What does it mean to be human? It’s a question that’s been asked by poets, philosophers, and theologians since the dawn of time itself. The science fiction genre responded to this question with clones — the idea of transferring one person’s consciousness, memories, and personality into an exact artificial replica. And we kid you not — there are actual companies in real life now that can provide you with clones of your pets. So we’re no longer dealing with science fiction and that makes shows about cloning even more interesting.
There are some excellent movies surrounding this topic out there. For instance, They Cloned Tyrone gave us a mysterious conspiracy story surrounding cloning. Jordan Peele showed us the more haunting aspects of cloning in Us. Better yet, Infinity Pool went a step ahead and put together a mind-bending satire about a world where the rich could escape capital punishment by having their clones endure the consequences. Surprisingly, however, very few TV shows have tackled the concept of cloning. But today, we have compiled for you a list of five TV shows that play around the idea of cloning. From sci-fi anthology series to animated sitcoms, and beyond, these shows will leave you contemplating the consequences of playing with nature.
1. Orphan Black
Orphan Black begins with Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks eerily similar to her. Sarah realizes the woman is wealthy, so she assumes the dead woman’s identity and starts living her life. However, she soon finds out that the doppelganger was not an isolated case. In fact, she herself is one of many clones, each with a different personality, memory, and set of skills. As Sarah digs deeper into the conspiracy, the show explores themes of identity, agency, and the ethical implications of human cloning.
2. Black Mirror
If you’re into science fiction, Black Mirror has to be on your watchlist. The anthology series is already synonymous with exploring the dark side of technology and human nature, and it doesn’t shy away from cloning either. In Black Mirror Season 2, Episode 1, “Be Right Back,” Martha (Hayley Atwell) loses her husband in a car crash (Domhnall Gleeson) and purchases a clone that resembles her dead husband. This episode navigates the complexities of grief and the blurred lines between the natural and the artificial.
Black Mirror Season 2, Episode 4, “White Christmas,” introduces cookies — a shell containing a digital clone of yourself that can serve a myriad of purposes, from aiding criminal investigations to enhancing personal convenience, like turning the lights on and off. In Season 4, Episode 1, “USS Callister,” Daly (Jesse Plemons) creates a game and traps digital clones of his coworkers in the game universe, where Daly’s basically omnipotent. These episodes make you think about the implications of creating digital versions of ourselves for practical ends.
3. Living With Yourself
Living With Yourself is a comedy TV show about cloning which stars Paul Rudd. He plays a man named Miles who undergoes a mysterious self-improvement spa treatment, only to wake up buried in a forest. When he makes his way back home, he realizes he has been replaced by a clone who’s living his life. The clone is better in every way: he’s charismatic, more thoughtful toward his wife, dresses fashionably, and always knows the right things to say to his coworkers. This leads to chaotic situations as Miles and his clone try to share a life.
Watch Living With Yourself on Netflix
4. Rick and Morty
Rick is the smartest man alive, and he’s brought his own genius twist to every sci-fi idea out there (except time travel, of course), and that includes cloning. Rick calls it Operation Phoenix. When he dies, which happens more often than you’d think, his consciousness is transferred into a clone hidden under his garage. In Season 2 Episode 7, “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez,” Rick shrinks down into a smaller clone named Tiny Rick to deal with a vampire situation at his grandkids’ school.
Then, in Season 3 Episode 9, “ABC’s of Beth,” Rick’s daughter Beth goes into full-on detective mode, suspecting she might be a clone. Paranoia sets in, and this whole clone plotline comes up multiple times in later episodes. But in Season 5 Episode 2, “Mortiplicity,” the show goes all in on the cloning chaos. Rick’s clones (or, as he calls them, decoys) start making clones of themselves, and they all begin killing each other in an all-out clone war. This episode deals with the concept of what happens when you make a copy of a copy of a copy of a… well, you get the idea.
Watch Rick and Morty on Adult Swim
5. Clone High
Clone High is set in a fake high school being run as part of an elaborate military experiment. And who’s attending the high school? Clones of famous historical figures. This leads to hilarious, over-the-top situations like Abraham Lincoln trying to flirt with Cleopatra and Gandhi being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. The show debuted in 2002, and after a bit of a hiatus, it finally got renewed for a second season in 2023.
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