Science fiction has always had a habit of creating content ahead of its time. Books, movies, and shows have long created captivating plots that sometimes eerily predict the future. Often, sci-fi shows stand out among the rest by creating innovative plots, breaking the mold of television tropes, and surpassing expectations. They’re famous for making viewers stop and think, telling heavy-hitting tales or inspiring adventures. Sci-fi is no stranger to tackling social issues, philosophical debates, and more, turning them into digestible content for all audiences. No matter the take, there’s no denying that many sci-fi series have been well ahead of their time, and probably always will be.
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In many ways, sci-fi as a whole is defined by pushing boundaries and exploring new concepts. This frequently puts sci-fi in a place where it is ahead of its time, from predicting (or guiding) technology trends to covering complex debates of morality and philosophy. We can always count on sci-fi content to get us thinking, and that’s probably one of the many reasons why this genre is so popular. Unfortunately, we can’t list every single sci-fi show here, as tempting as it may be. So we’ll focus on ten examples of sci-fi shows ahead of their time.
1) Fringe
Fringe is one of many sci-fi shows that captivated a generation of viewers and never let go. The show incorporates a unique blend of genres, including sci-fi, paranormal fiction, and procedural drama, to create something wholly new. The story focuses on the Fringe Division, a Federal Task Force that handles well, “fringe science.” Their missions handle everything from transhumanist experiments to parallel universes, and pretty much anything else viewers could ever have dared to imagine.
Fringe did so much more than merge genres. Its portrayal of multiverse storytelling was groundbreaking, especially at the time. The show wasn’t afraid to look directly at scientific concepts, portraying consciousness transfers, precognition, and synthetic biology in a flawless manner. Running counter to the heavy sci-fi themes were deeply emotional centers, often revolving around philosophical debates.
2) Lost
Lost was perhaps one of the most discussed shows of its time, and that’s probably an understatement. Audiences fell head over heels for Lost, and even those who don’t normally dive into sci-fi content had to appreciate the story being told here. The story follows a group of survivors from a plane crash, who now find themselves stranded on an isolated island. That part of the plot may not seem incredibly revolutionary, because we’ve seen a few takes on the whole “stranded on an island” trope.
What put Lost ahead of its time was how it took a classic network drama concept and turned it into a more serialized format, allowing for many more shows to follow suit. Additionally, the creative use of flashbacks, flash-forwards, and other storytelling elements enabled the show to delve into more philosophical concepts and themes, which surprised many viewers at the time. It’s safe to say that while not every fan was thrilled with how Lost concluded, the show itself left a lasting impact on the genre.
Lost is available to stream on Hulu and Netflix.
3) Firefly
Any fan of Firefly will talk all day about how the show was ahead of its time, explaining how it deserved more than one season (plus a movie). To be fair, they’re not wrong! Firefly took Western drama and incorporated it into the world of sci-fi, creating a compelling tale of found family and corporate overreach. Firefly first aired in 2002, though it was set in the year 2517. It tells the story of humanity taking to the stars. They’ve spread across planets and moons, colonizing these places to the best of their ability. One superpower has taken charge, but this leaves outliers at the border of society.
The Firefly crew is a ragtag bunch of characters, but each one brings unique challenges and backstories into the mix, adding to the human heart of the story. The character-driven storytelling format was borderline groundbreaking at the time, creating emotional stories that captivated audiences. Meanwhile, the show wasn’t afraid to tackle politics, trauma, bureaucracy, and so much more.
Firefly is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
4) Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is an anime set in the year 2071, so automatically, we know the story was going for a slightly more futuristic take. However, that isn’t what made this show feel so ahead of its time. Cowboy Bebop is a fan-favorite series following a group of bounty hunters as they travel around the galaxy, but that description doesn’t capture what made this series so profound.
Cowboy Bebop is famous for the way it blended genres, merging sci-fi with Western themes, not to mention a dash of cyberpunk and jazz. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. However, that was just the start, as Cowboy Bebop dealt with mature and existential themes, with each character dealing with flaws – they were more than archetypes, but human beings dealing with their past. It’s no wonder this series captivated a generation, getting an anime movie and later a live-action treatment. It’s the sort of story that never really lets go.
Cowboy Bebop is available to stream on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Disney+.
5) Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is a fan-favorite sci-fi series that spanned five seasons, and it’s safe to say this one left a mark on the genre. Set in the far future, Babylon 5 is named for the space station where most of the story is told. This station was created as a neutral ground for humans and alien races, a place for diplomacy and trade in equal measure. Naturally, the characters get involved in many conflicts and debates, opening the door to many vital conversations.
There are so many reasons why Babylon 5 can be considered ahead of its time, from the way J. Michael Straczynski planned the series (the entire five season arc was mapped out ahead of time) to the intense themes the show felt comfortable playing with. Babylon 5 tackled everything from authoritarianism to war propaganda and anything that fell in between.
Babylon 5 is available to stream on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video.
6) The Twilight Zone
Sci-fi fans should thank The Twilight Zone for all the heavy lifting it did, establishing a path forward for countless other sci-fi TV series. The show first started in 1959 and was an anthology format, telling different adventures and covering a diverse array of themes and concepts, anything from pure sci-fi to fantasy, horror, and even absurdism.
Each episode of The Twilight Zone was entirely self-contained, which gave it an immense amount of freedom. Created by Rod Sterling, the show often rebelled against network censorship (something Sterling had dealt with a lot in the past). Because of this, The Twilight Zone often used allegories and metaphors to sneak complex themes past the censors. It revolutionized storytelling for many and created a blueprint of sorts for many others to follow suit. There’s a reason why The Twilight Zone is referenced so often in pop culture.
The Twilight Zone is available to stream on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video.
7) Black Mirror
Black Mirror is an anthology sci-fi series that hit shockingly hard, telling stories that linger in society’s subconscious to this day. Black Mirror borders on speculative fiction and dystopian storytelling styles, telling different tales and near-futures. What made the show so memorable is that it took details from today’s culture and pushed them to the extreme, portraying horrifying “what if” scenarios.
Black Mirror may have been heavily influenced by today’s culture, but there’s no denying how the exchange ended up going both ways. The show was ahead of its time and left many marks, both on the genre and streaming as a whole. There are plenty of cautionary tales tucked into these stories, from warnings of deepfakes (“Be Right Back” and “White Christmas”) to the addictive nature of short-form content (“The Entire History of You”), all of which aired well before that technology was an every day occurrence.
Black Mirror is available to stream on Netflix.
8) Battlestar Galactica
Realistically, both iterations of Battlestar Galactica are beloved and ahead of their time. However, the 2004 run certainly got more attention, not to mention a total of four seasons. Battlestar Galactica is one of several shows to combine multiple themes, including political drama, military sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic. The story is set in a distant star system, with the human race in the crosshairs of the Cylons, an android race (predictably created by humans).
Battlestar Galactica was bold and unafraid, putting it ahead of its time in many ways. It created emotionally complex stories, even going so far as to weave in allegories for events of the time. Meanwhile, the characters were human, and by that we mean they’re flawed and dance around a morally gray line, at times. These examples barely scrape the surface of everything Battlestar Galactica experimented with and portrayed.
Battlestar Galactica is available to rent on YouTube or Amazon Prime Video.
9) Severance
Severance may be one of the newer shows on this list, but it still deserves a spot among the rest. Severance tells a story of modern corporate dystopia, and truthfully, its story should chill viewers to the bone. In the show, Lumon Industries has somehow convinced some of its workers to undergo what they call a severing procedure. This procedure, which is elective brain surgery, mind you, split the worker into two personas, the working individual (the Innie) and the external individual (the Outtie). It isn’t hard to see how this would immediately open the door to moral and ethical debates, which the show deals with immediately.
Severance is unafraid to tackle heavy truths, dramatizing workplace alienation, data privacy, and anti-capitalist themes. The layered storytelling approach allows for multiple debates simultaneously, from corporate overreach and abuse to the identity of self. Combined with an air of slow-burn mystery, it’s a compelling tale that is forging a new path forward for sci-fi.
Severance is available to stream on Apple TV+.
10) Star Trek
Let’s be real, every single iteration of Star Trek has been ahead of its time. The franchise is famous for pushing boundaries and starting debates about the politics of the time, not to mention the way it uncannily predicts technological futures. And it all began with Star Trek: The Original Series. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the show follows the starship USS Enterprise as the science crew explores vast solar systems and beyond.
Star Trek: TOS was a groundbreaking series, and it did so much for the world of sci-fi. Star Trek: TOS had many firsts for the time, and that still resonates with its audience to this day. The show’s themes deal with what were considered controversial topics of the time, through the comfortable and “safe” lens of sci-fi. Despite these hard-hitting points, the show is famous for its more optimistic outlook on the future.
Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount+.
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