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1.7k voters

The Best Alien TV Shows, Ranked

Updated March 22, 2021 10.7k votes 1.7k voters 88.6k views80 items

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.

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The X-Files
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
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Falling Skies
Noah Wyle, Drew Roy
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Stargate SG-1
Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks
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The Expanse
Thomas Jane, Steven Strait
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Doctor Who
Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant
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Futurama
Billy West, John DiMaggio
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Lost in Space
Toby Stephens, Molly Parker
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Battlestar Galactica
Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A.... more
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Roswell
Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr
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Colony
Josh Holloway, Sarah Wayne Callies
Is this one of the best alien invasion movies?

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V
Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut
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Star Trek: The Next Generation
Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner
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Star Trek: Voyager
Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran
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Babylon 5
Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan
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Rick and Morty
Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell
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Smallville
Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum
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Torchwood
John Barrowman, Eve Myles
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The Outer Limits
Bob Johnson, Ben Wright
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Stargate Atlantis
Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell
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Defiance
Grant Bowler, Stephanie Leonidas
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3rd Rock from the Sun
John Lithgow, Jane Curtin
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Taken
Dakota Fanning, Julie Benz
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Stargate Universe
Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira
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Ancient Aliens
Robert Clotworthy, Giorgio Tsoukalos
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Star Trek: The Original Series
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
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Ancient Aliens