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Once Upon a Time poster

Shows that feel likeOnce Upon a Time (2011–2018)

There is a town in Maine where every story book character you've ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth and only one can break the spell.

If you loved Once Upon a Time, the closest series we have are The Magicians (2015), The Wheel of Time (2021) and Fate: The Winx Saga (2021). All three share Once Upon a Time's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Travelers (2016).

★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗7 seasons · ABCcreated by Edward Kitsiscontemplativecerebraldreamlike
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

If Once Upon a Time hit the spot, these will too

The Magicians poster
The Magicians
2015–2020 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Childhood storybook worlds turning out to be real and considerably harsher

The difference: Adult, cynical and often crude — the fairy-tale sweetness is gone

Brakebills University is a secret institution specializing in magic. There, amidst an unorthodox education of spellcasting, a group of twenty-something friends soon discover that a magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity.

The Wheel of Time poster
The Wheel of Time
2021–2025 · 3 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

Prophecy, chosen ones, and villagers pulled into an old cosmic fight

The difference: Serious epic fantasy — no modern town, no whimsy, no weekly reset

The lives of five young villagers change forever when a strange and powerful woman arrives, claiming one of them is the child of an ancient prophecy with the power to tip the balance between Light and Dark forever. They must choose whether to trust this stranger – and each other – with the fate of the world before the Dark One breaks out of His prison, and the Last Battle begins.

Fate: The Winx Saga poster
Fate: The Winx Saga
2021–2022 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.8sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Magical heritage discovered late, taught badly, and inherited from parents

The difference: Teen boarding-school drama, moodier and darker, over in two seasons

The coming-of-age journey of five fairies attending Alfea, a magical boarding school in the Otherworld where they must learn to master their powers while navigating love, rivalries, and the monsters that threaten their very existence.

Merlin poster
Merlin
2008–2012 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Familiar legend retold with hidden magic and long-running destiny

The difference: Camelot, family-friendly and much simpler

The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.

Shadow and Bone poster
Shadow and Bone
2021–2023 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.5drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

A young woman finds a power that makes her the centre of everyone's plans

The difference: One dark, cohesive fantasy world, grimmer and much shorter

In a world cleaved in two by a massive barrier of perpetual darkness, a young soldier uncovers a power that might finally unite her country. But as she struggles to hone her power, dangerous forces plot against her. Thugs, thieves, assassins and saints are at war now, and it will take more than magic to survive.

Marvel's Agent Carter poster
Marvel's Agent Carter
2015–2016 · 2 seasons · ABC
★ 7.8drama · sci-fi & fantasyDisney+

Contemplative where it counts, cerebral underneath

It's 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life - Steve Rogers.

Orphan Black poster
Orphan Black
2013–2017 · 5 seasons · Space
★ 8.3drama · sci-fi & fantasy

One face carrying several lives, and a truth only one person can see

The difference: Hard science conspiracy, tense and grown-up, with no magic to lean on

A streetwise hustler is pulled into a compelling conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like her.

Heroes poster
Heroes
2006–2010 · 4 seasons · NBC
★ 7.5sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Scattered ordinary lives revealed to be threads in one enormous design

The difference: Contemporary sci-fi conspiracy, with no fairy tales and no storybook warmth

Common people discover that they have super powers. Their lives intertwine as a devastating event must be prevented.

V poster
V
2009–2011 · 2 seasons · ABC
★ 6.8sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Ordinary town life continuing while a hidden power quietly takes hold

The difference: Alien-invasion paranoia, chillier and more political, nothing enchanted

A re-imagining of the 1980s miniseries about the world's first encounter with an alien race in which the aliens call themselves The Visitors, and have a seemingly friendly agenda that may or may not be a cover for something more malevolent.

Travelers poster
Travelers
2016–2018 · 3 seasons · Showcase
★ 8drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

People living double lives, one ordinary and one enormously consequential

The difference: Cool sci-fi procedural — practical, unsentimental, with no fairy-tale wonder

Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These "travelers" assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible future.

Shadow Hunter poster
Shadow Hunter
2005–2006 · 1 season · Space
★ 7.3sci-fi & fantasy · drama

A steady curiosity about whether the impossible quietly shares our world

The difference: A real paranormal documentary — no story, no characters, no enchantment

A documentary series about the paranormal, hosted by Darryll Walsh, a ghost hunter, best-selling author and doctor of parapsychology.

Doom Patrol poster
Doom Patrol
2019–2023 · 4 seasons · DC Universe
★ 7.7sci-fi & fantasy · dramaMax

Broken misfits with strange abilities, held together as a makeshift family

The difference: Deeply weird and adult, funny and filthy where the source is wholesome

The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find.

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The best-reviewed series that share Once Upon a Time’s defining feeling.