Have any of these 15 shows become “the next Game of Thrones”?
By WiC Staff
5. Shadow and Bone
Hollywood has long adapted books into movies, and since the success of Game of Thrones, there’s been a boom in longform TV adaptations as well, particularly when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi books. Shadow and Bone is set in author Leigh Bardugo’s “Grishaverse,” a world filled with magic, betrayal, and mythic creatures that often draws inspiration from czarist Russia. It was one of Netflix’s big fantasy shows of 2021, and the first season was a respectably large hit with a solid budget and great cast. It’s kind of unique in that it’s not just a straight adaptation of one of Bardugo’s series, but rather combines elements from her main Shadow and Bone trilogy with her Six of Crows duology.
The result might be one of those very rare occasions where the show is actually better than the novels, especially where the original trilogy is concerned. The show hops between characters much more than the novels, weaving multiple plot threads together to make a more compelling whole. Game of Thrones didn’t start this trend, but it’s hard not to think of that show when watching the interlocking narratives of Shadow and Bone.
Shadow and Bone shoots for a younger audience than Game of Thrones. While it can get dark at times, it’s very accessible for teen audiences. Overall, the series established itself quite well in its first season. Considering that many of the best parts of the series still lie ahead and Netflix is hard at work on season 2, it may have a good run ahead of it. – Daniel
6. Outlander
Like Shadow and Bone, Outlander is as much a romance show as it is a fantasy story. But that’s about where the similarities end. Unlike Netflix’s fantasy hit, Outlander is geared heavily toward adults; it has content that is every bit as graphic as anything on Game of Thrones, ranging from battles to sex to violent assault. It’s a hugely successful genre series with a very dedicated fanbase.
Unlike a lot of other shows on this list, Outlander began when Game of Thrones was in the middle of its run and could be described as more of a contemporary than a successor. Still, its rise is very closely tied to HBO’s series. The first season of Outlander began airing on Starz in August 2014, debuting in the same Sunday that the fourth season of Thrones had vacated just a month and a half before. Since this was back in the days when we were all still watching these shows live on linear television, many premium cable subscriptions included both Starz and HBO. It was a time when few other genre shows of this size were on air, which allowed Outlander to pick up a lot of Thrones fans who didn’t know what to watch between seasons.
When Outlander returned for the second half of its first first season the following April, it was opposite Game of Thrones season 5. As such, it started airing on Saturdays, almost certainly so that it would not be directly competing with Thrones. It remained in that timeslot until its third season, when it started releasing in the fall and could reclaim Sunday nights.
Only in 2020, when Thrones was no longer on the air, did Outlander return to its spring timeslot. Of all the shows on this list, Outlander was the only one that was actually a direct competitor for Thrones when it was on. It’s still going strong today.
As with basically every other show we’ve discussed so far, Outlander is also based on a book series; this one is by Diana Gabaldon, who happens to be a close friend of George R.R. Martin’s. Outlander already had an enormous fanbase when the show was picked up by Starz and it’s only grown since then. It’s currently on its sixth season, and will become the longest running show in Starz history when it premieres its seventh next year. – Daniel