20 best shows like *batteries not included (1987)

Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate. In 1997, the episode "Mork's Mixed Emotions" was ranked #94 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list.

Kelly Quinn and her two BFF's, Darbie and Hannah, stumble upon her grandmother's mysterious cookbook in the attic and discover some far from ordinary recipes. When the Shut'em Up Shortcake silences Kelly's pesky little brother and the Healing Hazelnut Tart heals Darbie's ankle, the girls discover they have the power of magic. A single-camera live-action pilot based on the popular book.

A pair of teenage half-brothers, Karl and David Scott, are on a flight with their father on his private plane when Karl takes over the controls, so his father can fall asleep. After flying into a storm, Karl struggles, causing Frank to retake control before it crashes into the ocean. Frank saves his sons, but has trouble escaping the crashed plane as his seatbelt fails to release. Karl and David wash up on the shore of a large uncharted island. Looking for help, Karl and David meet a man named Cyrus Crabb who leads them to Waterfall City, the capital of Dinotopia, a hidden civilization where human beings and dinosaurs peacefully coexist. In fact, some of the dinosaurs, notably a neurotic, but friendly Troodon named Zippo, possess human intelligence and speak perfect English. Among the many rules in Dinotopia is the edict that, once an outsider arrives, he or she is never allowed to leave. As Karl and David prepare to take their places in their new surroundings, both boys develop a strong bond with young Marion, who is on the verge of becoming a "matriarch" of the Dinotopian society. Legend has it that their ancestors lived in an underworld that was lit by sunstones. Cyrus has been stealing artifacts and books to try and find a way off the island. Zippo discovers all the stolen items, but Cyrus knocks him out and thows him in a water canal. Meanwhile, Karl finds a Dino egg and gets sent on a mission by himself. The sun-stones keep mysteriously breaking which causes the dinos to attack. David needs to learn to conquer his fears. Unfortunately, the incursion of vicious carnivores, not to mention an unanticipated human villain, threaten to destroy Dinotopia and everyone living there.

When 13-year-old Henry Hart lands a job as Danger, the sidekick-in-training to superhero Captain Man, he must learn to navigate a double life balancing the challenges of 8th grade with the crazy adventures of a real-life crime fighter!

Meet The Thundermans, a typical suburban family that happens to have astounding superpowers. At the center of the action are the 14-year-old Thunderman twins, who share the same bathroom, the same school, and the same annoying little siblings. Their only difference? The sister is a super student with a super sunny disposition who super looks forward to being a superhero someday, and her twin brother is a super villain.

Anything can turn spooky in this horror anthology series based on the best-selling books by master of kid horror, R.L. Stine. In every episode, see what happens when regular kids find themselves in scary situations, and how they work to confront and overcome their fears.

The space family Robinson is sent on a five-year mission to find a new planet to colonise. The voyage is sabotaged time and again by an inept stowaway, Dr. Zachary Smith. The family's spaceship, Jupiter II, also carries a friendly robot who endures an endless stream of abuse from Dr. Smith, but is a trusted companion of young Will Robinson

A dysfunctional family of superheroes comes together to solve the mystery of their father's death, the threat of the apocalypse and more.

A teen navigates the complexities of high school, family and her sexuality while dealing with new superpowers. Based on Charles Forsman's graphic novel.

After crash-landing on an alien planet, the Robinson family fights against all odds to survive and escape. But they're surrounded by hidden dangers.

When the Weavers move to a gated community in New Jersey, they discover that the entire neighborhood is comprised of aliens from the planet Zabvron. But as the Weavers and the aliens face the struggles of everyday life together, they discover that some things -- the ups and downs of marriage, the desire to be a good parent and raise a happy family -- are universal. Intergalactic, even.

Raven Baxter is a winsome teen whose ability to glimpse flashes of the future often gets her into hot water.

3rd Rock from the Sun is an American sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2001 on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet. The extraterrestrials pose as a human family in order to observe the behavior of human beings.

R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour is a Canadian/American original anthology horror-fantasy series, with episodes each half an hour long. The series is based on The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It Movie, and the books The Haunting Hour and Nightmare Hour anthology by R. L. Stine.

A long-running dramedy centering on the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, and their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers.

Shake It Up is an American sitcom airing on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on November 7, 2010. Created by Chris Thompson and starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya, the show follows the adventures of CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue as they star as background dancers on a local show, Shake It Up Chicago. It also chronicles their misadventures on- and off-set, and their troubles and rising social status at school. Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, Adam Irigoyen, Kenton Duty and Caroline Sunshine also are other main cast members in the series.The show's original concept was for Disney to create a female buddy comedy, only with a dance aspect. Shake It Up is Disney's third original series, after The Famous Jett Jackson and Sonny with a Chance, to use a show-within-a-show format. The series is also the first Disney Channel Original Series since So Random! to have more than six primary contracted cast members at one time.On September 29, 2011, Disney Channel announced it had increased Shake It Up's second season order to 26 episodes. A second soundtrack with songs from the series, Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance, was released on March 20, 2012. A 90-minute special episode Made In Japan aired August 17, 2012 as the season two finale. On June 4, 2012, Disney Channel announced that Shake It Up was renewed for a third season and announced that Kenton Duty will not be a regular cast member for season 3, but will make special guest appearances. The third soundtrack Shake It Up: I

The Secret World of Alex Mack is an American television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 8, 1994 to January 15, 1998, replacing Clarissa Explains It All on the SNICK line-up. It also aired on YTV in Canada and NHK in Japan, and was a popular staple in the children's weekday line-up for much of the mid-to-late 1990s on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Repeats of the series aired in 2003 on The N, but it was soon replaced there. The series was produced by Thomas Lynch and John Lynch of Lynch Entertainment, produced by RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment and Nickelodeon Productions and was co-created by Tom Lynch and Ken Lipman. For home video releases, it was released under the Hallmark Home Entertainment label, making it the first Nickelodeon show not to be released by Paramount Home Video or Sony Wonder.

Real-life mermaids, Sirena, Nixie and Lyla are part of a mermaid pod, which lives in the waters of Mako Island. As young members of the pod, it is their job to protect the Moon Pool and guard it from trespassers. But on the night of a full moon, the mischievous mermaid girls neglect their duties. Sixteen-year-old land-dweller Zac enters the Moon Pool and forms a special connection with Mako.Zac is given a fish-like tail and amazing powers. The mermaid pod is forced to leave Mako, leaving behind the three mermaid girls, cast out of the pod. They know there's only one way they will be allowed to rejoin the pod: They must get legs, venture onto land and take back Zac's powers – or risk being outcasts forever.

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist join forces to take on common enemies as a sinister conspiracy threatens New York City.

Cassie Nightingale, Middleton’s favorite enchantress, and her young-teenage daughter Grace, who shares that same special intuition as her mom, welcome Dr. Sam Radford and his son to town. When the New York transplants move in next to the Grey House, they are immediately spellbound by the mother-daughter duo next door, but Sam and Cassie quickly find they may not see eye to eye. With her signature charm, Cassie attempts to bring everyone together, ensuring all of Middleton is in for new changes, big surprises and, of course, a little bit of magic!"Good Witch” is based on Bell’s beloved character Cassie, the raven-haired enchantress who kept audiences spellbound for seven installments of Hallmark Channel's longest-running and highest-rated original movie franchise of all time.

Set in a single room of an average American motel, each episode tells a different story of the assorted characters who pass through it.

Samantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.

The chronicles of the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean Europe, Balki Bartokomous.

"Lab Rats: Elite Force" is set in a bustling metropolis after the Mighty Med hospital is destroyed by a band of unknown super-villains. After Adam and Leo volunteer to oversee the students at Davenport's Bionic Academy, Kaz, Oliver and Skylar join forces with Chase and Bree to form a powerful elite force that combines bionic heroes and superheroes. Together, they vow to track down the villains and keep the world safe.

The series follows 14-year-old Emma Alonso, as she moves to Miami and her life turns upside-down. Not only does she discover that she is a witch, she also has a crush on the boy next door, Daniel. But Daniel’s ex-girlfriend Maddie, who is an 'evil witch' and leader of the school clique the 'Panthers', is still willing to fight for the boy she loves.

Josh Futturman, a janitor by day/world-ranked gamer by night, is tasked with preventing the extinction of humanity after mysterious visitors from the future proclaim him the key to defeating the imminent super-race invasion.

Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

Mighty Med is a live-action comedy series starring popular Disney Channel stars Bradley Steven Perry and Jake Short, premieres as a special one-hour event, October 7 on Disney XD. The series is created by Jim Bernstein and Andy Schwartz, and is executive produced by Bernstein and Stephen Engel.

Zeke and Luther is an American Disney XD animated sitcom about two best friends setting their sights on becoming the world's greatest skateboarders. The show stars Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks, Daniel Curtis Lee and Ryan Newman. Zeke and Luther is set in the northern part of Gilroy, California, specifically in the fictional area of Pacific Terrace, which is stated frequently throughout the series. Gilroy was also mentioned occasionally in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, which was also created by Zeke and Luther co-creator Matt Dearborn. The episode "Bros Go Pro" was made available to download for free on iTunes in the beginning of June, two weeks before the show's television premiere. The series premiered on June 15, 2009 in the U.S.On August 2, 2010, it was announced that Zeke and Luther had been renewed for a third season which premiered on February 28, 2011. On June 18, 2011, in an interview with Deadline.com, Matt Dearborn confirmed that the show's third season would be its last. The show is currently Disney XD's longest running original series and first to make it to a third season. The one-hour series finale aired on April 2, 2012.

Kickin' It is an American martial arts inspired comedy television series, which debuted on June 13, 2011 on Disney XD. Created and executive produced by Jim O'Doherty, the series is rated TV-Y7 and follows the karate instructor at an under-performing martial arts academy, played by Jason Earles, and his five misfit students, played by Leo Howard, Dylan Riley Snyder, Mateo Arias, Olivia Holt and Alex Christian Jones.On September 20, 2011, Disney XD announced the series had been renewed for a second season. The show's second season premiered on April 2, 2012. Disney XD announced on November 5, 2012 that the series had been renewed for a third season and would go into production in January 2013. The third season premiered on April 1, 2013. Alex Christian Jones is not a main cast member for the third season. In August 2013, Disney XD ordered a fourth season of the series, which is scheduled to air in 2014. Olivia Holt is leaving the fourth season cast to star in the Disney Channel series I Didn't Do It.

The Adventures of Pete & Pete is an American children's television series produced by Wellsville Pictures and broadcast by Nickelodeon. The show featured humorous and surreal elements in its narrative, and many recurring themes centered on two brothers both named Pete Wrigley, and their various interactions with family, friends, and enemies.The show was created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi and began as minute-long shorts in 1989 that aired in between regular programs. Owing to the popularity of the shorts, five half-hour specials were made, followed by a regular half-hour series that ran for three seasons and continued in reruns until around 1999. The N aired reruns of the show between 2002–2003. The first two seasons were released on DVD in 2005; the third was planned for 2006 but was indefinitely postponed.Jason Ankeny of Allmusic called the series "the greatest children's show ever," while IGN called it "One of the most well-written kids shows ever."

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a joint Canadian-American horror/fantasy-themed anthology television series. The original series was a joint production between the Canadian company Cinar and the American company Nickelodeon.The episode "The Tale of the Twisted Claw" was aired as a pilot on the evening of October 31, 1991 in the USA and in October 1990 in Canada. Are You Afraid of the Dark? was aired from August 15, 1992 to April 20, 1996 on Nickelodeon's SNICK. The series also aired on the Canadian television network YTV from October 30, 1990 until June 11, 2000.A revived series with new directors, writers, and cast was produced by Nickelodeon from 1999 to 2000 and also aired on SNICK. The sole member from the original lineup to return for the sixth and seventh seasons was Tucker, although Ross Hull returned for the concluding miniseries, which notably broke from the show's established format by blurring the line between story and "reality".

Aspiring singer Tori Vega navigates life while attending a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts.

Sam & Cat is an American teen sitcom that premiered June 8, 2013, on Nickelodeon. It is a crossover spin-off/sequel of both iCarly and Victorious. It stars Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett and Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine. The girls meet by chance during a bizarre adventure and become roommates, then start a babysitting business to earn extra money.

Leo is an ordinary teenager who has moved into a high-tech "smart'' house with his mother, inventor stepfather and Eddy, the computer that runs the house. Leo's life becomes less ordinary when, one day, he discovers a secret underground lab that houses three experiments: superhuman teenagers. The trio -- Adam, the strong one, Bree, the fast one and Chase, the smart one -- convinces Leo and his parents to let them leave their lab and join Leo at school, where they try to fit in while having to manage their unpredictable bionic strengths. As Leo figures out a way to keep his new pals' bionic abilities a secret, they help him build self-confidence.

Doctor Henry Morgan, New York City’s star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn't just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years—the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner, Detective Jo Martinez. Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry’s long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe knows Henry’s secret.

The story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.

When a spaceship carrying pretty, teen aliens Zoey and Kiki lands in the quiet Australian surf town of Lightning Point, the girls have to befriend local surfiegirl Amber and let her in on their secret. But while the duo learns about Earth, surf and falling in love, the girls soon realize that they aren't the first extraterrestrial visitors.

Black Hole High is a Canadian science fiction television program which first aired in North America in October 2002 on NBC and Discovery Kids. It is set at the fictional boarding school of the title, where a Science Club investigates mysterious phenomena, most of which is centered around a wormhole located on the school grounds. Spanning four seasons, the series developed into a success, and has been sold to networks around the globe. Created by Jim Rapsas, the series intertwines elements of mystery, drama, romance, and comedy. The writing of the show is structured around various scientific principles, with emotional and academic struggles combined with unfolding mysteries of a preternatural nature. In addition to its consistent popularity among children, it has been recognised by adults as strong family entertainment. Forty-two episodes of the series, each roughly twenty-five minutes in length, have been produced, the last three of which premiered in January 2006. Those three final episodes that aired were combined into a film, Strange Days: Conclusions. The show was filmed at the Auchmar Estate on the Hamilton Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario.

A ghost-hunting duo team up to uncover and film paranormal sightings across the U.K. and share their adventures on an online channel. Their supernatural experiences grow more frequent, terrifying, and even deadly as the pair begin to uncover a conspiracy that could threaten the entire human race.

As the world's first generation of superheroes (who received their powers in the 1930s) become the revered elder guard in the present, their superpowered children struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents.

K.C. Cooper, a high school math whiz and karate black-belt, learns that her parents are spies when they recruit her to join them in the secret government agency, The Organization. While she now has the latest spy gadgets at her disposal, K.C. has a lot to learn about being a spy, including keeping her new gig a secret from her best friend Marisa. Together, K.C. and her parents, Craig and Kira, and her younger siblings, Ernie and Judy (a humanoid robot), try to balance everyday family life while on undercover missions, near and far, to save the world.

According to Jim is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children. It originally ran on ABC from October 1, 2001 to June 2, 2009.

With the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Athena, the speed of Mercury and the beauty of Aphrodite, she’s Wonder Woman. Beautiful Amazon princess Wonder Woman travels to 1940s America disguised as Diana Prince, assistant to handsome but trouble-prone Major Steve Trevor. Using her golden belt, which imbues her with astonishing strength, her bullet-deflecting bracelets, a golden lasso that dispels dishonesty and an invisible supersonic plane, Wonder Woman combats evil.

One day while returning home to stay with his widowed twin sister and her daughter, Kevin Finn, a self-centered man whose life brings him more trouble than he bargained for, is recruited by a celestial being named Yvette, who enlists Kevin with a new purpose in his life, which is to save the world.

Ethan, Benny and fledgling vampire Sarah battle zombies, demons and the other supernatural beasties that regularly threaten their school.

This scripted anthology series mashes up wildly different genres to tell suspenseful stories with funny, imaginative twists. Each episode turns familiar tropes inside out to create a curated and eclectic collection of stories filled with equal parts nostalgia and modern satire.