Thankfully sci-fi TV shows are no longer the embarrassment they used to be. Gone are the days of wobbly set designs, cheap visual effects, poor costume design and questionable acting. Gone are the days of tin foil, strings and rubber rocks on a lightly sand covered flat studio floor. Thanks to shows like The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Stargate SG1, science fiction on the small screen has become a big, profitable and more importantly (for us, the audience) entertaining business for TV studios, with shows like Doctor Who, Arrow, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham and of course The Walking Dead now receiving the support that was once exclusive to more mainstream shows like CSI, Bones, NCIS, Law & Order and Castle.
Not every new TV show makes it past their premier season (Firefly, Alcatraz, Constantine), and while the return of The X-Files is an almost guaranteed hit, as is the ever growing library of Marvel and DC shows like Daredevil and Supergirl, there are a few, lesser known new sci-fi and fantasy TV shows to come that one may just want to add to their favorites watchlist.
Fear The Walking Dead
A spin off of AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead, this new show will tell of the events that led up to the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse, following those that lived and died throughout the cataclysmic event. Set in Los Angeles, the show will introduce the audience to a whole new set of characters and a new cast, which includes Predator 2's Ruben Blades.
Minority Report
Set fifteen years after the events of the 2002 film, itself based upon a novel by sci-fi author Phillip K. Dick (Total Recall, Blade Runner, Screamers, the Adjustment Bureau), the first season will follow Dash, one of the twin male pre-cog's used by the Pre-Crime Unit to arrest criminals before the committed their crime, as he assists detective Laura Vega in solving crimes while searching for his lost twin brother Arthur, all the while evading those that would use his abilities for their own gain.
Limitless
Bradley Cooper, as a recurring guest star, returns as Eddie Mora, whom gives Brian Finch the amazing drug known as NZT, which allows the user access to 100% of their brain. The show also stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Abyss, Grimm). During the shows first season Finch will learn to use the abilities the NZT drug grants him.
Humans
Starring William Hurt (AI), this joint US and British produced TV show, an adaptation of the Swedish show Real Humans, tells of the near future when the must have gadget in the modern family home is a 'Synth'; a synthetic human servant. The show will delve into the personal, emotional and social impact of such technology, and when such technology becomes sentient, self aware.
Westworld
Jonathan Nolan (with Lisa Joy), along with executive producers J J. Abrams, Bryan Burke and Jerry Weintraub, bring us an adaptation of the late Michael Crichton's (Jurassic Park) 1973 movie Westworld. With a stellar cast including the like of Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), James Marsden (X-Men), Thandie Newton (Chronicles of Riddick) and Ed Harris (The Abyss), the show will tell of the creation and opening of Westworld, a western theme park in which the main attractions are realistic looking autonomous robots, that inevitably become self aware, turning against their masters.
