KANSAS CITY — Once again, Jim Nantz has a front-row seat to history.
The legendary CBS play-by-play announcer will call Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The game marks the ninth meeting between quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Josh Allen of the Bills, and Nantz and Tony Romo have called all but two of those. This is the fourth time those superstar players have met in the postseason, all on CBS, with Mahomes holding a 3-0 advantage.
The matchup is laced with nostalgia, especially for Nantz, seeing as he was a constant in those mesmerizing showdowns between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning for so many years. The league distributes games a little differently now, but for years CBS was the network for AFC games.
“I never thought I’d see another one like that,” Nantz said. “I thought I’d just hit magic that it was in our conference. If this had happened over on the NFC side of the world, I’d get one or two swings at the plate if I’m lucky. And I wouldn’t see the individual matchup between the two of them, that would belong to Fox.
“So I struck twice. It was blind luck. I walked into Brady-Manning and Mahomes-Allen back-to-back. One folded into the next, and there wasn’t an empty space for a year at all. It just instantly developed.”
But the Hall of Fame broadcaster is quick to point out there’s a caveat. Whereas Mahomes has cemented his spot in league history as a three-time Super Bowl winner, Allen is still waiting to get to his first. So don’t be too quick to dub this Brady-Manning 2.0.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, left, and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
(David Dermer, Jeffrey T. Barnes / Associated Press)
“On the AFC side, you’ve got this guy in Cincinnati in Joe Burrow who played in two straight AFC championship games and won at Arrowhead,” he said. “So be careful. He wants it to be Mahomes-Burrow, and he’s building a pretty compelling case.
“Then you’ve got Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, and we know what’s happened as far as shortcomings in the postseason, but he’s a sensational player.
“Those four names — Mahomes and Allen, Burrow and Jackson, they’re not at the midway point of their careers. So you hate to say, boom, this is Manning and Brady. Because one of those other quarterbacks could be a part of it.”
What we do know is Nantz has become close friends with Brady and Manning, and now Mahomes and Allen. He plays golf with all of them, and they have all been to the backyard of his home in Pebble Beach where he has a scaled-down replica of the famed par-three seventh hole at the world-famous course next door.
In fact, it was in Nantz’s backyard that Manning shot his “Peyton’s Places” episode with Brady.
“Peyton called me and said this is going to be the most important one I do,” Nantz recalled. “It’s with my rival and I want to do it on the tee in your backyard. I said, `Have at it. I would be honored.’”
Nantz now lives most of the year at his home in Nashville, Tenn., which is much more convenient for covering NFL games. He has a replica hole in that backyard too. It’s a rendition of the 13th green at Augusta National, and you’re hitting your approach. Allen stopped by last summer and tried mightily to be the first name on the “rock of fame,” where Nantz memorializes friends who ace the hole. It didn’t happen.
“He was out there for a long while,” Nantz said. “You get unlimited attempts until you either get so frustrated you give up, or you get bored.”
Not only is Nantz friends with the four quarterbacks, he has become friends with their parents and families as well.
“There might be some people who say, `Isn’t that blurring the lines? How does that work?’” he said. “But sometimes you can’t help it. Life takes its course.”
Now, a new course is being charted.
For Nantz, the respect stays the same.
“All four of them have shouldered so much in terms of expectations, representing a franchise,” he said. “Being the face of a franchise. Being a leader in their communities. And all four are exceptional.”
Artist Chris Carlson lives in Denver. He is a Nuggets fan. He may not have been the most obvious choice to paint a mural in Los Angeles based on a Lakers legend.
“My relationship with the Lakers is complicated,” Carlson told The Times in an email interview. “Being from Denver and growing up as a Nuggets fan, I watched the Lakers knock us out of the playoffs every season during the [Carmelo Anthony] years.”
Carlson is, however, a huge admirer of Kobe Bryant, so he jumped at the chance to paint a Nike-commissioned mural highlighting Bryant and his Black Mamba persona beside the Venice Beach basketball courts.
“I am definitely a Kobe fan!” Carlson wrote. “His skills were unmatched and his work ethic was inspirational. A lot of his philosophies about working toward being a better athlete can be applied to becoming a better artist. Things like embracing discomfort and pushing past your perceived limits really resonated with me.”
Carlson and Indiana-based artist Nate Baranowski finished painting the larger-than-life mural this month. It shows Bryant with a fierce scowl on his face. A giant snake appears to burst through the painting and wrap itself around Bryant, with their heads ending up side by side. The top features Nike’s Swoosh logo and the slogan: “This isn’t the year of the snake. This is the year of the Mamba.”
Mike Asner, who runs the KobeMural.com website, posted a video of the mural on the site’s Instagram page this week and the post blew up, garnering 2 million views and 187,000 likes in three days.
“That’s not normal,” said Asner, who estimates a typical post featuring a Bryant mural gets between 150,000 and 300,000 views and 10,000 to 15,000 likes.
Asner said he thinks people are attracted to “the realism and 3D nature” of the mural.
“People went crazy over this one,” Asner said. “I’ve never seen people go this crazy over a mural.”
Here is more from The Times’ interview with Carlson. The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
How did this project come about?
Nike contacted me about creating this mural in Venice Beach. They had an idea to incorporate a 3D illusion and trompe l’oeil effects into a Kobe mural they were planning, and since optical illusion murals are my specialty they reached out to me. I loved their concept and I was thrilled when they selected me for the project.
What inspired the design?
The design started with the black mamba (the snake). I wanted the snake to be wrapping around the portrait of Kobe in a way that shows the two are linked and forever connected. Having the mamba breaking through the wall helps to create a feeling of intensity and power that I really wanted to capture in the mural. It’s like Kobe and the mamba are challenging us to be the best versions of ourselves. The architectural elements in the corners are the Kobe logo. I think they help pull the viewers’ eyes into the middle of the mural.
How did people respond while you were working on it?
The reactions from people on the courts while we painted were amazing! As soon as people saw that it was a Kobe mural, the excitement started building. It was one of my favorite painting experiences because of all the encouragement we got from the public while we painted.
How does this project differ from your usual work?
This is my largest mural to date, so that brings some different challenges. But it also allows the artwork to have a bigger visual impact. I’m also not usually painting in such a famous location. It was an honor to paint a mural featuring an iconic person like Kobe Bryant in an iconic location like the Venice Beach basketball courts.
Passive income ideas come in all shapes and sizes. One I use myself, along with millions of other people, is buying shares I hope will pay me dividends in future.
As an approach, I reckon this has both pros and cons. Here are eight.
Pro: it’s genuinely passive
What I see as a massive pro is that as a passive income idea it really is passive.
I bought shares in BP — and now earn regular dividends from the oil major without ever lifting a finger.
I think that compares favourably to supposedly passive ideas that can actually involve a lot of work, like setting up an online shop.
Con: it takes capital…
Buying shares requires money, even though the amount can be little.
That can be seen as a con compared to some passive income ideas that require no capital. But I think the catch there, for me at least, is that an idea that requires zero financial capital is likely to require some human capital such as labour and/or time.
Pro: …it doesn’t take much capital
When I said above the amount can be little I meant it!
Dividends are never guaranteed, even if a company has paid them before.
That can be a con, as when Shell shareholders in 2020 saw the dividend cut for the first time since the Second World War.
But it can also be a pro.
Why? Well, a company that has not paid dividends before can suddenly start (like Google parent Alphabet did last year), a business can announce a special dividend on top of the ordinary payout (as Dunelm has done on multiple occasions) and a firm can raise its dividend per share (as Guinness brewer Diageo (LSE: DGE) has done every year for decades).
It can take some effort to find out. After all, a company can axe its juicy dividend suddenly (as Direct Line did a couple of years ago).
But taking time to dig into a share can also reveal a potential bargain that looks set to generate a lot of future income.
I bought Diageo shares because I know the alcoholic drinks market is huge and the firm’s brands, such as JohnnieWalker, give it pricing power that can translate into chunky free cash flows and dividends.
Pro and con: share prices matter too, not just dividends
Still, while I am upbeat about the demand outlook, there is a risk that fewer drinkers in younger generations will mean Diageo’s sales shrink.
That helps explain why the FTSE 100 firm’s share price has fallen 26% in five years.
I pounced on that as a buying opportunity as I felt it was a bargain.
But it points to the fact that, when buying shares for dividends, it is important to remember that they can later lose value.
On the other hand, an increasing share price could ultimately mean (if sold) extra passive income on top of any dividends.
Perhaps Tyreek Hill hopes to keep his talents in South Beach after all.
The Dolphins wide receiver has chalked up his recent comments about wanting a change of scenery to frustration over not participating in the postseason for the only time in his nine-year NFL career.
“What y’all had heard at the end of the season was frustration,” Hill said to his viewers in an expletive-filled rant this week while live-streaming a video game, according to ESPN. “I’ve been winning my whole life, bruh. Y’all don’t understand, I bust my ass every day. I deserve to feel like that; I deserve to have some kind of opinion.
“Y’all just want me to say, ‘Oh well, get ’em next year?’ Nah, f–k that. We’ve got to come back. We got to put some pressure on motherf—–s. Y’all got to fix this s–t, come on. Add some motherf—ing dogs in this b—-. I compete, I love to compete, bruh.”
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) on the field before the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The 30-year-old Hill had said following Miami’s season-ending loss to the Jets that he was “out, bruh” after three seasons with the Dolph, before adding “it was great playing here, but at the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for my career.”
Hill, an eight-time Pro Bowler with the Chiefs and Dolphins, also had said he’d do what’s best for his family, whether that’s in Miami “or wherever the case may be.”
Dolphins GM Chris Grier told reporters soon after the season ended that Hill — who is signed through 2026 — didn’t request a trade.
The player’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, then said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he believed Hill was still “committed” to the Dolphins.
“What you see with Tyreek, it’s very genuine. He wants to win. It’s not good enough for him not to make the playoffs,” Rosenhaus said. “I think at the end of the day, he’s committed to this Dolphins football team. I believe Tyreek is a great asset to the Dolphins, and I think he’s the last guy people should be worried about in this organization. They have many more worries; Tyreek Hill’s not one of them.”
Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins avoids a tackle from Juan Thornhill #1 of the Cleveland Browns during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field on December 29, 2024. Getty Images
Hill totaled only 954 receiving yards on 81 receptions in 17 games this season, after leading the NFL with 3,509 yards through the air with 20 touchdown catches during his first two seasons with the Dolphins.
OpenAI is releasing a preview version of its first AI agent, Operator, which is specifically designed to use a web browser and can, for example, book a table at a restaurant for the user on its own. (An AI agent is a system that can be given a task and then work on it independently.)
In the meantime, the user can either watch the Operator work on the web or do something completely different. In some cases, the Operator will wait for the user — for example, if it needs to log in somewhere or confirm that an email should be sent.
OpenAI says its Operator will not be able to perform malicious tasks. The company also notes that the tool currently has problems with more complex user interfaces, such as managing a calendar or creating a slideshow for a presentation.
I hadn’t previously read anything by Nnedi Okorafor when I picked up Death of the Author, but after only a few pages in, I found myself making a mental note to add everything else she’s ever written to my To Read pile. Okorafor coined the term “Africanfuturism,” describing a subcategory of science fiction that’s “more directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology and point-of-view” than the more “America-centric” Afrofuturism.
Death of the Author is kind of like two books in one, following Nigerian American main character Zelu’s meteoric rise to fame as the author of an unexpected hit novel, Rusted Robots, and bringing us into said novel, set in a humanless future society inhabited by robots and AI.
Zelu, a disabled mid-30s writer with a large extended family, is going through a rough patch when the book starts, and has to fight to be taken seriously by the people around her when she becomes successful overnight. She faces constant pushback as she tries new things, like self-driving cars and an exoskeleton mobility aid. The family dynamics and the world she lives in — on the cusp of major change driven by technological advancements — felt very real, and I became much more invested in their drama than what was playing out in Rusted Robots. But it’s all in there for a reason, and the two narratives weave together well to create an immersive and thought-provoking story.
Madison Keys is winning both on and off the court.
After clinching her first-ever Grand Slam title on Saturday, the American tennis pro expressed her gratitude to many, including former American tennis player Bjorn Fratangelo, who gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek as she held her trophy.
Find out more about her and her personal life below.
Who Is Madison Keys?
Keys is an American professional tennis player, widely regarded for her powerful game, particularly her serve and groundstrokes. Born in Rock Island, Illinois, she turned pro in 2009. Keys rose to prominence as one of the brightest young talents in women’s tennis and has been known for her aggressive playing style.
In her Saturday Australian Open match, Keys faced defending two-time champion and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. After the match, she reflected on how, as a younger player, she would have felt a heavy burden if she hadn’t won a Grand Slam.
“I have wanted this for so long and I have been in a grand slam final before, it did not go my way,” Keys said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back to this position to try and win a trophy again and my team believed in me every step of the way, so thank you so much.”
She will match a career-high No. 7 when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
Keys is currently 29 years old, but her birthday is just around the corner on February 17.
Is Madison Keys Married?
Yes, Keys married former American tennis player and coach Bjorn Fratangelo in November 2024. He proposed to her in March 2023 after six years of dating.
Madison Keys walks over to her husband & coach Bjorn Fratangelo after winning her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open
They hug each other, in awe of what they’ve done this week
After her victory on Saturday, Jan. 25, Keys said, “They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself and helped me every step of the way. Last year was so tough with some really bad injuries and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it again and to be here and have this trophy and also be able to do it with my husband, who is kind of dazed and confused over there. I love you all so much and I cannot wait for more.”
Morocco and Egypt are two of Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, but this gorgeous island might become the new hotspot.
Recently named the safest country in Africa, Mauritius is an incredible choice for a sun-filled and warm voyage, and you don’t have to wait around because the island reaches temperatures of up to 30C in February.
Tour operator Altezza Travel ranked African countries in terms of safety according to factors such as indexes on global peace and global terrorism. It also looked at crime, global safety, and human development.
Due to its low crime rate, political stability, and economic climate, Mauritius is the safest country on the continent.
Ghana followed behind in second place. While popular holiday destinations, Morocco took fifth place, and Egypt seventh.
The African island in the Indian Ocean, around 2,000km from East Africa’s southern coast, is nearly surrounded by coral reefs.
With white sandy beaches that stretch over 100 miles and crystal clear waters, this dreamy island is the perfect option for Brits to escape the winter season.
There are several things to do on the island, starting with taking advantage of the blue seas and participating in watersports like diving, snorkelling, swimming, and kayaking.
Don’t fancy sports? Well, you can also go dolphin-spotting and whale-watching – the island is full of beautiful nature and wildlife.
Mauritius is home to several rainforests, waterfalls, and mountain peaks. Hiking through the mountains along the island or in the national parks allows tourists to view remarkable landscapes and see wildlife up close.
Black River Gorges National Park boasts more than 50km of walking trails, including the highest point on the island, Black River Peak. For animal lovers, Bras d’Eau National Park is home to the world’s rarest animals, such as geckos and tropical birds.
The north of Mauritius is renowned for being a tourist area, and the beaches are also a great spot to shop and try out the local cuisine. When going on holiday, it is always nice to learn about the history of where you’re visiting and the north is a great place to do that.
Holidaymakers can book direct flights to Port Louis, Mauritius from London Gatwick Airport.
Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens shared the truth about his sexuality in a posthumous documentary, Pee-wee as Himself. The feature, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, January 23, dives into Reubens’ life and offers insights into his career, utilizing more than 40 hours of interviews and archival footage. Reubens died in 2023 at the age of 70 after a private battle with cancer.
During his conversations with director Matt Wolf, Reubens reveals that before landing the role of Pee-wee Herman (the iconic character he created and portrayed for decades), he had a boyfriend named Guy (Guy was actually the inspiration for some of Pee-wee’s behaviors). Becoming a known name, however, led Reubens to conceal his sexuality, as he “wasn’t pursuing the Paul Reubens career,” but the Pee-wee Herman career (via the New York Post):
“I hid behind an alter ego. I spent my entire adult life hiding I was a huge weed head,” Reubens shared. “I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation. I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated.”
Reubens shared the last time he saw Guy was hours before he died of AIDS. The actor said he had many “many, many secret relationships” throughout his life, but his romantic life took a backseat to his professional life.
Paul Reubens Beyond Pee-wee Herman
Reubens became synonymous with the iconic Pee-wee Herman and portrayed him for decades, beginning with a live performance at The Groundlings in 1977 and concluding with the critically lauded Pee-wee’s Big Holiday in 2016. Reubens brought the quirky character to life on stage, film, and television, gaining fame for the television series Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the Tim Burton-helmed Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.
Reubens cites the reason behind participating in the two-part documentary was to reveal his true self. In a recording made just the day before he passed away, Reubens shared:
“More than anything, the reason I wanted to make a documentary was for people to see who I really am and how painful and dreadful it was to be labeled something I wasn’t. To be labeled a pariah; to have people be scared of you, or untrusting.”
With the recent passing of Paul Reubens, we celebrate the actor by looking at his best roles outside of Pee-wee Herman.
In a highly publicized incident, Reubens was arrested at an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, and subsequently charged with indecent exposure in 1991. While he later pleaded no contest to the charge, the arrest followed him for decades, casting negativity onto his career and life.
“I kept who I was a secret for a very long time. That really backfired when I got arrested. People had never seen a photo of me other than Pee-wee Herman. And all of a sudden, I had a Charlie Manson mugshot. I lost control of my anonymity. It was devastating,” Reubens reveals in ‘Pee-wee as Himself.’ It’s shocking what horrible, awful stuff people think about me. It’s still a significant footnote.”
Pee-wee as Himself is scheduled to stream in Max later this year as a two-part docuseries.
Few entertainment products are as satisfying as a good sci-fi show, especially one with strong writing. The genre has produced plenty of unique approaches. The best sci-fi shows are the ones where everything is more or less scientifically sound or thematically coherent, where the spaceships, time loops, and other staples of the genre are all a device to explore the true nature of humanity. Every good story, after all, is about what it means to be human in one way or another.
There are several elements that work together to make a good sci-fi show beyond the bizarre ships and unique worlds, like visual effects to acting performances. Audiences need to believe that what they are seeing is really happening in space, on a mysterious deserted island, or wherever else a story might be set. The most important element of them all, though, is a good script. A good script can save a show where all the other technical aspects might not be as excellent, while the opposite is rarely true.
The broad scope of wild twists of Lost would have fallen apart if it weren’t for the strong writing found throughout the show. Lost is not sci-fi in the most classical of terms, since the show’s events don’t happen somewhere off in remote space. Instead, it’s set on a deserted island where the main cast of characters crash after a plane incident. Still, Lost’s mysterious narrative, filled with questions, puzzles, and plot twists, makes it a perfect fit in the sci-fi genre.
Lost is a monumental piece of television, often hailed as one of the best shows to ever have been produced. It definitely marked a watershed moment in the history of this particular medium. That is still true even when taking Lost‘s finale into consideration, which has instead raised some eyebrows when it was first aired and didn’t exactly meet fans’ expectations. Still, Lost remains one of the best-written sci-fi shows out there, one whose writing has inspired its fair number of emulators.
Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, Beau Willimon, Stephen Schiff
Stream
Andor is hands down the best Lucasfilm show has produced since its acquisition by Disney. The first seasons of The Mandalorian — another beloved Lucasfilm show — were a fun western-like adventure, but Andor is a perfect fit in the greater Star Wars canon, bridging bridges the gap between the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy. The show reeals to audiences how the Rebel Alliance was born and just how much sacrifice was needed to do that.
Andor’s script doesn’t shy away from the most brutal parts of the Empire’s rule of the galaxy, really taking the “wars” in Star Wars to heart. Its dialogues and monologues — the best of which are delivered in the final episode by Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael and Fiona Shaw’s Maarva Andor — dive down into what it means to live under a totalitarian regime and decide to give up everything to fight it. It’s a compelling, mature, and morally murky show that delivers on the premise.
The Battlestar Galactica that most people know and love is a re-imagining of the 1978 show of the same name, with more or less the same premise. In the most classic of sci-fi traditions, Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant future where humans have moved away from the Solar System and are now embroiled in a long war with an android species known as the Cyclons. What separates the 21st-century version of Battlestar Galactica from other shows is the way it explores a desperate humanity on the edge of oblivion.
Battlestar Galactica has been praised far and wide ever since its release. Across a miniseries and subsequent four seasons, the show received accolades for pretty much every aspect of its production from visual effects to sound editing to, of course, writing. The intricacies of the lives of the crew of the titular Battlestar Galactica ship in the wake of a devastating Cyclons attack are once more proof that all sci-fi is actually about humanity, no matter how far off in space and time it’s set.
Another staple of television sci-fi, Babylon 5 follows a cast of characters that live on the titular space station Babylon 5, meant as neutral, diplomatic ground after a series of devastating inter-species wars. As the story progresses, Babylon 5’s main characters all have to deal with their personal problems and relationships. This is on top of their roles in galactic conflicts that are ravaging their respective worlds.
Babylon 5 had plenty of complex relationships including memorable friendships and some entertaining rivalries, sometimes among the same characters.
What made Babylon 5 unique at the time of its airing is also what has made it withstand the test of time and remain a beloved sci-fi product even to this day — and that’s the coherence of its plot. The show was meant to have five seasons ever since its ideation. The story stretches across those five seasons incredibly well, with each episode being directly connected to the ones before and after rather than being somewhat auto-conclusive. This was a then-unique approach to episodic television that has become the standard in modern shows.
The X-Files is another show that left its undeniable mark on the history of television. While not classic sci-fi set on far-off planets or with technologically advanced spaceships, it still deals with plenty of paranormal themes. The story follows pop culture icons Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, two FBI Special Agents who deal with the titular X-Files. These unsolved cases all have to do with the supernatural.
In its years-long run, The X-Files helped popularize the pattern that is now everywhere on television, the “monster of the week”— with Mulder and Scully dealing with a different case in each episode. On top of that, the show does have an over-arching plot that deals with the threat of an alien invasion. As sometimes happens with long-running shows, The X-Files’ ending left some fans unsatisfied, but the show still remains a pillar of the sci-fi genre.
Severance is a recent release and yet one that managed to garner incredible success in the short time it has been available for streaming. Severance is also not exactly classic sci-fi, but the absence of laser guns and aliens doesn’t make its story any less entertaining — or any less relevant to the current cultural moment. This is another thing sci-fi is usually very good at tapping into, and Severance does a phenomenal job of it.
When Severance premiered in 2022, it was unlike anything else on television. From its meticulous production design to its mystery box plot, it was a series that felt firmly of its time in its exploration of labor and workplace misery while having the vibe of a delicious throwback thanks to its mid-century modern look and the timeless quality of its central conceit. – Graeme Guttmann – ScreenRant’s Severance review
Severance‘s story follows a group of employees of a fictional cult-like corporation that have agreed to be “severed,” meaning that their work memories are separated from their personal ones. After this process, they develop a double personality — the “Innie” is the one that works at the corporation while the “Outie” is the one that lives their everyday lives. Severance’s unique and brilliantly written story helps make it the incredible show that it is, together with excellent performances from pretty much every member of its cast.
The Expanse is one of the best examples of classic-style sci-fi made in recent times. Based on the book series of the same name by James S. Corey, the story is set in a not-so-distant future where humanity has colonized a good chunk of the Solar System —and where the conflicts that have always happened between nations are now blown up on an interplanetary scale and taking place between Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. Even moving to the stats can’t keep people from being people, in the best and worst ways alike.
The Expanse’s story is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns as the show’s main characters realize just how big the conspiracy that they’ve found themselves embroiled in really is. It’s the kind of show that keeps its audience guessing, working over each new piece of information to try and guess how the events will move forward. It does this without spoon-feeding everything to them, which makes for an incredibly entertaining time.
3
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)
Number Of Seasons: Three
There would be no sci-fi as we know it today without Star Trek, a pillar of pop culture and a cult classic of the genre. The show was created by Gene Roddenberry, which then spawned a massive media franchise that is still going strong to this day. Years before it became a cultural phenomenon and the basis for so much of what is considered staples of the sci-fi genre, it was just a really good show that still holds up.
That’s ultimately what makes Star Trek one of the best sci-fi shows to have ever been produced. The adventures that the crew of the USS Enterprise, including Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, Doctor Bones, and Communications Officer Uhura, embark on are compelling. Each episode of The Original Series is incredibly entertaining if a bit goofy. They also provide ample commentary on society in the Sixties that can still be taken to heart to this day.
Obscure and complex, Dark was quite the phenomenon when it was first released to streaming audiences as Netflix’s first German-language original series. Five years after it first aired, it remains one of the most engaging and thrilling pieces of sci-fi narrative to hit television in recent years. The story follows the lives of the citizens of a small German town as they get disrupted by the disappearance of a child.
Further investigations on said disappearance reveal a generations-long conspiracy that relies on time travel, possible thanks to a wormhole hidden under the forest just outside the town’s borders. What’s most appealing about Dark is that it trusts its audience to follow along with its quite complicated plot as it ebbs and flows through time. There is zero script space wasted in big recaps to remind everyone what has happened.
It’s not any day that a show’s name becomes a commonly used expression to indicate something that regularly happens in said show. However, that’s exactly the case with Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. The fact that “twilight zone” is now used to describe experiences that seem surreal or supernatural should be enough to testify to just how monumental this show is and how expansive that concept proved to be.
An anthology series, each episode consisted of its own self-contained plot. The Twilight Zone is a collection of stories that deal with disturbing, unusual, at times even paranormal events. Most episodes feature a similar narrative structure, which includes a plot twist towards the end and some sort of fable-like moral. While several of its episodes can be categorized as fantasy or horror, The Twilight Zone remains a sci-fi show first and foremost and one of the very first iterations of the genre to make it on mainstream television.
