Science fiction has long been one of television’s most popular genres and for good reason. It’s one that explores fantastic concepts, futuristic ideas and settings, strange worlds and concepts, and even unusual and uncomfortable characters all packaged in an entertaining way that allows the audience to ask big questions about their own existence while being entertained. Some of the most beloved shows in television history fall under the sci-fi umbrella, like Star Trek and Doctor Who, with many running for multiple seasons and leaving lasting impact on popular culture.
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However, not every sci-fi series got a chance to fully reach their potential. Some series were handled poorly by their networks, leading to lackluster performance while others had the misfortune of being part of failed streaming experiments. Others had high concepts that may have been just a little ahead of their time, but no matter what the reason, there are some sci-fi series that deserve a second chance. Be it a full reboot or merely a revival, these series have so much more to offer — and we want to see it.
10) Don’t Look Deeper
Remember Quibi? Probably not, which is part of the reason Don’t Look Deeper deserves a second chance. Released in 2020 on the now-defunct Quibi platform, Don’t Look Deeper stars Marvel favorite Don Cheadle, Emily Mortimer, and Helena Howard, and was directed by Twilight filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke. The mini-series followed Aisha (Howard), a high school senior who starts to realize that something is very wrong with her and with that realization sets off a series of events that endangers everything in her life. The series explored themes of artificial intelligence and what it means to be human and would be perfect to get a full reboot today, especially with the growing prevalence of AI. And for those wanting to actually watch Don’t Look Deeper, despite Quibi being defunct, you’re in luck: the whole series is available on Tubi.
9) Roswell
This one might be cheating a little, considering that it did already get a full reboot with 2019’s Roswell, New Mexico, but the original Roswell still deserves another crack with a brand-new reboot. The original series follows a trio of aliens hiding in plain sight as high school students in New Mexico. Based on Melinda Metz’s Roswell High series of books, the series ran for 3 seasons on The WB. The 2019 reboot reimagined the series as following adult characters, but going back to the teen roots of the story would be a better approach, especially in a current television landscape that is a little light on programming for that demographic.
8) Awake
Awake was an underrated gem that earned a lot of critical praise, but simply never found its audience. Airing on NBC for just one season in 2012 — and even have its pilot episode released on Hulu a full two weeks before it’s linear release — Awake stars Jason Isaacs as Michael Britten, a police detective whose family is in a terrible car accident but following the accident, Michael finds himself switching between two different realities every time he goes to sleep. In one reality, his wife dies in the accident. In the other, his son. Unable to tell which reality is true, he begins to use what he learns in each reality to solve police cases in the other, as well as determine which reality is truly “real”. It’s a fascinating premise and while the series ended in a satisfying way, it’s one that should come back — ideally if Isaacs could return.
7) Revolution
Airing for two seasons on NBC, Revolution was a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series that took place in a near-future 2027 15 years after a worldwide, permanent electrical blackout. The series had a lot of layers. There was the survival aspect of a world so reliant on electricity suddenly becoming permanently without and what that looks like. There was the political element, as society and order collapsed and new forms of control and rule formed. There was family drama woven into both the survival and the political elements of the series, and then there was the question of what had caused the blackout in the first place and the revelation that it’s something that could be reversed or controlled. With various technological changes since this series’ original release in 2012, this series getting a full reboot making updates to the cause of the blackout would be fascinating.
6) V
Another “this could be cheating” moment, 2009’s V was itself a reboot of the classic 1980s miniseries of the same name. V followed the arrival of presumably benevolent aliens, called the Visitors, who offered humanity advanced technology and medical miracles. But a group of humans soon discover that the Visitors have darker intentions and are really there to conquer the planet. Drawing on conspiracy theories for inspiration and serving as an allegory for fascism, V is at its core a sci-fi classic, but given how the social landscape has changed with the prevalence of social media and the spread of misinformation, a fresh new reboot of this classic would be incredibly timely and besides, who doesn’t like alien invasion series?
5) Almost Human
Almost Human never had a chance. Airing for one season on Fox in 2013, The series was mishandled by the network from the jump, which aired the episodes out of order. While each episode featured largely self-contained stories, the development of character relationships was not so contained and by airing things out of sequence, the series suffered and that was a big problem. The series followed John Kennex (Karl Uban), a human detective who is partnered with an advanced android named Dorian (Michael Ealy). While Kennex is reluctant to work with Dorian initially, the two begin to grow a real friendship. The series deserves not only a chance to be shown in the correct order, but a revival would allow for the series to deal with the various mysteries that were left hanging when the series was cancelled.
4) Jericho
Jericho has an interesting place in television history. The series debuted in 2006 on CBS and centered on the residents of the fictional Jericho, Kansas in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 cities in the United States. Cut off from the rest of the world, the town has to not only struggle to adapt to the new world they live in but also come together to survive as they face unexpected threats both from outside their community and within it. It was a realistic portrayal of the human impact of catastrophe and developed a passionate fanbase so when the series was cancelled after just one season, those fans mailed tons of peanuts to the network (a reference to a line in the series) and managed to get the show renewed. The second season leaned more into the political elements of things and left things on the brink of a second civil war when the series was cancelled for a second time. Nearly 20 years later, Jericho is ripe for a full reboot, especially if it fully explored the political and social impact of such a devastating event.
3) FlashForward
In FlashFoward, a mysterious event causes almost everyone on Earth to blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009, and, during this blackout, those experiencing it experience visions of their lives six months in the future on April 29, 2010. A team of FBI agents come together to try to figure out what caused the blackout in the first place, what the “flash-forwards” means, and perhaps most pressingly, if it will happen again. It’s extremely interesting and very high-concept and, unfortunately, the series only lasted for one season on ABC in 2009 and left on a massive cliffhanger when another blackout causes people to experience flash-forwards decades into the future on different dates. The mystery had only barely started when the show was cancelled so this one needs a full-on reboot and there’s plenty of material to explore — the series is based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel of the same name.
2) Firefly
This list would not be complete if Firefly wasn’t on it. Frequently cited as a series cancelled before its time, Firefly ran for just one season in 2002 before it was cancelled by Fox and was cancelled after only 11 of its 14 episodes aired. While the series did get a follow-up movie in 2005, Serenity, that tied up the loose ends left by the series’ cancellation, fans have wanted a second season for 23 years. Given how much time has passed, a full reboot is much more likely at this point but given how beloved this series is and the wave of nostalgia in media, Firefly seems like a strong sci-fi series to bring back so we can navigate the universe with the crew of the spaceship Serenity again.
1) The OA
Hailed by many as a supernatural sci-fi masterpiece, The OA aired just two seasons before Netflix cancelled it in 2019 and while six years have passed, the calls for a revival have not gotten any quieter. The OA follows a young woman named Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling) who reappears after being missing for seven years and, despite having been blind when she disappeared, can now see and calls herself “the OA”. The story is complex and twisty, and the second season ended on a wild cliffhanger that saw the characters enter the “real world” on the set of a television show. It was brilliant and bizarre and there’s never been any explanation.
Fans have spent years speculating about what that ending means and have been clamoring for years for more and they are not alone. The series’ creators and stars also want to continue the story. Co-creator Zat Batmanglij has previously said that Netflix tried to get them to wrap things up with a movie, which was declined, but there were three more planned seasons. If any sci-fi series needs a second chance, it’s this one. The OA needs a revival to get those three planned season so its full story can be told.
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