10 Epic Sci-Fi Shows That Deserved More Seasons

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Anthony Hopkins as Robert Ford in Westworld

Published May 21, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots.

The sci-fi genre has been a staple of fictional storytelling for over 200 years. So when television became mainstream with the public, it didn’t take long for sci-fi programming to start being made. Now there’s a sizable lineup of the best sci-fi TV shows, but not all of them have been given equal opportunity to shine.

Some of these series had long, impressive runs, like The X-Files and Stargate SG-1. Others, although they didn’t receive as many seasons, at least were given enough time to tell compelling stories and end without any major loose ends or cliffhangers, like Battlestar Galactica and 12 Monkeys.

Signal Received · Deep Space Broadcast The Ultimate Sci-Fi TV Trivia Quiz “The truth is out there.”

🚀Deep
SpaceFinal frontiers

⌛Time
TravelWibbly wobbly

👽AliensWe are not alone

👁DystopiaThe black mirror

💡Upside
DownHawkins, 1983

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The most famous opening monologue in TV sci-fi begins: “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the ___.” Complete the line from the original 1966 Star Trek series.

AUSS Voyager BUSS Defiant CStarship Enterprise DUSS Discovery

✓ Engage! William Shatner’s iconic opening — “Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” — has become one of the most quoted passages in all television. Later Trek series would adapt it, but the Enterprise is the one that started it all.

✗ Subspace interference! The answer is Starship Enterprise. USS Voyager belongs to the 1995–2001 series, the Defiant to Deep Space Nine, and the Discovery to the modern 2017 series. It’s the original Enterprise, captained by James T. Kirk, that William Shatner immortalized in that final-frontier monologue.

The Doctor’s time machine is disguised as a 1960s British police box and is famously bigger on the inside than the outside. What is the acronym it’s known by?

ATRACIS BTARDIS CTRADIS DTANDIS

✓ Allons-y! TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The name was coined by the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan in the very first 1963 episode. The police-box shape is the result of its chameleon circuit getting stuck while parked in 1963 London — and it’s stayed that way for sixty-plus years.

✗ Chronal distortion! The answer is TARDIS — Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The other options are invented distractors. The TARDIS first appeared in 1963 and has followed every regeneration of the Doctor since, though its interior famously redesigns itself whenever the showrunners want a fresh look.

The acclaimed 2004 Battlestar Galactica reboot — considered one of the greatest sci-fi TV shows ever made — was developed by which writer-producer, a veteran of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine?

ARonald D. Moore BJ. Michael Straczynski CDavid Eick DGlen A. Larson

✓ So say we all! Ronald D. Moore developed the modern Battlestar Galactica, reimagining Glen A. Larson’s 1978 original as a gritty, post-9/11 political allegory. Moore had cut his teeth writing many of TNG and DS9’s best episodes. His BSG aired 2004–2009 and tackled terrorism, torture, faith, and what it means to be human.

✗ Frak! The answer is Ronald D. Moore. J. Michael Straczynski created Babylon 5, David Eick was Moore’s co-executive-producer on BSG, and Glen A. Larson created the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica. Moore took Larson’s cheesy space opera and rebuilt it into a Peabody Award-winning meditation on war and morality.

Netflix’s ’80s-drenched sci-fi hit Stranger Things is set in a small American town sitting above a secret government lab that tore a hole into the “Upside Down.” What is the town called?

ADerry, Maine BCastle Rock, Oregon CHawkins, Indiana DSpringwood, Ohio

✓ Friends don’t lie! Hawkins, Indiana is the fictional town the Duffer Brothers invented for Stranger Things — home to Hawkins National Laboratory, where Dr. Brenner’s MKUltra-style experiments opened a rift into the Upside Down. The show is actually filmed in Jackson, Georgia, but the Hawkins sign is now an iconic TV landmark.

✗ The Upside Down! The answer is Hawkins, Indiana. Derry is Stephen King’s fictional town from IT, Castle Rock is another King town (and an anthology series), and Springwood is from A Nightmare on Elm Street. The Duffer Brothers deliberately evoked King’s small-town horror tradition when creating Hawkins.

In The X-Files, Fox Mulder has a famous poster hanging in his FBI basement office — a UFO photograph with a three-word tagline beneath it. What does the tagline say?

A“Trust No One” B“The Truth Is Out There” C“Deny Everything” D“I Want To Believe”

✓ The truth is out there! “I Want To Believe” sits below a blurry UFO photo on the poster that hangs in Mulder’s basement office throughout the series. The line became so associated with the show that it was used as the title of the 2008 feature film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

✗ File that one away! The answer is “I Want To Believe.” “Trust No One,” “Deny Everything,” and “The Truth Is Out There” are all iconic X-Files taglines — but it’s “I Want To Believe” that’s literally printed on the UFO poster in Mulder’s office, and which became the title of the franchise’s 2008 movie.

Apple TV+’s Severance — about office workers whose memories are surgically divided between their work and personal lives — was created by a first-time showrunner who used to be a customer service rep. Who is he?

ADamon Lindelof BDan Erickson CBen Stiller DJonathan Nolan

✓ Praise Kier! Dan Erickson wrote the Severance pilot while working soul-crushing office jobs — literally daydreaming about splitting his mind so the “work-him” would suffer instead. Ben Stiller came on as executive producer and directed most episodes, but Erickson is the creator whose personal ennui gave us Lumon Industries.

✗ Outie interference! The answer is Dan Erickson. Damon Lindelof created Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen; Ben Stiller is Severance’s executive producer and primary director (but not its creator); Jonathan Nolan created Westworld and Person of Interest. Erickson’s script sat on the Black List for years before Stiller championed it.

In 2018, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror released a groundbreaking feature-length episode that let viewers make choose-your-own-adventure style decisions for the protagonist. What was it called?

ABandersnatch BUSS Callister CSan Junipero DMetalhead

✓ Interactive transmission received! Bandersnatch followed young programmer Stefan as he adapted a choose-your-own-adventure novel in 1984. Viewers could make choices at key moments, branching the story into multiple endings. It was Netflix’s most ambitious interactive experiment — and the meta commentary on viewer control remains quintessential Black Mirror.

✗ Null pointer! The answer is Bandersnatch. USS Callister is the Emmy-winning Star Trek riff, San Junipero is the beloved ’80s romance episode, and Metalhead is the black-and-white robot-dog thriller. All are Black Mirror, but only Bandersnatch was the interactive choose-your-own-adventure special that launched in December 2018.

Joss Whedon’s space-western Firefly became a legendary cult classic after Fox infamously cancelled it — airing episodes out of order, burying the pilot, and pulling the plug. How many episodes aired on Fox before cancellation?

A8 B11 C13 D22

✓ Shiny! Only 11 of the 14 produced Firefly episodes aired on Fox in late 2002 before the network pulled the plug. The remaining three (including the two-hour pilot “Serenity”) first aired in proper order on the Sci-Fi Channel and eventually on DVD. Fan outcry led to the 2005 film Serenity — a rare cinematic rescue for a cancelled series.

✗ Fox strikes again! The answer is 11. Fourteen episodes were actually filmed, but Fox only aired 11 before cancellation, and they aired them out of order with the pilot held until last. The complete set finally aired on Sci-Fi Channel and DVD, and the fan-driven “Browncoats” campaign eventually convinced Universal to greenlight Serenity.

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Transmission Complete · Signal Decoded Your Sci-Fi Rating

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Trekkie-level canon — or still buffering?

⤴ RETRANSMIT

Then there are epic sci-fi shows that, despite earning positive critical reception, weren’t given enough seasons. Whether that was due to simple cancelation or other circumstances, these are the shows that deserved more time to grow their audiences and close their narratives on more positive and memorable notes.

Caprica

This criminally underseen cyberpunk thriller series turned the clock back in the Battlestar Galactica revival universe to explore how the Cylons of the 12 Colonies of Kobol were created. Like its predecessor, Caprica earned positive critical reception, but Syfy canceled the show after just one season. It’s a shame considering that the final set up some intriguing plot threads for a second season to delve into, and it even originally ended with a 'To be continued' tag.

That included Zoe Graystone being downloaded into a “skin job” body, and an adolescent William Adama (named after his deceased brother) being introduced. With more seasons, Caprica could have effectively presented the Cylons rebelling against humanity, leading to the First Cylon War, which was depicted in the Battlestar Galactica: Razor flashbacks and the web series Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome.

Star Trek: Enterprise

With 98 episodes across four seasons, Star Trek: Enterprise lasted longer than most TV shows do. However, the prequel that followed the voyages of the Enterprise NX-01 crew 100 years before the events of The Original Series did not end on a good note. Far from it, as the Enterprise series finale earned predominantly negative critical reception.

“These Are The Voyages…” criticism ranged from how Trip Tucker’s death was handled to The Next Generation’s William Riker and Deanna Troi drawing attention away from the main characters. Enterprise deserved a better ending, which is why it would have been wiser to keep the show going for at least one more season. That way, the show’s writers would have been able to craft a more befitting ending for these characters.

Firefly

It’s hard not to think about short-lived sci-fi shows without Firefly coming to mind. Fox famously canceled it after 11 of the produced 14 episodes aired. The fan outcry over this decision, as well as the impressive DVD sales for the complete series, resulted in 2005’s Serenity being made to wrap up loose ends. There’s also an animated Firefly TV series in development.

Yet, in an ideal world, Firefly in its original form would have had a run comparable to what fellow Fox hits like 24 and House received. This show built a passionate fanbase in such a short time, so if it had continued for multiple seasons, it likely would be more recognizable to the public all these years later. While it’s good that the Firefly brand has stayed strong, it could have been even stronger had the original show been given more time to draw in viewers.

Sliders

Sliders had a harder time staying on the air than most shows. After three seasons on Fox, the series that followed a group of protagonists who “slide” (i.e. travel) to parallel universes was canceled. Usually, that would be the end of the story, but the then-Sci-Fi Channel picked up the underrated Sliders for two more seasons. The tradeoff was that this extension resulted in one of the most frustrating cliffhanger endings for a sci-fi series.

Fans were left without any resolution to Rembrandt injecting himself with that Kromaggs-killing virus, then jumping through a portal to Earth Prime. Even with all its casting change-ups and behind-the-scenes troubles, Sliders deserved more than this abrupt ending. Even if a sixth season contained fewer episodes, at least there would have been a little extra time to wrap up this multiverse-spanning saga.

Quantum Leap (Original)

1989 Quantum Leap series, starring Scott Bakula

Before he played Captain Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, Scott Bakula entertained sci-fi enthusiasts as Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap. For five seasons, Sam “leaped” into numerous people’s bodies across various past time periods. Each trip was meant to bring Sam one step closer to returning home, yet Quantum Leap’s final episode ended with a title card saying this never happened.

The show’s unique format meant it could have easily kept going for more seasons. At the very least, though, NBC should have ordered a sixth season so that Sam would have received his happy ending. Then there wouldn’t have been a need for the Quantum Leap revival, which admirably attempted to continue its predecessor’s storyline without Bakula involved, but was canceled after just two seasons.

Westworld

Based on the same-named 1973 movie written and directed by Michael Crichton, HBO’s Westworld put a new spin on the core story of amusement parks boasting android “hosts” as the main attraction. This reboot received numerous accolades over its run, including nine Emmy wins out of 54 nominations.

Where To Watch Westworld (Now That It's No Longer Streaming On HBO Max)

HBO's Westworld, which was a massive hit for the network throughout its run, has disappeared from HBO Max just in time for an anticipated film reboot.

Despite the lavish praise, HBO ultimately canceled Westworld after four seasons, as well as removed it from HBO Max. This is yet another example of a show that ended before it came to a proper conclusion. Dolores was last seen recreating the original Westworld park inside the Sublime, and it would have been great to see how the final product turned out in the fifth season. Granted, Warner Bros. is currently developing a Westworld reboot in the form of a movie.

Humans

Humans, one of the top sci-fi shows of the last 20 years, followed the psychological, societal, and cultural impact of humanoid robots called “synths” introduced into everyday life. Exchanging bombastic action with quiet introspection, it was a cerebral treat that offered some of the deepest television exploration of artificial intelligence, the laws of robotics, and other sci-fi themes.

The show aired 24 episodes across three seasons, and for the most part, it delivered a fairly conclusive ending. However, it would have been better if the world of Humans had continued to be fleshed out. Television that’s equal parts entertaining and intelligent doesn’t come around often, and this series rests comfortably in that exclusive club. If only it had lasted longer.

Stargate Universe

Unlike Stargate SG-1 with its follow-up movies and Stargate Atlantis with its serviceable-enough series finale, Stargate Universe never received a proper conclusion. All of Destiny’s crew except for Eli were put into stasis in order to preserve the ship’s life support and supplies. Making matters worse, he only had two weeks left to fix the damaged stasis pod before life support died.

Looking past the cliffhanger ending, Stargate Universe was a breath of fresh air for the Stargate franchise, focusing on space travel over the titular portal technology. It’s a premise that could have easily lasted as long as Atlantis, if not SG-1. Without any proper resolution for these characters, hopefully, the new Stargate TV show in development will acknowledge what happened to them.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Lena Headey's Sarah Connor with concerned expression and holding a large futuristic-looking rifle

Though the Terminator movie series has had more misses than hits since 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the franchise has done remarkably well for itself on the TV front. Along with the Netflix anime series Terminator Zero, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles also earned positive critical reception during its two-season run.

Given how this franchise thrives on different timelines, The Sarah Connor Chronicles had nearly unlimited freedom to chart a new course for its versions of John and Sarah Connor. Had the series been able to run for more seasons, perhaps that would have helped make Terminator a more popular IP these days. It just needed more time to grow.

Counterpart

For two seasons, J.K. Simmons starred as two different versions of the lead character, Howard Silk, in Counterpart. The series was one of the most gripping explorations of parallel Earths, with one version of Howard being an unassuming office drone, and the other being a ruthless intelligence operative. It was fascinating to learn the various ways that the Alpha world, a.k.a. “our” Earth, differed from the Prime world.

Though attempts were made to set Counterpart up on a different channel after Starz canceled it, they were unsuccessful. It’s unfortunate, as Simmons excelled with his dual performances, and the mythology established was rich and layered. Had Counterpart returned for season 3 and potentially beyond, perhaps it would have collected more viewers and become one of the cable channel’s flagship shows.

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