Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Celebrate May the 4th With 10 of Our Favorite TV Space Adventures
Happy Star Wars Day! Let's watch some space shows.
May the 4th Be With You! It is officially once again Star Wars Day, a holiday based on a pun that serves as a simple-yet-effective excuse to talk about Star Wars as much as possible for one day... as if we don't do that already.
If you're like us, you're already talking about Star Wars quite a bit today, or you're playing your favorite games, watching your favorite movies, and reading your favorite books in the franchise. You might even be shopping for a new toy or two. But Star Wars isn't the only space game in town, and it's quite possible that all this talk of a galaxy far, far away has you itching to rewatch (or watch for the first time) not just shows within the franchise, but a few things that veer a little off the Star Wars beaten path.
RELATED: Remembering our favorite spaceships before The Ark
So, from Lucasfilm productions to SYFY originals, here are 10 of our favorite TV space adventures we're thinking about today.
Andor
One of the most recent Star Wars stories is also one of the best. Focusing on the early years of the Rebellion through the eyes of the people who forged it, Andor brings with it the original joy of seeing Star Wars' dirty space aesthetic play out, but adds in all new layers of character and depth, proving that we're still not out of fantastic ways to reinvent this franchise.
The Ark
Some of the best Star Wars stories from throughout the expanded universe of media begin with an intimate setting and a central mystery with major implications. While SYFY's The Ark is definitely not a Star Wars show, it shares that sense of intimate mystery, delivering a sci-fi survival saga that just keeps getting twistier and more fascinating with each episode. Even better? It's already renewed for Season 2, coming in 2024.
Babylon 5
An alliance of alien races. A battle against an unspeakable evil. A years-long saga encompassing diplomacy, war, science, and even a little magic. No, it's not Star Wars, it's J. Michael Straczynski's landmark series about the inhabitants of the title space station, and how they might just save the universe.
Battlestar Galactica
One of the most acclaimed sci-fi dramas ever put on television, Ronald D. Moore's updated vision of the classic series, which itself arrived in the wake of Star Wars in the late 1970s, is still a titanic achievement in space adventure storytelling. Part military science fiction, part metaphysical journey, all gripping story, Battlestar Galactica has aged into a timeless classic in the nearly 20 years since its premiere.
The Expanse
Like Star Wars, The Expanse tells a vast, interconnected story of different worlds, personalities, and powers as they all converge with the fate of an entire system of planets on the line. Unlike Star Wars (at least in the early days), that sense of interconnected vastness is there from the very beginning, delivering a twist-laden, addictive show with a tremendously ambitious master plan that's rooted in our own near-future ambitions as a species.
Farscape
One of the great unsung sci-fi series that's continuing to grow its audience in the years since its ended, Farscape offers an unforgettable sense of adventure, a diverse cast of characters, and a wide array of spacefaring ideas that's sure to please Star Wars fans seeking something a little different. Stream the entire series now on Peacock.
Firefly
Whether you're after the rundown space renegade feel of a Han Solo story or the space Western vibes of The Mandalorian, there's still something about Firefly that scratches a particular kind of Star Wars itch. The show leans into direct Western influence a bit more, but the ensemble fun of the cast, coupled with the story of a group of misfits just scraping by, means it fits right in alongside everyone's favorite space opera.
Futurama
OK, so Futurama is pretty far removed from the narrative style and concerns of Star Wars in a lot of ways, but that doesn't stop it from working as endless fun on a galactic scale. The sitcom-style adventures of the Planet Express crew as they take on ill-fated delivery missions across the galaxy are hilarious, but they also showcase a massive sense of invention from the show's writers and animators, giving us the feel of a massive interconnected galaxy without sacrificing the humor.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Though some fans like to pit them against each other, Star Trek and Star Wars can in fact peacefully co-exist as two great science fiction institutions, and you can certainly find a way to love them both. If you're still struggling in the department, though, and you were a Star Wars fan first, we recommend Strange New Worlds as a good place to experience Trek at its most vibrant and modern. It's a little bit of the classic feel mixed with a lot of new ideas, and it works wonderfully.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Told across years and focusing at various points on dozens of characters ranging from Jedi to Senators to bounty hunters, The Clone Wars might not be the best known version of Star Wars, but by the end of its run it is certainly the most ambitious. The sheer scale of the narrative is still gobsmacking all these years after its debut, and it remains a must-see.
