10 Fantasy Shows You’ll Wish You Watched Sooner

fantasy shows – From the musical swagger of Galavant to the fate-altering hype of Game of Thrones, these fantasy series are the ones people keep looking back on—wishing they’d caught them in real time.

The strangest part about getting into fantasy late isn’t finding the stories—it’s missing the moment when everyone else was watching, theorizing, quoting, and arguing about what would happen next.

These shows were built for that kind of collective obsession. Some were pulled before they could fully land. Some delivered big finales and then moved on. And for plenty of viewers, the regret comes with a very specific feeling: “If I’d been here sooner, I could’ve been part of the run.”

Galavant (2015–2016)

Galavant is a fantasy series inspired by Arthurian legend, but only loosely. The characters, setting, and plotline are all entirely different, though it still resembles Medieval England. The show’s standout feature is that it’s actually a musical—singing. dancing. humor. and romance all folded into the medieval-world premise.

There’s a “where have you been all my life?” element to it for anyone catching up now. It also carries the sting of being prematurely canceled. and that early end has turned it into one of those titles fans look back on with real frustration—because they weren’t there to support it while it was still on.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a late ‘90s and early 2000s staple for more than one reason. One of the biggest is that it pioneered the monster-of-the-week format, even though it wasn’t the first to use it.

The show stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, a teenage girl who secretly works as a professional monster hunter. What makes the supernatural premise work is the everyday life Buffy has to juggle: fitting in at high school. navigating awkward adolescence. growing up. losing people and grieving. and trying to keep her grades up while balancing her secret life.

If you were born in the late 1980s or later and missed it during your teenage years, there’s a particular kind of regret here. Buffy captured adolescence so well that it helped many teens find their place and feel less alone during a famously awkward stretch of life.

The Addams Family (1964–1966)

With Wednesday bringing the brand back into the mainstream spotlight, The Addams Family feels bigger than ever. But the original started in a comic strip before it ever became a sitcom. It received its first sitcom adaptation in the 1960s.

What made the show different for its time is clear from the tone and structure alone. Most sitcoms in the 60s leaned on the nuclear family idea and often treated the husband and wife as bitter by default. The Addams Family went the other direction. The family is unconventional—almost shocking at the time—because of the dark and monstrous imagery they favor. yet they’re also closer and tighter-knit than other sitcom families. The mother and father genuinely do love each other.

The fantasy angle arrives through the presence of creatures from horror living in a non-scary setting. The butler is similar to Frankenstein’s monster or a zombie. the mail collector and personal assistant is a disembodied hand. and Cousin Itt looks like an amalgamous mass of hair with no discernible features.

If you’re a fan of Wednesday but haven’t seen the original yet, it’s easy to see why the regret shows up: the humor still holds up, and the series feels way ahead of its time.

Arcane (2021–2024)

Arcane is one of the best reminders that not all video game adaptations have to be awful. Based on the MOBA video game League of Legends, it’s a two-part animated series that follows the story of two playable champions.

Even for League of Legends fans, the show pulled in additional millions of viewers. Some of them hadn’t even played the game before.

The finale mattered, too. The show won multiple Emmys, proof of both quality and high viewership. The main reason people wish they’d watched sooner—while it was still running—is that they missed the exact period where hype was building and excitement was everywhere. If you weren’t part of that, it’s hard to describe the level of momentum the show carried.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)

Avatar: The Last Airbender hits differently depending on when you watch it, and that’s part of its power. As an adult, you might take in its humor, adventure, and surprisingly touching moments. But as a kid, its moral lessons land with extra weight.

Many of those lessons center on prosperity and well-being—cherishing things that aren’t material but matter more. Adults may think they “already know” those messages, but as a child you’re still learning what they mean. People who return to the show later often wish they’d watched it when they were younger. because the advice might have nudged their choices long before adulthood arrived.

Kingdom (2019–2021)

Kingdom became the kind of recommendation Game of Thrones fans desperately wanted after the final season. It’s a South Korean fantasy/horror series produced by Netflix that includes political intrigue, an army of the undead, a country in chaos, feuding royals, and a large cast of characters.

The problem was visibility. The show didn’t attract much international attention, and today, people who have watched it argue it’s nothing short of a masterpiece—yet it’s been “sadly forgotten about” for reasons that still feel confusing.

For viewers who needed a replacement to wash out the bitter taste left by Game of Thrones’ finale, Kingdom served that role. The regret is timing-related: it’s the sort of series people wish they’d known about during the transitional period right after Game of Thrones concluded.

The Wheel of Time (2021–2025)

The Wheel of Time didn’t glide into popularity right away. Its first season was described as a bit lackluster, then each subsequent season improved. By the third season, it finally found its footing—and that’s when it became “absolutely excellent.”

Then Amazon made the decision to axe the show. Fans were furious. Viewers who were familiar with the original books by Robert Jordan were disappointed that the show veered in a much different direction. Still, the article’s point is that a perfect 100% faithful adaptation might not have been possible in the first place.

Even after all that. the show attracted great reviews and millions of fans. and those numbers helped spark a sizable fan campaign to try to save it after the abrupt cancellation. For anyone who started watching only after the campaign. there’s a clear regret built into the situation: they weren’t part of the concentrated effort—especially because it unfortunately failed.

Shadow and Bone (2021–2023)

Shadow and Bone is based on a series of novels by Leigh Bardugo. The books are popular, but the piece argues they weren’t popular enough to sustain a multi-million dollar TV adaptation for long.

Viewership was too low. Netflix decided to let the series end, and it was canceled on a cliffhanger—something described as infuriating.

The cancellation doesn’t seem to match the reception the show earned. It attracted positive attention for its surprising humor, immersive setting, witty dialogue, and impeccable casting. People who checked it out “just for something to watch” often realized it was much better than it let on. and that’s why the regret persists: if more people had been watching when it first aired. Netflix might not have seen any need to cancel it.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a prequel to the cult classic Jim Henson film from 1982. The series covers the rise of the Skeksis empire, the cracking of the Dark Crystal, and the decline of the Gelflings.

It also leans on the kind of intricate puppetry the Jim Henson Company is known for. Plans for the series were ambitious and the potential was there, but Netflix canceled it abruptly after just one season without really giving a reason why.

The piece frames the likely explanation as low viewership. even though it received wonderful critical and audience reviews on numerous sites. If its numbers couldn’t support its budget, then the end comes down to scale. People who wish they’d joined earlier often do it because they think awareness would’ve helped it last a little longer—no matter how small the “bandwagon” might have been.

Game of Thrones (2011–2019)

Game of Thrones remains the yardstick for what a television event can look like. If you didn’t actively watch while it was running, it’s hard to understand how deeply it shaped pop culture.

In the weeks leading up to the release of its divisive final season, it was an enormous deal. Reddit literally had its own special event where people could guess who would be crowned ruler in the end. Those who guessed correctly received a special badge on their profile. The event wasn’t limited to a single subreddit—it was site-wide and organized by the creators themselves. Other social media sites had massive events too, and the entire ecosystem felt like it was happening at once.

The show was everywhere. Theories were constant, and people anxiously awaited the end result. Some were disappointed. Others weren’t bothered. But watching now “just doesn’t hit the same” because, during the final months, you could feel like you were part of something historic.

If you only watched after it was fully released, the regret is about missing the fun of speculation and betting on who would win the titular Game of Thrones. It’s the kind of missed moment that makes people wish they’d started sooner—so they could join the conversation while it was still alive.

fantasy TV shows Galavant Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Addams Family Arcane Avatar The Last Airbender Kingdom The Wheel of Time Shadow and Bone The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Game of Thrones