The 12 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked

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Science fiction is a type of speculative fiction (other genres under this umbrella might include horror or fantasy) that depicts some kind of science and/or technology that is, however improbably, ultimately based on humanity's existing understanding of the universe's basic laws and scientific fact. Usually this takes the form of stories related to space or time travel, artificial intelligence, advanced weaponry, alien life, or any other mechanical or technological element. The most important defining aspect of true science fiction is its depiction of the relationship between humanity and technology.

Writers like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others have explored what it means to be alive alongside apex technology. Sci-fi stories present to audiences a universe where tech and science have advanced beyond contemporary standards and then tell a human story within that universe. Some sci-fi stories are campy and fun, while others are serious and prophetic, and that goes for sci-fi TV shows as well. In this list, we sought to include sci-fi series that represent a spectrum of tones and themes, with a particular focus on projects with strong fanbases. We also considered cultural relevance and critical response, but with a genre like sci-fi, fan devotion is an important indicator of quality and longevity, and was thus our driving criterion. 

Netflix's unconventional German series "Dark" is proof that sci-fi can transcend cultures and languages. Despite the fact that it requires the use of subtitles for viewers who don't understand German, "Dark" is touching and gripping. It offers a unique take on time travel without sacrificing character development or visceral stakes, with its emotional heft expressed through a dramatic score and striking cinematography. "Dark" is quietly one of the best sci-fi series on Netflix.

"Dark" ends on a satisfying yet melancholy note, having provided a consistently contemplative tone throughout its run. It isn't necessarily the most traditional sci-fi story; a lot of it depends on elements that feel more akin to a fairy tale or a paranormal story. That said, there is a cerebral undercurrent throughout. The story is ultimately anchored in science — specifically, the use of science to erase the unimaginable grief that comes with the loss of loved ones. The job of a sci-fi story is to explore serious philosophical questions within a framework that remains safely hypothetical, and that is what "Dark" accomplishes.

Cast: Louis Hofmann, Andreas Pietschmann, Lisa Vicari, Maja Schöne

Creator(s): Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese

Aired: 2017-2020 (3 seasons)

Where to watch: Netflix

Many fans of classic TV would probably cite "The Twilight Zone" as the gold standard of sci-fi and fantasy anthology shows. Others may point to 1963's "The Outer Limits" as a better example of the genre thanks to its specific focus on sci-fi stories. Probably the most successful modern anthology series is "Black Mirror," a show that originated in the U.K. before being purchased by Netflix in 2015. "Black Mirror" has produced seven seasons, and thanks to its anthology format, it's okay to watch episodes out of order. 

Part of what makes "Black Mirror" so effective is when it arrived. By 2013 (the year the show started), the cultural impact of the internet on humanity was too complex and massive to effectively put to words. "Black Mirror" came out at a time when more and more people were realizing that technological advancement created or revealed just as many problems as it solved, and that awareness is still ongoing. The show has covered themes of toxic social media obsession ("Nosedive," Season 3, Episode 1), virtual reality and mortality ("San Junipero," Season 3, Episode 4), and even cancel culture ("Hated in the Nation" Season 3, Episode 6), all set in a world that's just a few minutes ahead of our own.

Cast: N/A

Creator(s): Charlie Brooker

Aired: 2013-present (7 seasons)

Where to watch: Netflix

Thanks to the tireless work of Marvel Studios, superhero movies and TV shows have become a distinct genre of their own alongside sci-fi and fantasy. This hasn't erased the many sci-fi and fantasy elements of most superhero stories, though, and some new shows, like "Loki," have leaned even harder into a sci-fi bent. "Loki" is one of the best things to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since "Avengers: Endgame," and not just because of the consistent charisma of Tom Hiddleston's Asgardian trickster. 

"Loki" introduces viewers to the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an entity that exists outside of space and time and is responsible for monitoring the sacred timeline. Loki is not always an ideal protagonist — he's betrayed Thor and several other seeming allies many times, and is an unreliable narrator thanks to his ability to clone himself via illusion — but he has always been relentlessly curious, one thing to which audiences can always relate. Loki is determined to unlock the secrets of the TVA, and in the process he finds more purpose and spirit than ever before. While "Loki" Season 3 is definitely up in the air, its first two seasons alone make a complete story and introduce tons of exciting sci-fi elements to the MCU. 

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino

Creator(s): Michael Waldron

Aired: 2021-2023 (2 seasons)

Where to watch: Disney+

Apple TV+ actually has some of the most innovative and distinct programming of any streaming service on the market right now, but many people don't know it thanks to Apple's notorious failure to publicize its many offerings. The service has esepcially offered up well-received sci-fi series like "Severance," "Foundation," and "Silo." Based on the Hugh Howey novel "Wool," "Silo" already made a great call by changing its name before the first episode aired, and it just gets more thoughtful from there. 

From its central mysteries to its props and color filters, every piece of "Silo" is clearly intentional, and it features an erudite, self-possessed lead in Rebecca Ferguson's Juliette. The more traditional sci-fi elements of the show — the design of its silo-centric dystopia, the way humans interact with technology and depend on it for survival — are sophisticated, but the stand-out element of the series is its ability to weave multiple points of view within a strict political hierarchy that runs on tribalism and tactical obfuscation. Having completed two seasons so far, "Silo" will finish out its story with a total of four seasons. 

Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, Common, Chinaza Uche

Creator(s): Graham Yost

Aired: 2023-present (2 seasons)

Where to watch: Apple TV+

In 2021, Netflix released a live-action adaptation of a popular anime called "Cowboy Bebop." The adaptation was received poorly by critics, but its promotion and release initiated a resurgence in appreciation for the original anime. "Cowboy Bebop" is set in the year 2071, and follows a bounty-hunting crew of characters occupying a spaceship known as the Bebop. Thanks to a disaster caused by hyperspace technology, Earth has become largely uninhabitable in the "Cowboy Bebop" timeline, and most of humanity now lives scattered across the rest of the planets and moons in our solar system.

Shinichirō Watanabe, the showrunner and director of the original "Cowboy Bebop" series, came up with the tagline "a new genre unto itself" for the show, thanks to the way it incorporated neo-noir, western, pulp, and space opera elements. Like many animes, "Cowboy Bebop" finds a sweet spot at the intersection of whimsy and poignance. Its characters undergo steady growth and are frequently confronted with their past mistakes and regrets, in addition to the newer adventures they undertake as a crew of eccentric bounty hunters. 

Cast (Japanese voice actors): Kōichi Yamadera, Megumi Hayashibara, Unshō Ishizuka

Creator(s): Hajime Yatate

Aired: 1998-2000 (2 volumes)

Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu

Bethesda Game Studios has long been a beloved institution in gaming. With wildly popular properties like "The Elder Scrolls" and "Fallout," Bethesda has made a name for itself through its attention to detail, visceral combat, and dark humor that pervades its games. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that the live-action TV adaptation of its "Fallout" universe turned out so well. Amazon Prime's "Fallout" blew everyone away thanks to its fantastic cast (led by a masterful Walton Goggins and appealing Ella Purnell), balanced visuals, and cheeky humor. 

If any part of the show had been off-kilter, the whole thing might have fallen apart — it is quite difficult to balance overt humor and excessive violence — but the show operates like a well-rehearsed orchestra of mixed elements. The "Fallout" universe is a particularly interesting sci-fi backdrop because it represents both a possible future and an alternate timeline. In the pre-nuclear war "Fallout" universe, technology and culture do not advance at the same rate, which means that everything in the games (and the show) has a 1950s aesthetic despite the fact that tech like robots, mech suits, and biology-altering chems are rampant. The entire universe is evocative of Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains."

Cast: Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten

Creator(s): Graham Wagner

Aired: 2024-present (1 season)

Where to watch: Prime Video

There was a time when TV seasons would run for 20 or more episodes, and while shows had smaller budgets and less-sophisticated writing, they also gave viewers story and detail at a rate that made them more relaxing and generally more fun to take in. "Stargate: SG-1" is one of the best examples of that kind of show within the sc-fi genre, thanks to 10 full seasons of alien planets, classic sci-fi premises, badass protagonists, and enemy combatants with terrible aim. While the 1994 film "Stargate" (upon which the show is based) was pretty dark fare, the show took a lighter approach and became a staple of the genre. 

As with some of the most beloved sci-fi, there are a lot of dumb things that fans choose to ignore in "Stargate: SG-1." It's not a show that invites close examination, which some may find irritating but which makes "Stargate: SG-1" actually fun to watch. Some of its best episodes (Season 4, Episode 6, "Window of Opportunity," comes to mind) are also some of its most comedic or self-referential. Depressing examinations of inevitable oblivion and the inherent darkness of humanity are all well and good, but sometimes people just want to watch a group of humans blow up spaceships and fight symbiotic alien worms that live in peoples' heads — and that's beautiful.

Cast: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping

Creator(s): Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner

Aired: 1997-2007 (10 seasons)

Where to watch: Prime Video

Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, it has released many different film and television projects within the "Star Wars" universe. From the good ("The Mandalorian") to the bad ("The Book of Boba Fett") to the straight-up befuddling ("Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"), Disney's "Star Wars" projects have been a mixed bag of mostly mediocre offerings. If there was nothing better than Seasons 1 and 2 of "The Mandalorian," there may not have been anything "Star Wars"-related on this list, but Disney stumbled onto something great with "Andor." 

This epic spy series follows the beginning of the rebellion that will eventually collapse the Sith Empire in "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi." In Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), viewers find a capable protagonist who initially attempts to lay low within the authoritarian Empire, but soon discovers that there is no escape from fascism. "Andor" offers a brutal, eye-opening view of the many crimes of the Empire, and manages to convey the terror that early rebels needed to overcome in order to fight against a seemingly all-powerful entity. It's a fascinating examination of politics and philosophy, and its sci-fi backdrop allows the show to go places that would otherwise be too dark to probe.

Cast: Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgård

Creator: Tony Gilroy

Aired: 2022-2025 (2 seasons)

Where to watch: Disney+

"Arcane: League of Legends" (known to most people simply as "Arcane") premiered its first season on Netflix in 2021 and found an instant cult following. Not only did it attract fans of "League of Legends" (an online multiplayer game that supplies the universe in which "Arcane" takes place) and adult animation, but it also drew in plenty of new viewers thanks to its visceral storytelling. 

Fans loved the characters and plot, both elements rich enough to inspire discourse and theory across the internet, and especially enjoyed that those aspects did not limit the visual spectacle of the show. There's plenty of action, with "Arcane" fans picking out the best fight scenes on the series, as well as plenty of imaginative sci-fi lore. The show has released two seasons and was only ever planned as a two-season story (which is why "Arcane" won't have a Season 3), but the series has a 100% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and is definitely one of Netflix's more popular animated projects.

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Jason Spisak

Creator(s): Christian Linke and Alex Yee

Aired: 2021-2024 (2 seasons)

Where to watch: Netflix

"Star Trek: the Original Series" is obviously iconic and certainly the most recognizable installment of the "Star Trek" universe, but it's not the best series that's ever come out of the franchise. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" is the favorite of many super-fans, but it's difficult to make a case than any "Star Trek" series has been as rich and fulfilling as "Star Trek: The Next Generation." 

With Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Shakespearean stage actor Patrick Stewart) at the helm of the USS Enterprise and a well-balanced, compelling team behind him, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" managed to combine the wonderful silliness of the original series with newfound gravitas thanks to better character development and slightly more plausible writing. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" managed to bring new, well-executed elements into the universe's storytelling without straying too far from the overall optimistic and future-focused tone of the original series.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes

Creator(s): Gene Roddenberry

Aired: 1987-1994 (7 seasons)

Where to watch: Paramount+

The original 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" TV series was a flop for many reasons, including its high budget and similarity to "Star Wars" (the only film in the original George Lucas trilogy that had been released when "Battlestar Galactica" premiered). The series had a lot of potential, but it came out far too ahead of its time. Luckily, plenty of creatives in Hollywood saw the potential in the story and characters and decided to reboot the series in 2003 for the Sci-Fi Channel (which later became Syfy). 

The new iteration of the show was a huge hit almost right away, with multiple performers earning serious acting acclaim and production values that managed to look expensive and realistic. "Battlestar Galactica" is a space epic, with the majority of the show set on a fleet of spaceships carrying the last of humanity, but it's also a psychological thriller. Almost every character decision is a matter of life and death due to the precariousness of humanity's ongoing survival, but more importantly, the mystery as to the identities of the final five Cylons kept audiences and characters guessing at every turn. 

Cast: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff

Creator(s): Ronald D. Moore

Aired: 2003-2009 (4 seasons)

Where to watch: Prime Video

The original "Doctor Who" ran for 26 seasons from 1963-1989 and was a staple of British television for decades despite its low budget production. The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) was in such a state of financial jeopardy during the show's first two decades that it actually had to scrap many master recordings of various episodes in order to recycle blank tape space. The original series is iconic, but it's the 2005 reboot of "Doctor Who" that earns the top spot on this list. The new, updated series,initially starring Christopher Eccleston as the titular character's ninth iteration, was an immediate hit when it arrived on British screens. 

Eccleston's performance is top-notch,  but it was David Tennant's frenetic, wacky, and fiercely ethical 10th Doctor who took over in Season 2 and made the show a global sensation. "Doctor Who" is the ultimate sci-fi series because it combines nearly everything one could want from the genre. The lore of the show allows for both time and space travel as well as regular introductions to bizarre alien races, mind-bending concepts and technology, while the interactions between the Doctor and his ever-changing human companion are engaging and emotional. The 2005 iteration of the series also found a harmonious balance between ongoing plotlines and one-off stories, helping it become not only the longest-running series on this list, but an enduring milestone of the sci-fi genre.

Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, David Tennant, Matt Smith

Creator(s): Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson

Aired: 1963-1989; 2005-present

Where to watch: Hulu, Britbox