Time travel is fascinating isn’t it?
There are countless theories and interpretations on the fundamentals of it all, such as wormholes, the butterfly effect, paradoxes, etc. The list goes on and on and makes our heads spin.
As different as they all are, all of these ideas have one thing in common: they have made for some amazing TV entertainment over the years.
Whether they’re still jumping through time or are now a part of TV history, let’s take a look at some of the best shows involving time travel to hit the small screen.
Timeless
Another show with immense potential. While also only lasting one season, this series involved a stolen experimental time machine that brings a history professor, an engineer and a soldier into the mix in order to prevent history from being rewritten.
DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow
The defenders of our past, present and future will do anything to protect the space time continuum. It goes without saying that messing with time can have disastrous consequences. Just ask Barry Allen on The Flash.
The Flash
Barry Allen can never quite seem to refrain from meddling with time, and thus everyone’s lives. Regardless of some boneheaded decisions he’s made over the past 3 seasons, Barry is still everyone’s favorite speedster.
LOST
The survivors of Oceanic 815 encountered their fare share of oddities during their time on the island. Through six seasons, we’ve truly seen everything from flashbacks to flashforwards to flash sidways.
FlashForward
Speaking a flashfoward, this was a fun, promising, yet short lived series in which a strange event causes nearly everyone on the planet to gain the ability to see 6 months into their own future. It’s just a shame this series’ run only lasted one season.
Doctor Who
What did you say? An immortal alien who only goes by “The Doctor” has a knack for meddling in Earth’s history while traveling through time in a British police box? Sign me up!
12 Monkeys
A scavanger and a doctor use time travel in order to prevent an organization known as the “Army of the 12 Monkeys” from unleashing a plague upon the world. This series has graced us with a great premise and solid writing, prompting a strong following for 3 seasons, and will be given a proper send-off with a fourth and final season in 2018.
Quantum Leap
Doctor Sam Beckett, a volunteer in a time travel experiment finds himself leaping throughout time and different lives, attempting to change those lives for the better. This 1989 series was well cast, well written and well ahead of its time (pun intended).
Journeyman
Following a similar premise, this series involved an ordinary newspaper reporter that inexplicably begins jumping back and forth through time. He eventually learns that he is destined to change the past lives that he comes in contact with.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
From a blockbuster franchise to spinoff series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a load of fun. Although it retained none of the cast of the films, Thomas Dekker and Lena Headey did John and Sarah Connor enough justice that it managed to squeak out two seasons that appeased the most die hard Terminator fans.
Voyagers
A short lived series from the early 1980’s that lasted only one season. This tale involved a man named Phineas Bogg, who was part of a group of time travelers knownw as Voyagers. With the help a young boy named Jeffery, the two traversed time in order to ensure history unfolded as it should.
11.22.63
Big things come in small packages. This miniseries, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, tells the story of an English teacher who is offered the chance to travel back to 1963 in an attempt to prevent the assassination of JFK. With a series involving James Franco, J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, what’s not to love?
Frequency
Say what you want about Frequency, while the series endured a lot of ups and downs, there’s no denying the incredible potential that shined through every so often. For a series full of second chances, it’s a shame it will never get a second season.
Travelers
In the future, a group of people known as “Travelers” are able to send their conciousness into specific people in the past in order to prevent the fall of society. The series put a fun spin on time travel with some nice twists and turns.
Heroes
Ordinary people becoming extraordinary? Sure it’s been done before, but there was something captivating about this series that drew viewers in and kept us invested. Specifically, Hiro Nakamura and his ability to manipulate space and time who quickly became a fan favorite.
Life On Mars
This little 2006 gem originated in the U.K., lasting two seasons. In the present, a police office is involved in care accidedent and ends up waking up in the 1970’s. He soon finds himself frequently jumping back and forth through time while experiencing surreal visions. This series was later adapted in the US, and while it received high critical praise, an unfortunate mishandling of its time slot lead to it lasting only one season.
Making History
This series left us as quick as it came, but it was fun while it lasted. The story followed three friends from two different centuries who experience time travel, and the ramifications of it. Originally planned for 13 episodes, low ratings forced Fox to reduce the series’ run to a mere 9 episodes.
