The 10 Best Sci-Fi Shows With Less Than 20 Episodes, Ranked

Published Nov 14, 2026, 5:18 AM 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 Nineteen episodes or fewer. That's all it has taken several of the greatest sci-fi TV shows in history to join the ranks of the best the genre has ever delivered on the small screen. Though this is a genre that lends itself perfectly to long-running shows that deliver hundreds of incredible episodes of hyper-creative television, there's something magical about a tight, concise sci-fi show that doesn't even need 20 episodes to deliver a masterclass in genre storytelling. Whether we're talking about a miniseries like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace or a full-length show like Arcane, these remarkable shows proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that sci-fi doesn't need to run for decades in order to be incredible. For the purposes of this list, only shows that have already delivered their series finale will be counted, seeing as there are some other sci-fi masterpieces which are less than 20 episodes long only because they're still ongoing. 10 'Loki' (2021–2023) Image via Disney+ It was with WandaVision that the MCU made its first true, fully interconnected foray onto the small screen. To this day, however, the highest-rated MCU show from Disney+ on IMDb is Loki, and that's for good reason. We're talking about one of the most perfect superhero shows of the last five years, focused on one of the most universally beloved MCU characters out there. A solo Loki project was long overdue, and fans couldn't have possibly asked for a better final result. With only two seasons and 12 episodes in total, the show delivered some incredible visuals and production values, a delectable high-concept premise that all fans of multiversal sci-fi should love, and a surprisingly emotional climax for Loki's years-long character arc. 9 'Eerie, Indiana' (1991–1992) Image via NBC Pitched by creators José Rivera and Karl Schaefer as a sort of "Twin Peaks for kids," Eerie, Indiana is one of the strangest, most fascinatingly surreal children's series in the history of television. It's an absolute tragedy that low ratings and high production costs led NBC to cancel it after only one season and 19 episodes in total, because it really did have the potential to grow into something even better. Nonetheless, Eerie, Indiana has remained one of the biggest cult classic shows of its era as the years since its untimely cancellation have passed, with fans hailing it as one of the few true sci-fi show masterpieces of the '90s. Strongly reminiscent of future classics like Gravity Falls and Stranger Things, it's an exquisitely weird, creative, and at times downright scary little gem of children's television. 8 'Life on Mars' (2006–2007) Image via BBC One Screenwriters Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah originally came up with the idea that would eventually turn into Life on Mars back in 1998, envisioning a time travel series satirizing '70s society. At the time, broadcasters rejected the concept. It wouldn't be until 2006 that the show would finally see the light of day, and today, many remember it as one of those mystery shows that are perfect from start to finish. Blending elements of the police procedural, supernatural drama, and sci-fi historical drama genres, Life on Mars is one of the greatest British genre shows of the 21st century. With its 16 episodes across a two-season run, it delivered a mind-bending existential mystery that doesn't lose any of its magic even after several revisits. It's creative, it's emotionally moving, and it's philosophically sharp. 7 'Watchmen' (2019) Image via HBO Seeing as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen is universally recognized as one of the most important and influential works of art in the history of comic books, it's unsurprising that the announcement of an HBO television sequel created by Lost's Damon Lindelof had fans feeling skeptical. In the end, divisive though it was (and remains), it would by no means be exaggerated to say that Lindelof's Watchmen went so far as to surpass those expectations. One of the most thoroughly perfect must-watch miniseries of the last decade, a nine-episode masterpiece pitched by Lindelof as a sort of remix of the original comic series. The show takes the source material's uniquely punchy thematic and philosophical core and masterfully turns it into a sharply 21st-century tale, scathingly talking about themes like systemic racism and historical trauma. 6 'Utopia' (2013–2014) Image via Channel 4 The Channel 4 British conspiracy thriller series Utopia is one of the greatest cult classics of 2010s television, one of those sci-fi shows with absolutely no filler episodes. Over the course of two seasons and 12 episodes in total, the show delivered a masterfully dark and complex study of themes of deep-state paranoia and utilitarian morality. Due to its extremely graphic violence and the way it holds back no punches in depicting sensitive topics like school shootings and political assassinations, the show was hugely polarizing and controversial back when it was on air. Though low ratings led Channel 4 to cancel the series, it has remained a taboo-breaking cult classic in the years since, a must-see for people who love transgressive science fiction. 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 5 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' (2004) Image via Channel 4 Based on their stage show Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight, Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness created the Channel 4 miniseries Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Delightfully meta in every way imaginable, this cult classic is both a loving tribute to cheap '80s sci-fi and horror shows and a parody of the pretentious "auteurs" who created them. With an irresistible sense of humor and a cast at the top of their comedic game, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is one of those miniseries that are absolutely perfect masterpieces, and six episodes were all it took for it to achieve that status. It's campy, it's absurd, it's deceivingly intelligent, and it's endlessly rewatchable in a uniquely (and very intentional) so-bad-it's-good way. 4 'Scavengers Reign' (2023) Image via HBO Max Fans have been clamoring for a second season of the unfairly-canceled Scavengers Reign for years, and creators Joe Bennett and Charles Huettner have admitted that there certainly are some ideas for a potential revival. Nonetheless, the series was originally pitched as a perfectly self-contained miniseries; and as such, it's an airtight sci-fi story with a perfectly satisfying conclusion, which all those who love the genre should watch at least once. People who think that animation is somehow lesser than live-action science fiction have clearly not watched Scavengers Reign, one of the best adult animated shows where every episode's a masterpiece. Highly experimental and avant-garde in its approach throughout 12 episodes, it's far more focused on complex character development and incredibly intricate world-building than it is on any traditional sense of plot. 3 'Arcane' (2021–2024) Image via Netflix As if any more proof were needed that animated science fiction deserves every bit as much respect as live-action science fiction, there's also Arcane, Netflix's adaptation of the legendary multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends. It happens to be one of the best animated sci-fi shows in history, an absolute masterpiece that requires no prior knowledge of the source material in order to be thoroughly enjoyed. Full of richly layered and deeply moving character arcs, simple yet enrapturing world-building, gripping storylines and subplots, and compelling sociopolitical commentary, Arcane is science fantasy at its very best. On top of being visually jaw-dropping and full of phenomenal music, it's one of the most engrossingly dramatic and incredibly action-packed adult animated shows that the small screen has seen in quite some time, and 18 episodes across two seasons were all it took for it to achieve that. 2 'The Prisoner' (1967–1968) Image via ITV Yet another British cult classic that has kept aging like fine wine, Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner (starring McGoohan himself) is one of those near-perfect sci-fi shows that nobody seems to remember. It follows an unnamed British secret agent who, after resigning from his job, is abducted and taken to a surreal coastal prison known as "The Village," where authorities try to get him to reveal why he quit. One season, 17 episodes. That's all it took for The Prisoner to see an evolution more dramatic than what many other sci-fi shows see over the course of several seasons. The show grows more psychedelic, surreal, intellectually challenging, and downright Kafkaesque as it goes on, challenging the norms of episodic television from its time. As such, it feels surprisingly modern even today. 1 'Firefly' (2002–2003) Image via FOX There is arguably no single-season sci-fi show more legendary or iconic than Firefly, whose untimely cancellation remains one of the biggest tragedies in the modern history of network sci-fi television. Before the arrival of its upcoming animated continuation, now should be as perfect a time as any for those who haven't experienced this essential cult classic to finally give it a go. It's one of the most perfect sci-fi shows of the last 25 years, a space Western with some of the most engaging characters and genre-cliché-defying stories that sci-fi has seen on television in a while. It delivers a timeless masterclass in ensemble writing, in delivering futuristic sci-fi grounded in realism, and in balancing episodic and serialized storytelling. It's a cult classic that anyone who loves the genre is pretty much guaranteed to thoroughly enjoy. Firefly Release Date 2002 - 2003-00-00 Network FOX Cast Gina Torres Zoë Washburne