Collider has put together a list of science-fiction television series featuring extraterrestrial life that it rates as ten-out-of-ten masterpieces. The feature highlights how differently aliens can be portrayed on screen, from menacing, monstrous threats to complex characters used to explore weighty philosophical and social themes, and argues that the best examples elevate their shows well beyond typical genre fare.

Among the entries discussed are Alien: Earth, which expands the Alien film franchise with the iconic Xenomorph alongside inventive new predatory and parasitic creatures inhabiting a world where humanity has developed synthetic and hybrid bodies; Star Trek: The Next Generation, praised for using largely humanoid alien races, including the reality-bending Q and the enigmatic Tamarians, to probe issues such as racism, artificial intelligence and gender; and Resident Alien, a lighter dramedy in which Alan Tudyk plays an extraterrestrial posing as a small-town doctor while wrestling with his mission to destroy Earth.