Asklemmy

Black books

Hands down it has to be Fringe, amazing cast, great premise and manages to transition from monster of the week - a la X Files - to a fully immersive story that is action packed and tugs at your heartstrings. I'm not sure what platform it's available on these days, but I'm sure you can sail the high seas if need be.

Oh, and it's 5 seasons that actually has an ending, unlike many shows on streaming these days!

I really enjoyed "Travellers" a 3 season showcase/Netflix time travel show where time travellers possess the bodies of people right before they are going to die and try to stop the apocalypse.

First thing that popped into my mind: Galavant. It’s a prime time network fantasy comedy from a writer of Cars and Tangled, teamed up with the composer from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.

It’s like if The Princess Bride was two seasons of musical television with songs from the golden 90’s era of Disney. In a just world, it’d have six seasons and a movie.

Lexx - The Dark Zone.

Pure Canadian-German Madness with a really great cast and the wildest stories ever. And what other show has a certified anti hero as starship captain?

Utopia (UK 2 season version)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_jIDr2tZiuRHlp-bLwYNgWaFAp6dR7_Y

Farscape, Red Dwarf

Better off Ted

Firefly

I don't recall how I heard about For All Mankind, and I never see it mentioned very much, but I have had such a great time watching that.

It's an alternate history of the space race from the 60s onward, and it's so exciting to watch what could have been. Each season jumps forward a decade, so the advances in missions and tech keep leaping forward.

If you grew up thinking we should be pioneering space by now, you will probably enjoy it.

Raised by wolves (cancelled)

Dark angel

First Wave

Dollhouse

Seven days

The peripheral (cancelled)

Dark matter (the Canadian one, cancelled)

Dark matter (the new one)

Outer range

See (appletv)

Raising hope

Sanctuary

War of the words (2019)

Sense8

The guild (Felicia Day web series)

Con Man (Alan Tudyk web series)

Hell on wheels

Halt and catch fire

Debris (cancelled)

Continuum

Defiance

Cult (cw low budget-ish show that only lasted one season. Very ridiculous weirdness)

Colony (kinda meh at times)

Bored to death

Californication

Brockmire

Party down

Ive watched way too much shit. I should become a tv tv critic.

Oh yeah, The Critic

Fuck HBO/Discovery

'Midnight Mass' somehow completely went under my radar first, but DAMN, that was a great mini series!

I really wish Dead Like Me could have lasted longer.

The Mighty Boosh!

Pantheon.

Really thoughtful and smart sci-fi animation. Don't want to spoil it so I'll be vague, it has the most realistic depiction of modern tech and how people interact with it than any other show I've seen. Really great commentary on big tech corporations and even a bit of geopolitics. Super ambitious yet it somehow pulls it off.

There is also a scene that still gives me nightmares (not even joking, I still dream about that shit) which is more than any horror movies or shows have done for me. Anyone who has watched it knows exactly what scene I'm talking about.

Lost, but not the one you're thinking of.

Travel back in time with me to September 4, 2001. It was a golden age, and reality television had taken off in a big way. NBC and CBS were each set to premiere a new show, with basically the same format: Teams of two Americans would start somewhere in the world and have to race back to the United States to win a cash prize.

NBC's show Lost was the first to air, with CBS's The Amazing Race airing the night after. The premise of Lost was great:

Three two-member teams knew only the final destination (thousands of miles away) and were given only a backpack full of clothes and other essentials. In addition, team members were not acquainted with one another prior to the show, and were assigned to teams. Contestants were blindfolded and dropped off with a single camera person in a remote location of an unknown country to find their way back to their home country...Teams were given no money until they managed to figure out what country they were in. During the first set, the teams were abandoned in Mongolia. (Source: Wikipedia)

The show did not do well. NBC blamed the low ratings on the fact that 9/11 happened shortly after, which actually preempted the second episode. Considering The Amazing Race debuted at basically the same time and went on to tremendous success (Lost had 1 season with 6 episodes, whereas The Amazing Race had 36 seasons and 418 episodes), I suspect something else was the cause.

So if the show was so bad, why did I like it?

First, I liked the idea that the teams started out in a location that was a mystery to them. Their first challenge was to figure out where in the world they were in a country where they (almost certainly) didn't speak the language.

Second, although they were two-person teams, any passage they secured for themselves, they also had to secure for their camera person. You want to catch a flight? Well, I hope you have enough money to buy three tickets!

And finally, I was hooked early on when this one moment happened. It's still one of my favorite moments of reality TV. Remember, all three teams started out in the Mongolian desert. They were spread out from one another, so no two teams would cross paths right away. This meant that as they made their way to the nearest village, they were headed to different villages.

Two teams had a similar plan: To catch a bus that drove between the villages (and, IIRC, was headed to a larger city). So the first team gets on the bus in their village, and as the bus drives into the village where the second team is waiting, the first team spots them. They then quickly convince the bus driver not to stop and to just keep on driving instead. We're then shown two shots: One from inside the bus, where we see the second team and their camera guy as they watch the bus go by, and then one from outside the bus, as the second team watches the bus blow past them and they realize the first team is on board.

China, IL would be on my list

The Middleman! It was 1 hour comedy that played on ABC Family that sadly got canceled after its first season. It was a farcical take on the super spy genre based off the comic books of the same name with Matt Kessler and Natalie freaking Morales. Vampire Ventriloquist Dummies, Zombie Flying Fish, and all Alien Boy Bands. It’s a hilarious send up spy and comic book tropes.

I was going to say FROM when I saw your question. I'm glad you mentioned it.

Rubicon

If you like espionage but from the analytical side.

Counterpart

If you like espionage, JK Simmons, and parallel dimensions

Berlin Station S1

If you like espionage and postwar Germany

River is really good. It is a detective show and is aa limited series which I like because there is no fillers. Also it stars Stellan Skarsgård which is always great.

The Fall is also great. Also detective, this one Gillian Anderson going after a serial killer. I think her character is really good.

Mr. Inbetween https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7472896/

Devs

hopefully you've read the Foundation books btw

From is underrated? I didn't know that, been watching it religiously.

An older favorite of mine was The 4400 (the reboot is absolute dogshit though). Unfortunately they cancelled it after 4 seasons, but the original authors published 2 books afterwards to finish the storyline.

Other series I enjoy that aren't on most people's radar (primarily for being British, mostly crime):

1. Vigil (crime series dealing with an investigation on board of a nuclear submarine, 2 seasons, closed storyline).
2. Unforgotten (crime, every season starts with an old body being discovered and then showing all people affected by the loss of said person over time until they eventually get closure. Highly empathic actors and excellent character development, season 6 currently being filmed).
3. Death in Paradise (iconic light entertainment crime series playing on a remote Caribbean island where changing inspectors from England with various degrees of clumsiness are being sent to solve murders. Every episode is usually a closed case. Season 14 to start end of year).

Detectorists Lovely wholesome English comedy drama, it's too good to be so rarely mentioned.

Dark I'd say this is my favorite time travel story. It's more recognized though as I usually see vocal fans of it every time it gets mentioned but perhaps since it's in German many are still sleeping on it.

Venture Bros An animated Adult Swim show that first aired 2003 on a shaky first season but has improved every single season since. Has grown into something quite special.

Transparent Great drama comedy about a family after their aged father, played by Jeffrey Tambor, reveals some secrets. Very funny and hits you in the feels some times.

Back when the X-Files was ruling the airwaves, in the 90s, there was a companion show called Millennium. The first season was a bit weak, focusing on serial killers and gore. Second season went completely off the rails in the best way possible. The third season was a lackluster attempt to regain a wider audience.

I would recommend watching the second season for sure. It has religious satire (you will know exactly who they are skewering when you see it), the occult, end of days, mixed in with humor and solid human drama. The season finale, when they thought that they weren't going to be renewed, is extraordinary.

Revolutionary Girl Utena