Top 10 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows of All Time

The Top Ten
1 The X-Files The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original television series aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox.

Best series ever. Brilliant characters and amazing storytelling. As for those who think Doctor Who is better just because it's been around for over 50 years, that does not mean it's a great show. Let me tell you, having watched every episode of Doctor Who including the stills, most seasons are pretty dull. The X-Files was brilliant throughout its entire series and had two excellent films, whereas the Doctor Who movie was a flop.

The X-Files is the best show ever! Kim Manners started on this show and then Supernatural. Then it inspired a Supernatural episode. This show has opened the barriers for shows of this nature and is still mentioned or copied. And not just sci-fi things either...

2 Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called "the Doctor", an extraterrestrial being from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS... read more

Trust me when I tell you this, Doctor Who is the best show I have ever seen. Yes, I have finished Breaking Bad, The X-Files (seen season 10), seen Game of Thrones, Supernatural, and The Office, but nothing even comes close to Doctor Who. It's charming, funny, emotional, and just an awesome series. Go watch Heaven Sent, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, or Listen and try to tell me they're not masterpieces of storytelling.

While not as much hard sci-fi as The X-Files, most of the best stories like the ones I listed above employ many sci-fi elements. Aside from the best episodes, it's an awesome ride from start to finish. It might have cheesy moments every once in a while, but that just makes it more charming.

10/10. Unparalleled in the television world.

3 Star Trek Star Trek is an American science-fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise.

Best sci-fi franchise which takes itself seriously and tries to give hope for humanity and ignite their scientific curiosity, unlike the goofy abomination Dr. Who.

If you don't like Star Trek, I ask you to sit down and type Startrek.com, then click on videos, then click on channels, and then click on Enterprise. Then, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Broken Bow Pt.1." If, somehow, you don't like it, go to The Next Generation and watch the first episode. Then, you will have been assimilated into the Star Trek collective. (That is how it worked for me!) Also, for you Doctor Who fans, go to the top 10 coolest Star Trek aliens, go to the Borg, and see how a fight between a Cyberman and a Borg would unfold.

4 Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978 and was followed by a short-run sequel series, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games.

The best sci-fi show ever (obviously the latter-day remake, not the original that was truly terrible).

5 Supernatural This haunting series follows the thrilling yet terrifying journeys of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who face an increasingly sinister landscape as they hunt monsters. After losing their mother to a supernatural force, the brothers were raised by their father as soldiers who track mysterious... read more

When it hits 218 episodes at the end of its 10th season (starting this October), it will be the longest-running American sci-fi series, taking out Stargate SG-1 and The X-Files. (Dr. Who and the BBC don't count!)

It draws you in like no other show. You feel it. And I have always watched a ton of TV. My genre is sci-fi, and I think they are all great-looking, but that is not why I watch the show, just a bonus.

The best sci-fi show ever! Jensen Ackles is incredibly talented, and Supernatural wouldn't be Supernatural without him.

6 Firefly Firefly is an American space Western drama television series which ran from 2002–2003, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label.

This is the best sci-fi TV serial I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it was stopped after the first season. It should be number one. People who have seen it definitely agree with me. So, fans of Firefly, vote for it.

This show is definitely one of my all-time favorites. Such great characters and stories, you can't help but fall in love with the show. It deserved much more than 14 episodes (and a movie).

Fourteen episodes? I am missing some. Great show.

7 The Twilight Zone The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. Each episode presents a stand-alone story in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described... read more

This show was so diverse. It was so pertinent for its time and covered so many themes. It was dark, fun, suspenseful, and loaded with surprise endings. My favorites were: To Serve Man, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, On Thursday We Leave for Home, and Time Enough At Last.

The creator of The X-Files said that without The Twilight Zone, The X-Files would never have been made. Both are worthy of the top seat.

This show was, by far, the best sci-fi show... tied for second place - The Outer Limits and Star Trek.

8 Stargate SG-1

Definitely my favorite sci-fi franchise. Loved SG-1, just started watching it all again. Atlantis was better looking visually. Both had great casts with a mix of humor and action. They were and are great.

While I bought and watched "Stargate Universe," it is the worst part of the franchise. They try to make a Battlestar Galactica/Voyager clone. I only enjoyed a few episodes of the two seasons.

I watched every episode of this from start to finish in about a month. I couldn't stop. It would be 3 in the morning, I'd have to go to work at 7, and I'd still watch one more episode. I couldn't help myself. Call me sad, I call it dedication.

9 Babylon 5

This was an incredible series. The best aspects are the five-year story arc, the writing, and the absolute lack of ridiculous 'relevant' plot arcs.

This was a complete, well-told story -- not a referendum on modern culture or recent history. Most sci-fi series rely on using political hot points to infuse their scripts with life, but this one was purely the child of J. Michael Straczynski's imagination, and it lives and breathes on the screen like nothing before or since.

The themes in this show - political and philosophical - are always relevant. Every time I watch this series, it has something to say about current events - it is just that universally relevant. Plus, unlike most sci-fi (i.e., Star Trek), it shows a real society with classes, poverty, and homelessness. They even have to be concerned about their budget being cut (can't shoot your way out of that, Kirk!).

10 Farscape

One of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time. They took sci-fi TV to another level. Those that followed (including a few higher on this list), even with more money to hype their shows, didn't have nearly the character depth and story range as Farscape.

Many excellent shows here, but I have to spread the Farscape love. It wouldn't have existed without Star Trek, but it was more fun, dark, ambitious, and downright entertaining than any other sci-fi of its time.

One of the few shows to have real aliens (not just bumps on the heads) and a compelling story arc.

The Contenders
11 Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry that ran between 1987 and 1994. Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout its production... read more

To people talking about how Star Trek is already on here, they're different TV shows. It isn't like Doctor Who. It's like saying Star Wars: A New Hope is the same movie as The Empire Strikes Back.

Well anyway, The Next Generation is the peak of Star Trek. The original may be iconic, but The Next Generation exceeds it, although both will have a special place in my heart.

This is the standard by which all other shows are measured. Great character development, intelligent plots, and a very loose timeline. There is no one else I would want to take me into battle over Captain Picard.

12 Stargate Atlantis
13 The 4400
14 Red vs Blue

An amazing thrill ride of sci-fi, drama, action, and most importantly, comedy. The characters are amazing. The plot can be ludicrous, but its charm and self-awareness always trump the ridiculousness of the truth for the show's benefit.

It has stronger characters than most shows above.

15 Fringe

How on Earth is Fringe this low? Was this list started today? A show that fans managed by force of will to keep on air for another season and a half? This is unacceptable... or the alternate universe.

Fringe should be in at least the top 5! Fringe was the best sci-fi series ever!

16 Space: Above and Beyond
17 Power Rangers
18 Quantum Leap

This show had an amazing concept that made up for its special effects being aged.

19 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an American 3D CGI animated television series created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation with the division Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, Lucasfilm and CGCG Inc.

Best show ever. And that's coming from a high schooler. Still pissed at Disney for canceling it. Then again, who isn't pissed at Disney?

If you want to put a sci-fi show, it should be a very cool one. So, this show is awesome.

20 Six Million Dollar Man
21 Terra Nova
22 The Outer Limits
23 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

This show is not the typical 'boldly going' of most Trek, and although all Star Trek is great, the focus on religion, war, and interstellar politics puts it above the other Star Trek series as well as other great shows like Firefly and Farscape.

I have not watched Battlestar Galactica though, except for the miniseries, but from that miniseries, it looks to be awesome.

An amazing show with a really good plot arc being the Dominion War.

24 Alf ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986 to March 24, 1990. It was the first television series to be presented in Dolby Surround.

ALF is the best! Put this on number 1. It's my favorite sitcom!

25 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
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