Children of the Dog Star (1984)

In the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she's unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.

Hailed as one of the best sci-fi novels of the decade, Dark Matter is a story about the road not taken. The series follows Jason Dessen, a physicist, professor, and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.

In NCIS: Origins, young Leroy Jethro Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.

The series follows Bob who runs Bob's Burgers, with the help of his wife and their three kids. Bob has big ideas about burgers, but the rest of the clan falls short on service. Despite the greasy counters and lousy location, the Belchers are determined to make every "Grand Re-Re-Re-opening" a success. Bob's wife, Linda, stands by her man and often does so by bursting into song. Their eldest daughter, 13-year-old Tina has a slight obsession with boys and zombies. Middle child Gene is an aspiring musician with a thirst for life. Louise is the bunny ears-wearing youngest daughter with an off-kilter sense of humor that makes her somewhat of a liability in the kitchen – and with the public.

With rising international tensions in the Indo-Pacific, a brilliant and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are grafted into a multinational taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.