7 Hidden Gem Fantasy TV Shows With Just 1 Season

Published Jul 27, 2026, 11:42 PM EDT Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, and horror of all kinds. They also cover Marvel and DC TV shows and movies, with a robust knowledge of comic books. Their TV reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes. Dani is also part of ScreenRant's books team, using their fiction writing and literature studies as the backbone for their book analyses. They have covered events, such as the Denver Fan Expo. Professionals in the field, such as Damien Leone and Lucy Hale, have shared their articles. Their review of Ponies was quoted in the show's TV trailer. In university, they majored in English Writing with a minor in psychology. They have always had a passion for analyzing TV and movies, even taking filmography and scriptwriting classes in university. They also studied and participated in onstage and onscreen acting extensively from the ages of 7 to 18. Aside from working at Screen Rant, Dani has worked as a freelance editor and writer over the past decade, often in a ghostwriting capacity. Sign in to your ScreenRant account If you’re looking for a quick fantasy fix, these seven TV shows bring the magic in just one season. The best fantasy shows of all time tend to run long, providing many seasons to develop characters and magic systems. There’s something exciting about diving into a story knowing that it will continue on for a while. However, in a busy and chaotic world, people may not always have the time or energy to dive into a story that will take them forever to finish. Luckily, some great fantasy shows require lower mental investment and won't take long to watch. Plenty of hidden gems are either miniseries or TV shows canceled after a single season. They are shorter and easier to binge after a long day at work or school. These seven, in particular, don’t get nearly enough love and attention, making them something either new to watch or fun to revisit. What's more, all of them are also available on streaming right now, meaning you can watch them any time you want. I would like to give honorable mention to the sword-and-sorcery show Warriors & Wizards and the science fantasy The Nevers. Both were phenomenal series that would have landed on this list, except they are unavailable to stream or purchase digitally at the time of writing. 7 The 10th Kingdom Available on Tubi, The Roku Channel, The CW, Prime Video, Pluto, Sling, PLEX, FRNDLY, and YouTube Primetime The 2000 fantasy miniseries The 10th Kingdom explores the adventures of two Manhattanites, the headstrong Virginia Lewis and her father Tony, who enter through a magical mirror into a different realm of fairy tales that aren’t quite so fantastical. They find that the Evil Queen is trying to rule all nine kingdoms. Virginia and Tony get tangled up in the power struggle and fictional stories. The 10th Kingdom feels like a perfect predecessor to Once Upon a Time, except with lower production values. While the show could have been decreased by about 2 episodes, The 10th Kingdom is a solid TV show that will keep viewers engaged. The actors in the magical realms make storybook characters feel real. The Evil Queen is legitimately scary. On top of that, the soundtrack is beautifully composed, including Miriam Stockley’s “Wishing on a Star,” which frames each episode. 6 Pauline Available On Hulu (US) And Disney+ (International) The rated-mature German show Pauline flew completely under the radar, only getting attention for its premise. However, the show is a dark fantasy hidden gem that’s perfect for fans of Good Omens or Kaos. The show follows the titular 19-year-old aspiring med school student who blows off steam by having a one-night stand with a stranger named Lukas, who happens to be the devil’s son. Despite contraceptives, she falls pregnant, leading to chaotic magical side effects that are equally entertaining and horrifying. The fast-paced show has a good mix of fantasy and body horror from the start to Pauline’s shocking end. What’s more, the story has an underlying cosmic battle that feels like a game of chess. Additionally, there’s a clever subversion of morality, which I cannot explain further without spoiling this for people who haven’t seen the show yet. With high production value, Pauline is also captivating because of its high saturation and earth-and-citrus color palette. 5 Tin Man Available To Watch On Xumo Play, Sling TV, The CW, Peacock, Tubi, Fandango, Prime Video, YouTube Primetime, and Fubo In The Wizard of Oz’s reimagining, a Kansas waitress named DG gets visions about an impending storm. She gets pulled into the realm of Outer Zone, aka O.Z., controlled by the tyrannical sorceress Ozkadellia. DG has a connection to O.Z., but she can’t remember how. She sets out to fix the realm with the help of Glitch, whose brain was half removed by the leader; Wyatt Cian, a law enforcer who was locked in an iron suit for opposing the sorceress; and Raw, a member of an enslaved race. From Westeros to Middle-Earth to the Continent · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Fantasy TV? “The night is dark and full of terrors.” 🪨Game of ThronesWinter is coming 👑Rings of PowerOne ring to rule 🗡️The WitcherToss a coin ⚢Wheel of TimeThe Pattern weaves 👻The SandmanLord of Dreams UNROLL THE SCROLL → 01 HBO’s Game of Thrones — the pop-culture juggernaut that made fantasy TV prestige — premiered with the episode “Winter Is Coming.” Across eight seasons it picked up a record 59 Emmy wins. In which year did its first episode air? A2009 B2011 C2013 D2014 ✓ Correct! 2011 — April 17, to be exact. The unaired pilot was so notoriously poor (after a friends-and-family screening, novelist George R.R. Martin reportedly told showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss they had a real problem) that nearly all of it was reshot before broadcast. The retooled premiere immediately became HBO’s biggest hit since The Sopranos. The series ran 73 episodes across eight seasons through 2019. ✗ Wrong. The answer is 2011. 2009 is when the original pilot was filmed (and largely reshot). 2013 is when Season 3’s Red Wedding episode aired. 2014 is when Season 4’s “The Watchers on the Wall” reset what TV could do with effects. GoT debuted April 17, 2011. NEXT → 02 Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are all adapted from the sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire universe. Name the author whose unfinished novels (the next book has been pending since 2011) underpin every adaptation. ABrandon Sanderson BGeorge R.R. Martin CPatrick Rothfuss DJoe Abercrombie ✓ Correct! George R.R. Martin (born 1948). The first ASOIAF novel A Game of Thrones came out in 1996; the most recent in the main sequence (A Dance with Dragons) in 2011. The Winds of Winter is now over 13 years overdue. Martin has remained heavily involved in the HBO universe through House of the Dragon, the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026), and an in-development Aegon’s Conquest series. ✗ Wrong. The answer is George R.R. Martin. Brandon Sanderson is the Cosmere/Stormlight Archive author (and the writer Robert Jordan’s estate hired to finish Wheel of Time). Patrick Rothfuss is the Kingkiller Chronicle author with his own infamous-publication-delay reputation. Joe Abercrombie writes the First Law series. ASOIAF is Martin’s. NEXT → 03 Netflix’s The Witcher (2019–) adapted Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels with a lead actor who’s a famously hardcore fan of the source material — he wore the white wig, did much of his own swordplay, and personally pushed back against Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s scripts before departing after Season 3. Name him. AHenry Cavill BLiam Hemsworth CAidan Turner DSam Heughan ✓ Correct! Henry Cavill. He played Geralt of Rivia for three seasons before exiting in 2022 over creative differences with the show’s writers’ room (the books-vs-show approach being the open wound). Liam Hemsworth was announced as his replacement and takes over from Season 4 (2025). Cavill’s exit was widely treated as a major moment of fan-vs-streamer tension and contributed to the late-2022/2023 Netflix-fantasy-slate scrutiny. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Henry Cavill. Liam Hemsworth replaces him as Geralt from Season 4 (2025) onward. Aidan Turner played Kili in The Hobbit films. Sam Heughan is Outlander’s Jamie Fraser. The Witcher’s original Geralt is Henry Cavill, through Seasons 1–3. NEXT → 04 House of the Dragon — the Game of Thrones prequel chronicling the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — is set how long before the events of the original series? A~50 years B~100 years C~200 years D~500 years ✓ Correct! Approximately 200 years before A Game of Thrones (172 years before Robert’s Rebellion, more precisely). The series adapts material from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood (2018), a fictionalised in-universe history of the Targaryen dynasty. House of the Dragon premiered in August 2022, drew 9.99 million viewers across HBO’s simultaneous-platform debut and Season 2 followed in 2024 with the Battle of Rook’s Rest as its climactic setpiece. ✗ Wrong. The answer is ~200 years. The Targaryen kings featured (Viserys I, Aegon II, Rhaenyra) reign during the Dance of the Dragons (129–131 AC), which is roughly 172 years before Robert’s Rebellion in the original series. Martin’s Fire & Blood is the in-universe history that the show mines for source material. NEXT → 05 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — reportedly the most expensive TV series ever made, with a five-season commitment from its streamer at well over $1 billion total budget — is set in Middle-earth’s Second Age, thousands of years before The Hobbit. Which streaming service is it on? ANetflix BHBO Max CAmazon Prime Video DApple TV+ ✓ Correct! Amazon Prime Video. Amazon paid $250 million just for the rights from the Tolkien Estate in 2017, then committed to a five-season run with reported per-season budgets of $400–$465 million on Season 1 alone. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were given access to the appendices of The Lord of the Rings (specifically the Second Age material) but not The Silmarillion proper, leading to many adaptation choices that have divided Tolkien purists. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Amazon Prime Video. Netflix has The Witcher and Sandman. HBO Max has Game of Thrones and HotD. Apple TV+ has Foundation. Rings of Power is Amazon’s flagship original drama and reportedly its single biggest production-budget bet. NEXT → 06 Amazon’s The Wheel of Time (2021–) is adapted from a 14-novel epic fantasy series running from 1990 to 2013. The series’ original author died in 2007 after completing only 11 of the planned books; Brandon Sanderson was hired by the estate to finish the final three. Who was the original author? ARobert Jordan BTerry Brooks CRaymond E. Feist DTerry Pratchett ✓ Correct! Robert Jordan — pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr. He started The Wheel of Time in 1990 with The Eye of the World and worked on the series for 17 years before dying of cardiac amyloidosis in 2007 with three books left to go. His widow Harriet McDougal hired Brandon Sanderson, then a young Mistborn-era novelist, on the strength of a eulogy he wrote for Jordan; Sanderson finished the series across The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney Jr.). Terry Brooks wrote the Shannara saga. Raymond E. Feist wrote the Riftwar Saga. Terry Pratchett wrote the Discworld series. The Wheel of Time is Jordan’s, with Brandon Sanderson finishing the last three books from his notes. NEXT → 07 Netflix’s The Sandman (2022–) adapts a beloved 75-issue DC/Vertigo comic that ran 1989–96 about Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, and his troubled siblings — the Endless. Whose comics is the show based on? AAlan Moore BGrant Morrison CNeil Gaiman DMike Mignola ✓ Correct! Neil Gaiman. The 75-issue Sandman ran at DC’s mature-readers Vertigo imprint from 1989 to 1996 (with later spinoffs Sandman: Overture, etc.) and is widely cited alongside Watchmen and Maus as proof of comics’ literary potential. Gaiman’s direct involvement was central to the Netflix show’s development. Note that ongoing public controversies around Gaiman from 2024 onward have shaped the show’s future and Season 2’s framing. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Neil Gaiman. Alan Moore wrote Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. Grant Morrison wrote Doom Patrol, The Invisibles and All-Star Superman. Mike Mignola is the creator of Hellboy. Sandman is Gaiman’s. NEXT → 08 Netflix’s Shadow and Bone (2021–23) wove together the Shadow and Bone trilogy (Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner) with the Six of Crows duology (Kaz Brekker’s Crows heist crew). Both source novel series are set in the same imagined Tsarist-Russia-coded fantasy world. Whose books are they? ASarah J. Maas BLeigh Bardugo CCassandra Clare DMarie Lu ✓ Correct! Leigh Bardugo. Her Grishaverse spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy (2012–14), the Six of Crows duology (2015–16), the King of Scars duology (2019–21) and various short fiction. Netflix’s adaptation merged plotlines from the two main series simultaneously and was cancelled after two seasons in 2023, with a Six of Crows-focused spinoff that had been in development at one point also abandoned. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Leigh Bardugo. Sarah J. Maas writes the Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series (the latter has a Hulu show in development). Cassandra Clare writes the Shadowhunters Chronicles (which also got a TV adaptation, on Freeform 2016–19). Marie Lu writes Legend and Warcross. The Grishaverse is Leigh Bardugo’s. REVEAL MY RATING → The Maester’s Verdict · Final Tally Your Realm Standing 🪨 / 8 Lord of the Realm — or smallfolk in the keep? ⤴ ANOTHER RAVEN With Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming, and Neal McDonogh at the forefront, it’s shocking that the miniseries Tin Man isn’t remembered and appreciated. None of the actors attempted to emulate the original actors, making their versions of the characters different. Between beautiful visuals and a unique combination of fantasy and sci-fi, Tin Man is worth the four and a half hours it takes to watch. 4 The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself Available On Netflix In the British fantasy The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, Nathan Byrn learns that he is the nonmarital child of the evil warlock Marcus Edge, who committed a massacre. He must come to terms with his powers, his legacy, and his place in the conflict between two warring clans. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself was beautifully written, exploring the human condition and existential topics. Jay Lycurgo plays Nathan, grounding the story with an earnest and vulnerable performance. He is truly the heart of the show, although the other actors give stellar performances as well. The love triangle between Nathan, Gabriel, and Annalise felt well-developed and balanced, offering bi representation. The visuals are impressive, with high production values. The pacing can be a little off, but that’s the biggest weakness in an otherwise compelling fantasy TV show. Unfortunately, Netflix canceled the series despite strong viewership and positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. 3 Jekyll And Hyde Available On YouTube, Tubi, Fandango, PBS, Prime Video, Xumo Play, Pluto, Peacock, & Netflix Lasting just a single season, the fantasy horror TV show Jekyll and Hyde is a loose extension of the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The show follows the adopted Robert Jekyll, who was raised far away from England and the rumors about his grandfather, Dr. Jekyll, and his friend, Mr. Hyde. However, he must look for answers about his lineage when he starts transforming into a beast when stressed and angry. Even though the show was canceled, Jekyll and Hyde is still worth watching. The show never tries to reinvent the wheel or dive deep into the meaning of humanity. Instead of taking itself too seriously, the ITV show embraces campy and gothic elements. The monsters of the week can be cheesy in the best way possible. What’s more, lead actor Tom Bateman gives a phenomenal performance, anchoring all the sillier parts of the show in a very three-dimensional character. 2 BNA: Brand New Animal Available On Netflix Netflix’s anime BNA: Brand New Animal is a fun science fantasy TV show that will keep viewers engaged because of the incredible story. In a world where humans live alongside the oppressed beastmen, humans who have the capacity to turn into a humanoid animal, a teen named Michiru turns into a tanuki. She flees to Anima-City, where she and a wolf detective work to uncover her mysterious transformation. BNA: Brand New Animal includes plenty of comedic moments to break up the suspense of the central mystery. With Studio Trigger as the animators, they bring in their signature style of high-octane action, expressive and angular designs, and neon colors. BNA: Brand New Animal is truly a visual spectacle. The soundtrack is extremely relistenable. The TV show has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, and an 89% from audiences. However, it still hasn’t gained mainstream traction. As such, fantasy lovers might not have had the opportunity to watch it yet. 1 I Am Not Okay With This Available On Netflix The comic book adaptation of I Am Not Okay With This was incredible, but the show was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The show centers on Sydney, a teen girl struggling with the grief of losing her father, who discovers that she has psychokinetic powers influenced by her emotions. As she navigates her sexuality, family loss, and teen angst, Sydney struggles to get a handle on her abilities. The story blends together comedy, tragedy, coming-of-age, fantasy, and horror without leaning too far in any one direction. The writing is packed without feeling overly rushed. I Am Not Okay With This reunited IT actors Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff, who brought their A-game to the TV show. Rather than feeling like a superhero story, it’s a viscerally human story that happens to involve superpowers. What’s more, there’s a core question about how Sydney got her powers that serves as a throughline. Initially, I Am Not Okay With This was renewed, but Netflix reversed course because of the extra cost of PPE and testing. Ultimately, the cancellation was a huge mistake, and it’s a show that every fantasy lover should watch at least once in their life.