Hidden Gems: 14 Must-Watch Sci-Fi TV Shows from the 90s

Despite being filled with out-of-this-world concepts and special effects that were groundbreaking at the time, these shows didn't always get the attention they deserved when they first aired; they were often overshadowed by bigger, more popular series.

1. Space: Above and Beyond (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 70%

In the year 2063, amidst an interstellar war against an alien species known as the "Chigs," a diverse group of young Marine pilots—part of the 58th Squadron, "The Wildcards"—undertakes perilous missions, battling for humanity's survival while grappling with their personal demons and the mysteries of their enemy.

2. Lexx (1997)

Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 93%

The crew of the Lexx, a living, biomechanical spaceship, including a lowly security guard, a love slave, a dead assassin, and a decapitated robotic head, traverse the two universes in escape from a tyrannical regime, encountering bizarre planets and beings in their quest for freedom and a new home.

3. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

In the American West of 1893, Harvard-educated lawyer-turned-bounty hunter Brisco County, Jr. seeks vengeance for his father's murder with the help of his loyal sidekick, Socrates Poole, and a ragtag group of allies, all while chasing down bizarre outlaws and futuristic inventions that hint at a coming technological age.

4. Legend (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 60%

Ernest Pratt, a novelist living out his dime novel hero "Nicodemus Legend" in the 19th century American frontier, teams up with a brilliant scientist and an adventurous explorer to use his fictional persona to fight injustice, employing early science fiction gadgets and wit to solve problems and right wrongs.

5. Sliders (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 67%

Quinn Mallory, a young genius, invents a device that opens portals to parallel universes, dragging his friend, his professor, and a singer into a journey across diverse alternate Earths, seeking a way back home while encountering various challenges, including dystopian societies, ecological disasters, and authoritarian regimes.

6. Seven Days (1998)

Former CIA agent Frank Parker is recruited by a secret government agency to operate the "Backstep" program, using a time machine to go back seven days to prevent catastrophic events, ranging from natural disasters to political assassinations, while struggling with the personal toll of his missions.

7. Now and Again (1999)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

After dying in a subway accident, insurance salesman Michael Wiseman's brain is transplanted into a genetically engineered, superhuman body by a secretive government project; he must now undertake covert missions under the promise of someday being reunited with his family, whom he watches from a distance.

8. Psi Factor (1996)

Chronicles the investigations of the O.S.I.R. (Office of Scientific Investigation and Research), a shadowy government agency dealing with unexplained phenomena and paranormal occurrences, from alien abductions to ghosts, led by case manager Connor Doyle, the team applies scientific methods to investigate the inexplicable.

9. Dark Skies (1996)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 67%

Set in the 1960s, John Loengard and his girlfriend Kim Sayers stumble upon an alien conspiracy involving the Hive, a parasitic race aiming to manipulate human history, and find themselves battling both the aliens and a government eager to keep the extraterrestrial presence a secret.

10. First Wave (1998)

Cade Foster, a thief turned fugitive, discovers an alien plot to conquer Earth using prophecies from Nostradamus, becoming humanity's lone warrior in a battle to thwart the invasion and expose the truth, with the help of a conspiracy theorist and a psychiatrist who may hold the key to defeating the invaders.

11. Millennium (1996)

Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 84%

Frank Black, a former FBI agent with the ability to see into the minds of criminals, joins the Millennium Group, a private investigative team, to solve grotesque and apocalyptic crimes while uncovering darker truths about his own gift and the impending turn of the millennium.

12. SeaQuest DSV (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 86%

In the near future, the advanced submarine SeaQuest DSV, under the command of Captain Nathan Bridger, explores Earth's last frontier, the ocean, to solve underwater crises, protect marine life, and face off against pirates, terrorists, and sometimes otherworldly threats, while promoting peace and cooperation among oceanic colonies.

13. The Outer Limits (1995)

An anthology series that presents a different story each episode, exploring the consequences of human exploration into the unknown, from the depths of space to the inner workings of the mind, often with a twist ending that challenges the characters' morals and humanity.

14. Crusade (1999)

Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 75%

A spin-off of "Babylon 5, " this series follows the crew of the Earthforce ship Excalibur in their desperate search for a cure to a deadly plague unleashed on Earth by an alien species, navigating through interstellar diplomacy, ancient civilizations, and the moral dilemmas of using or withholding potentially dangerous alien technologies.