The most memorable TV shows set in dystopian worlds

Movies adapted from video games have an infamously poor track record. Skepticism was warranted when HBO announced a TV adaptation of the beloved game "The Last of Us." Those worries dissipated quickly. Now, "The Last of Us" has joined the ranks of HBO shows that have captured the zeitgeist and get everybody talking on social media. Hey, sometimes a video game adaptation can work out!

The dystopian show that won Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys. Adapted from a Margaret Atwood novel, the show stars Elisabeth Moss in a world that, well, let’s say, isn’t great for women. It can be a heavy watch, but obviously, critics and people in the industry admire it greatly.

Alternate histories are a big part of dystopian entertainment. That’s the premise of The Man in the High Castle, which is adapted from a famous Philip K. Dıck novel. Basically, what if Germany and Japan had won World War II? That’s what the story is about, and it was the basis for a 40-episode show on Amazon Prime.

The CW is best known for its superhero dramas and teen soaps, and there is a bit of teen soap mixed into the sci-fi of The 100. Basically, decades after humans have fled Earth after a nuclear apocalypse, a group of 100 teenage criminals is sent back to Earth to test if it is habitable. Now, all 100 aren’t the main characters on the show. Fittingly, this show ran for exactly 100 episodes.

We’re focusing on the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica, the version that was well-received by critics and is less of a rip-off of Star Wars. Basically, human beings are living in space but have largely been wiped out by the Cylons, a race of androids. Only one human warship remains, the titular Battlestar Galactica. They are at the forefront of the war against the Cylons.

After co-creating Lost, Carlton Cuse then co-created Colony. He brought Lost star Josh Holloway along for the ride on this show that focuses on humans living under military occupation led by aliens known as “The Hosts.” While there was likely some Lost-adjacent excitement before Colony debuted, the show landed with a shrug.

Jericho, like Colony, did not last very long. However, its fan base was more fervent. The fans of Jericho rallied around the show when it was canceled after the first season and earned a second season. That was the end of the TV run, though. The story of a town in Kansas in the post-apocalyptic United States was continued in comic book form.

Finally, a comedy, though an often dark one. This is maybe a bit of a spoiler, but the title is slightly inaccurate. Will Forte does believe he is the last man on Earth during the first episode, but eventually, he finds a few more people. While there are laughs and silly moments, plenty of stuff also makes it clear this is a dystopian world. Rare is the comedy where the main character plans to commit suıcide in the pilot.

Undoubtedly, The Walking Dead is the most popular dystopian show of all time. Credit zombies for that. While the show's popularity has waned a bit, and the cast has undergone many changes, fans have continued to flock to The Walking Dead to watch the humans vie to survive in a world of zombies.

The first season of The Leftovers was so bleak it turned a lot of people off, though others loved it. To be fair, it is a show about a world where a small portion of the population just disappears one day without warning or explanation. This dystopian world looks more like our real world, but it is still a dystopian show in a universe just different enough to count.

Westworld within the show of the same name is definitely dystopian. It’s a little murkier figuring out what the rest of the world is like. Then again, any world where a place like Westworld can exist is assuredly dystopian, right? Renegade androids trying to kill people who are trying to kill them? Doesn’t sound like a ton of fun.

After AMC became a big player in creating original series, a lot of shows basically faded into the ether. Humans is one of those. It was a joint venture between a British company and AMC, which may be why they only made 24 episodes over three seasons. That’s classic British television. The show is about “synths,” human-like robots coexisting with humans. It’s kind of like A.I. but maybe not quite as successful. It did costar Gemma Chan, though, who has become a more prominent name since.

Many dystopian shows seem to have come out since the turn of the millennium, weirdly. Back in the day, they mainly made Westerns, private eye shows, and sci-fi programs like Star Trek. The Prisoner is a different story. Granted, maybe outside of the mysterious island Number 6 finds himself trapped in a less dystopian world. What we see of this world is decidedly different than ours and quite bleak. It became a cult favorite for a reason.

Based on a movie by Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer is science fiction mixed with action and dystopia. Humans are essentially stuck living on a train that never stops moving. However, class stratification hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s gotten worse. The show is perhaps not as effective as the film — they did have to drag out the story — but it didn’t flop, so there’s that.

Fringe has a lot of similarities to The X-Files. Both are about fictional branches of the FBI dealing with supernatural matters. Both aired on FOX. Fringe makes this list, while X-Files doesn’t. Not because it’s a better show, which it isn’t, but it feels more like it’s from a dystopian universe. Fringe is largely about parallel universes, and in that parallel universe, things seem rather dystopian.

Terra Nova had Steven Spielberg as an executive producer. It had dinosaurs! It had time travel! And yet, it did not work. Not only was the show not well-received by critics, but it only lasted one season of 13 episodes. Even Spielberg doesn’t hit it out of the park every time.

Another show adapted from a dystopian film. 12 Monkeys, the movie, features a nuts performance from Brad Pitt that got him an Oscar nomination, giving the show a lot to live up to. 12 Monkeys takes place in a world where a disease has wiped out most of humanity. The people of the future want to send a human back in time to try and figure out what happened to try and end the disease in their present. It’s a trippy story, but the show takes a lot of liberties with the film's plot, including changing the ending entirely.

While Alan Moore’s Watchmen is definitely dystopian, the HBO adaptation is impressive in that it’s dystopian in a different way. The show takes the trapping of Watchman and adapts them to a modern story with current themes. If you want to argue Damon Lindelof’s adaptation is better than the original graphic novel, we would hear that argument out.

When we checked in on dystopian TV shows to ensure we weren’t missing anything obvious, we saw Adventure Time come up in multiple instances. We had not considered it, given that this is a family-friendly animated show, but we can see it. Hence, Adventure Time makes our list. The Land of Ooo has certainly seen better times, and there are aspects of the show's world that feel like a less grim version of dystopia — the kind that kids can enjoy.

Another animated show, but one decidedly for adults. Or, at the very least, the teens who watched MTV in the ‘90s. It’s pretty experimental animation, and we give Aeon Flux credit for being a show set in a post-apocalyptic future that didn’t bother running the risk of becoming dated. The show takes place in the year 7698. We will never live to find out how accurate the show was.

Max Headroom is one of the icons of cult science fiction from the ‘80s. You’ve likely seen his distinct hair, sunglasses, and jerky way of moving and talking. The character existed for a little while and was in a British TV movie before getting his own TV show. Max Headroom, the show, didn’t last very long. One14 episodes were made. That was enough to win the character a lot of fans, though.