The Best Apocalypse TV Shows

What it's about: Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating zombies. He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way.

Where to Watch: 115 episodes (88%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 8 episodes (6%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (AMC). 131 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: 100 years in the future, when the Earth has been abandoned due to radioactivity, the last surviving humans live on an ark orbiting the planet — but the ark won't last forever. So the repressive regime picks 100 expendable juvenile delinquents to send down to Earth to see if the planet is still habitable.

Where to Watch: 5 episodes (7%) are available to watch free online (The CW). 71 episodes (93%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 75 episodes (99%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In a land controlled by feudal barons, a great warrior and a young boy embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.A genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West.

Where to Watch: 24 episodes (73%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 8 episodes (24%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (AMC). 33 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.

Where to Watch: 144 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 144 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: They’re not righteous, they’re wrongteous! Hook up with Finn and Jake as they travel the Land of Ooo searching for adventure. But remember, adventure isn’t always easy. Sometimes you’ve got to battle fire gnomes that torture old ladies, save a smelly hot dog princess from the Ice King, and thaw out a bunch of frozen businessmen. What the cabbage?!

Where to Watch: 1 episodes (0%) are available to watch free online (Cartoon Network). 5 episodes (2%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 1 episodes (0%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Cartoon Network). 156 episodes (50%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Their mission is simple: Find a cure. Stop the virus. Save the world. When a global pandemic wipes out eighty percent of the planet's population, the crew of a lone naval destroyer must find a way to pull humanity from the brink of extinction.

Where to Watch: 56 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 5 episodes (9%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (TNT). 56 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The provocative story of Cole, a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.

Where to Watch: 36 episodes (75%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 48 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: What did the world look like as it was transforming into the horrifying apocalypse depicted in "The Walking Dead"? This spin-off set in Los Angeles, following new characters as they face the beginning of the end of the world, will answer that question.

Where to Watch: 53 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 53 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The year is 2022, and after an unlikely event, only one man is left on earth: Phil Miller, who used to be just an average guy who loved his family and hated his job at the bank. Now, in his RV, Phil searches the country for other survivors.

Where to Watch: 5 episodes (7%) are available to watch free online (Yahoo View). 67 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 18 episodes (27%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (FOX). 67 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Trigun takes place in the distant future on a deserted planet. Vash the Stampede is a gunfighter with a legend so ruthless he has a $60,000,000,000 bounty on his head. Entire towns evacuate at the rumor of his arrival. But the real Vash the Stampede, the enigmatic and conflicted lead character in Trigun, is more heroic, even though he usually acts like a complete idiot.

Where to Watch: 26 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, Tubi TV & Yahoo View). 26 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 26 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Falling Skies opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

Where to Watch: 52 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Thousands of dead people have risen from their graves and nearly destroyed Britain. A cure has been found - but can the treated zombies be rehabilitated back into living society?

Where to Watch: 9 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 9 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Defiance is an American science fiction television show that takes place in the future on a radically transformed Earth containing new species arriving from space. In the show, Joshua Nolan works as the lawman for the town of Defiance, a community where humans and intelligent extraterrestrial species coexist. The show follows Nolan, his adopted alien daughter Irisa, and the town's new mayor Amanda Rosewater.

Where to Watch: 38 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 39 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: A post-apocalyptic story about a botched U.S. government experiment that turns a group of death row inmates into highly infectious vampires, and an orphan girl who might be the only person able to stop the ensuing crisis.

Where to Watch: 5 episodes (50%) are available to watch free online (FOX & Yahoo View). 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 5 episodes (50%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (FOX). 10 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Prime Video, Vudu & FandangoNOW).

What it's about: An MIT grad student and a tech superstar bring a low-level Pentagon official a staggering discovery that an asteroid is just six months away from colliding with Earth.

Where to Watch: 26 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & CBS All Access). 26 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: After a brutal virus wipes out most of the population, two young siblings embark on a perilous search for safety. A Scandinavian thriller series.

Where to Watch: 14 episodes (88%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Set amidst a wave of violent animal attacks sweeping across the planet, a young renegade scientist is thrust into a race to unlock the mystery behind this pandemic before time runs out for animals and humans alike.

Where to Watch: 40 episodes (98%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 40 episodes (98%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Revolution focuses on the struggle to survive 15 years after a global blackout.

Where to Watch: 42 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Three years after the zombie virus has gutted the country, a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood.

Where to Watch: 69 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 68 episodes (99%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: When a risk-averse, straight-arrowed, female procurement manager at an Amazon-like distribution center falls in love with a free-spirited man who lives life to the fullest because he believes the apocalypse is imminent, they embark on a quest together to fulfill their individual bucket lists, with comedic and poignant results.

Where to Watch: 5 episodes (38%) are available to watch free online (The CW). 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 13 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Dead Set is a critically acclaimed BAFTA-nominated British television horror drama created by Charlie Brooker.The show takes place primarily on the set of a fictional series of the real television show Big Brother. The five episodes, aired over five consecutive nights, chronicle a zombie outbreak that strands the housemates and production staff inside the Big Brother House, which quickly becomes a shelter from the undead.Dead Set is a production of Zeppotron, part of the Endemol group of production and distribution companies that produces the actual Big Brother. Dead Set first aired on E4 starting on 27 October 2008, just six weeks after the end of Big Brother 2008 on that same channel.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 5 episodes (50%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Dominion is an epic supernatural drama set in the near future. Specifically, 25 years after "The Extinction War," when an army of lower angels, assembled by the archangel Gabriel, waged war against mankind. The archangel Michael, turning against his own kind, chose to side with humanity. Rising out of the ashes of this long battle are newly fortified cities which protect human survivors. At the center of the series is the city of Vega, a glistening empire that has formed from the ruins of what was once Las Vegas.

Where to Watch: 21 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States.

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (10%) are available to watch free online (CBS). 29 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & CBS All Access). 29 episodes (97%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies, Takashi Komuro and several of his classmates at Fujimi High School try to survive the apocalypse.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (92%) are available to watch free online (Yahoo View). 12 episodes (92%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 12 episodes (92%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The “Abyss” is the last unexplored region, an enormous and treacherous cave system filled with ancient relics and strange creatures. Only the bravest of adventurers can traverse its depths, earning them the nickname, “Cave Raiders.” Within the depths of the Abyss, a girl named Riko stumbles upon a robot who looks like a young boy. Tantalized by the Abyss, Riko and her new friend descend into uncharted territory to unlock its mysteries, but what lies in wait for them in the darkness?

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of famous vampire hunter and Dracula nemesis Abraham Van Helsing is resurrected five years in the future to find out that vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.

Where to Watch: 1 episodes (3%) are available to watch free online (Syfy). 26 episodes (67%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 5 episodes (13%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Syfy). 39 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Seventeen-year old Paul can see the spirits of the dead. When one of these restless spirits crosses back into the living world, he is forced into a fight to prevent the apocalypse.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An alien race called Gauna has destroyed Earth. leaving humanity struggling to survive aboard the spaceship Sidonia. Even though it’s been a century since the last encounter with the Gauna, military service is mandatory. For Nagate Tanikaze, whose grandfather secretly hid him in the forgotten bowels of Sidonia, it’s a strange new world as he’s forced to come to the surface. Yet his recruitment comes just in time, for the Gauna have suddenly reappeared.

Where to Watch: 24 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: In some distant future, it's common knowledge that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is false as wolves have not disappeared but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza, a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious person called Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together to continue to search for paradise.

Where to Watch: 30 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Survivors was a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC. It depicts the lives of a group of people who survived a virulent unknown strain of influenza which has wiped out most of the human species. According to the producers, the series is not a remake of the 1970s BBC television series Survivors, created by Terry Nation, but is loosely based on the novel of the same name that Nation wrote following the first series of the 1970s series. Two series were produced of the new series. Series 1 ran on BBC One and BBC HD in November–December 2008, and series 2 ran in January–February 2010, ending with a cliffhanger. The BBC announced on 13 April 2010 that, due to poor viewing figures and other considerations, Survivors had been cancelled.The series had its premiere in South Africa on BBC Entertainment in September 2009, in France on DTTV channel NRJ 12 on 12 January 2010, and on BBC America in the United States on 13 February 2010. The series' Australian premiere was on Channel Nine, on 21 March 2010.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Jeremiah is an American television series starring Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner that ran on the Showtime network from 2002 to 2004. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus.

Where to Watch: 35 episodes (81%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 35 episodes (81%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Life After People is a television series on which scientists, structural engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of Earth should humanity instantly disappear. The featured experts also talk about the impact of human extinction on the environment, and the vestiges of civilization thus left behind.

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (15%) are available to watch free online (History). 17 episodes (85%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (History). 18 episodes (90%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Microsoft).

What it's about: Outcasts is a 2011 British television science-fiction drama serial, starring Liam Cunningham, Hermione Norris, Amy Manson, Daniel Mays, Jamie Bamber, Eric Mabius and Ashley Walters. It originally aired on BBC One, and BBC HD. It was broadcast in the United States on BBC America.

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The Tribe is a New Zealand/British post-apocalyptic fictional TV series primarily aimed at teenagers. It is set in a near-future in which all adults have been wiped out by a deadly virus, leaving the children of the world to fend for themselves. The show's focus is on an unnamed city inhabited by tribes of children and teenagers. It was primarily filmed in and around Wellington, New Zealand.The series was created by Raymond Thompson and Harry Duffin and was developed and produced by the Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group in conjunction with the UK's Channel 5. It has aired on over 40 broadcast networks around the world.It debuted on Channel 5 on 24 April 1999 and quickly gained a large fan base. From 1999 to 2003, five series and 260 half-hour episodes were produced. Series 6 was scheduled to begin filming in 2003, but Nick Wilson, of Channel 5, and Raymond Thompson felt that "although the show was still performing well, the cast was getting too old and the series was beginning to stretch the core proposition." They felt the characters were not kids fending for themselves without adults any more. As a result, the show was cancelled. Channel 5 aired the final two episodes on 6 September 2003.

Where to Watch: 208 episodes (80%) are available to watch free online (Tubi TV). 261 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 261 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In the early 2050s, unknown life forms called “Oracle cells” begin their uncontrolled consumption of all life on Earth. Their ravenous appetite and remarkable adaptability earn them first dread, then awe, and finally the name “aragami”. In the face of an enemy completely immune to conventional weapons, urban civilization collapses, and each day humanity is driven further and further toward extinction. One single ray of hope remains for humanity. Following the development of “God Arcs”—living weapons which incorporate Oracle cells—their wielders are organized into an elite force.

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Crunchyroll). 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu).

What it's about: Maddigan's Quest was a fantasy-based television series set in a post-apocalyptic future. It was based on an original concept by Margaret Mahy and was developed for television by Gavin Strawhan and Rachel Lang. The show originally screened on CBBC in the UK, and was also aired on TV3 in New Zealand, Family Room HD from Voom Networks HD and Nine Network in early 2006.

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Tubi TV). 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Tom and Suze, two nineteen-year-olds both dreaming of the future, have sex when nuclear war strikes. Unfortunately, they then survive. Awkward. Cockroaches is a post-apocalyptic comedy about one family trying to survive in a wasteland of cannibals, perverts and one insufferable-ex. Our heroes struggle with boredom, fear and the ethics of cooking with their own body fluids.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu).

What it's about: The year is 2020. Fifteen-year-old Noah lives with his family in the futuristic underground community of North Col. The world above is a frozen wasteland after a massive comet strike destroyed all other life in the world including the animals. One night, he accidentally time travels to the future and finds himself trapped in the year 2085 in a desolate desert place called Haven with a group of children, the Nomads, led by Arushka.

Where to Watch: 39 episodes (75%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: In a future where most of humanity has perished, two girls explore the ruins of civilization, looking for food and fuel. With Chito behind the wheel and Yuuri handling gun duties, they try to salvage what’s left of their post-apocalyptic world.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Ten years after the Great Tokyo War, each prefecture in Japan has split up into independent nations. Each nation is ruled by a prophet called "Mosa" and an army called "Mob" as they start to compete to take over other countries. Four "Mob" girls from the Saitama clan, Nozomi, Yukina, Ai, and Chiaya, are ordered by their "Mosa" to travel around Japan riding their motorcycles to mediate multiple battles between nations and clans as they emerge.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).