Science Fiction has always caught our fancy, irrespective of the premise of the story and the medium of its delivery. Books, comics, graphic novels, movies and of course, TV shows, have all adopted science fiction as their genre of choice at some point or the other, and led us down mysterious orbits and into unexplored dimensions. In the midst of all this, there have been some creations which have embedded themselves in our memories, and these are the works of science fiction that truly deserve all the commendations that come their way.
Best Sci-Fi Shows to Air on TV
TV shows have been entertaining people for years, and what makes them a great source of entertainment is the fact that their scripts can be prolonged and morphed into new ideas week after week. Unlike a movie that gets over in a couple of hours, TV shows delve deeper into the lives of the protagonists and the antagonists, and showcase events that are beyond the realm of the big screen. The best sci-fi shows have combined the flexibility of TV shows with the allure of science fiction, and have given us some mind reeling creations over the years. Here are the very best of such TV shows.
Futurama: March 1999 – August 2003
If you thought Matt Groening was a genius for creating The Simpsons, just wait till you watch this hilarious show. Though it is an animated series, its premise was solely based on the world of science fiction. Poking satirical fun at the sci-fi world throughout its 6 seasons, this show told the story of an intellectually challenged pizza delivery boy who was put to sleep in a cryogenic vessel, and then woken up 1000 years later when space travel, alien races, robots and other strange events formed a part of everyday life.
LOST: September 2004 – May 2010
Definitely one of the shows of the last decade, LOST narrates the stories of the passengers of an aircraft that crashed on a mysterious island. The island seems to be at the center of some unexplainable phenomena, and the series quickly takes us from some strange events on the island, to flashbacks of the lives of the survivors, to the growing conflict between faith and science in the minds of the survivors. The show has created a huge following in its 6 seasons, and it remains one of the best TV series.
Roswell: October 1999 – May 2002
Though this show only lasted for 3 seasons, it has a pretty huge cult following even today. Set against the backdrop of Area 51, a supposed alien spacecraft crash site in the Nevada Desert, the show told the story of 3 aliens who looked exactly like humans and went to the local towns high school. Their special abilities made them a target for law enforcement agencies in the region, and they had to constantly battle these agencies and balance their humanly love lives at the same time.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: September 1987 – May 1994
Star Trek is possibly the TV show that started it all for the science fiction world, and brought this genre out into the mainstream media. This show is undoubtedly the absolute best sci-fi show ever made, period. Captain Picard commands the USS Enterprise, and takes his crew through vortexes, black holes, on alien planets and through battles against collective-minded alien races. Every episode in the 7 seasons of this show was a brand new adventure, and it was a sad day when this particular series of the Start Trek franchise ended.
The X-Files: September 1993 – May 2002
No list on TV fiction can be complete without The X-Files. The show ran for an impressive 9 seasons and chronicled the lives of two FBI agents. Their job was to look into unsolved cases that involved paranormal activities, and these cases took us from alien abductions to mutants with self-healing powers. If there was any paranormal phenomena that the viewing public ever heard of, they covered it on the show. This show created an obsession amongst so many viewers, and it is still viewed by millions around the world.
Here are some more great sci-fi shows that are definitely worth watching.
Babylon 5
Battlestar Galactica
Doctor Who
Eureka
Farscape
Lost in Space
Quantum Leap
Stargate SG-1
Star Trek: The Original Series
The Twilight Zone
So these were some of the sci-fi shows that have mystified us over the years. Hopefully there will be several new shows in the same genre for us to look forward to as well, but for now, we can satisfy our science fiction cravings by watching reruns of these magnificent TV shows.
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