More things like Star Trek?
More things like Star Trek?
Over the last few years my family and I have binged all of Star Trek, then moved on to Star Trek adjacent shows like The Orville and Stargate. At the moment we're not really watching anything sci-fi. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for similar shows (or maybe some books) that fill the void left by Star Trek. In particular I really like the episodes that deal with interacting with other civilizations, diplomacy, and exploration more-so than say, an anomaly episode.
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My favorites have all been mentioned, so consider this another recommendation for any duplicates:
- Farscape
- Battlestar Galactica
- Babylon 5
- Stargate (just all of it - including Universe, though it got cut short just when it got great it was still a fun watch.)
- Lexx (very sexual characters for some of it, b/c grade scifi, hilarious and fun but not for children, check reviews / common sense media / etc)
- Fringe (no aliens, weird discoveries and wild science)
- Firefly
- Caprica (BSG prequel)
- The Expanse
- Dark Matter (more about the people than epic scifi, fun show imo)
- Doctor Who
- Earth Final Conflict
- SeaQuest DSV/2032 (I thought it only showed up as 2023 on streaming services, turns out I was wrong and it may show up as the original DSV too)
I might also throw Quantum Leap, Lost Girl, and Adventures of Brisco County Jr as possibly of interest.
And if you haven't watched Lower Decks, it's one of the best Star Trek series imo.
^ This person right here knows their sci-fi. A lot of good recommendations here.
Special shout-out on Dark Matter. I found the first episode almost unwatchable, but that was because I went into it with the wrong attitude. If you don't take it to seriously it's a really fun show (as I discovered when I gave it a second chance). And it just gets better and better. Such a shame it was cancelled too soon (though that seems to go for about 95% of science-fiction TV shows!).
Lexx is fun too, just in a really weird and raunchy way.
STARGATE!
Goofy, but also deep enough. It captures some of that Startrek: TNG vibe in a totally different way. Not a lot of modern stuff has come close to that balance, closest would be Orville and while closest that leans far more into the comedy (I also still effing love that show, I'm just saying it's different).
Also totally agree re: SGU. I loved it. I get why it's divisive, but it's still one of my favorites.
::: It's the first part of the series where humans are on the cutting edge, not behind. Everyone else is gone, everything we knew is outdated, we are finally carrying the burden of being "the fifth race". It's dark because it has to be. It's an amazing addition that was just starting to spread its wings when it got cancelled, :::
It's an amazing addition that was just starting to spread its wings when it got cancelled.
Seaquest dsv is what they want. They changed it to seaquest 2023 for the last season, but I'd skip that anyway, I rewatched it a couple of years ago and that season is just straight garbage. Big changes to the cast, apparently the cast and the producers etc were constantly bickering, and boy does it show. Easy to see why it got canned before the season had even ended.
Very solid list. I have not thought about Seaquest in a very very long time. Might need to rewatch it here. I remember its originally airing like it was yesterday.
Also Sliders is a great 90s sci-fi TV show for up to the 3rd or 4th season from what I remember. As soon as the doc left it went down hill from what I remember 20 some years ago