10 TV Shows Like for All Mankind That You Should Watch in the Future.
Apple TV’s sci-fi series For All Mankind begins with an intriguing alternate history premise: what if Soviet space pioneer Sergei Korolev hadn’t died prematurely in 1966, but instead helped his country’s space program flourish, prolonging the space race indefinitely?
If America and the world had been forced to continue the space program, our past (and present) would look very different—at least that’s what this series suggests, jumping forward several decades to show how things might have played out in an alternate past. (In the fifth season, set in an alternate 2012, some people live off-planet in a Martian habitat.)
For All Mankind is both a brilliant, generally hopeful alternate history novel and a realistic, gripping sci-fi series. As the penultimate season on Apple TV rapidly draws to a close , here are 10 other ambitious series that follow similarly twisted paths.
The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019)
Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick (whose works inspired films such as Blade Runner , Total Recall , Minority Report , A Scanner Darkly, and many others), The Man in the High Castle is a political thriller set (mostly) in an alternate 1960s where the Axis powers have won World War II and the United States is split in two, with Japan ruling the West and Germany ruling the East. The title, The Man in the High Castle, is a propaganda film (or is it?), offering an alternative perspective more akin to our history books. As the series progresses over four seasons, the parallels with our increasingly fascist world only intensify. Watch The Man in the High Castle on Prime Video andNetflix .
The Right Choice (2020)
The second adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book, this series isn’t exactly about space exploration, but rather the strange, twisted path that led to it. The series begins in 1959 with the selection of seven pilots best suited for the nascent American space program—men who possessed impeccable qualifications and the masculine, photogenic looks needed to introduce the multibillion-dollar program to Americans in the 1960s. With the impeccable style of the era, the series is as much about the creation of mythology as it is about the space race itself. Buy “The Right Stuff” on Prime Video.
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
Call it an alternate history of an alternate history, For All Mankind (okay, it’s just “history”). This prestigious miniseries dramatizes the real-life events of the space program, beginning roughly with the 1961 Mercury mission of Freedom 7 and ending with humanity’s final moon landing, Apollo 17, just over a decade later. Primarily an anthology, this docudrama intersperses personal stories (the penultimate episode follows the wives and families of several astronauts) with more traditional mission dramas. Executive producer Tom Hanks introduces most of the episodes, leading an all-star cast of ’90s actors. Watch From the Earth to the Moon on HBO Max .
Battlestar Galactica (2003–2009)
While not quite comparable to For All Mankind in either atmosphere or setting, the series nonetheless possesses intellectual and philosophical depth (it’s worth noting that both share the same creator, Ronald D. Moore). The Cylons, sentient machines who rebel against their human masters, are inspired by growing religious beliefs and are forcibly liberated from their creators. Humanity is reduced to a few tens of thousands, and while the series explores existential questions with remarkable depth, we are never allowed to forget that we’re not simply witnessing a decimated humanity surviving on a few decrepit spaceships in search of a fabled world called “Earth.” The oppressed become the oppressors, and while we primarily follow the human characters, the series never takes a hard line on the moral superiority of either side. Buy Battlestar Galactica on Prime Video or watch it on Pluto TV and Paramount+ starting May 1st .
1983 (2018)
Sure, we’ve all wondered what would have happened if we hadn’t moved so slowly on the space program after the moon landing, but the real alternate history question is: what if the communist Polish People’s Republic had never fallen? This political thriller is primarily set in 2003, twenty years after a series of bombings ended hopes for an end to the Cold War, which still rages behind the existing Iron Curtain. In this vision of Poland, digital surveillance is ubiquitous; art is censored; and personal behavior and sexual morality are restricted both legally and through a submissive population (the similarities to our supposedly more enlightened post-communist era are no coincidence; that’s the point). Law student Kajetan (Maciej Musial) and national police investigator Anatole (Robert Więckiewicz) find themselves caught in a web of conspiracy that could very well lead to revolution.Watch 1983 on Netflix.
“Space” (2015–2022)
Set in the relatively near future, The Expanse (based on the book series by James S.A. Corey) imagines a colonized solar system where we’ve imported all our old, familiar problems and more: Earth is at the historical and cultural center of events, while the colonists of Mars, forced to survive in a harsh environment, have achieved technological and military superiority, and the inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt are forced to fight for survival. Greed, fear, and shortsightedness make conflict almost inevitable, even if the series isn’t as cynical as it initially appears. The Expanse shares with For All Mankind a practical view of human progress that never entirely gives way to cynicism; they also share the creative voice of executive producer (and frequent Ronald D. Moore collaborator) Naren Shankar. Watch The Expanse on Prime Video .
The Plot Against America (2020)
The Plot Against America is another dark twist on alternate American history, asking the question: What if Charles Lindbergh had succeeded in his quest for political power in the 1930s, realizing his vision of an America that would follow in the footsteps of Nazi Germany by stopping the “infiltration of inferior blood” (by which he meant, primarily, Jews)? Based on the book by Philip Roth, the series distorts history by depicting Lindbergh’s successful campaign for the presidency against Franklin D. Roosevelt, which ultimately kept the United States out of World War II, leading to the domestic situation becoming increasingly dangerous for the Jewish family at the center of the series. Starring Morgan Spector, Zoe Kazan, Winona Ryder, and John Turturro. Watch The Plot Against America on HBO Max .
Manhattan (2014–2015)
This loosely shot yet compelling series tells a largely true story about the Manhattan Project, yet it seamlessly integrates the context of a critical moment in human history and flawlessly evokes the atmosphere of the era. John Benjamin Hickey plays scientist Dr. Frank Winter, a composite of several real-life figures, and Olivia Williams plays botanist (and Frank’s wife) Lisa. J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Daniel London) remains in the background, and the series focuses primarily on the relentless pursuit of the scientists who developed technologies that, for better or worse, proved fundamental to the space program. Watch Manhattan on Prime Video .
Watchmen (2019)
It may seem like an exaggeration, but in my opinion, Watchmen, along with For All Mankind, is one of the greatest examples of alternate history of all time, even if this version is a bit more fantastical, imagining the aftermath of Jim Crow-era racial violence in a world where fascist superheroes emerged in the 1980s. A standalone sequel to the groundbreaking graphic novel by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins, the series begins in an alternate Tulsa, Oklahoma, a world where vigilante superheroes exist but are outlawed. Regina King plays Angela Abar, a modern-day police officer whose grandparents were killed in the real-life Tulsa race massacre —an event that reverberates throughout the series. It’s a dystopia not so different from our own, with masked police operating on the fringes of the law and overtly racist organizations gaining increasing political influence. Watch Watchmen on HBO Max .
First (2018)
Set in 2031 , “First” chronicles the hypothetical first manned mission to Mars after a disaster nearly ends the entire undertaking. Largely inspired by the true story that inspired “For All Mankind,” the series follows the astronauts, their families, ground crews, and even tech executives who help us embark on the arduous journey to the Red Planet. While surviving until 2031 now seems a bit optimistic, it’s entirely possible that in a few years, it will feel like an alternate history. Watch “First” on Hulu.