing sci-fi premises with dark fantasy, horror, and mystery, the series was able to tell a mix of tales, sometimes based on outside source material.
Popular short stories by authors like George R. R. Martin and Stephen King were adapted for the series, bringing different layers to the storytelling. With a rotating cast, the show was able to shine a spotlight on a huge group of performers and tell stories from different angles, spanning universes and exploring all over the galaxy. The series, much like The Twilight Zone, reinvented itself week after week.
Release Date 1995 - 2002-00-00
7 Dexter's Laboratory
MovieStillsDBAn animated series that ran on Cartoon Network for 6 years, Dexter's Laboratory followed the titular Dexter as he ran experiments and concocted schemes in his hidden basement lab. Dexter, who was often thwarted in his plans by his tempestuous older sister Dee Dee, works to keep his lab a secret from his parents, but his experiments and inventions often struggle despite his hard work.
While Dexter's Laboratory tends to feel like more of a comedy than a deep-rooted sci-fi series, the show consistently leans into sci-fi tropes with Dexter's character. By having Dexter, a boy-genius, working in his lab and speaking plainly about his intentions and experiments, the series was able to bring a language rooted in sci-fi to the younger generation.
Release Date 1996 - 2003-00-00
Network Cartoon Network
Directors Genndy Tartakovsky
Writers Genndy Tartakovsky
Franchise(s) Dexter's Laboratory
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Kath Soucie
Dexter (voice)
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Jeff Bennett
Dee Dee (voice)
6 Star Trek: The Next Generation
A hit of the early '90s, Star Trek: The Next Generation followed the crew of the USS Enterprise-D as they explored space and encountered new civilizations along the way. While the series premiered in the late '80s, it was at its peak throughout the early 1990s, and redefined the way that Star Trek fit into the conversation of sci-fi throughout the decade.
Starring Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the series was able to translate to a wider audience with themes of diplomacy, ethics, and philosophical storytelling at play. Setting a standard for character-driven story, Star Trek: The Next Generation revitalized the franchise. The show's ensemble cast, which included Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton, continued to work together after the show through four films.
Release Date 1987 - 1994-00-00
Network Syndication
Showrunner Gene Roddenberry
Writers René Echevarria, Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Tracy Tormé, Hannah Louise Shearer, Stuart Charno, Ira Steven Behr, Sara B. Cooper, Peter Allan Fields, Herbert Wright, Frank Abatemarco, Burton Armus, Hilary Bader, Morgan Gendel, David Kemper, Michael I. Wagner, Philip LaZebnik, Robert McCullough, Susan Sackett, Nick Sagan, Fred Bronson, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Sam Rolfe
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Commander William T. Riker
5 Sliders
Sliders, which ran for five seasons throughout the mid-to-late '90s, was a series that capitalized on the concept of "what if?". Starring Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyed, Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies, the series followed a group of people who could travel between parallel universes through a wormhole, sliding between realities as they attempted to get back home.
The show's premise allowed for the core characters to be consistently put into different scenarios that changed their stakes, which meant the concept couldn't grow stale. Using an episodic structure and pulling at threads that allowed the series to explore societal and political themes, Sliders was able to use a high-concept sci-fi premise with a more mainstream audience.
Release Date 1995 - 2000-00-00
4 Babylon 5
Babylon 5, which ran for 5 seasons throughout the '90s, is one of the most groundbreaking sci-fi shows of the decade. The series follows a shifting ensemble on a space station, built in the aftermath of interspecies wars. The series used a more serialized style of storytelling, which allowed for deeper character development throughout the show's life and marked a shift for sci-fi as a whole.
While the show itself explored themes that many sci-fi shows of the era do, looking at politics and war through a lens of humanity, Babylon 5 is best known for the way it shifted the paradigm of science fiction on TV. The serialized, character-driven approach became the norm for the genre after the series' debut, and continues today.
Release Date 1993 - 1998-00-00
Showrunner J. Michael Straczynski
Writers J. Michael Straczynski
3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ran for 7 seasons throughout the '90s, becoming the second successful Star Trek series of the decade. Set on a space station near a strategic wormhole, the series followed an interspecies group living aboard the station. While there were storylines that were more episodic in nature throughout the show's run, it was a far more character-driven series than its predecessor.
Deep Space Nine was a darker, more serialized series in the Star Trek universe, one that featured interpersonal conflicts more frequently than other shows in the franchise. Starring Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko, the series featured a diverse ensemble who all felt interconnected in ways that other Star Trek content hadn't featured before.
Release Date 1993 - 1999-00-00
Showrunner Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr
Writers Rick Berman, Michael Piller
2 Stargate SG-1
Running for 10 seasons, Stargate SG-1 debuted in the late '90s, but made a huge impact on the way sci-fi TV was viewed. Following a military team traveling through a Stargate to explore planets and defend Earth, the series was able to blend episodic conflict and serialized storytelling for its characters.
With an expansive sense of mythology, Stargate SG-1 had an accessible premise that allowed viewers to jump in and immerse themselves in the story, which helped it find its footing with audiences. SG-1 also had a sense of humor that it knew how to utilize, which made it a game changer for sci-fi fans at the time.
Release Date 1997 - 2007-00-00
Showrunner Brad Wright
Directors Martin Wood, Andy Mikita, William Waring, Bill Gereghty, David Warry-Smith, Brad Turner, Mario Philip Azzopardi, William Gereghty, Peter F. Woeste, Dennis Berry, Ken Girotti, Charles Correll, Jonathan Glassner, Robert C. Cooper, Allan Eastman, Bill Corcoran, Jeff Woolnough, Jim Kaufman, Allan Lee, Amanda Tapping
Writers Dean Devlin, Damian Kindler, Katharyn Powers, Alan McCullough, Jeff King, Christopher Judge, Terry Curtis Fox, Martin Gero, Carl Binder, Hart Hanson, James Tichenor, Jarrad Paul, Tom J. Astle, Ben Browder, Corin Nemec, David Rich, Jacqueline Samuda, John Sanborn, Michael Shanks, Sam Egan, Alex Levine, James Taylor Phillips
Franchise(s) Stargate
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Amanda Tapping
Samantha Carter
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1 The X-Files
As one of the most popular sci-fi shows of all time, The X-Files' run throughout the '90s made it clear that science fiction was more mainstream than it had ever been before. Starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, the series was able to explore sci-fi themes and expand beyond them using a procedural style in its storytelling.
Becoming one of the most defining series of the decades, The X-Files tackled topics from conspiracy theories and UFOs to political authority, doing so with a monster-of-the-week format. The show's moody tone and the relationship between Mulder and Scully, which was one of the great will-they-won't-they romances of the decade, made The X-Files a must-watch.
Release Date 1993 - 2018-00-00
Network FOX
Showrunner Chris Carter
Directors Rob Bowman, David Nutter, R. W. Goodwin, Michael W. Watkins, Tony Wharmby, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, David Duchovny, Jim Charleston, James Wong, Peter Markle, Rod Hardy, Thomas J. Wright, William A. Graham, Jerrold Freedman, Joe Napolitano, Kevin Hooks, Larry Shaw, Richard Compton, Tucker Gates, Allen Coulter, Barry K. Thomas, Brett Dowler
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David Duchovny
Fox Mulder
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English (US) ·