Somebody's got to mention Red Dwarf. It's kind of like if The Office (UK) and Farscape had a baby and raised it on an old Dr. Who set.
this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
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Babylon 5
Stargate SG-1
Farscape
The Orville, Foundation, farscape, sliders (stop at end of s3), Stargate
Apple TV has had such an amazing run of good sci-fi lately
Silo, Foundation, For all mankind, Murderbot (honestly my favorite), Dark Matter, Pluribus
They are putting out a ton of great stuff.
Their scifi is pretty much the only reason I keep my AppleTV subscription. They put out so much good stuff.
And Pluribus surprised me. I had no interest in it until I found out there are aliens.
Dark Matter was a series I really enjoyed that sadly got canceled abruptly after the third season.
Final Space is an animated comedic take.
bc i havent seen anyone else post it... Galaxy Quest!
Since that IS just Trek in disguise, everybody probably assumes OP has seen it.
fair, fair... i think i've even seen it on a couple of lists of the "best" star trek movies lol.
Babylon 5’s is great if you like serialization. The first season is very weak due to a major health crisis in the principal character that occurred between the shooting of the pilot and the launch of the series. The story was adjusted so that a new station head and actor could take on the lead.
Farscape is an absolute gem and a wild ride. It really picks up after the first 12 episodes. It’s so incredibly influential on so many science fiction shows in the streaming era that it’s worth watching just for that alone. Be aware that the show was canceled before it could wrap up its full arc. A limited series was made later to wrap up the storyline — make sure you’ll be able to be able to get it.
I’m a fan of many of the old 1960s and 1970s shows but watching them really depends on your tolerance for older production styles and scripting. Space 1999 is worth tracking down for sure.
In terms of more recent shows, three serialized shows that involved time travel that actually stuck the landing are Continuum, Travelers, and 12 Monkeys. All are very good, with strong ensembles, but reflect the darker sci-fi trend of the 2010s.
Farscape had absolutely no right to be that good on a $4.99 AUD budget
plus one to farscape. should have listed it in my mentions.
Battlestar Galactica (2004) is my all-timer. A lot of it feels incredibly salient today imo.
The Orville is very good, as it also explores ethics and philosophy like Star Trek and has refreshing ship designs (for example, more vulviform or squid-like, instead of the usual saucer or phallic designs)
The Orville needs a disclaimer, reassuring people that Seth McFarlane's humour is reined in eventually (starting in season 2, iirc) and it grows from an okay parody of Trek and scifi into a show with surprisingly deep plot and character development and gags sprinkled on top. (SMF is a cool guy and he can be funny as long as he's not trying to)
Everything about the Moclans is some of the most courageous stuff I've seen on TV, with obvious and still clever parallels to reality and no easy answers offered. And I hate that some people are probably turned off by Seth being Seth in the beginning and never see those storylines.
Yeah the Orville is pretty open on that. The first couple eps were written for fox execs who wanted frat boy humour. If the stars should appear (ep 4) is the point where you go "oh shit this is real trek!"
There's no greater ship than LEXX!
Orville is the most TNG since TNG.
I'm here to recommend The Expanse. It's more of a near-future dystopian scifi setting than Star Trek, with humanity petty much limited to our own solar system by technology. I read the books before the show became a thing, and I like them both.
I read the books before the show became a thing, and I like them both.
Because the books are great and the show is great I would actually suggest reading it all before watching the show.
If you want funny scifi but with a frequent emotional edge, Red Dwarf is fantastic.
Babylon 5 is fantastic - I guess if I were to describe it briefly (and vaguely), it would be "interstellar political drama with mythological undertones."
Well, I'd do a disservice to my hyperfixation if I didn't at least bring up Doctor Who which does count as science fiction. If you're looking for more in the vein of Star Trek, disregard and do go watch B5 and The Expanse.
Any of the classics really are worth a watch.
The Expanse - more realistic sci-fi that actually accounts for thrust as gravity and slingshots around planets and such. Dystopian but not quite depressingly so. I'm on season 2. Much more serious. Still good. Read the books with a friend.
Babylon 5 - Deep space 9 basically. Complete with godlike alien beliefs and a Vulcan like character. Honestly holds up really well from what I recall though it's been a while since I watched it.
Stargate - very fun. Campy. Not afraid to make fun of itself. Much more action and tropy but a very fun watch. Added bonus, between all three shows you've got like 18 seasons. Plenty to bite into. Honestly one of my favorite shows still.
Firefly - A Western, in space. Very good. Very fun. Love it.
Farscape - almost but not quite a sci-fi parody, but good. Guy gets lost in space, meets aliens, goes on adventure. Several of the actors also got roles in later seasons of Stargate.
stargate certainly and battlestar galactica. if you can handle tos and the old batte star you may want to give buck rogers a try and space 1999.
Not sure if you’re actually wanting animated or not, but Scavenger’s Reign is a good animated sci-fi miniseries of a spaceship crew stranded on a strange planet.
For live action check out the two Callister episodes of Black Mirror.
The Callister episodes are exceptional. I'm usually iffy on Black Mirror, but my partner insisted I watch those and I loved them.
I don't know anything about Babylon 5. But just watch the expanse without knowing anything first season is a slow burn but the payoff in season 2 is well worth it. Some of the best scifi I've watched
Start gate series is my second favorite to star trek, I heard Babylon 5 is good. Didn't like the expanse felt to just more capitalist hellscape then scifi to me but I only watched the first episode but that's just my opinion and observations.
Dr who is a good sci-fi show as well as a rarely talked about show sliders from the 1990s. (Besides the last season imo)
Your opinion on The Expanse is a valid and common one. It is a capitalist hellscape. But it's been mentioned already, it's a slow burn and by the second season you get why it took a while to get there. It's an unfortunate cliche that is true a lot - sometimes, you have to get through the first parts, either because of the needed character/worldbuilding, or simply because the show hasn't found its way yet. Don't give up on it.
Expanse is weird in that Season 1 is a completely different show than the rest of the seasons.
Season 1 is primarily a detective on a space station.
The rest of the seasons follow characters on a spaceship.
The Two are nice. Babylone 5 could seems dated today but there’s some really cool things in it
I’m on my first watch of Farscape, so far so good, great puppets
Firefly maybe ? But Adam Baldwin and Joss Whedon are two very big asshole
"The Two" ?
Babylone 5 and The Expanse. This two. Don’t know why my keyboard capitalise « Two »
Lexx.
I hated it, but it's something alright.
What's to hate?
That shit is hilarious.
It didn't really resonate with me in the sense that it does its thing well, but that thing is not compatible with me.
Like you can respect someone's work ethics or dedication to their hobby, but you don't have to like them as a person.
Upvoting the Lexx. Loved it. Some episodes were weak but that's true of many shows.
I loved it because it was different.
Episode 2.18 - Brigadoom. Normally, musical episodes are shite, but that one is brilliant.
Gotta be honest, I lost interest after a while because the basic premise needs juuust a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Although I'm sure, if you can accept the premise, the individual episodes can be entertaining.
Yeah if the initial premise seems too far out for you, probably best to stop there. The first season gets pretty weird in very 1970s ways at times.
I loved it as a child but it's hard to rewatch. It's not good.
Coming back to add that, if you like character-driven stories, but have never thought that kaiju might be your thing, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters now in its second season on AppleTV might be for you.
The show takes place in the middle of the Monsterverse continuity that currently has the licence for Toho’s Godzilla monsters. It’s an entry point nonetheless. You needn’t have ever seen anything in this continuity or others to get into it.
It’s less focused on fighting Titans than on the mystery of understanding them, the weird science fiction efforts humanity uses to share a world with them, and most of all the characters whose lives are intertwined with the mystery.