10 Fantasy Shows That Are the Perfect Weekend Binge

Published Sep 11, 2026, 7:22 AM EDT

Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.

A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated.

Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point.

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For a fantasy fan, there are few better weekend plans than sitting down with an incredible show and binge-watching the whole thing in just a couple of sittings. This is a genre that, at its best, can be incredibly addictive, and over the years, many TV creatives have taken advantage of that and delivered some of the most irresistibly entertaining genre shows the small screen has ever seen.

From pure fantasy masterpieces that are still ongoing, such as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, to science fantasy hybrids that have already delivered their resounding finales, like Arcane, as long as these fantasy shows run for 20 hours or less in total, they're perfectly possible to binge over the course of a single delightful weekend.

10 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' (2026–Present)

Image via HBO

Of course, it's typically most enjoyable to do a weekend binge of a fantasy show that's already complete; but it's also perfectly valid to want to catch up with a currently ongoing fantasy gem, and there are currently few ongoing fantasy shows better than A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. It has hardly been a surprise just how prolific the Game of Thrones franchise has been following the success of the original HBO show, but even fans of the series may be surprised by how good this prequel spin-off is.

It's one of the best fantasy shows with under 40 episodes, and even though it doesn't yet have the benefit of a satisfying conclusion, the three-and-a-half hours of runtime of its surprisingly breezy first season should nevertheless make for an incredible Saturday night watch. Will it eventually become too long to binge in a single weekend? Perhaps. As such, now's about as great a time as ever for those who haven't watched it to dive right in.

9 'The Lost Room' (2006)

Image via SyFy

The 2000s were the true peak and Golden Age of science fiction television, at least in North America. As such, the genre proved to be immensely prolific throughout those 10 years, which makes it unsurprising that many great sci-fi series ended up slipping under the radar. Case in point: The Lost Room, one of those sci-fi miniseries that are true masterpieces.

One of Syfy's best miniseries ever, The Lost Room is science fantasy at its most technically dazzling, wonderfully written, and charmingly imaginative. A mere four-and-a-half hours are all it takes for this exceptional cult classic to deliver an awfully underappreciated mystery box thriller whose fast pacing, creative fantasy elements, and incredible cast all make it essential viewing for fans of the genre.

8 'Pushing Daisies' (2007–Present)

Image via ABC

Most of history's best fantasy shows are dramas, but that's not to demerit exceptional fantasy comedies like Pushing Daisies. One of those forgotten fantasy shows that are perfect from start to finish, this quirky cult classic was designed as a "forensic fairy tale," and even though it was canceled after only two short-lived seasons, a third is currently being developed and waiting to be properly greenlit.

The show had to put together a rushed and not-entirely-satisfying conclusion due to being canceled, so it may not be the most thoroughly fulfilling of weekend binges; but it's all nonetheless so clever, so gleefully idiosyncratic, and so irresistibly funny that it's easy to ignore any shortcomings. Pushing Daisies offers 15-and-a-half hours of pure whimsy and a surprisingly effective balance between heartfelt drama and laugh-out-loud comedy.

7 'Ghosts' (2019–2023)

Image via BBC

As if any more proof were needed of just how exceptional fantasy comedy TV shows can be, there's also the British sitcom Ghosts, one of the best fantasy shows to binge in one week. The haunted house genre has provided several of the scariest stories in the history of horror, but in this instance, what's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is that ghost stories can be absolutely hilarious too.

Though it ran for five seasons, those looking for a less daunting weekend binge shouldn't be scared of Ghosts: It's only about 15 hours long, which should provide a perfectly entertaining weekend. Combining its comedically brilliant writing with an ensemble that's nothing short of perfect, it's a clever (and quintessentially British) farce which all fans of ghost-focused fantasy should add to their watchlist.

6 'Over the Garden Wall' (2014)

Image via Cartoon Network

Unfortunately, there are many television lovers out there who tend to look down on animation as a lesser form of content, but not fantasy fans. How could they, when there exist shows like the masterful miniseries Over the Garden Wall? The Cartoon Network's first miniseries ever, this cult classic only keeps getting better with age.

Indeed, Over the Garden Wall is one of the best animated miniseries of all time, and proof that even the most coldhearted of adult fantasy fans can enjoy fantasy cartoons mostly aimed at children when they're done with this level of passion and artistry. Tonally and thematically masterful, this two-hour series is easier to watch in a single sitting than several of the best fantasy films of all time—and it can even be said to be superior to a lot of them.

Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell

Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.

🐺Stark

🦁Lannister

🐉Targaryen

🦌Baratheon

🌹Tyrell

FIND YOUR HOUSE →

01

Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.

ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?

AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.

AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.

AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.

AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.

AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.

AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.

AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign.

REVEAL MY HOUSE →

The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…

Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you.

🐺 House Stark

Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.

• You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
• Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult.
• The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
• You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.

🦁 House Lannister

You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.

• You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
• A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
• You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
• The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.

🐉 House Targaryen

You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.

• You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
• Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
• The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
• At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.

🦌 House Baratheon

You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.

• Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it.
• You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
• The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
• The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.

🌹 House Tyrell

You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.

• Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
• You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
• The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
• You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

5 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' (2024–2026)

Image via Netflix

With the rise of magical realism—blending fantastical elements into realistic, even mundane settings—Latin America became the epicenter of world literature between the 1960s and 1970s, producing masterpieces of the caliber of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez's undisputed magnum opus: One Hundred Years of Solitude, the greatest work of literature to grace the Spanish language since Don Quixote. Netflix's television adaptation may not be quite as groundbreaking, legendary, or downright flawless, but it sure is worth checking out.

No matter where they're from, what kinds of fantasy stories they tend to like, or even whether they're familiar with the source material or not even in the slightest, anyone and everyone who loves this genre should check out Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude. It's no surprise that one of the best magical realism books of all time inspired one of the best magical realism TV shows of all time, one that can be watched in just around 15 hours.

4 'Death Note' (2006–2007)

Image via Madhouse

Anime television started becoming more and more mainstream throughout the entire world between the late '90s and early 2000s. By the time Death Note came into the picture, the medium was already considerably popular throughout the globe, making the level of success that it achieved much less surprising, though not any less admirable. After all, it's one of the most perfect anime of the last 30 years that we're talking about here.

In just about 18 hours and 30 minutes, fans of animated television will be treated to this nearly-perfect adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga series. Full of gripping tension, high stakes, and psychologically overwhelming suspense, this is one of the most unforgettable cat-and-mouse thriller stories that the small screen has ever housed.

3 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' (2004)

Image via Channel 4

Part sci-fi, part fantasy, part horror, and 100% genius, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is one of the greatest parody shows in the history of television. Satirizing low-budget horror television from the '80s and poking fun at the pompous egos who created them, this delightfully hilarious British comedy is one of those classic sitcoms better than most modern shows.

But Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is very far from a one-trick pony, either comedically or as a multi-layered satire. It's full of exquisite twists and effective surprises, making it a perfectly varied and fun weekend activity to engage in over the course of just around three hours. Smart, star-studded, and genius in its meta aspects, it's a genre series that anyone looking for a good laugh should watch at least once.

2 'Gravity Falls' (2012–2016)

Image via Disney Channel

Further proof that fantasy cartoons aimed at children can absolutely work for grown-ups as well, Gravity Falls may very well be the biggest cult classic that the Disney Channel ever produced. It is, after all, one of those animated shows without any significant flaws, a delightfully funny and inventive series which anyone who loves genre storytelling should be perfectly capable of enjoying—regardless of their age.

Inspired by the likes of Twin Peaks and The X-Files, Gravity Falls is a series intimately tied to the history of the great fantasy, sci-fi, and horror shows from the past, making it essential viewing for anyone who loves these genres. Colorful and full of vibrant lore and world-building, it's a show that constantly amazes with the sheer depth of its writing, how compelling its characters are, and how fun each of its 20 hours of runtime is.

1 'Arcane' (2021–2024)

Image via Netflix

Who could have possibly predicted that a Netflix series based on League of Legends, of all video games, would end up becoming the single most universally acclaimed animated show of the 2020s so far? Arcane is just that good, bolstered by an incredible blend of steampunk sci-fi and fantasy elements that help deliver a hard-hitting story about class, family, and fate.

All in all, it's one of the most perfect fantasy shows of the last 20 years, the sort of animated series that has something in it for everyone. Jaw-dropping visuals, nail-biting action, fascinating lore and world-building, compelling character development, and a killer soundtrack are but a few of the reasons why anyone who watches Arcane inevitably ends up falling in love with it. With just a little over 12 hours on their hands and a weekend to sit down in pure enjoyment, anyone could see what all the hype is about.

Arcane

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