The fantasy genre often lends itself to spectacle, with mythical creatures, swords-and-sorcery battles, and magic taking center stage. However, while there have been great advances in visual effects, visuals alone do not always make a great movie, and the best fantasy TV series of all time can rival most fantasy movies, as they have the advantage of time.
Even great fantasy movie franchises have a time limit, with most movies lasting just a couple of hours. On the other hand, masterpiece fantasy TV shows build their stories and characters over several hours, allowing for more nuance and interesting details. They can often transcend genres, as even short bingeable fantasy TV shows have time to incorporate elements of other genres.
Game of Thrones
The groundbreaking Game of Thrones redefined the fantasy genre and changed the way we watch TV forever, as it introduced high-concept, big-budget ideas to the world of TV. Previously, high fantasy had been reserved for the movie world, but many episodes of Game of Thrones had the budget of a blockbuster film, and used this to show what could be achieved.
The last season of Game of Thrones might have gone downhill, but the first seasons were masterpieces in terms of character development and writing. Based on George R. R. Martin’s fantasy epic, the show took its time with the storytelling but eventually overtook the books, to the show’s detriment. Still, Game of Thrones remains a fantasy genre icon.
- Release Date
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2011 – 2019-00-00
- Showrunner
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David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
- Directors
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David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff
Lucifer
Lucifer‘s creators had an interesting challenge ahead, as Lucifer is already a known Biblical character. Giving viewers a new insight into the character while incorporating Biblical mythology into a police procedural show needed time and the perfect actor. Tom Ellis’s excellent portrayal made the show, and his chemistry with everyone helped give Lucifer one of the best ensemble fantasy TV casts.
While many fantasy movies would have to focus on giving the cosmic battles an epic scale, Lucifer does something different and unusual in making the high stakes feel personal, despite their far-reaching effects on the universe. Its blend of fantasy, horror, supernatural, and crime would be eclectic enough, but Lucifer inserts comedy too, and the cast makes it work.
Penny Dreadful
While many fantasy TV shows star A-list actors now, this was not so common when Penny Dreadful first aired. The show stars Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, and Timothy Dalton, among a cast full of well-known faces. The show blends fantasy and horror, and while it may not have always received the recognition that it deserved, the acting performances were always spot-on.
Penny Dreadful features well-known legendary figures from Victorian Gothic fiction, like Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and Count Dracula. The show tells several exciting stories while incorporating these morally-conflicted characters, and perfectly capturing the dark and moody aesthetic that many of the novels evoked. It has a distinctive visual style that resembles an arthouse movie, without distracting from the plot.
The Magicians
Many great blockbuster movies feature magic, but they rarely take the time to examine magic as a concept. This exploration drives the plot of The Magicians, and the show has been compared to a more adult version of Harry Potter. When Quentin Coldwater discovers his skills and enrolls in a university for magic, it challenges him in unexpected ways.
The Magicians is an epic binge, with five seasons and 65 episodes, and the way that it deconstructs common fantasy tropes is intelligent and interesting. While fantasy movies like Shrek and Enchanted have challenged the genre, long-running TV shows like The Magicians are able to do this in more depth, introducing higher stakes and deeper ethical questions.
His Dark Materials
With its 82% positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the His Dark Materials TV adaptation has already proven that it is better than the blockbuster movie that first attempted to adapt Philip Pullman’s trilogy for the screen. The novels are extremely complex, traveling between several worlds, incorporating different cultures, and exploring some extremely controversial themes, including the dominance of organized religion.
Not all TV adaptations are better than their movie counterparts, but His Dark Materials could only have worked as a TV show. The movie, which has a 42% positive Rotten Tomatoes score, tried to simplify the novel, turning it into a family-friendly project. On the other hand, the TV show is a faithful adaptation that includes some of the biggest emotional punches from the books.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Few movies could have had the groundbreaking cultural impact that Buffy the Vampire Slayer did in the 1990s. The show turned a common horror staple upside-down by having monsters running from the teenage girl rather than the other way around. While Buffy the Vampire Slayer started as a movie, the TV show was made by its developing relationships and coming-of-age storylines.
The show dealt with typical teenage issues like studying, as well as serious themes, like the death of a parent. With so many episodes during its seven seasons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the most rewatchable fantasy TV shows of all time, and the movie could not possibly have included all of these elements and maintained a sense of depth.
The Good Place
Netflix’s supernatural comedy is one of the best shows available to stream, and one of the most ambitious. The Good Place follows the “Arizona trash bag” Eleanor, after she finds herself accidentally transported to the Good Place after her death. Paired with an indecisive ethics professor, she goes on a journey of self-discovery in an attempt to finally become a good person in the afterlife.
Even for a TV show with four seasons, The Good Place had a challenging premise, as the show evolves into a far more wide-reaching project exploring what it means to be good, moral, or even human. No movie could have had the time to thoroughly address the issues and questions brought up in the show, which easily outshines many fantasy blockbusters.
Arcane
An adaptation of the League of Legends game, Arcane forms the gold standard for video game adaptations and is a masterpiece in every sense. The show has a rare perfect 100% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating and has won multiple awards for its animation and sound. The show is visually stunning, with an excellent soundtrack and an immersive world with a steampunk fantasy aesthetic.
Beyond its visual effects and design, Arcane excels at its character writing, and few of the characters are purely good or evil. The story is set amid a war between rich and poor communities, aided by a mysterious new technology that must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Many fantasy movies focus on destiny, while Arcane sheds light on accountability instead.
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is one of the TV shows that more closely resembles traditional fantasy, with a swords and sorcery theme and typical genre professions, like warriors and shamans. Still, the show stands out for its take on mythology, often reinventing classic characters and storylines, and as it was already ahead of its time, Xena: Warrior Princess aged well for a 1990s fantasy show.
When a movie gets its tone wrong, there are few second chances, but as a TV show with six seasons, Xena: Warrior Princess had much more freedom to experiment. This gave the show the chance to offer representation that many movies would not, preferring instead to stick to safe formulas. It is this fearlessness that made both the character and the show into fantasy icons.
Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies might be a crime drama from Hannibal‘s creator, but it is also a genre-defying fantasy comedy with a unique premise and 96% positive Rotten Tomatoes score. The show is about Ned, who can bring the dead back to life with one touch, but a second touch will make the death permanent. This causes problems when he brings back his former crush.
Pushing Daisies is a celebration of pursuing true love against all odds, shown through the ways in which people can navigate rules, even magical ones, when they want to be together. The idea that touching someone could mean losing them forever creates more emotional tension than most blockbuster movies, even ones that deal with great fantasy battles and near-impossible odds.