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Published May 17, 2026, 5:30 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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Sci-fi TV has produced some of the most ambitious shows in television history, but only a select group can truly be considered perfect. While sci-fi shows all have different goals, their storytelling often follows similar patterns and sifts through similar themes. Looking at the best of the best when it comes to sci-fi, it's clear that while solid storytelling is important, there's far more to their ability to work than introducing futuristic worlds, expanding technology, or speculating on what's out in the far reaches of the galaxy. The best sci-fi shows use emotionally complex characters to tell interesting, innovative narratives.
Over the past several decades, sci-fi TV has evolved from a niche style of programming for viewers who seemed a little out of the ordinary to one of the industry's most creatively respected genres. This shift has been a net positive, bringing more support for sci-fi on screen with viewers getting the chance to see more of the stories they love on various networks and streaming services. Despite differences in tone, scale, and narrative choice, the best sci-fi shows share a level of consistency that makes it difficult to imagine the genre without them. Impactful, each series has a legacy.
10 Star Trek: The Next Generation
Set nearly a century after the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. The series, banking on the fact that Star Trek fans would be interested in a new franchise story, was able to find an audience far and beyond its imagination. As one of the defining sci-fi shows of the genre, Star Trek: The Next Generation re-established the franchise with a whole new crew, telling ambitious character driven stories for a new audience. An ambitious, thoughtful series, Star Trek: TNG is essential sci-fi viewing.
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
9 Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica, another series that feels like required viewing for the foundation of what modern sci-fi looks like, follows the events of a surviving fleet after humanity is nearly wiped out. One of TV's most politically and emotionally layered sci-fi shows, Battlestar Galactica was able to explore intense themes through its episodic stories, while weaving character driven plots through each of its seasons. Known for its performances from Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica as a series was able to take blockbuster movie style tension and weaves it with challenging thematic storytelling to build a phenomenal narrative overall.
Release Date 2004 - 2009-00-00
Showrunner Ronald D. Moore
Directors Wayne Rose, Michael Nankin, Rod Hardy, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Edward James Olmos, Robert M. Young, Jeff Woolnough, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Jonas Pate, Allan Kroeker, Anthony Hemingway, Jean de Segonzac, Marita Grabiak, James Head, Paul A. Edwards, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Brad Turner, Ronald D. Moore, Bill Eagles
Writers Carla Robinson, Michael Taylor, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Jane Espenson, Mark Verheiden, Michael Angeli, Anne Cofell Saunders, Jeff Vlaming, Michael Rymer, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin, Seamus Kevin Fahey
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Edward James Olmos
William Adama
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Mary McDonnell
Laura Roslin
8 Doctor Who
As one of the most popular British contributions to the sci-fi genre, Doctor Who has been around since the 1960s, but had a resurgence in the mid 2000s. Following the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in the TARDIS to help civilizations through history, the series takes a fascinating approach by changing its casts consistently. With different actors playing the Doctor throughout the series' lifespan, Doctor Who is always rife for reinvention, and is able to shift through genres with a similar sense of ease. Doctor Who easily combines imaginative concepts and profound emotional stories.
Release Date 2005 - 2021-00-00
Directors Graeme Harper, Euros Lyn, Douglas Mackinnon, Jamie Magnus Stone, Charles Palmer, Rachel Talalay, Joe Ahearne, James Strong, Jamie Childs, Saul Metzstein, Toby Haynes, Wayne Che Yip, Nick Hurran, Richard Clark, James Hawes, Daniel Nettheim, Colin Teague, Keith Boak, Azhur Saleem, Adam Smith, Andrew Gunn, Nida Manzoor, Lawrence Gough, Paul Murphy
Writers Steven Moffat, Russell T. Davies
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Jodie Whittaker
The Doctor
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7 Lost
As one of the most popular network TV sci-fi dramas of all time, Lost changed the game when it came to how sci-fi could look from a network perspective. Following the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 they try to piece together what happened to them and what comes next, Lost was able to influence the sci-fi genre as a whole to push its boundaries. Creating a fascinating, constantly unraveling mystery, Lost delved into tropes that had been long dormant, pulling strings on more of a supernatural fantasy side of its story as it continued to make history throughout its run.
Release Date 2004 - 2010-00-00
Showrunner Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
Writers Jim Galasso, Christina M. Kim, Graham Roland, Kyle Pennington, Brent Fletcher, Dawn Lambertsen Kelly, Janet Tamaro, Jeffrey Lieber, Paul Dini, Jordan Rosenberg
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Matthew Fox
Jack Shephard
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Evangeline Lilly
Kate Austen
6 The Expanse
Based on a series of novels by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse was a series that split between Syfy and Prime Video throughout its six-season run. Widely respected because of its realism, The Expanse leans into intergalactic politics and watches as its interconnected characters discover a conspiracy surrounding alien technology that can reshape civilization as they know it. The series doesn't rely on fantasy elements to shape its story, instead leaning on believable political systems between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. A series that is more about geopolitical tension than anything else, The Expanse is an epic, large-scale sci-fi series.
Release Date 2015 - 2022-00-00
Showrunner Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Directors Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, David Grossman, Kenneth Fink, Rob Lieberman, Terry McDonough, Thor Freudenthal, Bill Johnson, David Petrarca, Jennifer Phang, Mikael Salomon, Sarah Harding, Marisol Adler, Anya Adams, Nick Gomez, Simon Cellan Jones
Writers Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Hallie Lambert, Matthew Rasmussen, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Daniel Abraham, Dan Nowak
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Dominique Tipper
Naomi Nagata
5 Dark
Netflix's Dark is a fascinating German series that dips into the idea of time travel, building an inter-generational story with extensive sci-fi elements. Focusing on the disappearance of children in the German town of Winden, Dark begins as one thing and shifts into an entire other beast as it moves through its story. Demanding a sense of close attention from its viewers, Dark is a highly detailed, rich series that makes it clear that it knows where it's going from the start. An achievement in complex sci-fi storytelling, Dark was visually ambitious, well performed, and deeply intense throughout its run.
Release Date 2017 - 2020
Network Netflix
Showrunner Jantje Friese
Directors Baran bo Odar
Writers Marc O. Seng, Martin Behnke, Ronny Schalk
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Louis Hofmann
Jonas Kahnwald
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Lisa Vicari
Martha Nielsen
4 The X-Files
One of the most popular sci-fi shows of the 90s, The X-Files is a procedural that became a sci-fi phenomenon. Throughout the show's run, the relationship between Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) became the pulse of the series as the agents explored paranormal activity, government conspiracies, and alien encounters. The X-Files, which returned for a short-lived reboot in 2018, the series was able to vary its tone from week to week, but kept its conspiratorial darkness throughout the series' run. The X-Files opened up opportunities for sci-fi TV everywhere, and changed the network TV system entirely.
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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3 Andor
One of the most masterful sci-fi shows in recent memory, Andor is a Star Wars prequel that has taken on a life of its own as it's moved through its story. Exploring the early stages of rebellion against the Galactic Empire, Andor focuses on Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) before the events of Rogue One. While other Star Wars projects have a heavy sense of nostalgia baked in, Andor feels fresh and new, which allows it to be a story of its very own. Looking at deep themes like government surveillance, radicalization, and systemic oppression, Andor is an excitingly emotional series.
Release Date 2022 - 2025-00-00
Network Disney+
Showrunner Tony Gilroy
Directors Susanna White
Writers Dan Gilroy
2 Babylon 5
A sci-fi series that redefined what a space opera could be, Babylon 5 was a series that ran throughout the 90s. Utilizing long-form storytelling in a whole new way, the sci-fi series was able to take on a serialized style in ways that other sci-fi series couldn't crack. While there were episodic elements to Babylon 5, its serialized work was able to pave the way for sci-fi shows throughout the rest of the decade and beyond. Babylon 5's ambitious style helped to reshape the way that the genre appears today, as its influence is still rife in current sci-fi media.
Release Date 1993 - 1998-00-00
Showrunner J. Michael Straczynski
Writers J. Michael Straczynski
1 Firefly
Although Firefly only lasted one season, the series has lived a life well beyond its original episode order. Following the crew of the spaceship Serenity, Firefly stars Nathan Fillion as Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, the leader of Serenity's interestingly hodge podged crew. Bringing a different sense to the idea of an ensemble, Firefly saw its characters in clearly defined roles and pushed them to work together in fun, fresh ways. With high emotional stakes and an interesting through line, Firefly had the potential to become a classic, and has continued to find success in different ways through the last two decades.
Release Date 2002 - 2003-00-00
Network FOX
Directors Allan Kroeker, David Solomon, James A. Contner, Marita Grabiak, Michael Grossman, Tim Minear, Vern Gillum
Writers Cheryl Cain, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jane Espenson
English (US) ·