While it might not feel like it these days, fantasy is actually a rare genre on TV. It’s only with 2011’s Game of Thrones that it truly broke out of the “nerd” box it had been forced into, and even today, it’s often framed as a niche interest. Doing live action fantasy right also demands a high budget for exotic locales and creatures, whereas modern-day sitcoms and procedurals are a dime a dozen.
Speaking of creatures, the third season of HBO’s prestige House of the Dragon wrapped up earlier in August. If you’re still jonesing for more fantasy, here are some shows to consider that aren’t Game of Thrones or A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I’m taking it for granted that you’re caught up on those, or are planning on doing so in the near future.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Bet you didn’t see that one coming
Normally I’m averse to shows that try to revive a long-dead franchise in order to exploit aging (and now nostalgic) fans. The Dark Crystal is a little more interesting though, since while the 1982 movie was successful in theaters, it hasn’t developed the same cachet as movies like The Princess Bride, or even Labyrinth, another movie with puppets by Jim Henson’s studio.
Age of Resistance is a 2019 prequel series produced by The Jim Henson Company and released by Netflix. It returns to the world of Thra, where three Gelflings — Rian, Brea, and Deet — foster a rebellion after learning the truth about the Skeksis. Thankfully, a Netflix executive was smart enough to suggest doing it in live action, giving us a new generation of puppets, and a distinct look from just about any other fantasy show you might see. There’s also a celebrity voice cast, including Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helena Bonham Carter, and others.
There’s just one major problem: length. In fine Netflix tradition, it was canceled after just one season, so it didn’t get the resolution it deserved.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The animated one, that is
While there’s a 2024 live-action series on Netflix, and an abysmal 2010 movie, you owe it to yourself to watch Nickelodeon’s original 2005 cartoon. It’s aimed at kids, and something you can safely show to just about any child over the age of four — but there’s enough meat here that us adults can still get something out of it.
If you’re not familiar, the show revolves around Aang, an Avatar who’s unfrozen to discover a world under threat from the Fire Nation. It’s heavily inspired by various Asian and Native American cultures, giving it unique aesthetics and ideas. More significantly, it actually has a message — including topics that are normally left out of kids’ shows, like gender and power politics. There is no war in Ba Sing Se.
On top of this, the show follows a scripted arc. While there are side stories, most episodes follow a greater plot trajectory, developing characters and progressing events towards an inevitable conclusion. That was wild at a time when most cartoons still reset their worlds at the end of each episode.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
When nothing less than epic will do
This series has always been controversial. While it’s based on appendices from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books, and tries to draw links to the beloved Peter Jackson movies, it’s an original story that doesn’t always feel like its source material. In fact it compresses centuries’ worth of events into a much shorter timeframe, so perhaps it’s understandable that purists would be upset. It’s also the most expensive TV show ever made — Amazon made a $1 billion commitment for five seasons, and the third season is only premiering in November 2026.
Patience is a theme here, despite the compressed plot. There are long delays between seasons, and the episodes themselves aren’t always well-paced. Needless to say, though, if spectacle is what you’re after, The Rings of Power delivers. Hopefully the show’s writers (and other creators) manage to wrangle its many storylines into a more focused direction for upcoming seasons.
