6 Top Fantasy TV Shows For Non-Fantasy Fans

If you are desperate to recommend a fantasy TV show to someone who insists the genre is not for them, try offering these fantasy titles; they may just hook them. The fantasy TV genre can be a tricky one to recommend. Unlike fantasy movies, fantasy TV shows seem to have a lower floor.

Some people are just disinterested in it on the whole, just as there are people who can’t stomach horror, or can’t be bothered with historical romances. However, some fantasy TV shows subvert the usual tropes of the genre, and they may be unique enough to draw in those who claim they don’t like fantasy.

Carnivàle (2003-2005)

An underrated and underseen HBO series, Carnivàle is a two-season dark fantasy show set in the Dust Bowl during America’s Great Depression. The show consists of two plots. The first is of Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl), a young man with strange healing powers who joins a traveling carnival to search for the source of his power.

The second involves a Methodist preacher named Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown), who discovers a power of his own: the ability to bend human beings to his will and make their sins manifest as terrifying visions. Brother Justin and Ben Hawkins thus begin on a slow collision course with one another.

The fantasy elements in Carnivàle are light, so anyone worried about too much fantasy in their show can feel good that they’re not going to encounter any dragons or fairy tale lands here. However, the mystical and real combine so well in Carnivàle that viewers may realize they like those fantasy elements after all.

American Gods (2017-2021)

Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods serves as the inspiration for this 2017 Starz series. The show follows a man named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) who finds himself dragged into a world where magic is real and gods are born and given power by people’s belief in them.

In the 21st century, gods like Odin, Anasi, and Thoth have lost power over the centuries as people have begun to worship the New Gods of Globalization, Technology, and New Media. Odin, called Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) asks Shadow to help him rebuild the influence of the Old Gods.

A show about the oldest figures in mythology could be considered the most fantastic series of all, but American Gods is just as interested in what has happened to humanity when we forget about fantastical things. American Gods supposes we traded our fantastical beliefs for modern worship, which isn’t much better.

Galavant (2015-2016)

If your problem with fantasy TV shows is that they take themselves too seriously, they try watching Galavant and see that it doesn’t interest you. Galavant is a musical fantasy comedy series that is part fantasy adventure and part Glee-like send-up of all things fantasy, both good and bad.

The series is set in a magical kingdom where the dashing knight Galavant (Joshua Sasse) is determined to earn his “happily ever after”. After having the love of his life stolen away by the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson), Galavant sets out to stop him, only to be forced to team up when Richard’s older, meaner brother shows up.

It’s a witty and winking series that toys with fantasy tropes as much as it revels in them, and if you too roll your eyes at some bits of fantasy series, you will enjoy Galavant‘s tongue-in-cheek storytelling. Music and lyrics from Alan Menken and Glenn Slater are just the cherries on top.

Good Omens (2019-Present)

Good Omens, adapted from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel, is an Amazon Prime Video original TV show that premiered in 2019 and was recently announced for a third season/episode. The series stars David Tennant as a demon named Crowley and Michael Sheen as an angle named Aziraphale.

Both beings were sent to Earth by their masters to push humanity one way or the other, but over the millennia, the pair have become friends, and mostly just hang out. However, when they hear that Armageddon is imminent, they officially team up in order to prevent the coming of the Antichrist and the end of their eternal vacation.

Good Omens is fantastical in every sense, but it also depicts a fantasy world not often seen on television, which means newcomers to the genre hopefully won’t be turned off. The series asks philosophical questions about good and evil with obvious parallels that are easy to follow along with.

Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)

Pushing Daisies is a fantastic fantasy series for people who love dark comedies but are unsure about their appetite for hard-core fantasy. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the gift of being able to raise the dead via his touch. The catch is that if he touches them again, they stay dead.

At the beginning of the series, Ned’s floundering pie operation is saved when a P.I. named Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) discovers Ned’s gift and offers to go into the murder investigation business with him. At the same time, Ned resurrects his childhood crush, Chuck (Anna Friel), and must keep himself from ever touching her again.

Pushing Daisies is filmed like a fantasy storybook with bright colors, cheery characters, and lots of symmetry in the shots. Yet the conceit is pretty dark, while remaining quite funny, which makes for an odd collision of tones that fantasy haters may not expect from a show so steeped in fantasy storytelling.

Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)

Game Of Thrones

10/10

Release Date

2011 – 2019-00-00

Showrunner

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Directors

David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff

Even if you absolutely hate fantasy, you have certainly heard of Game of Thrones. The series, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, ran from 2011 to 2019 and dominated the pop culture conversation during that time. That’s reason alone to make sure you watch it once in your life.

The series has plenty of classic fantasy elements: dragons, prophecies, warring kingdoms, magical swords, and more, but the tone and atmosphere of Game of Thrones is like few other fantasy series. It’s not just mature for the sex and gore, it’s mature in how it views the world of Westeros.

Political intrigue and backroom deals are often some of the best scenes of Game of Thrones, and there is rarely a fantasy element to be found in many of the memorable moments of the show. However, the fantasy is still very much there, and fantasy-haters may come to appreciate the unbelievable as much as the grounded sequences.