Take a trip back in time and explore the best sci-fi TV shows of the 1970s with us.
We’re winding through the decades to deliver a comprehensive, curated list of the finest small-screen science fiction to ever grace your console color television set. If you thought the 1950s or 1960s were tough to top, then buckle down your space helmet as we blast off into the Swingin’ Seventies for a galaxy of glittery disco-age delights.
Energized by the influence of Hollywood films like “Planet of the Apes,” “Star Wars,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” this absorbing time capsule of sci-fi television history is one of the most revered, with its many classics. It’s interesting to reflect on just how many candidates here followed those blockbusters with evolved storytelling, futuristic production values, and respectable special effects of their own.
Plug in the nostalgia generator and let’s run down the best sci-fi TV shows of the 1970s!
10. Ark II
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Broadcast in 1976 for one 15-episode season as part of CBS’s live-action Saturday morning roster, “Ark II” was targeted for adolescent kids and teens looking for a science-based show with a post-apocalyptic angle.
The series was set in the 25th century aboard a slick futuristic ATV that looked something like a bloated 6-wheeled Tesla Cybertruck on steroids. This hi-tech vehicle and mobile lab was piloted by a trio of young scientists and a talking chimp who scoured the wastelands of a future Earth looking for other survivors after a new Dark Ages had fallen due to extreme pollution and endless wars.
Its character names of Jonah, Ruth, Samuel, and Adam also gave the sci-fi adventure series interesting biblical implications not often seen in network TV.
9. Planet of the Apes: The Series
Emanating out of the immensely popular “Planet of the Apes” film franchise that ended with 1973’s “Battle for the Planet of the Apes,” this small screen project tried to attract the same viewership with varying results.
Due to the budgetary and format limitations of 1970s television dramas, this inexpensive show compares to the narrative of “The Fugitive,” where the trio of two astronauts and an intelligent chimpanzee roam the far future countryside helping where they can while being chased down by the ape police.
Starring Ron Harper and James Naughton, with the incomparable star of the “Apes” film franchise, Roddy McDowell, the one-and-done series dealt with topical issues of race relations and humankind’s thirst for destruction. It was an honest attempt that was sadly cut short before it could develop into something even deeper.
8. Logan’s Run
- Originally aired: 1977-1978
A short-lived but memorable entry on our list is “Logan’s Run”, a TV adaptation of the 1976 sci-fi film of the same name that depicted a 23rd-century domed utopian society where everyone’s needs are seemingly met, but you’re not allowed to live past the age of 30.
A police assassin named Logan 5 goes on an undercover mission to locate a mythical place called Sanctuary where fleeing citizens have escaped to. Starring Gregory Harrison as Logan 5, Randolph Powell as his “Sandman” colleague now turned nemesis, Francis 7, and Heather Menzies as Jessica 6, the series followed Logan and Jessica as they roamed the wastelands of a post-apocalyptic Earth. The great D.C. Fontana of “Star Trek” fame served as story editor for the 14-episode run.
7. The Tomorrow People
- Originally aired: 1973-1979
Mostly seen in the UK on the ITV Network and beloved by folks of a certain age, “The Tomorrow People” was a curious long-running kids show that centered around a collection of genetically-advanced teenagers known as Homo Superiors, each with supernatural powers or paranormal skills that acts as a sort of psychic superhero team.
These evolutionarily gifted youngsters work out of The Lab, a headquarters that was once a London Underground station. They’re also linked to a cosmic authority called the Galactic Federation that monitors these types of special beings around the universe. Think of it as similar to “X-Men” meets “Doctor Who.”
A reboot aired on The CW for one wild season of teleportation, telekinesis, and telepathy from 2013-2014.
6. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
- Originally aired: 1979-1981
Bringing up the rear of the decade is super creator Glen A. Larson’s second sci-fi series, made to capitalize on the stunning success of “Star Wars” and to bridge the gap until “The Empire Strikes Back” was released in 1980.
This NBC show didn’t have quite the budget of “Battlestar Galactica” but it made up for cheaper sets and special effects by delivering a sunny, adventurous take on the classic comic strip hero.
Starring Gil Gerard as the charming galactic adventurer Buck Rogers and a spandex-clad Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering, this rollicking (and often corny) series was born out of the success of Universal Pictures’ 1979 TV and theatrical film of the same name. “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” lasted two full seasons, spanning 37 episodes that are still recalled fondly by fans today.
5. Mork & Mindy
- Originally aired: 1978-1982
Shazbot! We sure miss silly sci-fi shows like this classic that debuted on ABC in 1978.
Standup comedian Robin Williams got his TV start in this sitcom set in Boulder, Colorado, about a frisky grad student (Pam Dawber) who takes in an extraterrestrial from the planet Ork who’s here to study the habits of Earthlings and report back to his boss, Orson.
This was actually a “Happy Days” spinoff from the dream-drawn 1978 episode, “My Favorite Orkan.” At a time when broadcast choices were limited to three networks and a handful of independent UHF channels, it’s hard to describe how popular these lighthearted shows of the ’70s truly were. “Mork & Mindy” was a showcase for Williams’ zany improvised behavior that rocketed the actor from his egg-shaped spaceship to superstardom after the series ended in 1982 after four seasons.
4. Battlestar Galactica
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- Originally aired: 1978-1979
Executive producer Glen A. Larson’s first space-based show landed in the wake of that little film set in a galaxy far, far away and cemented itself as the best fraking “Star Wars” clone on TV.
With its rag-tag fleet of colony ships led by the honorable Colonel Adama (Lorne Greene), commander of the titular spaceship, “Battlestar Galactica” was just the antidote for imaginative youth looking for a family-friendly space opera beamed weekly into their living rooms.
Hunted down by the warlike Cylons, those silver robotic centurions with the eerie electronic voice, Adama and his heroic survivors battled their way across the cosmos searching for a “shining planet known as Earth.” The depressing modern reboot was a huge hit, but we’ll still take this fun and fresh original. Also noted for the on-screen camaraderie of Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict’s gung-ho Colonial Viper pilots.
3. Space: 1999
- Originally aired: 1975-1977
Created by the legendary Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, “Space: 1999” actually arrived on TV before the pop culture sensation of “Star Wars” and was far ahead of its time when it first hit the air on Sept. 5, 1975.
The British show followed the brave crew of Moonbase Alpha after a nuclear waste explosion caused the moon to shift its orbit and go drifting into deep space. Its serious tone and fantastic sci-fi episodes of derelict spacecraft, cosmic viruses, and exotic aliens were a revelation for its time.
The solid cast of Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Nick Tate, Zenia Merton, and others gave it a professional gravitas unlike any show of its era. And the miniature visual effects of the Eagle One spacecraft and lunar outpost from Brian Johnson (“Alien,” “The Empire Strikes Back”) were superb. We only got two seasons of this influential sci-fi jewel, but it holds up extremely well today as a retro-cool classic that needs to be revisited often.
2. The Six Million Dollar Man
- Originally aired: 1974-1978
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man.”
This was absolute must-see ’70s TV as viewers tuned in to the adventures of astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors), a test pilot in a crash of an experimental NASA glide spacecraft (the actual Northrop M2-F2 footage from 1967) who becomes the planet’s first cyborg and an undercover agent for the sneaky Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI).
Noted for its insertion of cool bionic technology and a real science-based narrative, this was one of the most popular series on ABC for a half-decade as we watched our enhanced hero take on a colorful variety of villains and international threats… even Bigfoot! Sure, Lindsay Wagner’s “The Bionic Woman” was a decent spinoff, but the original still stands tall for its five speed-running seasons.
1. UFO
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- Originally aired: (1970-1971 UK) (1972-1973 USA)
If there’s one series in this ranking list that deserves a reboot or feature film adaptation it’s this British production from supermarionette masters Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The stylish show depicts an anti-extraterrestrial invasion league called SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) that deflects UFO threats from a London film studio doubling as the Earth-bound headquarters and a secret lunar outpost called Moonbase.
Headed up by the enigmatic Colonel Ed Straker (Ed Bishop), SHADO’s world spawned an entire line of “UFO” plastic model kits, lunch boxes, and die-cast toys that are now coveted as valuable collectibles. Noted for its mod stylings of the early 1970s like silver mini skirts, groovy zip-up jumpsuits, go-go boots, and vibrant purple wigs, “UFO” demands to be honored among the very finest of its era, especially for the single season’s excellent miniature sets and entertaining special effects.
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