A lot of cult classicsci-fitelevision shows didn’t always get the highest ratings when they were originally on, but still inspired devoted fans. Shows can fly under the radar, sometimes overshadowed by bigger franchises. The timing might not be right for a project, buta truly great show can always find an audiencethanks to word of mouth, even if it takes years.
Some of themost influential sci-fi TV showsof all time were not too big when they came out. Shows likeFirefly,Farscape, andBabylon 5are well-knownseries that every sci-fi fan should watch, even decades after their original runs, but their journeys weren’t without challenges. Television can be cruel to sci-fi shows, which is why there are so many series that deserve more love waiting to be rediscovered.
Earth 2
Cast
Earth 2, a 1994 science fiction television series, follows scientist Devon Adair and her diverse group of companions as they embark on a quest to establish a new home on a distant planet after humanity is forced into space due to pollution. The journey begins as their spacecraft crash-lands on the wrong side of the planet.
Lasting for just one season on NBC,Earth 2promised a compelling mystery for regular viewers, long before the “mystery box” became a common format for television storytelling.Earth 2sees billionaire Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino) assemblea crew to colonize the Earth-like G889, in hopes of finding a cure for her son Ulysses' (Joey Zimmerman) mysterious illness.
Of course, the planet Devon and her crew hope to call home isn’t at all what they expected. Crashing far from their proposed landing site, the colonists find intelligent native species that weren’t accounted for in initial reports. Decisions about whether they can co-exist with these species and the colonists' differing motivations driveEarth 2’s mystery.
Earth 2ended on a cliffhanger, but the story before that is one that still matters, 30 years later.Earth 2recognizes colonization is a dangerous and invasive practice, driven by the greed of conspiratorial entities bigger than Devon’s small team of pioneers. The show asks ethical questions about survival, ecology, loyalty, and what it means to be human.
Another big draw that makesEarth 2an older show worth checking out today is its cast of familiar faces.Earth 2includes genre favorites like Clancy Brown in a rare good-guy role, horror-movie mainstay Rebecca Gayheart, and Tim Curry as a human who mysteriously arrived on G889 before Adair’s crew.
Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond is a science fiction series set in 2063–2064, following the Wildcards, members of the US Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, 58th Squadron. Stationed on the USS Saratoga, they serve as both infantry and pilots of SA-43 Attack Jet fighters.
Space: Above & Beyondcame fromThe X-Fileswriters Glen Morgan and James Wong, and attractedX-Filesfans eager to see what the duo would do with their own show.Morgan & Wong’s futuristic war epic pitted Earth against an insectoid alien enemy in the year 2063, and focused on one squadron of Marines, the Wildcards.
With just one season under its belt,Space: Above & Beyondshould have lasted longer than it did, especially with the lead-in audience fromThe X-Files. What should have been the first of many seasons focused on world-building, and built up intrigue with the mystery looming over the Wildcards' missions. LikeFirefly,Space: Above & Beyondwas full of potential.
Space: Above & Beyondshares conceptual DNA with modern hits likeBattlestar GalacticaandThe Expanse,and plays out like a less-sarcasticStarship Troopers. Modern TV shows may have more gravitas, butSpacewas surprisingly serious for its time. You’ll find the same recurring themes: loyalty vs. independence, found families, and what it really means to do the right thing.
Sense8
Created by the Wachowski sisters, Sense8 features an ensemble cast playing eight different people from around the world, who discover that they are suddenly mentally linked with one another and begin experiencing each other’s lives and feelings. As the sensates begin to get to know each other, they must face a growing threat to all their lives by using their newfound empathic powers to their advantage.
The Wachowski sisters' joint venture withBabylon 5creator J. Michael Straczynski,Sense8,was a slow-building series in the vein ofHeroes, with seemingly unrelated individuals finding they were secretly linked with one another.The eight main characters were able to see through each other’s eyes—literally—to gain each other’s knowledge and skills.
Sense8’s truly diverse cast was a major draw for fans who were delighted with relatable representations of different identities.
Sense8’s truly diverse cast was a major draw for fans who were delighted with relatable representations of different identities. The concept of seeing through the eyes of someone so unlike yourself meantempathy wasSense8’s core tenet. Each character had a rich life and storyline independently, and bringing them together created a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
It was such a unique idea that it couldn’t possibly last. After two seasons,Sense8’s passionate fanbase led the charge to get the series renewed, or at least properly ended. Netflix did allowSense8’s unresolved storylinesto wrap up with a 2-hour finale, so this is one cult classic sci-fi series that does actually have a proper ending.
SeaQuest DSV
SeaQuest 2032 is a science fiction television series set in the early 21st century, featuring Captain Nathan Bridger and the advanced submarine seaQuest DSV. Tasked by the United Earth Oceans Organization, they maintain peace and explore the colonized oceans, Earth’s final frontier.
Between being produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, starringJaws' Roy Scheider, and featuring a talking dolphin,seaQuest DSVhad a lot going for it when it premiered. Ultimately,seaQuestwas a bit like three different shows in one, with each of its seasons shaking up the cast and promising a new tone, and each season has its value.
“DSV” stands for “Deep Submergence Vehicle”, a nod to the titular ship being a state-of-the-art submarine.
Season 1 was a realistic projection of politics and technology in the early 21st century, and it’s surprising how many ofseaQuest’s predictions actually came true. While we’re still not colonizing the sea floor,seaQuestknew the internet, which was just a fad in 1993, would become part of our everyday life, complete with social media and generative AI.
The second season departed into the fiction side of science fiction, hoping to garner higher ratings with a younger cast and homages to other sci-fi movies. Season 2 ofseaQuestisn’t nearly as strong as its first season, but it’s still a fun time, comparable to otherinfluential 1990s sci-fi showslikeSliders.
By season 3,seaQuest2032adjusted its course to align with its relatively grounded first season, after a time jump landed its submarine crew a decade into the future. In its final year,seaQuestfinally found its footing, with a solidified crew and coherent tone. It wasn’t enough to save the sinking ship, butseaQuestis still worth watching.
Fringe
This sci-fi procedural follows the FBI’s secretive Fringe Division and its agents Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop, and Peter Bishop. Together, they investigate cases regarding strange events that threaten society, including cases of parallel universes, human experimentation, and other strange phenomena.
17 years after it originally aired,Fringeseems to have slipped through the cracks. It’s not quite old enough for nostalgia, but not new enough to be something you happened to miss the first time around. But this sci-fi mystery series is definitely worth a second look, especially if you’ve avoided spoilers this long.
Fringestarted as a spiritual successor toThe X-Files, as a procedural show about FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) investigating the bureau’s most unusual occurrences. Dunham’s investigations eventually lead her to Walter Bishop (John Noble), a scientist whose experiments open the door to a brand-new world of alternate possibilities.
Fringedrew a lot of comparisons toLostwhen it originally aired, thanks to having producer JJ Abrams in common, and both using the"mystery box" format of storytellingthat Abrams was known for. But the story ofFringewas easier to latch onto, with fewer characters to follow, and a much more concise mystery thanLost’s.
Fringe’s original five-season run from 2008 to 2013 overlapped withLost, which ran from 2004 to 2010.
Like other sci-fi shows on Fox,Fringestruggled with viewership while it was on, and was nearly canceled after season 4. A dedicatedfan campaign to saveFringeearned the show a fifth and final seasonto wrap up loose ends. WhetherFringesticks the landing is still up for debate, but it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone, released in 2019, explores humanity’s hopes, despairs, prides, and prejudices through tales of science fiction, fantasy, and the occult. The anthology series serves as a metaphoric journey into the human condition, echoing the classic show’s themes for contemporary audiences.
Revivals ofThe Twilight Zone,in general, don’t quite live up to Rod Serling’s original anthology series, so you’d be forgiven for missing Jordan Peele’s 2019 revival. ButPeele successfully reimaginesThe Twilight Zonefor the 21st centurywith the uneasy tone and social commentary that made the original series a classic.
Peele successfully reimaginesThe Twilight Zonefor the 21st century with the uneasy tone and social commentary that made the original series a classic.
Peele’sTwilight Zonecarries on the legacy of serving twisted comeuppances to its greedy and prejudiced characters. This version also makes some of its viewpoint characters sympathetic, like the 1980s iteration. There are wins to be had for characters who use theTwilight Zone’s mysterious power to help each other, rather than just themselves.
This is aTwilight Zonethat’s aware of its legacy and bakes that meta-commentary in. The season 1 ender, “Blurryman”, directly comments onhowThe Twilight Zoneinfluenced television. Otherepisodes allude to classicZonestories without remaking them outright, sometimes going back to the key themes of original episodes to offer fresh takes on familiar ideas.
All told, these sixsci-fiTV shows are among just a few of the cult classics that deserve more attention, since they’re often overshadowed by more popular shows. I recommend checking any of them out if you have the time, especially since most of them are relatively short watches, with only one or two seasons.
