8 Sci-Fi Shows That Get Better the Stranger They Become, Ranked by Weirdness

Published Nov 8, 2026, 8:02 PM EST Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel. A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated. Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point. Sign in to your Collider account There are plenty of genres that can get away with being a little odd and goofy on the small screen, but there is arguably no genre better-suited for tones as quirky and weird as those achieved by several of the best science fiction TV shows in history. These are, after all, stories that ask the audience to suspend their disbelief when experiencing stories full of futuristic, high-tech, and parallel-universe speculative elements, and that weirdness can go a long way in making those speculative words particularly engaging. From long-running classics like Doctor Who to ongoing modern gems like Severance, there are eight particularly noteworthy sci-fi shows which get even better the stranger they become as they go on. Ranked here from weird to weirdest, they just so happen to be eight of the most widely celebrated an universally beloved science fiction TV shows of all time. Coincidence? Fans of bizarre and quirky sci-fi would likely not think so. 8 'Doctor Who' (1963–Present) Although it hasn't been on the air every single year since it first aired back in 1963, and currently seems to be entering yet another hiatus, Doctor Who nevertheless holds the record as the longest-running science fiction show in the history of television. It tells the story of the titular Doctor, an eccentric alien who travels through time and space with companions from several corners of the universe. Every time he dies, he's able to regenerate into a new body and personality, a concept that has been key to the show's survival and timelessness throughout all these years. All in all, Doctor Who is almost undeniably one of the best and most essential network TV shows of all time, but any kind of normal time-traveling show would likely have grown stale after a few years. The way this British classic has endured the test of time has been by embracing the wildest of premises and the weirdest of ideas, growing more entertaining the more out-there those ideas get. It's prone to going overboard with some of those ideas (cough, the Slitheen, cough), but when it's dialed in just right, it can be a real treat. 7 'Legion' (2017–2019) Image via FX Marvel has delivered several of the greatest and most memorable superhero TV shows in history, several of them contained within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it just so happens that one of the best Marvel shows to date is not connected to the MCU at all. We are, of course, talking about Legion, set in a universe parallel to the X-Men film series and following a troubled young man whose lifelong hallucinations turn out to actually be the manifestation of godlike mutant powers. It's one of the most flawless three-season TV shows in history, and since its protagonist is a man with a particularly odd psyche, it should come as no surprise that the series makes constant use of surrealist elements. Those elements only keep growing more intense as the show goes on, and the more intense they become, the harder it becomes to take one's eyes off the screen. Legion is phenomenal enough as it is, but the more it operates on dream logic, the more fun it becomes. 6 'Farscape' (1999–2003) Image via SYFY The Australian-American series Farscape is one of the greatest cult classic sci-fi shows of all time, one of those classic sci-fi shows that are still worth binge-watching today. Co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, this Rockne S. O'Bannon creation is about an American astronaut who's accidentally propelled through a wormhole into a distant galaxy, where he joins a spaceship crew while escaping from a ruthless military regime. Full of stunning production values that have only gotten better-looking and more impressive with age, Farscape has some of the coolest — yet weirdest — world-building of any sci-fi show from the past three decades. It's a show which rejects sterile sci-fi tropes and instead embraces space as messy and chaotic, full of richly original alien designs, jaw-dropping animatronics and prosthetics, and delectably quirky creative choices. 5 'The OA' (2016–2019) Image via Netflix Though it's an absolute tragedy that Netflix canceled The OA after two short-lived seasons due to high production costs and low viewership, it's nevertheless one of the greatest sci-fi shows of the last 10 years. In it, a blind woman returns home after having gone missing for seven years, recruiting five local strangers to help her save a group of dimensional captives. It's one of those sci-fi shows that feel completely different after The Big Twist, and even though it can be frustrating to get to the season two finale and run into a cliffhanger that may very well never be resolved, it's still a must-see show for people who love thought-provoking science fiction. The weirdness here is all perfectly calculated and carefully deliberate, testing the audience and how far they're willing to go in believing that the protagonist really is an interdimensional traveler. COLLIDERInteractive Long-range scan active Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment Collider Survival Assessment Which Sci-Fi WorldWould You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range ▦︎The Matrix ◈︎Mad Max ◑︎Blade Runner ▲︎Dune ✦︎Star Wars Begin the scan Question 01 of 08INSTINCT The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.AFind out what is really going on behind all of it BGrab a vehicle and as much fuel as you can carry CKeep your head down and show up to work anyway DLearn the rules of whoever is in charge now EFind other people and start organizing ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 02 of 08RESOURCE You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.AInformation nobody else has BFuel CClean money and cleaner documents DWater EA ship that can get you off-world ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 03 of 08THREAT Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.AOne that can be anywhere, wearing anyone's face BA convoy of people who want what you are carrying CSomeone who looks exactly like you DA rival family that has been planning your downfall for generations EAn empire with unlimited resources and no patience ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.AAssume they are lying and work around them BNobody is in charge where I am CFollow the orders, file the report, stay invisible DStudy them, get close to them, outlast them EJoin whoever is fighting them ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.AA grey city that feels slightly too perfect BAn endless desert highway CA rainy neon street at three in the morning DA dune sea with a fortress on the horizon EA crowded spaceport full of strangers ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.AA guide who knows far more than they are telling you BOne person you trust and nobody else CNobody. You work alone DA loyal circle you grew up with EA crew of misfits who argue the whole way ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 07 of 08MORALITY Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.ALying to the people closest to you BTaking what you need by force CLooking the other way DPlaying a long game that costs other people dearly EBlowing something very expensive up ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 08 of 08PURPOSE What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.AThe truth, whatever it turns out to be BTomorrow. Just tomorrow CSomething that finally feels like a real life DYour family's name EEveryone who cannot fight for themselves ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Run the scan Scan completeYou would survive ▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file The Wachowskis' 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film Editing. Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the actors. Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot, recovering from neck surgery the whole time. It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the world in front of you. Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question ◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day. You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year. George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a script. The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and real stunt performers. Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024. Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines ◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth nomination. The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 original. Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever he could. Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the two movies. Keeps her head down Private Noir soul ▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file Denis Villeneuve's Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and Original Score. Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan's Tenet so he could score Dune instead. Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. David Lynch's 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade one are both their own legends by now. Plays the long game Reads the room Patient ✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope. You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks' problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon's crew to the Ghost's, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects. John Williams' score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever. Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both seasons. The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+. Collects people Shows up Hope merchant Compatibility readout · top three 1 2 3 ↻ Retake the quiz Copied to your clipboard Scan filed byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Sci-Fi Desk 4 'The Prisoner' (1967–1968) Image via ITV Patrick McGoohan's British cult classic The Prisoner is one of those near-perfect sci-fi shows that nobody remembers anymore, but it's oh so worth either rewatching or discovering today. Far ahead of its time and avant-garde in a way that not many sci-fi series from the '60s ever were, it tells the story of an unnamed secret agent who one day resigns from his job, then gets abducted and taken to a remote community where he's interrogated to find out why he quit. The show feels kind of like a Trojan horse of sorts, and that was entirely by design. What at first may look like a sleek, old-school British spy thriller gradually reveals itself to be something far more radical, surreal, and—of course—strange. It's precisely through this weirdness that The Prisoner explores themes of identity, state control, and surveillance, and it really wouldn't work at all without those growing oddities. The best part is that the more overt those oddities get, the more fascinating the whole show becomes. 3 'Severance' (2022–Present) Image via Apple TV Apple TV jumped aboard the streaming train relatively late into the game, yet they have already delivered several of the greatest streaming-original sci-fi shows of all time, which certainly includes Severance. In it, a team of office workers is revealed to have undergone a brain procedure that separates their "work selves" from their "personal life selves." What ensues is precisely the kind of mystery box sci-fi show that the world had needed since Lost's conclusion 16 years ago. Severance is one of the best sci-fi shows of the last 50 years, and that's precisely because it refuses to offer answers to its many mysteries in anything more than tiny doses. Whenever it does answer a question, it brings up at least a couple more—typically far more head-scratchingly bizarre. It's surreal, it's satirical, it's intentionally over-the-top, and that's all what makes it so hard to stop watching. 2 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' (2016–2017) Image via AMC Studios Based on the novel series of the same name by Douglas Adams, one of the greatest satirists that speculative fiction has ever been graced with, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is one of the most underrated time travel shows of all time. In it, an everyman bellhop and a chaotic, self-proclaimed "holistic detective" who trusts the universe to guide his every decision team up to solve an increasingly weird, mind-bending murder mystery. For people who love Sherlock Holmes stories but constantly find themselves thinking "this needs to make me question my very existence and somehow involve time travel," Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a must-see through and through. With an absurdist sense of humor and a story that relies on weird narrative coincidences, it surely doesn't appeal to every kind of television fan's palate, but there's something irresistibly charming about its increasingly bizarre tone. 1 'Lexx' (1997–2002) Image via Sci Fi Channel One of the most criminally underappreciated sci-fi cult classics of '90s television is the Canadian-German co-production Lexx, one of those underrated sci-fi shows that are much better than they look. In it, a ragtag crew of escaped convicts and misfits steal the Lexx, a sentient, planet-destroying starship, and flee across a series of chaotic universes. Over the course of its four-season run, Lexx dipped its toes into all kinds of diverse tones and subgenres, delivering one of the most well-rounded experiences that any classic sci-fi show ever had to offer. Sexy, grotesque, vast, and completely unapologetic in its campy weirdness, the world of Lexx is just as quirky, unique, and flawed as its characters. The show embraces dark humor, nihilistic themes, and even occasional elements of body horror to elevate its story, delivering an experience so entertainingly varied that you can never quite predict where it's going to go next. Lexx Release Date 1996 - 2002-00-00 Cast Brian Downey Stanley H. Tweedle