Ever since managed to become the most talked about show on TV, every new big-budget television spectacle was lauded as “the next ” only to quietly fail. While series like managed to keep up with in terms of relevance, and HBO’s elicited the same excited audience response, very few other series could believably claim the title of HBO’s most popular fantasy series successor. The runaway popularity of was not a manufactured occurrence and series that attempted to reproduce its success artificially were always doomed to fail.
There are some television series that were trying to mimic the success of
, such as which tried to replicate its intricate worldbuilding and dark, edgy storytelling into the already-established world of . Another successful fantasy franchise, which many felt had the potential to repeat mainstream success. There are plenty of TV shows that were thought to be the next , that sadly were not.
As a series that explored the story of real-life adventurer as he traversed a world filled with betrayal, greed, rivalry, and sex, looked like it all the elements to become the next
. However, despite its ambitious premise, was canceled after just two seasons as it was and reportedly lost Netflix $200 million. Despite this, the second season of received critical acclaim and currently has .
As a dark, edgy version of , took the detailed worldbuilding of and transported it into the whimsical Land of Oz created by L. Frank Baum more than 100 years ago. While had a unique concept it was stuck between the two worlds of children’s entertainment that was
and mature adult-based fantasy series like . Sadly, the two did not mix well and became a series that nobody resonated with.
As a prequel to , had the potential to mix all that was great about -style narratives with the box office smash aesthetics of . While the series did connect with some viewers and had an impressive visual appeal, in the end, lacked the strong characters of a story like and suffered from slow storylines that felt like they were treading water.
While improved upon subsequent seasons the series never managed to make it in the way that did.
When the first season of aired it felt like may finally have a competitor for best series on HBO. With standout performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, was a dark, brooding, murder mystery, that explored masculinity, philosophy, and religious themes in a clever narrative that received audience and critical acclaim. When the anthology series was renewed for a second season it felt like if could maintain its atmosphere and quality, it would become the next big thing, but later seasons failed to reach the same highs as that initial outing.
The mind-bending dystopian Western series had all the characteristics of a style success story, with clever writing, engaging characters, and a multilayered complicated narrative the HBO series felt like it could be the next big thing when Season One was on the air. With The first season ended with an interconnected timeline twist that got viewers talking and television obsessive analyzing every last detail the show had to offer. However, as continued to plot became too convoluted and the series’ viewers declined with each subsequent season.
Based on the fantasy book series of the same name, had a similar origin to and benefitted from an inbuilt audience of the novel's readership. The series intially had a strong lead performance with Henry Cavil taking up the role of Geralt of Rivia and , the first season felt like a good dark fantasy alternative to fill the -sized hole that recently appeared in audiences’ lives. However, despite the popularity of it never managed to break into mainstream pop culture in the same way
did.
As a sequel series set 34 years after the original comic by Alan Moore, HBO’s set itself the difficult challenge of developing new characters within a world already beloved and established for decades. However, somehow, showrunner Damon Lindelof managed to do the impossible and create an engaging story that felt like it had something relevant to say about the state of the world. Had continued for further seasons it may have been able to build up support similar to
but with just nine episodes it ended before it really had time to take off.
As an Amazon Prime high fantasy series, contained all the magical worldbuilding that made such a success but unfortunately did not have the narrative heft to stand against its competitor. Despite being an expressive piece of fantasy spectacle, suffered from pacing issues and . Despite aspirational ambitions, has yet to leave its mark on the mainstream in the same
did.
In terms of fantasy franchises, felt like the only thing that could compete with the popularity of . Considering this, the prequel series felt like it had all the qualities of the next beloved TV show and with the backing of Amazon Prime Video even had the budget to match these lofty expectations. While Amazon revealed the show had their biggest debut ever (via ) it failed to connect with audiences as more than half of the viewers didn’t finish watching the first season of
.
Of course, the television series that faced the most pressure to become the next was its prequel spin-off . Set nearly 200 years before the events of and focused on members of House Targaryen, had lofty shoes to fill and delivered a strong first season with interesting new characters. While and received widespread acclaim, it has not yet reached the level of cultural significance seen by , and only time will tell if it ever reaches those grand ambitions.
