The 31 Great Sci-Fi Shows to Watch Right Now

Reality is overrated. Take a break and nestle up to the genre of television that’s the best escape: science fiction! The best new sci-fi shows to watch right now include new takes on classic franchises and wholly original stories, and our list has added Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Love, Death + Robots. All three of those shows are completely different from each other, which is part of why sci-fi is so great, right? For more variation, don’t miss Apple TV+’s Severance and Amazon Prime Video’s Undone.

Below you’ll find plenty of shows across various streaming platforms that are about future societies, clones, robots with feelings, galaxies far, far away, and even immortality. Our list of all the best sci-fi shows to watch right now covers several streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and more.

The Newest Sci-Fi Shows

What it’s about: Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi gets his own series that bridges the prequel films with the original trilogy
Why it’s worth watching: Obi-Wan Kenobi picks up with the titular Jedi master (Ewan McGregor, reprising his role) 10 years after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and it also marks the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Rupert Friend stars as the Grand Inquisitor, the latest franchise villain with elaborate face makeup, and Moses Ingram plays Reva Sevander, another Jedi-hunting Inquisitor who uses her own methods to accomplish her goals.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: Animated sci-fi shorts go all over the place
Why it’s worth watching: David Fincher produces this collection of animated shorts that cover everything from sentient robots to massive man-eating sea crabs. Each short, which runs less than 20 minutes, features a unique animation style and original story. It’s perfect for short attention spans.
How many seasons: 3

What it’s about: A prequel to the Original Series follows Captain Pike on the USS Enterprise
Why it’s worth watching: It’s always dangerous to dip into one of sci-fi’s most revered franchises for a new take, but Paramount+ has had good success launching new Star Trek franchises, and Strange New Worlds might be the best of the bunch. Set a decade before Star Trek: The Original Series and emulating it, Strange New Worlds sees Kirk predecessor Captain Pike (Anson Mount) at the helm of the Enterprise with a young Spock (Ethan Peck), a total noob Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the rest of his crew as they explore the universe in standalone episodes.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: A woman with unique powers helps her deceased dad solve his own murder
Why it’s worth watching: This utterly unique animated series from the producers of BoJack Horseman stars Rosa Salazar as Alma, who discovers she has the power to move through space and time, an ability her dead father (Bob Odenkirk) helps her hone to find out how he was killed. It’s animated through rotoscoping, where film is drawn over so the animation preserves actors’ work, which it also uses to achieve Alma’s glorious travels through the continuum. Emotional, funny, and mind-blowing, Undone is one of those rare gems that deserves to be on more people’s watchlists.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: A cybernetic super-soldier realizes he may not be a weapon for good
Why it’s worth watching: The long-awaited Halo adaptation finally arrives after wearing out its tires on a long, bumpy development road, but the end result is better than naysayers say it is. Pablo Schreiber suits up as Master Chief, uncovering an ancient alien weapon (the titular Halo), a human military using him as a pawn, and a group of hostile aliens that want him and all humans dead. It’s got action AND butts. 
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: A company makes its employees divide their consciousnesses into their work selves and their home selves
Why it’s worth watching: The idea of a solid work-life balance gets taken to the max in this trippy, unique, and funny series in which workers at a strange company voluntarily have their minds severed so that their work-life is unaware of their personal life, and vice versa. Naturally, the company is up to no good, and as the employees begin to wonder more about their outside lives, things get very weird. The spectacular cast includes Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, and Christopher Walken. 
How many seasons: 1

More recommendations:

More Great Sci-Fi Shows

What it’s about: A pair of androids are tasked with saving humanity by raising children on a barren planet, but some religious fanatics have other ideas.
Why it’s worth watching: Ridley Scott added his touch — he executive produced the series and directed the first two episodes — to this out-of-this-world-and-any-other-world drama that asks big questions about parenting and religion — “Is a robot having kids an affront to God?” comes up more than once. It’s extremely weird, in a very good way, creating a universe unlike any other you’ve seen, and though its initial episodes appear to be pretty self-contained, there are hints pretty early on that there’s a lot of story to tell. Plus, Vikings‘ Travis Fimmel does some pretty good impressions of ducks. Did we mention that it’s weird? 
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: An alien visits Earth, assumes human form, and is mistaken for the town doctor… but his plan is to kill all humans.
Why it’s worth watching: Alan Tudyk. The science-fiction mainstay (Firefly, Doom Patrol) is at his most charming as an extra-terrestrial in disguise in this mystery comedy that’s part small-town mystery, part procedural comedy. Based on a graphic novel series, Resident Alien runs on the threat of Harry (Tudyk) getting exposed as an invader, as well as the strange lessons he learns about these oddball humans.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: A collection of short science-fiction films from filmmaker Neill Blomkamp
Why it’s worth watching: Blomkamp (District 9) is one of sci-fi’s great directors, combining raw action with desolate landscapes to create a moody atmosphere that jumps off the screen. This collection of shorts that span anywhere from 8 minutes to 30 minutes and genres from black comedy to doomsday apocalypses show off Oats Studios’ tech and Blomkamp’s ability to tell a tight story. It’s like Black Mirror.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: In the future, a galactic empire struggles to hold on to its power when a mathematician predicts its demise and a descent into dark ages.
Why it’s worth watching: An adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s novels, Foundation is Apple TV+’s big-budget swing to get a genre drama to the masses, and it looks great. The story is a big task as well, as different characters are stationed on different planets and various ambitions create conflict with others. It’s a sort of Game of Thrones in space, if you will.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: What Loki got up to while Avengers: Endgame was going on
Why it’s worth watching: Tom Hiddleston‘s God of Mischief is back, and free from that pesky conscience, in Marvel’s latest Disney+ series. This one is a crime thriller that follows the alternate version of Loki who stole the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, an event that basically broke reality. Now he has to fix it. He’s recruited by Owen Wilson‘s Mobius M. Mobius at the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA) to travel through history and correct the timeline he messed up. Forgive me for the blasphemy of comparing a Marvel series to a DC one, but it kinda sounds like Loki’s Legends of Tomorrow.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: America and Russia race to be the first on the moon… to establish a moon base, in this alternate history drama.
Why it’s worth watching: If you want to watch some historical fiction but also have an itch for science-fiction, For All Mankind is your one-stop shop. The show posits what would happen if Russia landed on the moon first, and the great space race never ended as the U.S. and Russia tried to one-up each other for the decades that followed. Full of politics, social issues, and tons of what-ifs for space geeks, For All Mankind is for anyone who wants some grounded science-fiction.
How many seasons: 2 (Season 3 out Jun 10)

What it’s about: The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Scarlet Witch and Vision find themselves… trapped inside classic TV comedies?
Why it’s worth watching: Better late than never, WandaVision is the first television show from the MCU, and represents the future of Disney+, which is kind of a big deal. For fans of Marvel, it’s a must-see, soft-launching Phase 4 of the MCU and affecting the events of the upcoming movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As for the show itself, it adds comedic dimension to stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany while a slowly unfolding mystery keeps things captivating. 
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: A bounty hunter zips about the post-Return of the Jedi Star Wars universe with some very precious (and adorable) cargo. 
Why it’s worth watching: The Mandalorian is arguably one of the best Star Wars products to be released… ever. As a story that’s only slightly connected to the rest of the franchise’s canon, it’s easy for anyone to jump into right away and enjoy the episodic stories of Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda, the most legit pop culture icon we’ve been blessed with in years. The real reason to tune in is that The Mandalorian is the TV equivalent of candy; it’s throwback, swashbuckling television that looks absolutely incredible, with flecks of tiny Star Wars Easter eggs sprinkled in. It’s pure entertainment of the highest degree. 
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: A woman investigates the disappearance of her boyfriend, who was working on a top-secret project at a powerful tech company in San Francisco.
Why it’s worth watching: After movies like Ex Machina and Annihilation, Alex Garland is proving to be one of sci-fi’s most exciting creators, and his TV debut features all his trademarks. Devs is packed with philosophy and intellectual discussions about existence, technology’s place in society’s advancement, and the dire consequences of tinkering with fate, almost to the point that it’s too cerebral. But take it slow and you’ll find a beautifully filmed single-season series that has big points to make about the dangerous precipice advanced computing has us inching toward. 
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: A team of three travel throughout time to save the future from a mysterious organization that wants to change history
Why it’s worth watching: Time travel shows can become messy affairs of paradoxes, brain-busting theories, and plot holes, but Eric Kripke’s Timeless used time travel simply and splendidly in this throwback, swashbuckling adventure series. A historian, an engineer, and a soldier are sent back in history to prevent the villainous organization known as Rittenhouse from altering history in order to change the future to their advantage, meeting famous overlooked figures from history — often minorities and/or women — along the way. In that sense, Timeless is almost as educational as it is exciting. But the real strength of Timeless comes from its characters and their relationships, like the epic romance between Lucy (Abigail Spencer) and Wyatt (Matt Lanter). Timeless is a real crowd-pleaser, the kind of sci-fi series for people who usually shy away from the genre.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: A woman discovers that she may not be the only one of… her
Why it’s worth watching: Orphan Black burst onto the scene in 2013, coming out of nowhere to stun critics and viewers with its crafty premise: a con artist witnesses the suicide of another woman who looks just like her, leading her down a rabbit hole of clones and conspiracies. The BBC America series combines action, science-fiction, and humor extremely well, creating characters you’ll adore (Alison Hendrix is a legend) and anticipate venturing into each others’ orbits. Chameleon Tatiana Maslany won an Emmy for her roles as the many different versions of the same woman, though she really should have won at least three. The first seasons are the strongest, but Maslany and the great cast stay great throughout its run.
How many seasons: 5

What it’s about: A reimagining of the 1970s classic in which alien robots threaten to wipe out humans
Why it’s worth watching: Battlestar Galactica is considered one of the all-time great sci-fi series, and when it was released in the mid-2000s, one of the best TV shows period. Ronald D. Moore’s take adds a wrinkle that increases the paranoia tenfold; the Cylons can impersonate humans, meaning the crew of the Galactica realizes that some of its members could be Cylons in disguise, even if the Cylons don’t know it themselves. Watch the miniseries that launched the series first, then dive into the next two seasons, which is some of the greatest sci-fi television ever made. Later seasons tail off a bit, and the ending wasn’t well-received by all, but the show is still well worth the journey.
How many seasons: 4

What it’s about: In the far future, the crew of a space ship explores the galaxy to bring alien cultures into the Planetary Union, while also sometimes manufacturing pot brownies in the ship’s food synthesizer.
Why it’s worth watching: The Orville is an homage to Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generationfrom Family Guycreator Seth MacFarlane, who fawns over all things Trek while also not afraid to make fun of it. It’s hard to tell what kind of show The Orville wants to be at some points because it’s really trying to be all of them: an interstellar stoner comedy, a sci-fi swashbuckler, a workplace drama, a futuristic Twilight Zone. But that’s part of the fun. Season 1 has some bumps, but Season 2, especially the midseason two-parter “Identity” is an improvement. Though the first two seasons aired on Fox, Season 3 is a Hulu exclusive.
How many seasons: 3

What it’s about: A pair of FBI agents investigate the paranormal and inexplicable — UFOs, ghosts, and even cannibals.
Why it’s worth watching: It’s a classic for a reason. The X-Files set the mold with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) — the definitive believer and skeptic, paired up to investigate the unexplained. But the Fox procedural was always too smart to draw a clean line between faith and science; even Mulder wanted proof, and even Scully had her religion. This is the most scientific thing about the science fiction of The X-Files (which is otherwise not all that sciency): The show’s heroes are two people willing to upend their entire belief systems to get the truth. Mulder and Scully asked the messy questions, and it changed genre television. –Kelly Connolly
How many seasons: 11
Bonus: 9 Shows Like The X-Files That You Should Watch Next

What it’s about: A government desk jockey (J.K. Simmons) an an office in Berlin learns that an event split the world into two parallel universes, and the two sides are slowly approaching an all-out war against each other. Yikes!
Why it’s worth watching: The gimmick gives its wonderful cast (which includes Olivia Williams and Harry Lloyd) the opportunity to play dual roles as each universe has a “counterpart” in the other. Simmons leads the way as his counterpart is a superspy, and watching him play against himself is incredible. Fans of espionage and science-fiction will have their heads full with the intricately plotted and twisty story.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: This anthology series tells different tales each episode about the dangers of technology and the depravities people will use it for. From digital worlds to dark dystopias, Black Mirror will have you second-guessing whether you should cut every cord you own just to be safe.
Why it’s worth watching: If you’re in the mood to start hating the human race, Black Mirror is the sci-fi show for you. While most of these stories are a little bit depressing (and some are borderline horrific), a few are uplifting enough to cleanse your palate (check out Season 3’s “San Junipero” or Season 4’s “Hang the DJ” for some heart eyes). The best part about this binge is that while you’ll definitely get hooked, the fact that it’s an anthology series means you won’t necessarily find yourself powering through episodes at 3 a.m. since each episode is a standalone story.
How many seasons: 5

What it’s about: A group of scientists, military personnel and a few civilians accidentally find themselves transported onto an ancient ship, thousands of lightyears from Earth. While stranded in strange galaxies, tensions run high as they attempt to explore the unknown universe and find a way back home.
Why it’s worth watching: Out of all the Stargate series that could have made this list, we picked Stargate Universe because it combines all of our favorite sci-fi elements: a brilliant group of stranded strangers, space, time travel, political infighting and terrifying aliens. It’s literally a one-stop shop for every nerd-tastic fantasy you’ve ever had with the bonus of great performances and top-notch storytelling. We do warn you, however, Stargate Universe was canceled after Season 2 and ended on a pretty huge cliffhanger, so you should go into this binge knowing that when you get to the end, you’ll want to pull your hair out wishing there was more. You’re welcome for the heads up.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: A team of experts led by a kooky old scientist (John Noble), his son (Joshua Jackson), and an FBI agent (Anna Torv) investigate strange occurrences around the country, X-Files style. Their work leads them to discover something entirely new that will change the world forever.
Why it’s worth watching: The J.J. Abrams-produced series is one of the best broadcast science-fiction shows of all time, particularly in its first three seasons, and perfected the art of the serialized procedural by weaving the show’s deep mythology and excellent character work into weekly standalone stories, making it easy to binge or watch in spurts. And by the time the end of Season 1 starts, you’ll have a hard time stopping.
How many seasons: 5

What it’s about: After a deadly virus kills 7 billion people, the survivors living in 2043 send a scavenger named James Cole (Aaron Stanford) to the past to stop the virus from being released in the first place. Naturally, time loops and even forbidden romance get in the way of his mission to save the human race.
Why it’s worth watching: 12 Monkeys is a show you have to pay close attention to in order to keep track of the changing timelines and loops, but ultimately the mythology and the world-building are just too good to pass up! Plus, this show has some of the most kick-butt women on TV, which is harder to find than it should be in the sci-fi genre. With the fourth and final season come and gone, you’ll be able to binge the whole thing start to finish!
How many seasons: 4

What it’s about: The Doctor, a humanoid alien of an extinct race called the Time Lords, travels the universe in his (or her!) Tardis, a time-traveling spaceship that takes that shape of a phone booth. Together with his (or her!) human companions, The Doctor regularly saves the world from destruction with his (or her!) quick wit and timey-wimey adventures.
Why you should watch: If you’re looking for something a little less intense and more whimsical, Doctor Who is the show for you. Typically, each episode travels to a new time period or galaxy (often both) where the Doctor and companions of the moment have wild adventures while escaping the evil clutches of the Daleks and Cybermen. Although, when you least expect it, the show knows just how to hit you where it hurts. So although it’s a show of whimsy, be prepared to cry your eyes out too. Jodie Whittaker joined the series as the first female doctor in Season 11.
How many seasons: 13

What it’s about: Far in the future, scientists have found a way to digitize and save human consciousness, allowing people’s minds to be copied and transported from one body to another, essentially making humans immortal. When one of the richest men in the universe is murdered — though his copied consciousness obviously survives — he hires, Takeshi Kovacs, a mercenary hundreds of years old to figure out who “killed” him. In Season 2, Kovacs, in an entirely new body, searches for his long lost love while investigating a series of new murders.
Why it’s worth watching: This futuristic series will have your head spinning with awesome technological advancements and a mystery that’s almost too tangled to unravel. The kicker, though, is the flashback portion of the saga that not only ties well into the overall narrative but will have you begging for a spin-off based completely in the past.
How many seasons: 2

What it’s about: Nearly 100 years after nuclear war wipes out the human race on Earth, the only survivors are the members aboard a joint-space station called The Ark circling the globe. When overpopulation becomes a problem, The Ark decides to send 100 teenage delinquents to the ground to see if the Earth is habitable, but these misfits find more than bargained for when they arrive.
Why it’s worth watching: Assuming the words “apocalypse” and “teens” didn’t get you, The 100 is worth a binge simply for the dynamic storytelling alone. Rather than focus on hot teens running a community, the show hones in on the lengths to which humans will go to stay alive and whether that survival requires you to lose what it is that makes you human. It’s a pretty insightful look into the future, and with seven seasons under its belt, it’s a good, long binge.
How many seasons: 7

What it’s about: Space cowboys. Enough said.
Why it’s worth watching: What list would be complete without the cult classic Firefly? This short-lived series took fans by storm back in 2002, though it was canceled after only 14 episodes. That makes it a quick binge full of shoot-outs and smuggling that will leave you begging for more. If you want an end to the story, you’ll have to find the wrap-up movie, Serenity, which is currently streaming through Starz.
How many seasons: 1

What it’s about: Thanks to a wormhole in the underground caves beneath the local power plant, strange things start happening in the small German town of Winden. Time travel, disappearing children, and family secrets intertwine in a thrilling mystery that spans three generations.
Why you should watch: Dark is Netflix’s first German-language Original, meaning you’ve either got to watch with subtitles or the English dub. Though it may take you a minute to get into it, once you do, you’re in for a wild ride. Tangled webs of time travel and family secrets pair well with the show’s odd sense of humor, making for a cool mystery that will keep you binging late into the night.
How many seasons: 3

What it’s about: Set in a future where humans have colonized the solar system, prejudices have divided humanity into three camps: Earth, Mars, and The Belt (an asteroid belt). But when a mysterious alien technology is discovered and a political conspiracy spanning the solar system begins to unravel, it becomes up to the idealist James Holden to try and save humanity from the potential alien weapon — and themselves.
Why you should watch: The most intriguing part of The Expanse is the intricate world-building and political machinations that underscore the cool sci-fi stuff like space battles and even gravity torture. The interplanetary conflict at the core of the show’s story creates a ton of juicy arcs that all build toward some seriously unpredictable reveals.
How many seasons: 5

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