For decades, the sci-fi genre has played a prominent role on television, tapping into both the intrigue of the future and the emotions of the present. Beginning with the trailblazing Captain Video and His Video Rangers in 1949 and expanding to the relatable Flash Gordon and the aspirational Adventures of Superman, and beyond, sci-fi TV has long captured the wonder of children.

However, children are far from the only demographic mesmerized by the idea of scientific developments not yet experienced in our own world. For mature viewers, the genre has proved to lend itself naturally to the anthology format used by the likes of The Twilight Zone and, to an extent, Doctor Who. In a sci-fi context, the very nature of an anthology underscores the genre’s themes of infinite possibility.

That same possibility also gave those shows the longevity to become pillars of television, instating the sci-fi genre as a mainstream attraction alongside family and workplace dramas. Since then, sci-fi has continued to evolve, with groundbreaking projects in the genre pushing the boundaries of procedural, anthology, and serialized stories.

Some of modern television’s newest sci-fi titles show that innovation is far from complete. Just a month after its 2025 release, Pluribus became Apple TV’s most-watched series of all time. In its first season, the show has already subverted every expectation viewers have come to hold of zombie and extraterrestrial stories.

Nonetheless, Pluribus and other contemporary series expand upon the years of ingenuity the genre has experienced, thanks to these shows that rewrote the rules of science fiction.

Star Trek: The Original Series

1966-1969

Despite a relatively unassuming original run that ended with NBC’s cancellation after only three seasons, Star Trek has become arguably the biggest science fiction television franchise of all time. The Star Trek world has been explored in 12 subsequent TV shows, though The Original Series’ Captain Kirk and Spock, played by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, remain the definitive faces of the franchise.

The Original Series certainly delivered its fair share of space adventure fun and conflict, but what has truly stood the test of time is its stand-up moral center. For a futuristic show about space battles, The Original Series, thanks in large part to Spock, was a notable advocate for peace and rational thought. Mindful social commentary made The Original Series both timeless and relevant, even today.

The X-Files

1993-2018

The X-Files managed to simultaneously popularize the standalone monster-of-the-week format as well as the conceit of a sprawling overarching mythology that is unpacked slowly over the course of an entire series. If its two revival seasons are taken into account, The X-Files is the longest-running American sci-fi series ever created.

Its more case-focused, standalone episodes allowed The X-Files to explore a range of genres, themes, and tones without losing sight of Mulder and Scully’s driving motivation and emotion. The show embodied a deep skepticism of government and, whether they were right or wrong, a fondness for conspiracy theorists that was daring for its time, particularly on network television.

Firefly

2002

The space Western is a more organic combination than it appears on the surface. Now that the Earth has been explored, outer space has become humanity’s remaining “new frontier“. The tools of science fiction allow stories to engage with the Western’s ideals of freedom, exploration, and the unknown while looking to the future rather than the past. Firefly, though, took the genre mashup to another level.

Firefly went beyond simply touching on Western themes and moods. Instead, it created a one-of-a-kind culture that featured traditional Western imagery like horses, tin cups, and old-timey slang alongside the universe’s other societal influences that evolved over hundreds of years. The space Western is a somewhat niche genre, but Firefly proved its potential was as limitless as the rest of the sci-fi genre.

Lost

2004-2010

Throughout its run, this was the quintessential “water cooler” show. Even today, despite Lost‘s controversial ending, the show feels representative of a bygone era when it felt like everyone was watching and talking about the same show. The flexible viewing options and sheer number of choices that came with the advent of streaming have made such large-scale appointment viewing a thing of the past.

Lost’s success wasn’t simply a product of its time, though. It was earned. Lost‘s pilot remains one of the best of all time, but the show quickly became much more than the mere survival story that already had viewers leaning in. Ultimately, Lost borrowed from the likes of The X-Files’ sprawling mythology, building out a lore that created an unprecedented amount of mystery and unanswered questions.

Battlestar Galactica

2004-2009

As a reboot that brought new levels of praise and attention to its franchise, the 2004 Battlestar Galactica series accomplished a feat that is still rare today. The original, 1978 Battlestar Galactica series was canceled after only one season, and while it’s maintained a cult following over the years, it has also developed a reputation as the campy, less poignant predecessor to the acclaimed 2004 series.

The show boldly used its rich, complex universe as a metaphor for real-world topics of terrorism, religious extremism, and military ethics. While told through the lens of the robotic Cylons, Galactica didn’t stop short of connecting its fiction to reality. Battlestar Galactica made a point to contextualize its stories with nods to recent history, creating a world far away that doesn’t, in fact, feel very far at all.

Black Mirror

2011-Present

Black Mirror is perhaps most succinctly described as a technology-fueled Twilight Zone. The more notable distinction between the two shows, though, is reflected in their titles. Black Mirror strives to create a darkyet accurate reflection of modern society. In contrast, its predecessor depicted the “Twilight Zone“, a realm that, though perhaps frighteningly close, was pointedly separate from normal life.

The most chilling thing about Black Mirror is how eerily plausible its stories feel. The show captures modern societal fears and emotions with such clarity that it’s abundantly clear that Black Mirror depicts potential consequences of our own reality, not a Twilight Zone beyond our control. This, even more so than nightmare scenarios of consciousness eternally lost to technology, is the show’s true horror.

Station Eleven

2021-2022

Station Eleven featured a quirky and well-developed post-apocalyptic world, complete with a traveling Shakespeare troupe with a now-seasoned routine. Yet rather than delve into the world-building that typically characterizes sci-fi stories, Station Eleven committed wholeheartedly to a story focused on the emotion of both its characters and the world as a whole.

The show was constantly interweaving not only the concurrent storylines of its many characters, but also various timelines spanning decades. This gave the show’s narrative a kaleidoscopic effect, forcing viewers to find and utilize the show’s emotional progression as an anchor to understand the story’s distorted chronology. This emotion-first approach proved that sci-fi is more than dense world-building.

​​​​​​​Severance

2022-Present

Severance is firing on all cylinders. The show has brought a cinema-quality visual spectacle to the small screen, while simultaneously placing lifelike and entertaining characters in a wholly original world. While seemingly simple, the concept of “work-life balance” personified by a physical procedure has proven to have practically limitless implications worthy of exploration.

The show’s meticulous attention to detail in everything from its cinematography to the slowly unraveling true purpose of Lumon Industries has invited no shortage of online analysis. The effect has been akin to Lost‘s water cooler debriefs, a phenomenon that had been increasingly hard to come by. In short, Severance‘s sheer quality has brought it to the center of the modern sci-fi television conversation.