Since The Expanse has already been covered, gotta go with Firefly. I have a couple of the books on my bookshelf at work but I haven't gotten to them.
Firefly? Lol OP is going to be so mad at you
Nobody I know IRL has watched it so I'm counting it lol
As my username suggests- I love 'Lexx'.
It's beautifully sleezy sci-fi fantasy and not nearly enough people know about it. I caught it on Netflix about 10 years ago but I think you can watch it on youtube now free with commercials.
Highly recommend to any fans of sci-fi, but especially if you loved stuff like Farscape and Red Dwarf.
Also shout out to 'Avenue 5'. Hilariously dark sci-fi comedy that HBO criminally underpromoted. Also 'Other Space'.
I don't remember much of Lexx, but the song the Brunen-G sang will always be in my heart. Whatever it means.
I was looking for this one in the comments. Such a batshit crazy show that went in some very weird directions, and I absolutely loved it.
I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but I liked Humans (2015).
I also like several Black Mirror episodes, but I think those are "well known".
Babylon 5, Farscape, 12 Monkeys, Timeless, Warehouse 13 & Eureka, Fringe, Dark Matter, Killjoys.
And right now, Silo.
(And The Expanse of course, but has been mentioned many times already!)
Firefly definitely counts as lesser known. Op is on drugs.
I would pick Firefly, the Expanse, and Orville (for an unexpected great show.)
I agree with your choices, they're fantastic shows. But those are definitely some of the most high-profile sci-fi shows I can think of. Those are the ones that come to mind immediately when people mention sci-fi shows, so I wouldn't necessarily call them 'lesser known'.
"Moon" was quite good.
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. It's a solid example of 80's scifi, post-Star Wars and pre-Matrix. A little cheesy, a little Mad Max-y. And Molly Ringwald still makes me laugh.
Lesser known but amazing you say?
Total Recall 2070
Wild Palms
Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles
Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles
That was a terrific show. I especially enjoyed the first season, where they blended killer robots from the future with high school teen drama.
They mostly got rid of the high school aspect after the first season, and I was so disappointed never to see what happened after the female terminator agreed to be John’s friend’s prom date.
Space: Above and Beyond. It was a short-lived show on FOX about a group of space marines that are pressed into service against an alien menace, but not everything is as it seems. The show was a a bit of a mashup between Aliens, Blade Runner, and Starship Troopers, and it was awesome. If there was ever a show that needed a remake, it's this one.
Serial Experiments LAIN. It's a 13 episode anime, in a "future" where everyone is connected to "The Wired" via wireless devices. For a 1998 anime, it is highly prophetic. It even predicts the idea of people having completely different identities in real life then they have online, and does a great job musing on the blurry line between the internet and the real world.
I really enjoyed Dark Matter. It got a little wild as the story went on, but the premise was very good, and I enjoyed a lot of the characters. (Especially the Android)
A couple of others I haven't seen here that I loved:
Some comic/hero shows that could technically count as Sci-Fi:
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