10 best fantasy and science fiction shows of 2023

As mentioned at the start, these are subjective rankings. This year also reminded us that there is so much quality genre television out there that it’s practically impossible for one person to watch it all. I say that as someone who’s literal job it is to watch these things; there’s a lot.

As such, let’s hit on a few honorable mentions. These are either notable series I didn’t watch, or which didn’t make the list for one reason or other. We’ll keep it brief:

• The Fall of the House of Usher — Mike Flanagan’s latest was a dark and delectable story that mashed up the works of Edgar Alan Poe, and it was amazing. The only reason this one didn’t make it onto the main list is because it’s pretty much straight horror, rather than fantasy or science fiction. But it was still easily one of the best shows of the year.
• Invincible season 2 — Prime Video’s gritty animated superhero show is based on a comic by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Season 2 caught us up with Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) after his catastrophic showdown with his father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), launching the story into outer space. I didn’t watch Invincible, but the people who have seem to be stanning it hard. It doesn’t make the list both because I’m not familiar with it, but also because it only aired half a season in 2023; Amazon is holding the rest back for 2024.
• Outlander season 7 — As with Invincible, we got the first half of Outlander’s seventh season this year; the rest will be along in 2024. But what we did get seemed to be a return to form for the series after a somewhat rocky season 6 that was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn’t watch this one because after six seasons of Outlander using sexual abuse as a go-to storytelling mechanic I’m reluctant to return to Frasier’s Ridge. But for those who’ve been waiting out the Droughtlander, it was a cause for celebration.
• Star Trek — There are a ton of Star Trek shows on right now, but I haven’t watched ’em. (Told you there was too much TV.) But if I had watched ’em, one would probably be on this list somewhere. The two big Trek shows this year were the final season of Star Trek: Picard and season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Trekkies, sound off in the comments and let me know which of the two you preferred!
• Doctor Who specials — Special episodes of Doctor Who have been airing, and they’re a bigger deal than usual. David Tennant and Catherine Tate returned to the series for the first three before new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa takes over for the Christmas Special. It’s hard for a handful of specials to compete with full seasons of TV shows, thus this ends up in the honorable mentions category. Expect to see Doctor Who leap up the list next year when we spend more time with Gatwa.
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — Another show I hear is excellent but have not personally watched. Winter Is Coming’s resident kaiju expert Camila Servello has been singing the praises of this series since it started dropping on Apple TV+. Expanding cinematic universes are always a dicey proposition, but from the sounds of things this addition to the Monsterverse is punching above its weight class. Plus it stars Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt Russell as younger and older versions of the same character, and that is some excellent casting right there.

And so concludes our rankings for the best fantasy and science fiction shows of 2023. It’s been a wild ride through time, space, and fantastical worlds with all of you this year. Here’s to many more good shows to come in 2024!

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels