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The 16 best sci-fi TV shows on Peacock right now

From The Ark to Quantum Leap, here are the best sci-fi shows you can watch (or rewatch!) on Peacock right now. 

Behind the Scenes of Resident Alien Season 2, Episode 16: "I Believe in Aliens"

Aliens, superheroes, dystopias, and more! If you're looking for good sci-fi — and it’s never a bad time to cozy up on the couch and watch some solid sci-fi television — Peacock has you covered.

Peacock has an impressive sci-fi TV roster, but if you don't want to do all the browsing yourself, here are some shows we highly recommend to scratch that sci-fi itch, whether you’re looking for something funny or lighthearted, or you're just in the mood for some serious space drama.

1. The Ark

The Ark is off to a hot start with one of SYFY’s biggest new series launches ever, and each new episode has next-day streaming dibs at Peacock. Left on their own with no real-time contact with Earth, the surviving crew of the Ark One colony ship deals with threats both natural and human-made as Lt. Sharon Garnet (the Twilight saga’s Christie Burke) steps up as the ship’s emergency commander. Conceived by Stargate and Independence Day creative alum Dean Devlin alongside Jonathan Glassner (Stargate SG-1), it’s a tense setup for an ensemble-cast space survival series where no one’s coming to the rescue.

Watch new episodes of The Ark Thursdays on Peacock.

RELATED: Out of this world! Dean Devlin's 'The Ark' takes off with biggest SYFY premiere in 2 years

2. Quantum Leap

There’s a new leaper at NBC, with Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) following three decades later in the footsteps of Scott Bakula’s iconic Sam Beckett from the 1990s original Quantum Leap series. The freshly-revived sci-fi show comes from O.G. Quantum Leap mastermind Donald P. Bellisario, with Bellisario, Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt executive producing. Of course that means Ben is tackling tons of topical issues as he careens from one historical era (and body) to the next, a winning formula that’s already assured the series — which also features Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee, and Ernie Hudson — a Season 2 green light. You can catch new Quantum Leap episodes at Peacock the day after they air. 

Watch new episodes of Quantum Leap Tuesdays on Peacock.

3. Poker Face

Natasha Lyonne stars in Peacock’s Poker Face as Charlie Cale, a regular gal with an almost-supernatural gift for being able to suss out the lies that people tell. It’s a useful skill as she ducks and dodges her way across the country, solving Columbo-style murder whodunnits while staying on the run from the vile Vegas sharks who want her dead. Bearing loads of the same witty story intrigue that’s made creator Rian Johnson’s Knives Out movies such a smash, Poker Face is already doing the kind of streaming numbers that warranted a Season 2 pick up. Better still, if you’ve got Peacock, you’ve got Poker Face: Each new episode premieres on Thursdays at the bird app, with anytime streaming available thereafter.

Watch new episodes of Poker Face Thursdays on Peacock.

4. Grimm

Grimm enjoyed a meaty six-season run at NBC, where the Grimm’s Fairy Tales of yesteryear got a modern-day refresh embodied by detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), the heir to a long lineage of “Grimm” hunters tasked with keeping dark supernatural menaces — collectively known by their “Wessen” German name — at bay. Set in the appropriately moody U.S. northwestern environs where Nick stretches the job-description boundaries of his Portland police gig, Nick and sidekick detective Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) join lupine Wessen pal Monroe for an addictively binge-able serial fantasy that mixed a little bit of humor with a whole lot of horror-tinged thrills.

Watch all six seasons of Grimm on Peacock here.

5. Project Blue Book

Just like the UFO stories it stalked, Project Blue Book kinda flew under many viewers’ radar when it launched at the History Channel back in 2019. Starring Aidan Gillen as astronomer and UFO sleuth Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the historical drama series took inspiration from the actual 1950s and 1960s U.S. government research program of the same name, with Hynek and sky-watching partner Cpt. Michael Quinn (Michael Malarkey) delving into unexplained space riddles that, like The X-Files, invited the sometimes-speculative conclusion that science just might not always have an answer for everything.

Watch two seasons of Project Blue Book on Peacock here.

6. Resident Alien

Resident Alien 208 PRE-AIR

Resident Alien is SYFY's hit series about an alien who crash-lands on Earth and takes over the body of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk). Harry is most certainly a hilarious fish-out-of-water while posing as the local town doctor, but he is also still bent on his original extraterrestrial mission — to destroy Earth. The series, which is currently shooting its upcoming third season, is full of laughs — it stars Alan Tudyk, after all — and will fill your heart with joy. 

Watch the first two seasons of Resident Alien on Peacock here.

RELATED: SYFY's ’Resident Alien’ stars share behind the scenes pics as production kicks off on Season 3

7. Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica 215 Scar

This acclaimed sci-fi space opera starts when most humans have already been wiped out by the Cylons — beings of humanity’s own creation that turned against them. Not all humans died, however, and the show follows the survivors on the ship Battlestar Galactica as they try to find a mythical planet called Earth and make it their home. The show premiered in 2004 and is one of the best dramas, sci-fi or otherwise, out there. 

You can watch Battlestar Galactica on Peacock here.

8. Farscape

Farscape

Farscape still has a dedicated fanbase even though it's been more than two decades since the show's premiere. The series follows human astronaut John Chrichton (Ben Browder) as he finds himself stranded on an alien world after accidentally getting sucked through a wormhole. In his effort to make it back to Earth, he joins a ragtag group of aliens on the run who soon become his newfound family. It's a show well worth a watch (or rewatch) if you're looking for some awesome space adventure. 

You can watch Farscape on Peacock here

9. Heroes

Heroes 121 YT

"Save the cheerleader, save the world," reads the tagline for the first season of Heroes, a show about ordinary people who started gaining extraordinary powers. The ensemble series centers around a group of these newly superpowered folks and how they react to discovering their abilities. Unsurprisingly, some become villainous rather quickly, and it’s up to the others to stop them, whether they want to or not. 

Watch it on Peacock here.

10. Code 404

Code 404

CODE 404 follows Detective Inspectors Major and Carver (played by Daniel Mays and Stephen Graham, respectively). The two are like many cop duos on television, except that Major was brought back from the dead via some Artificial Intelligence technology after he was gunned down on the job. Major's new A.I. persona is a bit buggy, to put it mildly, and the resurrected Detective Inspector also faces tension with Carver, who has gotten close to his partner's wife after Major's passing. Hijinks and case-solving ensue!

You can watch CODE 404 on Peacock here

11. Brave New World

Kylie Bunbury as Frannie in BRAVE NEW WORLD

This series is an adaptation of the eponymous 1932 classic sci-fi book by Aldous Huxley. The 2020 show — a Peacock launch title — modernizes the story somewhat (there’s now an A.I. presence, for example), but the crux is the same — people in this future are living in a so-called utopia where everything (and we mean everything) is meticulously controlled by the government. 

Watch it on Peacock here.

12. Eureka

The cast of SYFY's Eureka

Eureka is a fun sci-fi show that centers on the town of Eureka, a place full of geniuses who work for the local research conglomerate on far-out projects that inevitably cause mishaps for the residents. While the show has an ensemble cast, we largely follow the challenges through the eyes of the average Joe sheriff, Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson), who often finds himself having to deal with these mishaps as part of his job. 

Watch all five seasons of Eureka on Peacock here.

13. The Greatest American Hero

WILLIAM KATT in THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO

The Greatest American Hero is another sci-fi comedy, though this one is from the early 1980s compared to Eureka’s 2006 premiere date. The story centers around Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), a lowly substitute teacher who meets some aliens who bequeath him a suit that gives him superpowers. The suit is jacked with superpowers — Hinkley, however, doesn’t really know how to use any of them, and comedy ensues. 

Watch three seasons of The Greatest American Hero on Peacock here

14. Sliders

(L-R)  Kari Wuhrer, Jerry O'Connell, Melinda Clarke, Cleavant Derricks, Sabrina Lloyd in SLIDERS

Sliders is a 1990s television series that was way into multiverses before the MCU even existed. In it, a group finds themselves traveling through different universes after their “sliding” technology breaks down and they lose the coordinates to their home universe. It’s a fun show and it will make you remember the '90s fondly, if you happened to have been alive in that multiverse. 

Watch all five seasons of Sliders on Peacock here

15. SeaQuest DSV

seaQuest DSV

SeaQuest DSV is another ‘90s show, but this one brings sci-fi to the ocean. In this series set in the “future” (2018, in the timeline of the show), we follow the voyage of the submarine called seaQuest DSV 4600, a vessel that protects Earth’s underwater colonies after humanity has basically used up all the resources on the surface. Intergovernmental strife still exists at the bottom of the ocean, however, and seaQuest’s crew finds themselves in the thick of it from the first episode. 

Watch SeaQuest DSV’s two seasons on Peacock here

16. Emerald City

(l-r) Adria Arjona and Oliver Jackson in Emerald City

Framed by lavish visuals sprung from the fantastical mind of director Tarsem Singh (The Cell), NBC’s Emerald City ran for just a single season before the TV winds of change swept in for an early 2017 cancellation. It’s still a fun series ride through a darker, moodier take on author L. Frank Baum’s iconic Oz-bound wonderland. Anchored by Adria Arjona in the role of Dorothy, Emerald City ventured far from Kansas with a standout cast that also featured Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Hill House), Ana Ularu (Outbound), and the always-amazing Vincent D’Onofrio behind the curtain as the Wiz himself.

Watch Emerald City on Peacock here.

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