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14 Underrated Sci-Fi TV Shows That Are Legitimately Funny
If you're a fan of science fiction, it's possible you've seen every episode of your most beloved sci-fi shows so many times you could storyboard them. Why not check out a few underrated ones whose starships have flown under your radar?
With all the options out there, you are certain to find some new favorites. For every Doctor Who, Futurama, Firefly, or The Orville, there’s a Red Dwarf, Final Space, Other Space, and Making History. All of the following have a lot of fun with the genre, serving up solid comedy in unique sci-fi worlds.
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Though it ran for five seasons on the Syfy network, Eureka really doesn’t get its due. The series sees a US Marshall happen upon the top-secret town of Eureka. The small town is home to the country’s brightest scientists, each attempting to create inventions that will shape our future. In true sci-fi fashion, each episode introduces new - and often ill-fated - creations, many of which appear just outside the realm of possibility.
Well-written and acted, the show is truly funny and really leans into its sci-fi elements. It’s a genre-lover's delight, and now available on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston
- Premiered: July 18, 2006
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This British sci-fi comedy, which ran for a whopping 11 seasons, sees the last human in existence and his motley crew of buddies (including a snooty hologram, an evolved cat, and a fastidious android) go on a series of wacky space adventures aboard a mining ship.
The laugh-out-loud BBC2 classic was the recipient of both an Emmy and a British Comedy Award. Though beloved and wildly popular in the UK for its snappy dialogue and sci-fi homages, the show is fairly unknown in the United States.
- Actors: Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, Norman Lovett
- Premiered: February 15, 1988
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Characters travel between parallel universes in this late-1990s sci-fi series. The group “slides” into these different realities in hope of finding their original world. Each parallel universe resembles our own, but with a few important differences, like a reality in which America lost the Revolutionary War, one where antibiotics were never discovered, and another in which the patriarchy never existed and women run the show.
While the first few seasons are well-regarded, issues like network jumps, studio friction, and actor departures led enthusiasm for the show to wane in its later years.
- Actors: Jerry O'Connell, John Rhys-Davies, Kari Wuhrer, Cleavant Derricks, Robert Floyd
- Premiered: March 22, 1995
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This mid-1990s sci-fi western stars the king of camp, Bruce Campbell. As our protagonist, the Harvard-Law-graduate-turned-bounty-hunter uses all sorts of steampunk gadgets to fight bad guys and go on wild adventures.
The quirky, one-season show has a lot of fun playing with Old West tropes. Though the series is relatively unknown, the show’s fans are diehard. It's totally worth taking a look on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Bruce Campbell, Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson
- Premiered: August 27, 1993
Legit funny?Starring Elijah Wood and Samuel Barnett, the BBC America series stuck around for two seasons. The bubbly “holistic detective” solves his supernatural cases through his belief in the power of fate and the interconnectedness of the universe. As Dirk goes about his business, a “holistic assassin,” who also was part of a government program for people with unusual abilities, hunts him. She is just one of the complex characters who, though not a good person, is still somehow endearing.
If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’ll likely be into this odd, funny series. Find it on Hulu and Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood, Aaron Douglas, Dustin Milligan, Fiona Dourif
- Premiered: October 22, 2016
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This awkward-humor satire sees Ted - a research department manager at an evil corporation that creates futuristic and dangerous tech - just trying to get by. More an office comedy with sci-fi accents than a true genre piece, the series is about the moral conundrums its characters must navigate while also trying to keep their jobs.
Despite it being a critical darling, the show never found a solid audience and lasted only two seasons. Both are available on Hulu and Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Jay Harrington, Portia de Rossi, Andrea Anders, Jonathan Slavin, Malcolm Barrett
- Premiered: March 18, 2009
Legit funny?- 7
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This decidedly risqué Canadian cult classic is a favorite among sci-fi fans who enjoy camp. Sure, the outfits are skimpy and innuendo abounds, but it’s also just fun to follow a bunch of selfish jerks as they travel around the universe fighting baddies. Think It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia meets Buffy the Vampire, but as a sci-fi B-movie.
If you aren’t into very serious sci-fi and have a soft spot for low-brow humor, this is your show. Check out all four seasons on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Brian Downey, Xenia Seeberg, Michael McManus, Jeffrey Hirschfield, Tom Gallant
- Premiered: April 18, 1997
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This intergalactic animated comedy, featuring voice acting by Fred Armisen, Jane Lynch, and David Tennant, follows an astronaut and his destructive alien sidekick as they bumble around the solar system in a series of wacky space adventures. Their quest is to find the “final space,” or end of the universe.
The show doesn’t start super-strongly, yet it finds its way quickly and becomes a fast-paced, easily digestible romp through the universe. You’ll be hooked by episode 4. You can catch it on Amazon Prime or Adult Swim, or check out other shows like Final Space!
- Actors: Olan Rogers, Fred Armisen, Tom Kenny, David Tennant, Tika Sumpter
- Premiered: February 17, 2018
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In this time-traveling comedy, co-produced by Seth Rogen, a listless janitor and serious gamer is recruited to save the world after beating a video game everyone had thought to be impossible. He stumbles through time and space, making hilarious allusions to sci-fi classics, all in an attempt to prevent a dystopian future.
It’s fun, weird, and very silly. The show’s third season will run in 2020, and the previous two are available on Hulu and Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe, Derek Wilson, Haley Joel Osment, Keith David
- Premiered: 2018
Legit funny?- 10
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This late-1970s sci-fi comedy follows a space-age garbage man and his eclectic crew as they travel through the galaxy doing their sanitation duties and finding themselves in a series of wild scenarios. The show's dry humor and sci-fi gags were lost on a general audience, but beloved by its fans.
The show ran during prime time on NBC and was even nominated for an Emmy, but only stuck around for a quick, eight-episode season. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Richard Benjamin, Tim Thomerson, Conrad Janis, Alan Caillou
- Premiered: May 7, 1977
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People of Earth brilliantly marries support groups and alien experiences in this underappreciated sci-fi-comedy. Co-produced by Conan O’Brien and starring Wyatt Cenac, the TBS series follows a journalist researching a kooky support group for alien abductees, only to get entrenched in the community.
The show is very easy to watch and enjoy, with great characters, plenty of laughs, and a bit of mystery. It only ran for two seasons, but had a devoted, enthusiastic following. It's now available on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Wyatt Cenac, Ana Gasteyer, Oscar Nunez, Michael Cassidy, Alice Wetterlund
- Premiered: October 18, 2016
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A struggling artist finds her calling as a Middleman, fighting the forces of evil and all sorts of sci-fi villains and alien creatures. Think Men in Black as a serial comedy.
Though the show, based on a graphic novel, lasted only one season, those who have happened upon it have absolutely adored it. The Middleman is extremely funny and supremely weird. Check it out on Amazon Prime.
- Actors: Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Brit Morgan, Mary Pat Gleason, Jake Smollet
- Premiered: June 16, 2008
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Created by Paul Feig of Freaks and Geeks fame, and featuring the guys who voice Mystery Science Theater 3000, this space comedy follows an inexperienced crew made up of kooky outcasts. The team travels across galaxies, only to get stuck in a mysterious new universe.
The hilarious human drama amongst the dysfunctional crew is where the real magic happens. The show, made for sci-fi lovers, is quirky and a lot of fun, but only lasted one season, as Yahoo Screen ceased to exist.
- Actors: Trace Beaulieu, Neil Casey, Eugene Cordero, Joel Hodgson
- Premiered: 2015
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Blending time travel with the banality of everyday life, this show has a fun twist on the genre. While serving up belly laughs, the series shows how even small changes made in the past can have high-stakes consequences in present day. Leighton Meester stars in the rollicking comedy, which toys with history in original and very silly ways.
It’s an easy, entertaining watch, and you can easily blow through the show’s one and only season in no time - and be bummed there’s not more.
- Actors: Adam Pally, Leighton Meester, Yassir Lester, John Gemberling
- Premiered: 2017
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