I don’t think it’s too much to ask a sci-fi cable channel to feature a few space-based TV series—even if it’s spelled Syfy. (Hated the rebrand in 2009; still hate it now.) The former Sci-Fi Channel only has one—one!—original show these days, but at least it’s set amongst the stars.
Here are a few of the best space-set Syfy series to stream from years past to fill that endless black void.
The Ark (2023-present; Syfy): The Ark has proven more resilient than the galaxy-traversing colony ship it’s named after—the show’s third season premieres July 29. The crew of Ark One was in deep freeze when their spacecraft took on damage, killing everyone except a manageable core cast before they could find a new, livable planet. The writing and acting can be as drab as the show’s grey-on-grey-on-grey set design, but The Ark is Syfy’s only space drama these days. Which means I’ll keep watching and waiting for showrunner Dean Devlin to inject some Geostorm crazy into the proceedings.
Vagrant Queen (2020; Pluto TV, Tubi): Vagrant Queen, based on the Vault Comics series, had the inverse problem of The Ark: It was too wild, wooly and colorful for the just-locked-down audiences of Pandemic 2020. Outlaw space scavenger Elida (Adriyan Rae) would rather forget that she’s descended from royalty, but she can’t pass up the chance to rescue her long-lost mother from the bastards who’ve captured her kingdom. Vagrant Queen has all the subtlety of the Guardians of the Galaxy dosed at a rave, making for a frenetic 10-episode ride.
The Expanse (2015-2022; Prime Video): The Expanse was apparently too sci-fi for the Syfy channel, which canceled it after three seasons, leading Prime Video to pick it up for three more. Even after humanity has colonized the entire solar system (aka the Expanse), class struggles and Cold War-style tensions still prevail—the civil, utopian future of Star Trek, this ain’t. The Expanse has been likened to “Game of Thrones in space,” and the dense plotting and gorgeous visuals back it up, but it’s also kinda like The Wire: Your sci-fi nerd friends have probably already hounded you to watch it.
Dark Matter (2015-2017; The CW): When a sextet of ridiculously good-looking rogues awakens on a spaceship with no memory of who or where they are, they have to figure out why everyone in the galaxy is out to kill them—fast. Soon, they learn that they each have their own A-Team skills (fighter, hacker, thinker, more fighters, and so on) and that they’ll have to work together to survive. At least it’s easier to follow than Apple TV’s same-titled Dark Matter. This three-season Canadian production is dumb-serious fun in line with the old syndicated adventures of TV past.
Killjoys (2015-2019; Prime Video): Killjoys, another Canuck series that launched alongside Dark Matter in 2015, follows a trio of bounty hunters (led by Hannah John-Kamen, before she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ghost) who work in a four-planet-and-moon system called The Quad. There’s an easy Firefly vibe to Killjoys, from the rustbucket spacecraft to the fast and funny dialogue, but there’s also plenty of fight-or-flight action and shoot-’em-ups driving its five-season run. If only Syfy could scrape together the money to make a Killjoys Meet the Vagrant Queen movie.
Caprica (2010; Peacock, Paramount+): Faced with the impossible task of following up Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon came up with Caprica, a prequel series set 58 years before BSG. In the Caprica technocracy that’s gone all-in on virtual reality and robotics (feel free to yell at the screen as they assemble the first Cylons), an industry mogul’s teen daughter (Alessandra Torresani) is murdered, but her digital clone lives on in a hedonistic virtual underworld. The technological morality lessons are laid on a bit thick, but Caprica still feels ahead of its time.
Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009; Peacock, Paramount+): Now that the Battlestar Galactica saga has recently begun streaming on Paramount+ (which has double the subscriber base of its other home, Peacock), maybe it’ll catch on with the Yellowstone crowd. After all, BSG has fraught familial dynamics, working-class grunts who live to fight and blow off steam, and an unpredictable blonde bombshell who’d just as soon kill you as negotiate (humanoid Cyclon Number Six as a precursor to Beth Dutton). Believe all the hype about Battlestar Galactica: It still holds up today.
Stargate Universe (2009-2011; Peacock, Pluto TV): After the relatively lightweight Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis series, Syfy went dark and serious with Stargate Universe. The timing suggests SGU was a pre-Caprica attempt at another Battlestar Galactica, and the potential was there—for just two seasons. Instead of carefree jumping to hospitable worlds via a Stargate, this crew (which includes Robert Carlyle and Ming-Na Wen) finds themselves adrift in deep space with dwindling food and water supplies—yikes. Stargate Universe may be bleak, but it has better Lost in Space game than The Ark.
