7 underrated fantasy shows you need to watch

5. Beastmaster

Before there were high-budget adult fantasy and science fiction shows competing for dominance, there was the high camp of the ’90s and early 2000s. Looking back, it can almost be hard to watch shows from that era without wincing and thinking about how far things have come.

But that’s not to say that all the camp-action fantasies of that generation were duds. Xena: Warrior Princess was undoubtedly the queen of the genre at the time…but there’s no rule saying that there could be only one. Another show rose to prominence during that time, and while it never had quite the reach of Xena or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, it’s just as good (or better, in Hercules’ case).

The show I’m referring to is Beastmaster, a quest saga about a warrior named Dar who can communicate with animals. Dar travels the land with his tiger, eagle, two ferrets named Kodo and Podo, and a human friend named Tau, generally righting wrongs and foiling the plans of the evil (and always entertaining) King Zad.

If all that sounds a bit too ridiculous, hang in there. While there’s no denying that Beastmaster is pretty dated at this point, it still holds up surprisingly well once you get used to the style of the show. The writing has a certain charm to it that only gets more infectious the more time you spend with it. Many of the episodes feature magic and creatures that are strange and intriguing, and the lead actors totally sell not only the camp but the heavier emotional moments as well.

And of course there are also those ferrets, who come to the rescue on more than one occasion.

All three seasons (as well as the two old movies on which the show was based) can be streamed on Amazon.