Space: Above and Beyond (1995)

The purest grunt's-eye series here. The Wildcards are the 58th Squadron of the US Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, flying fighters and fighting as infantry from the carrier USS Saratoga after an alien species, the Chigs, wipes out Earth's first colony beyond the solar system. Its In Vitros, lab-grown troops born at the physical age of 18, trained only for combat and insulted by the people they defend, give it a sharp edge. Fox planned five seasons and canceled it after one, 23 episodes, so expect threads left hanging. It still picked up two Emmy nominations.