Best Classic American TV Science Fiction Shows

By Raymond Lockley

While television programming executives seem to consider science fiction to be a fringe concept (no pun intended), a review of the programming from the 1950s and 60s reveals a plethora of sci-fi choices--especially when one defines SF broadly. And for many of us of my generation, who grew up in the Atomic Age, in the shadow of Sputnik and Apollo, these shows were central to our processing how humanity faces its fears and makes moral decisions.

In many ways, this was the most enjoyable list for me to compile--not only because of the trip down random memory lane (sorry again), but because there are so many shows that fit my general list criteria. Certainly, shows like "Star Trek" have iconic characters which are frequently imitated and spoofed. Beyond that, though, many of these shows have entered the cultural lexicon so broadly that even people who have never seen them can readily quote from them:

  • "Beam me up, Scotty."
  • "He's dead, Jim."
  • "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!"
  • "Picture a man going on a journey..."
  • "We can rebuild him."
  • "Faster than a speeding bullet."
Because there are so many high-quality shows, and because there are several sub-genres that make comparison difficult, I have broken the list into four categories (the rationales for which are self-explanatory) of five shows each: [By the way, this genre should arguably be named the Irwin Allen Memorial Category--Allen produced, directed, and wrote four of the shows on my list, as well as many other sci-fi TV shows, TV movies, and films. The Irwin Allen series appearing below are: "Lost in Space", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "The Time Tunnel", and "Land of the Giants".]

Here are my lists of the best classic American science fiction TV shows...

Space-Based Series

  1. Star Trek [the original series], 1966-69
  2. Lost in Space, 1965-68
  3. Flash Gordon, 1954-55
  4. Buck Rogers, 1950-51
  5. Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, 1950-55
"Star Trek", of course, is the gold standard of SF TV franchises. But "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" should be well-known, too, if for no other reason than it is the answer to a great trivia question: in its initial run (no syndication), it aired on all four major TV networks, including the summer of 1951, when it was on both ABC and NBC. (It originally aired on CBS, and was also on DuMont.)

Earth-Based Series
  1. The Invaders, 1967-68
  2. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 1964-68
  3. The Time Tunnel, 1966-67
  4. Land of the Giants, 1968-70
  5. My Favorite Martian, 1963-66

Anthology Shows
  1. The Twilight Zone, 1959-64
  2. Tales of Tomorrow, 1951-53
  3. The Outer Limits, 1963-65
  4. Science Fiction Theatre, 1955-57
  5. Lights Out, 1946-52

Superhero Series

 As discussed in my Do-Gooder list, there is a difference between a regular hero and a super-hero. A regular hero (or in my parlance, a "do-gooder") just runs around upholding law and order without any special "powers", whereas a superhero is a hero with superpowers (which may come from technology or other forms of magic, or by virtue of the hero being an alien). A do-gooder performs feats that are plausible, whereas a superhero performs feats (e.g. flying) that require a suspension of disbelief. Thus, Batman is considered a do-gooder, where as Superman is a superhero and falls under the SF genre.

So here is my initial superhero list:

  1. The Adventures of Superman, 1952-58
  2. The Six Million Dollar Man, 1974-78
  3. Spider-Man, 1967-70
  4. Captain Nice, 1967

Honorable Mention

 Here are a few other memorable shows which do not quite fit the criteria (some because they are not from the US): "Captain Video", by the way, is generally considered the first American sci-fi series. It aired on the old DuMont Television Network.

To index of lists