The Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows of All Time: Watchmen (2019)

The Greatest Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Considering the case for the sci fi and fantasy television shows that should be counted among the greatest of all time.

What Is It?

Set in an alternate history where superheroes emerged in the 20th century but were eventually outlawed, Watchmen follows Detective Angela Abar, a masked vigilante known as Sister Night, as she investigates a violent white supremacist group called the Seventh Kavalry. Her search uncovers a conspiracy that stretches back decades, entangling the legacy of the original Watchmen, the government’s secret experiments, and the godlike being Doctor Manhattan.

Aired:  HBO, 2019, 1 Season Totaling 9 Episodes

Starring:  Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Andrew Howard, Jacob Ming-Trent

Developed By: Damon Lindelof

Argument to Count It as One of the Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows:

Many fans of Alan Moore’s original comic book will argue that there is no good way to carry on his story because he delivered a close-ended masterpiece that should have been left to its own merits. They may also argue that Moore’s story is unfilmable, as proven by the 2009 Zack Snyder movie. But somehow, Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) came up with the idea of how to extend the story out of Moore’s original work, and against all odds, he pulled it off. The TV series acts as a sequel to the comic, not the movie, as we learn early on with the squid rain. But not only does it carry on from that story, it sets up a whole new set of characters and a different setting that allows for a completely original story that still hearkens back to and pays homage to what Moore accomplished.

The series introduces a new group of “superheroes,” though they don’t have much in the way of special abilities, and they hide their identities because of a past incident where officers of the law were slaughtered by the white supremacist organization known as the Seventh Kalvary. This is all linked back to the actual historical event of the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Black community had established a thriving district in that town that many white people resented, and they attacked the community and burned much of it to the ground. Several characters in the series have ties to that incident, and the show also explores the origins of some of the early heroes in the Watchmen universe.

To go into more detail would lead to spoilers, so I will not elaborate beyond that. But I will say that this series is somewhat of a slow burn, and it takes a while to understand all of the connections to Alan Moore’s comic. About halfway through, it all becomes pretty clear and sets the show on a path to a climactic finale. Lindelof approached the series as a one-off with no plans to continue to a second season. And even though it drew strong viewership, HBO did not push for a continuation. In that way, it is much like the original comic, standing on its own (you don’t have to have read the comic to follow the series), and the decision to keep it at one season certainly seems like the right one. The show is short at nine episodes, but it packs in quite a lot of story and social commentary, and it certainly stands out as an example of the genre at its best.

Argument Against:

Alan Moore’s Watchmen counts as a classic work of comics, and it should be left alone just as he intended. The Zack Snyder film went off the rails and changed the ending, while the comic book continuations were completely superfluous and added nothing to the story (and true Watchmen fans do not count them as canon). The series was yet another attempt to squeeze some money from a franchise that was designed to be subversive in the first place, making all the continuations essentially self-parody. To make matters worse, the TV series brings in historical events that had no connection to the original comics and seem out of place. The main characters that Moore created are given second-banana status in the series, and the new “heroes” just aren’t that interesting. In addition, forcing the racism themes onto Watchmen just seems like a way to rewrite what Moore did in a “woke” context. They could have actually done this with no connection to the comic by creating their own universe, and that might have worked. But instead, they tried to tack on the name recognition, and all it does is dilute the original story and move it further away from Moore’s vision. This show is best forgotten and certainly does not deserve to be ranked among the all-time greats of the genre.

Johnny Jay’s Take:

By the end of the fourth episode of this series, I was staring at the screen asking myself, “What the F!#*?” And I had been there pretty much from the beginning, starting with the Tulsa race massacre, which seemed to be a complete non-sequitur for Watchmen. There were some interesting moments, and I was starting to warm up to the characters, especially Sister Night and Mirror Guy . . . er . . . Looking Glass, but the show kept throwing in its WTF moments. I was certainly confused as Adrian Veidt was catapulting dead clones into the wide blue yonder (no, really) in that fourth episode, and I was debating whether I would continue watching the show. But it was getting such good press and was being called the greatest superhero show of all time, so I stuck it out. And I was certainly glad I did. By the fifth episode, they started to tie things together, and the story came into much better focus. And while the rest of the show was a wild ride with some more WTF moments, it was certainly worth it.

I am a lover of Alan Moore’s original work, though I did find the ending somewhat anti-climactic, and I felt like Zack Snyder improved on that with his film. I was also one who believed that Watchmen should be left alone because it counts as a comic book classic (despite the weak ending). But after making it through the entire series, I felt like Lindelof had a good grasp of the source material and knew how to use that as a launching point for his own story, which is not a direct continuation but still linked to the original. I would actually like to see more from this, and I believe that Looking Glass could carry a series on his own, but I also understand the reasons for leaving it as a one-and-done miniseries. It truly accomplished a lot (you might even say the impossible) and counts as must-watch sci-fi TV that should be ranked rather high next to other genre entries.

Where Can You Watch It?

The series is available for streaming on HBO Max and it also received a DVD and Blu-ray release. You can purchase it VOD from services like Amazon.com and Apple.

Stream or Purchase VOD

Do you consider Watchmen to be one of the greatest sci fi/fantasy shows or should they have left that Alan Moore classic alone? Chime in with your thoughts below or at our discussion thread at r/SciFiTV.

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