Bryce Dallas Howard staring at a small device in Nosedive episode of Black Mirror.
Science fiction is unlike any other genre. These grand tales of technological advancement, space exploration, and speculative futures rarely fail to be entertaining, but they also have a remarkable ability to predict the future.
Since the appeal of sci-fi as a whole is largely reliant on its reflection of contemporary sociopolitical and technological issues taken to an imaginative extreme, it's unsurprising that many sci-fi stories over the years have been able to predict future events with surprising accuracy. This uncanny foresight transforms what once seemed far-fetched into eerily familiar realities. There are instances of films like Her predicting things like AI relationships, or even movies like Back to the Future Part II predicting dozens of technological advancements accurately. It's the same with TV shows, many of which have depicted elements that may have seemed like pure sci-fi at the time, but have generally become real today. As fiction edges closer to fact, these prophetic programs blur the line between imagination and inevitability. From self-driving cars to smartphones and from widespread government surveillance to catastrophic global pandemics, these series are ranked by the accuracy and impressiveness of their spot-on predictions. 5 'Person of Interest' Person of Interest is one of the best sci-fi shows of the 2010s, with a final season that's among the highest-rated seasons of television ever on IMDb. It follows an off-the-grid and presumed-dead former CIA agent, John Reese, who's hired by a mysterious tech billionaire, Harold Finch, to prevent violent crimes before they happen in New York City via advanced surveillance software. Created by Jonathan Nolan and starring Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson at the top of their games, it's a must-see for fans of the genre. The show premiered two years before Edward Snowden released confidential documents ,which showed that the U.S. government was spying on citizens in illegal ways—an event that was even more shocking for those who had been watching Person of Interest's depiction of secret surveillance technologies. On top of that, there was the show's depiction of predictive AI technologies that feel even more timely today than they did back then. The more time passes, the less Person of Interest feels like sci-fi and the more it feels like non-fiction. 4 'The Last Man on Earth' Created by and starring Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth is a high-concept comedy set almost two years after a virus wiped out most of the human race. It's here that Phil Miller, while only wishing for some company, soon gets more than he bargained for when that company shows up in the form of other survivors. Upon the first season's release, critics kept predicting that the premise's appeal would inevitably wear thin as it went on. As it turns out, they were wrong, while the show proved to be a terrifying prediction of a certain event that would come just a couple of years after the show's conclusion. It was lost on no fan of Last Man on Earth when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and reflected the events of this exceptional apocalyptic TV show, where a terrible virus that emerged in 2020 eradicated large portions of the population. Of course, it was impossible to know back in 2015 that the show's story would actually come true; but, nevertheless, Forte has apologized for the series' pandemic jokes.In any case, the parallels have only helped Last Man on Earth age even better. Fans of comedic sci-fi now look back at this cult classic with nostalgia. Though the untimely cancellation made it so that the show ended on a cliffhanger, it's still very much worth checking out today. 3 'Knight Rider' It's not a particularly great show by any strict modern standard, but Knight Rider is nevertheless one of the most iconic sci-fi series of the '80s, with a distinct kind of so-bad-it's-good charm that should make it worth watching for anyone who loves silly B-level shows. It follows the adventures of lone crime-fighter Michael Knight , who fights crime and battles criminals with the help of his virtually indestructible and artificially intelligent supercar, KITT. It's definitely a goofy concept that hasn't exactly aged well, but nostalgic '80s and '90s kids nevertheless look back at this Hasselhoff classic with nostalgia.Another one of the reasons why Knight Rider has been able to become such a significant cult classic is because, surely to the surprise of every single last person involved in the show, time has turned it into one of the most scientifically accurate sci-fi shows of all time. Self-driving AI-powered cars that can talk, biometric technology, a high-tech watch that essentially functions like a walkie-talkie... All of the tech that Knight Rider presents as science fiction now leans much more toward science than it does toward fiction. Even KITT's ability to analyze voices, detect emotions, and operate autonomously anticipates features now present in modern AI assistants and smart vehicles, cementing the show’s unintentional prophetic edge. 2 'Black Mirror' Clearly strongly inspired by classic sci-fi anthology series like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, Black Mirror originally aired two seasons on the British network Channel 4 before it moved to Netflix. This makes it one of the best-ever shows that switched networks. It's a revitalization of the anthology genre that constantly makes the best possible use of the format, telling all manner of sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia and tap into the collective unease about the modern world and the technology that characterizes it. From the haunting eeriness of"White Bear" to the near-future nightmare of"Nosedive," the show’s standalone episodes paint a grim portrait of how innovation can warp society in unexpected ways.There are several things that Black Mirror is famous for having been prescient about. Resurrecting loved ones using AI? Check. AI-powered dating apps? Check. Biotech implants? Check. Plenty of different turns that social media has taken over the years? All check. Black Mirror is by no stretch of the imagination an old show, yet it's somehow predicted many things over the course of its relatively short life. The episode"Hated in the Nation," for example, eerily mirrors real-world discourse around cancel culture and online mob justice, while"Metalhead" feels increasingly relevant as autonomous robots become less science fiction and more science fact. It's pretty scary to think about which other episodes from the series are going to come true at some point in the near future. 1 Several 'Star Trek' Shows There is no small-screen science fiction franchise more storied, popular, or timeless than the Star Trek franchise. Starting with The Original Series all the way back in 1966, this exceptionally beloved multimedia colossus has become one of the most important and influential sci-fi television franchises in history, delivering some of the best shows the genre has ever seen. There are countless reasons to love Star Trek, from its enthralling world-building to its vast roster of compelling characters, and the surprising predictions that several of these series have made are only another reason to love the whole franchise. Its hopeful vision of the future—where humanity thrives through cooperation and exploration—continues to inspire fans and real-world innovators alike. Its futuristic gadgets and cultural forecasts were never just aesthetic, as they often felt like blueprints for what could one day be. From The Original Series predicting flip phones and touch screens, to The Next Generation predicting hyper-complex AI, to Deep Space Nine predicting many social issues of our modern day, there are multiple things that many different Star Trek shows have been shockingly accurate about. With their top-notch production qualities, many memorable moments, and consistently strong casts, these sci-fi shows aren't just seers: They're also some of the most entertaining TV shows in the history of sci-fi television, and they deserve to be re-watched multiple times, even if just to check out which elements of the future they have been right about—and which still remain to be seen. Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Your comment has not been saved Like Follow Followed Star Trek: The Original Series TV-PG Drama Action Adventure Science Fiction 14 9.9/10 Release Date 1966 - 1969-00-00 Network NBC Showrunner Gene Roddenberry Directors Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, Herb Wallerstein, Jud Taylor, Marvin J. Chomsky, David Alexander, Gerd Oswald, Herschel Daugherty, James Goldstone, Robert Butler, Anton Leader, Gene Nelson, Harvey Hart, Herbert Kenwith, James Komack, John Erman, John Newland, Joseph Sargent, Lawrence Dobkin, Leo Penn, Michael O'Herlihy, Murray Golden Cast See All
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