5 Must-Watch Sci-Fi Western TV Shows (Other Than Firefly)

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Something you'll notice about all the TV shows on this list: few of them lived very long. Indeed, four of the six shows I'll be covering (including "Firefly," available on Disney+) were canceled after a single season. It seems that a mass audience doesn't always flock to the clever blending of Western and sci-fi. It's hard to say why, as filmmakers and TV writers keep returning to the genre, time and time again, generation after generation. There is a long, proud tradition of "weird west" tales, going back at least as far as the pulp stories of Robert E. Howard. Plus, audiences are clearly interested in the genre, at least sporadically; remember that steampunk trend that started up in the 1990s?

Joss Whedon's 2002 series "Firefly" still has a passionate cult to this day, despite Whedon himself being ousted as an abusive a-hole. The series took place in the 26th century in a massive solar system overseen by the Alliance. The main characters were a ragtag bunch of misfits who flew around in a rogue smuggling vessel called the Serenity. The gimmick of the series is that most of the planets they visited weren't wealthy enough to afford high-tech doodads, so they looked an awful lot like the Old West, including the fashion. To add to the Old West feel, the show's main character, Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) was an ex-Confederate soldier. Well, he was the sci-fi equivalent of an ex-Confederate soldier. The series died after 14 episodes, and was revived as a feature film, "Serenity," in 2005. 

The below TV shows didn't get their own feature films, but most of them were indeed yanked from the airwaves after a year or two. They're all worth a look, however. Some of them are even okay for your kids.

The 1993 comedy/Western/sci-fi series "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." may be just as notorious as "Firefly" in terms of its unfairly shortened life. "Brisco" aired for one enormous 27-episode season before being canned by Fox, and the show's many fans still see the cancelation as a grievous injustice. The immortal Bruce Campbell played the title character, a former lawyer who found a more comfortable niche as a bounty hunter. Campbell brings his trademark flippant good humor to the role, making Brisco himself immensely appealing. He was joined in his adventures by the capable and bitter Lord Bowler (Julius Carrey) and the snippy lawyer Socrates Poole (Christian Clemenson). Brisco's central love interest was the cabaret singer Dixie Cousins (Kelly Rutherford). The central villain of the series was the scary John Bly (Billy Drago). 

"Brisco" would have been a fine Western/comedy series on its own, but it was pushed into greatness by its recurring sci-fi storylines. The show's pilot involves a large, nubbin-encrusted golden orb that, audiences eventually learn, came from the future. There are time travel elements to the show, and some characters are granted superpowers. Partway through the series, the show was reworked a little bit, and Brisco became a legit government agent. It was a fine development, but it seems like something that should have been saved for the third season of a longer-running show. Sadly, we never got to season two, and fans have been weeping ever since. 

"Brisco" was one of the few times Campbell played the lead in a project, and he proved to be hugely capable in that regard. It's currently available on Prime Video.

For those who missed "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.," a similar high might have been achieved by watching the 1995 the UPN series "Legend." The premise was adorable. Richard Dean Anderson played Ernest Pratt, the author of a long series of adventure novels starring the intrepid adventurer Nicodemus Legend. To lend his books a more riveting, realistic feel, he even wrote them in the first-person under the pen name Nicodemus Legend, leading many to believe that he was the real deal. Legend is a straight-laced, witty hero, while Ernest Pratt is an alcoholic womanizer.

His heroic "front" blew up in his face when someone in 19th-century Sheridan, Colorado, is found to be impersonating him. Through a few contrivances, Pratt ends up having to play Nicodemus Legend for real. He is aided in this endeavor by a genius inventor named Janos Bartok (John de Lancie), fashioned from Nikola Tesla, who creates vehicles and other eerie electrical devices for him. "Legend" is a straight-up steampunk adventure, and it's a blast. 

"Legend" is mostly carried by its leads. Anderson has a lot of fun as a horny boozer who has to pretend to be a decent fellow, and de Lancie is wholly convincing as a man who knows he's much smarter than his charge. Sadly, the series only lasted one brief, 12-episode season before being yanked by UPN. UPN was never super-successful ("Star Trek: Voyager" notwithstanding), and "Legend" was just another one of its victims. It's also possible that "Legend" came too soon after the end of "Brisco County" to be seen as unique. The two are certainly cousins in the realm of "'90s sci-fi Westerns that were canceled too soon," but they're both good shows that can be watched with glee. 

It's available on Prime Video. 

The backstory for the 2013 Syfy sci-fi Western series "Defiance" is intriguing. In the present day, a fleet of alien ships — the Votans — arrive at Earth thinking it could be terraformed. The Votans were made up of six different species, banded together as mutual refugees. There was a cataclysm, nicknamed the Arkfall, wherein the Votan ships were all destroyed, and which, in turn, led to a series of devastating wars. The terraforming alien tech was activated, Earth was "re-written," with the aliens settling on the planet below. 

"Defiance" is set a few decades after all that, on a world that is a weird, Old-and-New-West blend of alien and human technology. The title comes from the central city, which is actually just the re-named ruins of St. Louis, Missouri. 

The "Western" part of "Defiance" comes from the brown-coat fashion, and also the lead character's role as a town sheriff. The lead character is Joshua Nolan, played by Grant Bowler. He is joined on his adventures by his adopted Votan daughter, Irina, played by Stephanie Leonidas. The plot of the show is large and complex, involving investigations into crashed spaceships, death cults, corrupt leaders, and alien crime families. Oh yes, and the Volge, a seventh, more evil alien species. 

"Defiance" lasted for 39 episodes over three seasons, making it the longest-lived series on this list. It was generally liked by fans, although most Syfy TV shows seem to emerge with little more than niche appeal (see also: "Blood Drive"). If you like complex, myth-heavy sci-fi Westerns, though, "Defiance" is probably up your alley. It's available on Prime Video, and Peacock.

The final two shows on this list are, I must admit, nostalgia objects — although they are also both fascinating in their own way. "BraveStarr" was put out by Filmation ("He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," "Jason of Star Command," hundreds of others), and was based on a line of toys from Mattel. This was at a time when merchandising and entertainment kind of became one and the same, leading to a generation of kids being deeply branded (an appropriate term here). Look up Ronald Reagan's repealing of laws about marketing directly to children, and you'll understand why Gen-Xers are so twisted. 

According to a 1986 article in the Los Angeles Times, "BraveStarr" began with the design of Tex Hex, an Old West villain with wizard-like powers that was originally intended for Filmation's "Ghostbusters" cartoon. The good folks at Filmation extrapolated a whole sci-fi Western from Tex Hex, leading to the creation of Marshal BraveStarr (Pat Fraley) and the "BraveStarr" TV series.

BraveStarr was a Native American lawman who operated on the distant planet of New Texas. He had magical spirit-animal powers that could temporarily enhance his strength, speed, vision, or hearing. BraveStarr's deputy was an anthropomorphic horse-man named Thirty/Thirty (Ed Gilbert) who could run on all fours, but also transform and stand upright. New Texas needed protection because it produced a rare ore. Tex Hex floated through the series, wreaking chaos. 

"BraveStarr" is one of those shows that has a cynical origin, but accidentally seemed to boast an interesting mythology. Perhaps with some development, it wouldn't have felt like a toy ad. "BraveStarr" was a daily series, and lasted 65 episodes in its single season. Is it good? Eight-year-old me seemed to think so.

The bizarre, kid-friendly 1992 series "Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa" was one of the many, many "weird badass mutant animals" properties to arise in the wake of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." See also: "Biker Mice from Mars," "Battletoads," "Samurai Pizza Cats," "SWAT Kats," "Street Sharks," etc. etc. The premise was that a radioactive meteor landed in the Old West in the late 19th century and mutated the local fauna. The cows became intelligent anthropomorphic — excuse me, "bovipomorphic" — cattle beings. Reading some pulp literature led them to form a Wild West town populated by cow people. "C.O.W." stands for "Code Of the West." 

The lead character was Marshal Moo Montana, played by Pat Fraley, who also played BraveStarr. His muscle was Dakota Dude (Jim Cummings), and his youthful sidekick was the Cowlorado Kid (Jeff Bennett). The villain was the wicked Mayor Oscar Bulloney (Michael Greer) who was as corrupt as they come. Many notable guest voice actors appeared, including Mark Hamill, Ruth Buzzi, Tim Curry, Kate Mulgrew, Joe Piscopo, and Sally Struthers. 

"Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa" came at a time when animation was exploding in quality, and a lot of attention was given to the writing and acting on the series. It's silly, of course, but it also has that early-1990s self-aware winkiness that came with a lot of the shows of the era (see also: "Tiny Toon Adventures"). The series lasted for 26 episodes over its two seasons. There was talk at one point of rebooting the series, but this is one I.P. that has refused to be milked.