Whether you call them extraterrestrials or Martians, TV shows about aliens are always entertaining. The best TV shows about aliens feature otherworldly beings learning all they can about life on Earth - or possibly invading. This is a list of the greatest alien TV shows including everything from Futurama to Doctor Who to Battlestar Galactica.
What programs will you find on this list of top TV shows about aliens? The popular sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun centered around four extraterrestrial characters who were sent to Earth to observe human behavior. John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in the hit NBC series. ALF is another good TV show about an alien living on Earth, this time in puppet form. The X-Files followed FBI Agents Mulder and Scully as they investigated supernatural occurrences and debated the existence of extraterrestrial life. Other good shows about aliens featured here include Smallville, Star Trek: Voyager, and Invader Zim.
Which show about aliens is the best? Give your favorites series a thumbs up to move them to the top of the list, and add any great shows that are missing.
list ordered by
1
The X-FilesDavid Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi
The X-Files is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by Chris Carter. The program originally aired from September 10, 1993 to May 19, 2002 on Fox, spanning nine ...more
2
Stargate SG-1Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping
Stargate SG-1 is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is ...more
3
Doctor WhoChristopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith
Doctor Who (BBC, 2005) is a British science-fiction television show created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson. The further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer ...more
Falling Skies is an American science fiction post-apocalyptic dramatic television series created by Robert Rodat and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The series stars Noah Wyle as Tom ...more
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson, that began the Battlestar Galactica franchise. Starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk ...more
Roswell is an American science fiction television series developed, produced, and co-written by Jason Katims. The series debuted on October 6, 1999 on The WB and moved to UPN for the third ...more
Futurama is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the ...more
The Expanse (Syfy, 2015) is an American science fiction television series developed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based on the novels by James S. A. Corey. In a future where humanity has ...more
9
Lost in SpaceToby Stephens, Molly Parker, Ignacio Serricchio
Lost in Space (Netflix, 2018) is an American science fiction web television series created by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, and a reboot of the 1965 series. After encountering a rip in ...more
10
VElizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch
V is an American science fiction television series that ran for two seasons on ABC, from November 3, 2009 to March 15, 2011. A remake of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson, the new ...more
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series, set in the Star Trek universe. The show takes place during the 2370s, and begins on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy, 75,000 ...more
12
AmanPrakhar added Ancient AliensRobert Clotworthy, Giorgio Tsoukalos, David Childress
Ancient Aliens (History, 2010) is an American television series that presents hypotheses of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology, and legends contain evidence of ...more
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off from the 2005 revival of long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who, Torchwood aired ...more
The Outer Limits is a US-Canadian television series that originally aired on Showtime, the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002. The series is a revival of the original The ...more
15
ColonyJosh Holloway, Sarah Wayne Callies, Peter Jacobson
Colony (USA Network, 2016) is an American science-fiction drama television series created by Carlton Cuse and Ryan J. Condal. In the wake of a mysterious alien invasion, a family fights to stay ...more
16
Another LifeKatee Sackhoff, Selma Blair, Tyler Hoechlin
Another Life (Netflix, 2019) is an American drama television series created by Aaron Martin. An astronaut, Niko Breckinridge-Wallace (Katee Sackhoff) commands a crew on a mission to explore the ...more
17
Rick and MortyJustin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer
Rick and Morty (Adult Swim, 2013) is an American adult animated science-fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. Cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his fretful, easily ...more
18
SmallvilleTom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack
Smallville is an American television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The ...more
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very ...more
20
DefianceGrant Bowler, Stephanie Leonidas, Julie Benz
Defiance is an American science fiction television series developed by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Taylor. The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia ...more
Babylon 5 is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic ...more
Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration ...more
23
Roswell, New MexicoJeanine Mason, Nathan Parsons, Tyler Blackburn
Roswell, New Mexico (The CW, 2019) is an American television drama series developed by Carina Adly Mackenzie. After returning to her hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, the daughter (Jeanine Mason) ...more
War of the Worlds is a Canadian/American science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons, from October 10, 1988 to May 14, 1990. The series is an extension of the original 1953 film ...more
Taken, also known as Steven Spielberg Presents Taken, is a science fiction miniseries which first aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002 and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries. Filmed in ...more
