Over the last few years my family and I have binged all of Star Trek, then moved on to Star Trek adjacent shows like The Orville and Stargate. At the moment we’re not really watching anything sci-fi. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for similar shows (or maybe some books) that fill the void left by Star Trek. In particular I really like the episodes that deal with interacting with other civilizations, diplomacy, and exploration more-so than say, an anomaly episode.
I’ve mention a couple of shows in some replies but thought of some others so ill but them all here for both of our convenience
Based on this part of what you were asking fyi.
Space oriented
Firefly
Farscape
Lexx (maybe i didnt watch it, just caught some episodes here and there memory is foggy)
If you like the idea of a show about just the startrek episodes where they go back in time to various points in earth history and especially alternate earth history then i have the perfect show for you Its very similar to stargate in set up but not at all the same show
Sliders (this one and firefly are my top 2 picks for episodic style shows)
Honorable mentions
for just good space sci fi but more drama driven
Space: Above and Beyond
Battlestar Galactica (I never saw the original so cant recommend it)
Babylon 5
Maybe even Doctor Who? And Torchwood (these might be getting a bit off topic now)
For novels, i would recommend
Battletech books¹
¹read in chronological order. The universe of battletech has a big time scale all the collected stories take place over. You do get some spoilers here and there but i think not knowing what events took place ready when the authors wrote their book adds some good flavour to the overall experience
Twilight Zone
The Outer Limits