My Favorite Speculative Fiction Shows

 I love speculative fiction. Fantasy is, hands down, my favorite genre, and sci-fi is pretty great, too. In fact, up until 2020, I pretty much only read fantasy and sci-fi, but now I'm branching out! So, here are a few of favorite speculative fiction [but mostly fantasy] shows.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Summary: In ever generation, there is a chosen one known as the Slayer. It is her job to defend the world from the demons, vampires and the other forces of darkness. This time, it's Buffy Summers. With the help of her friends, she must take on the task of saving the world.

BTVS is such an iconic show. I love all the vampire lore, which is what the show is mostly about, but there are also storylines with witches, werewolves, demons, etc. There are always so many different, unique plots and storylines. I also really like the characters. Buffy and Giles are probably my favorites, but I love all of them. For the most parts, I really like the romance [especially Tillow and Woz]. While the sixth and seventh seasons are a little weaker, it's a very good show, in general. 

Also, I love that Buffy's a very girly girl, while still being the vampire slayer. While I really love tomboy protagonists, I'm happy to see some girlier girls take the center stage as well.

Also, this show just balances comedy and drama so well. Like, there are so many scenes and quotes that are so funny, and then it hits you with the super intense tearjerker scenes. 

Doctor Who

Summary: Doctor Who centers around an alien [the Doctor] and their companion, as they travel through space and time in the TARDIS.

Doctor Who! Ah, I love it. It's a sci-fi time travel show that's been going on since the '60s [which means you have a lot of seasons to watch], and I love how it alternates between going back in time [and meeting famous historical figures like Shakespeare and Van Gogh], and traveling to the future [and meeting things like cat people aliens]. It's just so fun and whimsical---almost like a fairytale, but it can be soooo heartbreaking. Also, all the characters are so great. I've loved all of the different versions of the Doctor so far, and pretty much all of the companions [Rose, Martha, Jack, Donna, Amy, Rory, etc]. Basically, if you want to be whisked out of your life and into a fantasy world, you'll love Doctor Who.

The Librarians

Summary: A group of incredibly intelligent individuals are recruited by a magical library to find and save mysterious, magical artifacts.

I don't hear people talking about this one a lot, which is strange, because I think it's very good. It's a TNT show based on a series of TV movies. It's sort of similar to Doctor Who----in terms of the focus on using  knowledge to solve problems, as opposed to, say, physical strength (though Eve is quite strong, as is Stone), and the whole whimsical vibe of the show. I love all of the characters! They're all so unique and interesting and fun. I also really like the stories. The season-long story arc is almost always great, and the one-episode stories are awesome, too (like the fairytale episode! Or the one with the apple of discord). Also, I just love the whole vibe of this show. The creators of Leverage also worked on this show, so, if you liked Leverage, you might like this one.

Warehouse 13

Warehouse 13 has a similar premise to The Librarians, where dangerous artifacts are stored away. It's just in a warehouse instead of a library. This show is also more tech-y and sci-fi-y than The Librarians. It's slightly less whimsical. I just really, really like this show. All the characters are great [though Claudia is probably my favorite], the stories are usually great, and the whole ''lore'' of the warehouse is really fascinating [I've lost hours on Wikipedia pages reading about the different artifacts]. Also, the banter and dynamics between the characters are great. And it's just so funny.

Lucifer

Maze just looks so done here, and I love it.

Summary: Lucifer Morningstar decides he's had enough of being the dutiful servant of Hell and decides to spend some time on Earth. While there, he ends up assisting the police in solving crimes.

Who'd have thought that a crime show about the devil would be so interesting? The first two seasons are fun and the third one is kind of meh, but it starts getting really, really good once Netflix took over running the show. Seasons four and five are marvelous [and season six is good, but not as good]. The characters, first of all, are really great. I think all of them are really interesting and well-developed, though Maze and Ella are my favorites. I do like crime shows, so the procedural setting is interesting to me, but the fantasy elements are the best. It also raises a lot of really interesting questions about redemption. I just think it's a really good show.

Firefly

Summary: Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel to the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Firefly is one of those shows that I recommend to almost everyone who likes sci-fi and the found family trope, because it is a very good show. I love pretty much all of the main characters, and I think that the worldbuilding is really cool, and the ongoing plot is interesting [though, fair warning, there is only one season with fourteen episodes. Also, it is a Joss Whedon show, and there are lots of allegations against him from his employees and there are some problematic things in his shows, so if you don't want to watch them because of him, I completely understand]. Also, unrelated, but a lot of the outfits that Inara wears [and a few of Kaylee's and River's] are really cute.

Stranger Things

Summary: When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends must confront terrifying supernatural forces in order to get him back.

Yes, yes, I am aware that by saying this I am revealing that I am the most basic person in the world [oh, who are we kidding? This entire frickin' list is basic], but I do genuinely think it's a good show! The suspense and vaguely horror-ish vibe is great, the supernatural elements are also great, the majority of the characters are awesome and I'm always really interested in what's going on with each of them, and a lot of them have really great chemistry [I mean, Steve has the best platonic friendships of all time. He has this brotherly relationship with Dustin, and his friendship with Robin is equally great], and all of the actors are fantastic [they all bring their A-game each time, and I can't name a single one as 'bad']. All in all, it's a really good show, and I highly recommend it. 

Julie and the Phantoms

Summary: Julie, a teenage girl who recently lost her mother, accidentally brings back a band of ghosts from the dead. She joins their band, as they try to figure out how they got brought back and what they must accomplish before ascending.

Julie and the Phantoms is just a really fun and cute show! Again, the acting is really good, and the music is also really great [I love most of the songs, but Now or Never and Finally Free are probably my favorites]. The characters are all really interesting and likable, and the idea is really unique. Like, it's just not something I think I've seen before. 

Also, this show can just be so funny sometimes. And it's so quotable, too. 

So, have you seen any of these? Do you want to? What are your favorite speculative fiction shows?