HBO knows how to turn its television shows into must-watch events. But the streaming service is more than just Game of Thrones. Fantasy drama Westworld debuted in 2016; it's based on the Michael Crichton novel and 1973 movie about an amusement park where the attractions are robots called "hosts."

Human guests can do just about anything to these "hosts," up to and including murder. Eventually the hosts get wise and take matters into their own hands. The series delves deep into the ethics of artificial intelligence, as the hosts learn why they were made and struggle to preserve their independence.

Season three starts on March 15, but if you're currently craving some android-infused sci-fi drama, there are several shows that can scratch that itch.


Altered Carbon (Netflix) In the futuristic world of Altered Carbon, humans have the ability to download their memories into new bodies, eliminating things like death and sickness. The show centers around Takeshi Kovacs, a mercenary and revolutionary who has been revived in a new body after hundreds of years in storage and tasked with solving the murder of one of the wealthiest men in the world. Altered Carbon explores identity in a world where your body is just an instrument, and “ownership” isn’t something you can take for granted. Lead Joel Kinnaman stepped away from the role of Kovacs, replaced by Anthony Mackie in the second season, but it’s still a strong, gritty and uncompromising take on body dystopia. The first two seasons are streaming on Netflix, with an anime tie-in film set for release.

Battlestar Galactica (NBC.com) Ronald Moore's update of the '70s sci-fi series took the chrome Cylons of the original and reimagined them in a creepier way as humanoids living among us, some not even aware of their artificial origins. In this way, Westworld's artificial hosts coming to terms with their creation owes a lot to the way Battlestar Galactica treated its adversaries. One of the most well-packaged science-fiction series of the last few decades, BSG takes a few questionable steps but overall delivers an epic story that nails both the grandiose battles as well as the human cost of war. Some might argue that the finale doesn't quite stick the landing, but few TV shows manage to, and it's a hell of a ride getting there. Watch the two-part miniseries and all four season on NBC.com.

Black Mirror (Netflix) If you want something a little more bite-sized, British anthology series Black Mirror scratches that itch. Devised by Charlie Brooker, the show consists of self-contained episodes that take present-day technology culture and extrapolate it to absurd and terrifying ends. Individual episodes vary in quality, but some are among the best things ever aired. Check out "Fifteen Million Merits," about a society where everybody is enslaved to pedal bikes to produce electricity while being assaulted by advertising; and "Be Right Back," a chilling tale of artificial intelligence replicating dead people for the comfort of their survivors. If you're not sure where to dive in, we ranked Every Episode of Black Mirror, Ranked From Best to Worst. Netflix has five seasons plus the unique choose-your-own-adventure Bandersnatch special available now.

Electric Dreams (Amazon Video) People love skewing the boundaries between humanity and technology so much that Amazon has its own version of Black Mirror called Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. The series takes inspiration from the legendary author's prescient, often psychedelic short stories and adapts them into an anthology series. While Black Mirror has mostly remained low-key and very British when it comes to casting (Jodie Foster directing “ArkAngel” notwithstanding), Electric Dreams brought in quite the set of interesting names. Steve Buscemi, Anna Paquin, Terrence Howard, Greg Kinnear, Richard Madden, and Juno Temple, to name a few, all appear on the show. If you want to pick and choose your episodes here, too, we ranked the episodes.

Deadwood (HBO / Amazon Video / Hulu) Westworld isn't HBO's first venture into the Old West. In the mid-2000s, David Milch's critically acclaimed series Deadwood stripped away the fantasy and did a great job showing a grim and dirty portrait of awful people struggling for power in a South Dakota mining town. Incredible performances, including Ian McShane as the unforgettable Al Swearingen, made this an iconic show. Unlike Westworld, people die in grisly fashion, the effects of which last forever. And, of course, we can't forget Deadwood's love affair with profanity in the English language—characters swore in combinations that we'd never heard, and it was truly beautiful. All three seasons of Deadwood, as well as the 2019 movie, are available to watch on Amazon Video and HBO.

Humans (Amazon Video) The premise of Humans should sound familiar—in the near future, artificial humans called "synths" are sold for a variety of purposes. A small group of synths have the key to advanced consciousness hidden within them, but each individual deals with being forced outside of their programming differently. This British show (itself a take on a successful Swedish series) delivers suspense and thrills as the synths struggle with experiencing emotions and feelings they simply should not be able to. When a program is discovered that could grant consciousness to every synth in the world, things get very sticky. Watch all three seasons on Amazon Video.

The Leftovers (HBO) Here's another HBO prestige drama that takes a big mystery and puts it just off-screen as it ripples through the world. At the beginning of The Leftovers, 2 percent of the Earth's population vanishes, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. The survivors find themselves totally unsettled by this turn of events, not knowing if it will happen or where their lost loved ones went. Although there aren't any overt science-fiction elements at play here, the general vibe is very similar to Westworld—there's something the viewers aren't being told, and puzzling it out is a big part of the pleasure. Watch the full series run on HBO.

Orphan Black (Amazon) They may not be androids, but the clones in Orphan Black certainly deal with many of the same issues of free will and authenticity. The series follows a young woman as she discovers she's one of a group of lab-grown clones, which opens a tale of deep conspiracies that spans five seasons. Series star Tatiana Maslany effortlessly plays multiple distinct roles, and each clone is their own, unique character. As a group, they must explore their own identities while learning to trust and care for one another. Their struggle for self-determination against forces seeking to control and exploit them is a powerful thing to watch. Watch all five seasons on Amazon Video.

Person of Interest (Netflix, CBS All Access) Now that ABC crime drama Person of Interest is off the air, it seems to be getting the critical and commercial appreciation it always deserved. The show's premise is almost corny—an advanced artificial intelligence called “The Machine” uses mass surveillance to identify potential crime victims that a team of operatives have to protect. However, "Wild West theme park full of robots" is corny, too, and look where that's going. Person of Interest works because it's an incredible illustration of how AI is shaping our world and how we interact with each other. Even though the Machine isn't in a human body, it's as much of a character on the show as any of the real actors. Watch the show on Netflix and CBS All Access.

The Good Place (Netflix, Hulu) This is probably the most outside-the-box recommendation on this list, but there are a number of similarities between the just-concluded The Good Place and Westworld. Both begin with a group of people marooned in an artificial-seeming reality that has more going on behind the scenes than appears at first glance. As secrets are revealed, we start to delve into moral questions that have baffled humans for as long as we were capable of being baffled. The difference, of course, is that this is a half-hour sitcom and not an HBO prestige sci-fi drama. That said, The Good Place is amazing for how fearlessly it punches above its weight class. It’s hilarious as hell, but it also makes you think about free will and your place in the universe. Watch the show on Netflix and Hulu.

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