Some excellent fantasy TV shows from decades past might be considered classics, but they would never get made today. Fantasy has been a staple of TV and movies since the invention of the medium, but the landscape has changed drastically over time. While network TV used to be the primary source of shows, streaming has taken over.
Streamers have become more cautious of new ideas, only taking a chance on something experimental or expensive if they are certain it will succeed. Additionally, they’re quicker to pull the plug.
On top of that, streaming sites demand a very different format, which includes fewer episodes featuring fewer main characters. The stories have shifted from sitcoms and stories of the week to season-long narratives. Ultimately, some of the best fantasy TV shows from the past wouldn’t get greenlit or exist in the same format nowadays.
10
Supernatural
The hit fantasy show Supernatural is widely considered one of the best fantasy TV shows of the 2000s, but it most likely wouldn’t get made today. Although Supernatural’s premise still holds up almost 19 years after its debut, the show would absolutely never exist in the format that it did.
The seasons ran for an average of 22 episodes each, and the show ran for 15 seasons. As of 2023, the average number of TV episodes in a season is 10.2 for network TV and 9.6 for streaming TV (via Parrot Analytics).
While I could see them making a show about two brothers fighting monsters and demons, there is pretty much no chance it would run for nearly as long.
9
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Like many Millennial fantasy fans, I absolutely adore Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, when I look at it with a critical eye, I recognize that the first season of this beloved show was, admittedly, not very good. The story and characters were pretty shaky, and it didn’t come into its own until the sophomore season.
Unfortunately, in today’s TV landscape, streamers and networks are quick to pull the plug on anything that doesn’t immediately strike gold. If Buffy the Vampire Slayer were made today with comparable visuals and the same story, it would have gotten canceled by almost any streamer before it had the opportunity to become a cult classic.
8
The Shannara Chronicles
The Shannara Chronicles is a TV show that could only have been made the way it did on MTV in 2016 and 2017. The series blends together MTV’s teen soap actors and tone with high fantasy tropes and stories. If the series had been on another network or produced in a different year, it would have looked entirely different.
On top of that, The Shannara Chronicles is a high-fantasy show that requires ridiculously good VFX for TV. It would be too much of an investment for a network to take a chance on it if they weren’t sure it would succeed.
7
The Vampire Diaries
Because of the existing franchise, I could easily see other shows set in The Vampire Diaries’ universe being made today. However, the OG show wouldn’t get made if it were offered up as a concept today.
Besides the toxic relationship storylines that wouldn’t fly in 2025, The Vampire Diaries falls into the soapy teen genre, which was wildly popular in the late 2000s but isn’t really popular right now. On top of that, it isn’t as common for TV shows to focus on 8 to 10 main characters at once.
Even if it was greenlit, The Vampire Diaries wouldn’t look the same way it does. There are too many seasons for a modern fantasy show. Plus, unless the TV show is The Witcher, it’s not going to survive the lead actor leaving.
6
Forever Knight
The fantasy TV show Forever Knight is extremely entertaining, but it admittedly had a strange format even for its time. The A plot is Nick Knight trying to solve a detective case in real time, and the B plot happens centuries earlier. The only modern fantasy TV show that has dabbled in that kind of timeline is Interview with A Vampire, and even that looks vastly different.
While the story still holds up, I cannot imagine a network or streaming platform taking a chance on this style of show. Unfortunately, the show wouldn’t work without its weird format, so it would probably get scrapped as an idea.
5
The Booth at the End
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Here you can find the original article ;the photos and images used in our article also come from this source. We are not their authors ;they have been used solely for informational purposes with proper attribution to their original source.[nospin]
