The 14 Best Sci-Fi Fantasy Series You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Of course, you’ve all heard of Dr. Who, Foundation, The Mandalorian, Battlestar Galactica, The 100, and all those great sci-fi fantasy front-runners on TV. But there are also quite plenty of absolute gems that never receive the recognition they so well deserve. Of all the great yet little-known TV shows out there, here are the 14 best sci-fi fantasy series you’ve probably never heard of, or want to rewatch in case you haven’t found anything new that you like. Some of these are South Korean series, but they’re available from streaming services in the United States; a few others are TV shows from bygone years.

Arcane – Netflix

November 6, 2021 – present

Yes, the series is based on League of Legends by Riot Games, but you never have to play or even know the game at all to enjoy Arcane. The story follows two sisters in a world separated by a war between the oppressed and the prosperous. Their adventures are full of a blend of technology and magic, framed in a gorgeous-looking animated show.

The Silent Sea – Netflix

December 24, 2021

Sometime in the future, the Earth will be a pretty bleak planet. Sea levels are falling, resources are scarce, and water is rationed. Everyone is desperately thirsty. A team of astronauts takes on a daring mission to collect a sample of lunar water, which might save Earth and its population. However, the sample is lethal, as it reproduces like a virus when exposed to living cells. During the mission, the astronauts are attacked by a superhuman immune to lunar water.

Glitch – Netflix

October 7, 2022

Not to be mistaken with an Australian supernatural drama of the same name, this Glitch is a South Korean sci-fi fantasy series that centers on a missing boyfriend and a conspiracy involving aliens. To solve the mysteries surrounding the disappearance, the girlfriend teams up with a UFO enthusiast.

Memories of the Alhambra – tvN

December 1, 2018, to January 20, 2019

A successful CEO is testing out his latest tech investment, an augmented reality so lifelike that it blurs the line between the truth and the fake. Unsurprisingly enough, Memories of the Alhambra is inspired by Pokémon Go!

Signal – tvN

January 22, 2016 – present

A criminal profiler, Park, stumbles upon a walkie-talkie that allows him to communicate with another detective, Lee, from the past. With the help of yet another detective, the trio are working together to solve various cold cases. What makes Signal a notable entry is how it often uses real-life (yet fictionalized) cold cases to build the narratives.

Sisyphus: The Myth – JTBC

February 17 to April 8, 2021

An engineering genius named Han is like the South Korean version of Sherlock Holmes and MacGyver mixed in one person. Saving a plane from crashing using nothing but the power of deductive reasoning, magnets, and duct tape is just another Tuesday for him. This goes without saying that a person of such a high level of intelligence can invent a time traveling machine, too. But this machine might lead to a dystopian future.

Blood Drive – Syfy

June 14 to September 6, 2017

The premise is strange. Blood Drive is a series released in 2017, and yet its dystopian world is set in the alternate future of 1999. Fracking has caused a series of massive earthquakes, leaving America torn apart. Oil price soars to $2,000 per barrel. The police force has already been privatized, punishing everyone for consuming too much water. Poor people have nearly zero chance of survival, but they can make money by participating in Blood Drive, a road race in which the cars are fueled by blood.

Russian Doll – Netflix

February 1, 2019 – April 20, 2022

Nadia, a game developer, is having the time of her life. Everything seems to fall into just the right place, and she’s comfortable with her day-to-day routine. As she’s celebrating her 36th birthday, however, she inadvertently gets trapped in a time loop and finds herself dying repeatedly. Immediately after death, she always comes back to the same moment at the birthday party.

Final Space – TBS & Adult Swim

February 26, 2018 – May 7, 2018 (TBS) / June 24, 2019 – June 14, 2021 (Adult Swim)

Here’s something you’ve seen many times before. A ragtag group of space-faring species is having a blast navigating the galaxies to save the universe from doom. In this series, they’re also determined to discover a pocket dimension known as the “final space”. It’s best to think of Final Space as an intergalactic comedy; it’s not a serious show, so don’t take it seriously.

Bodies – Netflix

19 October 2023

The same body is found somewhere in East End, London, in four different timelines: 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053. A detective from each year is assigned to the case. As the investigation develops, the detectives realize their cases are linked to each other across the decades. They are forced to collaborate to solve the mystery.

Maniac – Netflix

September 21, 2018

It might be a stretch to say that you’ve probably never heard of Maniac, a miniseries with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill in the starring roles. They’re involved in a pharmaceutical test program aimed at discovering the hidden parts of human memories. In the test, their subconscious and dreams become entangled.

SeaQuest DSV – NBC

September 12, 1993 – June 9, 1996

For a series released in the 1990s, you shouldn’t be surprised to find how the premise puts the year 2018 as the future. In this version of the future, much of the oceans on Earth have been colonized. Multiple factions fight over resources and territories; the only thing standing between peace and total chaos is a submarine known as SeaQuest. The “DSV” in the name is an acronym for Deep Submersible Vehicle, obviously. In most episodes, you can basically replace being underwater with floating in space as the crew encounters many bizarre entities from aliens to genetically engineered creatures.

Another Life – Netflix

July 25, 2019 – October 14, 2021

If you expect sci-fi fantasy at the same level as Foundation or The Expanse, look elsewhere. Another Life is undoubtedly a below-par series, but Katee Sackhoff is portraying the major role, so it can’t be that bad. The story is set in the not-so-distant future, when an anomaly appears in the orbit of the Earth. No one knows what happens, so somebody has to go up there to investigate further.

Star Trek: Prodigy – Paramount+

October 28, 2021 – December 29, 2022

A team of five aliens is incarcerated on an obscure planet in the less-known part of the galaxy. They escape and are now determined to find a starship buried in the sand somewhere on that planet. It is the USS Protostar, a Starfleet ship.

We think sci-fi TV has always been a constant companion for pop culture, and even more so today because we’re now practically living in a sci-fi era where technology is relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what’s plausible. Whether the show is taking you to the past and the future, bringing you to an alternate dimension, sending you to outer space, dragging you down underwater, or throwing you into a barren post-apocalyptic land, science fiction stories – even from the relatively obscure series – can only enrich your imagination and the pop culture landscape at large.

What do you think is the most underrated sci-fi fantasy film ever? Is there any popular big-budget, critically acclaimed sci-fi series that you actually don’t like? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

How many Star Trek TV series are there?

There have been 12 Star Trek series so far:

The Original Series (September 8, 1966 – June 3, 1969)

The Animated Series (September 8, 1973 – October 12, 1974)
The Next Generation (September 28, 1987 – May 23, 1994)
Deep Space Nine (January 3, 1993 – May 31, 1999)
Voyager (January 16, 1995 – May 23, 2001)
Enterprise (September 26, 2001 – May 13, 2005)
Discovery (September 24, 2017 – May 30, 2024)
Short Treks (October 4, 2018 – January 9, 2020)
Picard (January 23, 2020 – April 20, 2023)
Lower Decks (August 6, 2020 – December 19, 2024)
Prodigy (October 28, 2021 – July 1, 2024)
Strange New Worlds (May 5, 2022 – )

What makes science fiction and fantasy different from each other?

According to Ray Bradbury himself, science fiction can be described as a study of the future. It’s everything that the author believes will happen in the future based on today’s reality, scientific discoveries, and technological development. A conventional sci-fi story remains grounded by our current understanding of science and the laws of nature. Fantasy doesn’t really care about what is scientifically plausible and builds the story from fantastical elements such as supernatural, magic, witchcraft, and superstitions. It’s not impossible to put both genres together to build the same narrative.