The walking dead franchise is huge right now. It has a near universal appeal for fans of the genre. Admittedly, there is a drop in quality midway through the series. After season one, the director left the project. It took several seasons for the show to regain its momentum, but current watchers will agree that the best episodes are coming out right now.

The 100 Opening Credits

There is nothing on TV like Z Nation right now. This show is really outside the box – melding zombie drama with comedy and …video games? It’s hard to describe, but the absurd things that happen in Z Nation somehow remind me of genre games like fallout and left for dead.

Oh, and when you kill someone on Z Nation to keep them from becoming a zombie, you say “I grant you mercy”. Killing the living before they turn undead is so common, it has a saying. While other shows have hand-wringing moral dilemmas about killing the doomed, Z Nation takes it for granted. I like that.

The final season aired not long ago, so shotgun this baby and you’ll be current. Don’t let the lack of fanfare fool you. This is a really good show, and were it not for petty personal issues I have with the resolution, it would probably have won the #2 spot.

Continuum has great acting, great writing, and even better graphics. The visuals were just top notch from start to finish. The story was engaging, and I really couldn’t wait to start each episode. The end left me unsatisfied; but it was a proper end, I grudgingly admit.

What if nukes were detonated in modern America? Jericho is that very situation. No warning, no war declaration, just bombs, all over the country. And there is no communication with the outside world. That is the situation thrust on this small town.

And it’s really good.

I don’t often call out an actor, but Lennie James really knocked it out of the ballpark with his role as Robert Hawkins. He now stars in The Walking Dead with a similarly awesome character.

This show takes a while to show its true colors. Stick with it, though, because it eventually becomes the “mankind fights to survive” post apocalyptic goodness that you crave. Fighting parallel galaxies? Check. Meddling time travelers? Check. Leonard Nimoy? Check and check.

But Fringe gets the Deus Ex Machina award for Peter’s story late in the series. Love doesn’t work that way, people. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

With only one season, Firefly still has a bigger fan base than most of the shows on this list. People love Firefly, so if you haven’t seen it, you should take care of that right now. Then watch the movie Serenity, if you can, for the conclusion. It’s even better than the show.

Firefly had a star studded cast and a lot of great cameos. The characters are deep and refuse to be a corralled into archetypes or the usual tropes. It makes for a very unpredictable ride. Firefly is hard to categorize. Imagine if a young Han Solo had a crew of 6 or so, and a bigger ship. In Firefly, a group of outlaws get caught up trying to save the galaxy from destruction. It’s pretty good.

Revolution asks; what if the electricity was out for good? Like for good. No electrical devices in the entire world are working. Apparently, if that were to happen, a lot of people would die. The rest would join violent city-states by choice or by force. Revolution picks up about fifteen years after the lights went out.

This series had a lot going for it, but it still didn’t do great in the ratings department. It was cancelled after just two seasons. Let me be frank with you; the second season is really great – but it’s the only one worth watching. I hereby give you permission to skip season one and only watch season two. The whole tone of the show just changes in season two. Perhaps the addition of Rockne S. OBannon between seasons made a difference. If you like it, then go back and watch season one. Then you can come on here and comment on whether or not it enhanced your viewing experience. Because I personally just watched them in order.

In this Netflix collaboration with Rogers, a Canadian media company, all the old people are dead. But it’s only one quarantined town. The premise is Peter Pan meets Under the Dome.

It’s kind of like Jeremiah – but actually watchable.

Not having enough nightmares? Watch this anime about creepy smiling naked giants who eat people alive. A lot of people like this show, and there was even a pair of movies released recently. The premise really jumps out at you from the start. Humanity is doomed and it’s clear to see why. For starters, their technology is circa 1700. Also, man eating giants the size of skyscapers are pretty much everywhere.

This will definitely not be for everyone, but some people will love it. Mankind is fighting for survival against insurmountable odds. The creepy factor might be a hurdle for you, or it might be the main draw. Whatever the case, this is a fun one to watch with the kids… Or the pastor.

If you’re still hurting for post apocalyptic tv, then have no fear. If it’s a tv series about the end of the world, and it’s on Netflix, it will be in this list. We’ve looked through the entire catalogue to make sure we didn’t leave anything out.

There are several great series on Netflix that deal with dystopia or species survival, but I don’t know if they could be called apocalyptic. I list them here, because, while they are all worth checking out, I wanted to highly recommend the first two.

Black Mirror

Black Mirror is an incredibly dark look of the future of technology. It is groundbreaking. It will flip your world upside down. Each episode is self-contained, so pick up anywhere. Season 3 Episode 1 stars Jon Hamm in what may be his very best performance. It will haunt you in a good way. But every single episode is great, and terrible. Another one not to watch with the kids. Attack on Titan will give them nightmares, but Black Mirror will give them deep psychological trauma. (3 Seasons, 7 Episodes)

Farscape

Jim Henson and Rockne S. Obannon made one of the most underrated sci-fi series of all time – and you can watch it right now on Netflix. Season One is the awkward phase – where scene transitions are drenched in electric guitar riffs, and you can’t shake how “puppety” that one guy looks. But things mature as time goes by, and by season two, it really starts to shine. Farscape is in my personal top 5 sci fi of all time; and I watch a lot of sci fi.

Also; Helix, Ascension, & Dark Matter

Sarah Connor Chronicles is gone. This is a major bummer, because that show was special. It got better and better, and by the final season it was impossible to stop watching. It was Battlestar Galactica on Portlandia level of good. (see below) And Queen Cercei from Game of Thrones and River from Firefly were lead characters. What more could you want?

Adventure Time? Gone. Huge loss for Netflix. Pfft They only had one season (two?) up anyway. But it was great for babysitting the nephew. #BringThemBackNetflix

So now your blood is probably boiling. Mine too. So I made a list of every post apocalyptic TV Show and Movie that Netflix dropped from my personal ‘watched’ list at the end of this top ten movies list, if you care to peel back the layers of the Netflix-dropping-good-Post-Apocalyptic-shows scandal.