7 Sci-Fi TV Shows That Are 10/10 but Nobody Remembers Today

7 hours ago 10

Published Apr 4, 2026, 8:35 PM EDT

Sci-fi is a super popular genre, and has remained popular for decades and decades. This is because speculative fiction, especially when it comes to imagining the future of humanity, is a very entertaining prospect for many viewers. But with all the sci-fi TV shows that have come out over the years, not every single one is going to get their chance in the spotlight.

Indeed, many science fiction TV shows have been completely lost in the sands of time, even with on-demand viewing and streaming services making these shows more accessible. This is honestly kind of a tragedy, because many of these shows are absolutely excellent, and deserve more attention. These sci-fi TV shows are nearly perfect, but they have been completely or almost forgotten.

'Rocket Robin Hood' (1966–1969)

Poster for the '60s sci-fi animated series 'Rocket Robin Hood'

Rocket Robin Hood is a series that you probably missed out on if you weren't living in Canada, as that was where it was primarily broadcast. It was animated in a style similar to a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and was later broadcast on the Teletoon Retro block in the 2000s. This series took a classic and timeless tale and reinvented it, which made it so much more exciting.

Basically, this series is about Robin Hood (Len Birman) and the mythos surrounding him, only this time, it takes place on Earth in the year 3000. Sherwood Forest is not a forest at all, but actually, an asteroid, with many creatures and locations from the myth appearing as planets or aliens. It was a really imaginative and inventive series, not to mention one that was pretty popular for its time. Unfortunately, its name is seldom spoken anymore. Even though it was geared towards kids, its creative premise provides an exciting experience for adults, too.

'Voyagers!' (1982–1983)

Voyagers! was a really fun action-adventure series with a promising premise. The story revolved around a society of time travelers called the Voyagers. The society is dedicated to traveling back in time whenever something in history unfolds incorrectly, with the Voyagers aiming to ensure everything works out the way it is supposed to, preventing the modern world from being altered too drastically.

Because the show is about time travel, almost every episode featured a brand new historical period or event, ranging from ancient civilizations in Egypt and Greece to major wars like the American Revolution. In just 20 episodes, Voyagers! takes the viewers right along with the time travelers, depicting some of the most amazing eras in history in vivid detail. It even covers some more obscure parts of history, like the Spanish-American war of 1898. It's absolutely awesome, perfect for both sci-fi freaks and history geeks with its boundless adventure.

'Earth 2' (1994–1995)

Clancy Brown and J. Madison Wright in Earth 2

Earth 2 was way ahead of its time, centering on post-apocalyptic themes long before the late 2000s and 2010s made the genre super popular. Earth 2 is set in the year 2192, a bleak time when Earth is entirely uninhabitable. The remnants of humanity have long since fled to space stations orbiting their home planet, with the planet's surface only having a few scattered groups of human survivors. The series opens with a man whose son comes down with a rare condition that is becoming prevalent among the youth on the space station. Doctors believe it to be caused by the lack of an Earth-like environment. Unfortunately, the disease is always fatal, with those afflicted never living to the age of 10.

Desperate to save his son, the father leads a group of other parents in a similar predicament to an Earth-like planet 22 lightyears away, in an effort to colonize it. However, the current Earth government does not approve of this, and intends to stop them. With only one season and 21 episodes, this show managed to really pack a punch with its storytelling. It's unique, interesting, and heartbreaking all at once. Unfortunately, it suffered poor ratings despite an Emmy nomination, and was abruptly cancelled. Despite this, it is an underrated gem that is desperate to be rediscovered.

'Quartermass and the Pit' (1958–1959)

Andre Morell next to a large insect in 'Quartermass and the Pit'

Quartermass and the Pit is the third miniseries in the Quartermass collection, a trilogy of TV shows made by the BBC. Though, this third one outdoes the other two by a mile. The series once again features Professor Quartermass, this time played by André Morell. Previously, the actors had changed for every series, meaning this was Morell's first time in the role. The six-part TV serial follows the Professor as he finds a peculiar device in an archaeological dig site. Weirder still, it's found at a dig site with the remains of primitive humans from millions of years ago. Intrigued, Quartermass begins to search for the origin of the device.

This series was actually rebooted less than 10 years later, in the form of a 1967 movie. The movie had the same title in the UK, but was called Five Million Years to Earth in the US. In any event, the original TV series reigns supreme, and immediately hooks the viewer's interest with its plotline and memorable characters. Yet, it's been almost 70 years, and it would seem that this show would not make the history books, as very few people remember its existence today.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

🚀Star Wars

TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.

APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

NEXT QUESTION →

What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.

AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.

ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.

AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.

AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of.

AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.

NEXT QUESTION →

What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.

AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.

REVEAL MY WORLD →

Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things.

You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door.

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you.

You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

Blade Runner

You'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either.
In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything.

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it.

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way.

You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'The Outer Limits' (1963–1965)

The Outer Limits is a series that might have been doomed from the start. It's an anthology series, which meant it was constantly living in the shadow of The Twilight Zone, one of the most popular TV shows at the time. While the latter is widely remembered today, The Outer Limits is rarely spoken about anymore. The series had a much narrower scope than The Twilight Zone. Whereas The Twilight Zone covered a wide variety of concepts and genres, The Outer Limits was almost exclusively about aliens and science fiction.

Today, while The Outer Limits is considered a cult classic, it never outgrew its comparisons to other popular series of the time, and it eventually passed into obscurity. There was even an attempted reboot in the '90s, but this didn't go over very well. Ultimately, this is an absolute masterpiece about aliens, and it was way ahead of TV trends. It even used the "monster of the week" format that became super popular in the late '90s and 2000s. The problem is, it came out at a bad time, and wasn't ever able to cement itself in the history books as well as it could've.

'Thunderbirds' (1965–1966)

Thunderbirds is another all-time classic that was well-renowned for years. Unfortunately, it's rarely, if ever talked about anymore. The British television series focused on a group of international pilots, who flew specialized aircraft to stop villains and rescue those in need. The aircraft ranged from unique hovering planes to attack and rescue helicopters, and even to spacecraft. It was action-packed and adventurous, as well as fun for the whole family. Thunderbirds also bolstered a unique cast of characters in the form of its team of heroes.

Unfortunately, a 2000s live-action movie likely contributed to its downfall. This movie was truly abysmal with some of the worst CGI ever created by a major studio, and is barely remembered by anybody who saw it. By association, the same thing happened to the show. To be fair, the show does feel a bit dated. The stop-motion animation combined with the marionettes and puppets give a kind of uncanny valley feel to the series, which is off-putting to a lot of people. This is understandable. However, it doesn't change the fact that this once-great television series is only whispered about now, and is unlikely to see a comeback anytime soon.

'Farscape' (1999–2003)

Virginia Hey as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan talks to Dominar Rygel XVI, voiced by Jonathan Hardy, in Farscape

Farscape really had something special going on, yet it's another one of those forgotten cult classics that barely anybody remembers. The show had a massive ensemble cast, and told the story of a human astronaut who accidentally gets caught in a wormhole which spits him out in the far corners of the universe, far from home. There, he joins up with the Peacekeepers, a group of convicts and government escapees from diverse alien planets aboard a living biomechanical spaceship.

Puppetry and production was handled by none other than the Jim Henson Company, who used the series as one of their odd, but creative passion projects. Sadly, these projects rarely get the attention they deserve. Farscape lasted four seasons and 88 episodes, and was very well-received. Yet, just two and a half decades later, most people haven't seen it, don't remember it, or don't talk about it at all. This is a shabby treatment that the series definitely did not deserve.