There are countless ways in which television has pushed entertainment forward since the 1950s and it’s been able to grow into the destination for some of the most respected and challenging programming. Television has taken on more ambitious projects in terms of story, scope, and scale, but the comedic content of sitcoms has always been viewed as essential.
Sitcoms are able to penetrate many different areas in order to deliver a humorous perspective, but the format can also experiment around with genre and embrace radical genre changes, like science fiction impulses, as a means to drive the comedy. Some of the most ambitious sitcoms of this generation find ways to lean into sci-fi in unexpected, yet helpful ways.
10 3rd Rock From The Sun Uses Extraterrestrial Wonder For Perfect Fish-Out-Of-Water Comedy
3rd Rock From the Sun made waves during its run in the 1990s, but it’s since become a bit of a forgotten classic from the many sitcoms of the era. 3rd Rock From the Sun benefits from an exceptional comedic cast that features the likes of John Lithgow, Jane Curtain, and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
It successfully explores humanity through its diverse characters and it’s able to lean into the conventions of high school sitcoms as well as romantic comedies. The only twist is that the Solomon family are actually aliens who have been sent to Earth for research purposes.
9 Red Dwarf Strands Its Characters In Space & Makes The Most Out Of It
British comedies are often known for their brevity and how they don't usually produce many seasons, yet Red Dwarf is a major exception and it's turned out nearly 75 episodes since its debut in 1988. Dave Lister is a classic slacker prototype who works as a low-level technician of the series' eponymous spaceship.
Red Dwarf begins with Dave waking up after a three million year-long cryosleep and finds himself as the last surviving human. Red Dwarf confines Dave and his hologram companion to the cramped ship, but it focuses on the characters and neurotic minutiae.
8 ALF Is Sci-Fi Sitcom Hijinks At Their Weirdest & Furriest
Sitcoms are capable of creating deep storytelling that genuinely moves its audience and inspires reflection and change. At the same time, sitcoms also have a reputation of being too mainstream and low-brow due to broader concepts that insert exaggerated figures into a standard family sitcom.
It’s impossible to discuss these types of programs without a discussion on ALF, a series that dominated the late ‘80s. The Tanner family are the typical American family, but their simple lives are disrupted when the jovial and cat-eating alien, ALF, crash lands into their home.
7 Clone High’s Central Premise Comes Down To Radical Cloning Of Past Icons
Clone High was an underappreciated animated sitcom that only lasted for one season on MTV, but it’s set for a modern return, complete with its original creative team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Clone High operates like a standard high school comedy that’s full of the expected teen drama that comes along with it.
Clone High welcomes these conventions, only to cleverly subvert them and lampoon the very nature of sitcoms. The sci-fi twist with Clone High is that all of its characters are teen clones of famous historical figures, often acting contrary to what’s expected of their legacies.
6 The Last Man On Earth Uses The End Of The World For A Moving Character Study
The Last Man on Earth is an incredibly ambitious sitcom that begins in a heightened sci-fi scenario where a virus has wiped out nearly all of the Earth’s population. Last Man on Earth tones down the sci-fi slant once it gets going and it becomes more of a story about human connection, building a family, and how people can grow and evolve when in the right circumstances.
It cleverly takes advantage of its premise in a way that allows Last Man on Earth to exist in its own exaggerated reality, while it still tackles relatable and human issues.
5 Spaced Uses Its Genre Love To Transform Its Storytelling
Spaced only consists of two seasons that are seven episodes apiece, but it's still regarded as a formative British sitcom that helped launch some prolific careers, like Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, and acclaimed director Edgar Wright. Spaced is a simple slacker comedy about two twenty-somethings who spontaneously move in together.
However, these characters are so obsessed with pop culture and science fiction that its influence stylistically takes over the show’s look. Spaced never becomes full-on science fiction, but it uses the genre’s DNA to creatively inform its presentation in a way that would go on to define Wright's style.
4 People Of Earth Accentuates The Beauty Of Humanity Through Alien Abductees
People of Earth is an incredibly tender comedy that displays such empathy for its simple, authentic characters. The two-season sitcom looks at an investigative journalist’s indoctrination into an alien abductee support group. People of Earth does involve real aliens and some seismic stakes surrounding a possible wide-scale invasion, but this material is merely a backdrop to its thoughtful character studies.
The sitcom creates a real family between these fragile outcasts and the moments of connection are as rewarding as any of the science fiction developments that sometimes bubble to the surface
3 Ghosted Functions Like A Comedic X-Files With A Stand Out Cast
The X-Files establishes such an effective formula with its believer/skeptic breakdown that it’s unsurprising that it’s been adopted by countless other series. A recent comedy from the 2017/2018 season, Ghosted focused on the efforts of a secret organization that investigates paranormal behavior.
Granted, Ghosted was canceled after only one season, but network interference and a disrupted production order set up the sitcom to fail. It’s far from perfect, but there’s still a lot to enjoy in Ghosted, and if nothing else, the chemistry between Adam Scott and Craig Robinson never disappoints.
2 Garth Marenghi's Darkplace Is The Ultimate In Genre Parody
At only six episodes, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is the shortest series on this list, but arguably still one of the most rewarding. The meta British comedy operates with a show-within-a-show premise wherein lost footage of a TV series produced from the 1980s is recovered.
The series is based on the works of a fictitious Stephen King-esque author, and while the sitcom frequently embraces horror tropes, it's still no stranger to science fiction. Darkplace is a masterpiece in satire and the cast of Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, and Matthew Holness are all deliciously over the top with their performances.
1 The Good Place’s Spiritual Setting Explores A Different Side Of Sci-Fi
Admittedly, The Good Place could be considered more of a philosophical and spiritual show than something that skews towards sci-fi, but the ideas that it explores are certainly still applicable to the nature of the science fiction genre. The Good Place impressively breaks down morality and asks deep questions about the nature of humanity.
There’s absurdist comedy and lovable characters that drive the comedy in The Good Place, but there’s very much a sci-fi feeling whenever Eleanor and company roll with the perpetual changes that are present in the afterlife.