Take a trip through the infinite possibilities of your imagination by using these ten of the most innovative science fiction shows. Explore future settings where humankind and technology coexist and truth and illusion are blurred. Every series, from interstellar travel to dystopian society, defies traditional storylines and tackles important issues about life, awareness, and the nature of reality itself. Get ready for gripping narratives, original ideas, and surprising turns that will make you wonder about the existence of the cosmos itself.

1. Black Mirror (2016 – Present)

Charlie Brooker is the creator of the British anthology television series Black Mirror. While the show’s episodes cover a wide range of genres, the majority take place in speculative fiction, or near-future dystopias equipped with sci-fi technology. The Twilight Zone served as inspiration for the television show, which makes social commentary on current events through media and technological themes. With significant assistance from executive producer Annabel Jones, Brooker writes the majority of the episodes.

There are 27 episodes spread between six seasons, one special, and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), an interactive movie. The British network Channel 4 broadcast the first two seasons in 2011 and 2013, together with the “White Christmas” special in 2014. After that, the show relocated to Netflix, where it ran for four more seasons in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2023. In 2025, a seventh series is scheduled for publication. Netflix created two related webisode series, and Inside Black Mirror, a book that goes along with the first four episodes, was released in 2018. Numerous episode soundtracks have been made available as CDs.

Numerous critics rank the series among the top 10 TV shows of the decade of the 2010s. Nonetheless, a few commentators have noted the series’ deteriorating quality or concluded that its morality is clear. “San Junipero,” “USS Callister,” and “Bandersnatch” were the three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards winners for Outstanding Television Movie on the show. Reviewers have considered some episodes of Black Mirror as prophetic, and the show, along with American Horror Story and Inside No. 9, has been credited for bringing back the anthology television genre.

2. Maniac (2018)

After being announced in 2016, the American dark psychological comedy drama television miniseries Maniac debuted on Netflix on September 21, 2018. The series was written by Patrick Somerville and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. It was heavily inspired by several well-known movies and was very loosely based on the 2015 Norwegian television series of the same name, which starred co-creator Espen PA Lervaag. Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux, Sonoya Mizuno, Gabriel Byrne, and Sally Field are the cast members of the ten-episode series. The story revolves on two complete strangers who become friends in a futuristic New York City during a surreal drug experiment.

Critics gave the series favorable reviews when it first came out, complimenting its director, acting, and visuals—especially Stone and Hill’s performances. The show won several awards and was nominated for two more: one for Stone’s performance at the 23rd Satellite Awards and the other for the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards; also, the series was nominated for the 71st Writers Guild of America Awards for overall writing.

3. Altered Carbon (2018 – 2020)

Based on Richard K. Morgan’s 2002 novel of the same name, Altered Carbon is an American cyberpunk television series developed by Laeta Kalogridis. In an alternate reality where individuals possess the ability to shift their mind between several bodies, Takeshi Kovacs, a former military turned detective, is let out of jail to investigate a murder. Ten episodes make up the inaugural season, which debuted on Netflix on February 2, 2018. The show was revived on July 27, 2018, for a second season consisting of eight episodes. The second season premiered on February 27, 2020, and on March 19, 2020, an anime film that was pre-released for the first season was published. Despite having mostly favorable reviews, the show was discontinued after just two seasons.

4. Wayward Pines (2015 – 2016)

Based on Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines novels, the Wayward Pines television series is an American mystery science fiction series. M. Night Shyamalan directed the television pilot that Chad Hodge developed, and both served as executive producers. Fox launched the series on May 14, 2015, and it ended its first season on July 23, 2015. Fox gave the show a second season renewal on December 9, 2015, and it ran from May 25 to July 27, 2016. 2018 saw the cancellation of the show.

Ethan Burke, a U.S. Secret Service agent, is looking into the disappearance of two other agents in the enigmatic little town of Wayward Pines, Idaho, during the first season. Following a vehicle accident, Ethan finds himself unable to leave and unable to communicate with the outside world. One of the agents is dead, and the other, Kate Hewson, his ex-lover, has made her home in the ostensibly picture-perfect village. But an electric fence and a series of regulations enforced by the severe Sheriff Arnold Pope have locked the residents of Wayward Pines there. Any attempt to flee is met with a public hanging known as a “reckoning,” in which the sheriff slices the neck of the guilty. As he works to uncover the truth, Ethan makes time to be with his children and wife again.

In the second season, Dr. Theo Yedlin, a physician, finds himself embroiled in a conflict between the underground rebels headed by Ethan Burke’s son Ben Burke and Jason Higgins, the leader of the First Generation, who had taken over Wayward Pines after the Abbie event that ended the first season. The last few humans of Wayward Pines go into cryosleep at the end of the series, and Yedlin carries out a biological warfare plan to exterminate every Abbie species on the planet—despite having discovered that they are sentient—in order for the few hundred humans to retake control and carry on the destructive cycle.

5. Fringe (2008 – 2013)

The American science fiction television series Fringe was developed by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and J.J. Abrams. It debuted on September 9, 2008, on the Fox television network, and ran for five seasons, totaling one hundred episodes, until ending on January 18, 2013. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Walter Bishop (John Noble), a brilliant but dysfunctional scientist, and his disturbed son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) are all part of the newly established Fringe Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The team, which is based in Boston, Massachusetts, investigates a number of mysterious and frequently horrifying events that are connected to a parallel world using fringe science.

The program, which draws inspiration from television series like The X-Files, Lost, and The Twilight Zone as well as movies like Altered States, has been called a combination of fantasy, procedural dramas, and serials. In its earlier seasons, the show was serialized more than it was when it started out as a conventional mystery-of-the-week program. The majority of the episodes have a stand-alone narrative, although a few more also delve into the overall mythology of the show.

At initially, the show’s reaction from critics was lackluster; however, that changed after the first season, when the show started delving further into its mythology, which included multiple timelines and parallel universes. Numerous significant accolades were nominated for the program, as well as the actors and crew. The series gained a cult following in spite of its low ratings and transfer to the “Friday night death slot”. In addition, it gave rise to three books, an alternate reality game, and two six-part comic book series.

6. Manifest (2022 – 2023)

Jeff Rake is the creator of the American supernatural drama television series Manifest, which debuted on NBC on September 24, 2018. The main characters are the passengers and crew of a commercial airplane who, after five and a half years of being thought to be dead, abruptly reappearance. Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis, Jack Messina, J. R. Ramirez, Luna Blaise, Matt Long, Holly Taylor, Daryl Edwards, and Ty Doran are among the actors who feature in it.

There is a brief stretch of extremely turbulent air as Montego Air Flight 828 is flying from Jamaica to New York City. NSA deputy director Robert “Bobby” Vance informs the 191 passengers and crew upon landing at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York, that more than five and a half years had elapsed since their flight, during which time they were believed to be dead. The passengers, upon returning to civilization, are faced with the realization that their lives and those of their loved ones have changed. In addition, they start to hear guiding voices and see glimpses of future events, which they refer to as “callings”.

NBC approved further episodes for the first season in October 2018, and the show was then renewed for a second season that debuted in 2020 and a third season that debuted in 2021. Following three seasons, NBC canceled the series in June 2021. Just before it was canceled, the show was posted on Netflix, and it quickly shot to the top of the watching statistics. This convinced Netflix to renew Manifest for a fourth and final season, which will have twenty episodes total, with part one airing on November 4, 2022, and part two on June 2, 2023.

7. Russian Doll (2019 – 2022)

Created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler, Russian Doll is an American comedy-drama television series that debuted on Netflix on February 1, 2019. The show centers on Nadia Vulvokov (Lyonne), a game developer who keeps dying and reliving the same night in an unending time loop. In an attempt to understand the mystery, Nadia discovers Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett) in a similar predicament. Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, and Chloë Sevigny are also included.

Lyonne was nominated for fourteen Primetime Emmy Awards for its debut season, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series. The show received a second season renewal in June 2019; it debuted on April 20, 2022.

Russian Doll centers on Nadia, a lady who, one night in New York City, is at her 36th birthday party when she finds herself in a time loop. As she attempts to figure out what is happening to her, she keeps dying and always comes back at the same point during the party. In a separate occasion, she meets a man who is going through the same thing.

In season 2, Nadia was sent back in time to 1982 by the 6 train only ten days before her 40th birthday. She quickly learns that she is imprisoned within her mother Lenora’s body while she is still carrying her child. To turn her life around, Nadia makes the decision to go for the gold Krugerrands her mother misplaced in the same year.

8. Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)

Based on Todd Grimson’s book of the same name, Brand New Cherry Flavor is a limited-run American horror drama television series developed by Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion. Manny Jacinto, Jeff Ward, Eric Lange, Rosa Salazar, and Catherine Keener are among the cast members. The Netflix original series debuted on August 14, 2021.

Lisa N. Nova (Rosa Salazar) is determined to direct her debut film when she moves to Los Angeles. Nevertheless, everything goes wrong and a dream project becomes a nightmare when she puts too much confidence in someone and is stabbed in the back. In this specific nightmare, there are hit men, zombies, otherworldly kitties, and an enigmatic tattoo artist who enjoys cursing people. To escape alive, Lisa will also need to unravel a few mysteries from her own history.

9. Behind Her Eyes (2021)

Based on Sarah Pinborough’s 2017 novel of the same name, Behind Her Eyes is a British noir supernatural psychological thriller television series that debuted on Netflix on February 17, 2021. The show was developed by Steve Lightfoot. Robert Aramayo, Eve Hewson, Tom Bateman, and Simona Brown are the stars of the limited series.

The plot of Behind Her Eyes centers on Louise, a single mother whose world is turned upside down when she has an affair with David, her new boss. Things become even stranger when she forges an odd relationship with Adele, David’s wife. The story begins as an unusual love triangle but quickly turns into a suspenseful psychological thriller full of twists and turns as Louise is entangled in a web of secrets where nobody and nothing is who they seem to be.

10. Love, Death & Robots (2019 – Present)

Tim Miller is the creator of the adult animated anthology television series Love, Death & Robots, which is available on Netflix. While Blur Studio produces the series overall, individual episodes are created by several animation companies from various nations and cover a variety of genres, with a focus on humor, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. All three of the titular concepts are related to at least one of the episodes. Along with Joshua Donen, David Fincher, and Jennifer Miller, Miller is the showrunner and producer. Philip Gelatt writes the majority of the episodes, which are adapted from short tales.

The animated series is made up of a number of short films, each with a separate cast and crew, but there is some staff overlap in certain episodes. The conceptual relationship between each episode and one or more of the three main issues is referenced in the series title. Apart from the topics and genres, there are no narrative ties among the shorts, save for “Three Robots: Exit Strategies” in Season 3, which is a follow-up to “Three Robots” in Season 1.

March 15, 2019 marked the release of the first season, May 14, 2021 for the second season, and May 20, 2022 for the third season. Critics have given the program favorable reviews, praising its inventiveness, varied subjects, and animation style in each episode but criticizing its frequent usage of mature material. The program has received many Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

The fourth season of the show was renewed in August 2022.