5 Best Sci-Fi Shows Of The ’60s (That Aren’t Star Trek)

The 1960s were a great decade for science-fiction, in no small part because that’s when “Star Trek,” one of the TV shows that defined the sci-fi genre, premiered. However, while Captain Kirk and Spock’s adventures exploring the final frontier were perhaps the most important and iconic stories of the era, “Star Trek” was far from the only sci-fi program on the small screen.

Pop culture reflects the reality of the time. In the 1960s, pressing issues like the space race, ongoing developments of nuclear weapons, and technological breakthroughs made science fiction an especially relevant genre. The following five series might not be as enduring as “Star Trek,” but they’re great TV series that say something about sci-fi, culture, and television history all the same.

Narrowing this list down to just five shows wasn’t easy — there are so many great genre programs from this era that we could’ve easily included many, many more. To that end, let’s name some honorable mentions before getting to the top five. The swanky British sci-fi spy show “The Avengers,” eerie anthology series “The Outer Limits,” mind-bending thriller “The Prisoner,” kid-friendly cosmic adventure “Lost in Space,” and kooky alien sitcom “My Favorite Martian” are all classics of the era and worth checking out for any sci-fi fan.

The Twilight Zone

Not every episode of “The Twilight Zone” qualifies as science-fiction. Many of the series’ stories were supernatural, while others were pure thrillers or even comedies with not much in the way of genre trappings. But enough episodes of the show, which began airing on CBS a few months before the proper start of the decade in October 1959, were firmly in the sci-fi genre. So much so that the series regularly ranks near the top of lists of the best sci-fi shows ever — and for good reason.

Several episodes featured aliens, spaceships, and other sci-fi tropes to comment on social issues of the time, like in the Season 1 episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” which uses a supposed alien invasion to reflect Cold War fears and paranoia. Others were parables with a moral message, like Season 3’s “The Little People.” Embracing the sci-fi genre led to trippy visuals, like the alternate dimension in “Little Girl Lost,” and some of the greatest twists in “The Twilight Zone,” like in “To Serve Man.”

The Jetsons

Was “The Jetsons” just “The Flintstones” only set in the future instead of the past? Of course! The Hanna-Barbera series, which premiered on ABC on September 23, 1962, was not especially shy about how derivative it was. And yet, the animated sitcom, with its space age stylings, was more influential and insightful than it might seem at first blush.

The aesthetic of “The Jetsons” — a very 1960s vision of the future that we’d now describe as retro-futurism — exemplified a certain sort of look for what the future could be. The world that George Jetson lived in was stylish, clean, and seemingly utopian. Society was automated, robots like Rosie served at their family‘s beck and call, and, unlike in many sci-fi shows, there wasn’t the threat of alien invasion or robot apocalypse looming overhead. The genre served the goofs and gags; this future was not a scary one.

It’s precisely because “The Jetsons” is so similar to “The Flintstones” that it’s great sci-fi. While the technology is different, things haven’t really changed that much. Despite having a robot servant and wanting for nothing, George still has to deal with his crummy job and the same social issues that any present-day viewer might empathize with. Human nature — not to mention American entitlement and consumerism — stays the same no matter the era. It’s easy to overlook, but the deeper metaphor of “The Jetsons” helps make it one of the best sci-fi cartoons ever made.

Astro Boy

There’s a credible case to be made that “Astro Boy” is one of the most important TV shows of all time. In 1963, an adaptation of the legendary Osamu Tezuka’s manga of the same name premiered on Japanese televisions. Though technically not the first-ever anime, considering there had been Japanese cartoon series before, “Astro Boy” was the first to showcase the structure and many of the tropes of what we commonly consider anime today. It was certainly the first anime to get a major broadcast in the United States, as NBC aired a dubbed and re-edited version of the show in America later that same year. 

Considering what a huge part of the TV landscape anime looks like in Japan and the United States today, the significance of “Astro Boy” cannot be overlooked. Beyond its importance to the medium, “Astro Boy” is a rollicking sci-fi show. Like the manga, it follows Professor Ochanomizu (renamed Dr. Packidermus J. Elefun because of the character’s schnoz in the American edit) and the titular advanced robot-boy he mentors in the then-future. The Disney-inspired aesthetic and exciting adventures contrasted with some surprisingly heavy themes about the nature of life and peace.

The Invaders

“The Invaders” is the name of one of the best episodes of “The Twilight Zone” (the one where tiny little spacemen attack Agnes Moorehead), but it was also the title of an entire sci-fi show that’s now somewhat forgotten despite being very good. Debuting on ABC on January 10, 1967, “The Invaders” starred Roy Thinnes as David Vincent, an architect who stumbles upon an alien invasion. The aliens travel in flying saucers but can blend in with normal humans almost seamlessly when they wish to, and each episode had David trying to convince anyone who would listen of the imminent extra-terrestrial threat.

“The fact that they looked just like us attracted me to the show,” Robert Collins, a writer on the show, said in the book “Science Fiction Television Series.” “I never liked monsters. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t like ‘Star Trek.’ The monsters were silly to me. But on ‘the Invaders,’ the idea of a monster looking like everybody else was frightening.”

Larry Cohen, who in the ’80s would go on to helm cult classic films like “The Stuff” and “Q: The Winged Serpent,” created “The Invaders.” His original idea was much more serialized, which was something of a rarity in the ’60s outside of soap operas. The network opted for the safer episodic model, though there was a notable sense of progress within the plot as David continued his crusade and won over new allies across two seasons. Looking back, “The Invaders” feels like an ancestor to a lot of modern high-concept sci-fi series.

Doctor Who

While it never quite reached the same level of mainstream appeal as “Star Trek,” the classic British series “Doctor Who” is an iconic science fiction property that has a long legacy of its own. In fact, it’s the longest-running sci-fi series of all time. Originally starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor, the show featured time travel, strange aliens, robots, a now-iconic police box, and a main character who changed his appearance every so often.

“Doctor Who” made its debut on November 23, 1963. Unfortunately, many episodes from the series’ initial run in the ’60s and ’70s are lost forever due to the BBC’s habit of deleting archive programs for space issues. Still, the episodes from the era that do remain are charming British sci-fi, and the reboot that kicked off in the 2000s is one of the best TV revivals ever.

Amusingly, “Doctor Who” and “Star Trek” almost had a crossover, which would have united two of the biggest sci-fi shows of the ’60s. The idea didn’t come about until a few decades later, just as “Doctor Who” was getting ready to return to the air in 2005. Creator Russell T Davies had talked about a crossover with “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which was nearing the end of its run, but the UPN series aired its finale before such plans could really get off the ground.