“The Magicians” is a fantasy TV series that arrived at just the right time. Though it originally aired from 2015 to 2020, spanning five seasons, it wasn’t universally loved. Critics generally liked the show—91% gave it positive reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes—but audience approval was a bit lower, at 74%. It built a dedicated following, but it wasn’t designed for mass appeal.
Many fantasy TV shows share similar qualities, but the massive popularity of series like Game of Thrones is relatively rare. Fans deeply invested in the fantasy genre often look for something with a truly original magical system. For these viewers, The Magicians is an exceptional show that deserves attention.
What Is The Magicians About?
The Syfy series The Magicians is adapted from Lev Grossman’s popular book trilogy. The show follows Quentin Coldwater, a graduate student who gets into Brakebills University, a school for magic. There, he learns that the magical world he’s always imagined is actually real – and full of peril.
Compared to Harry Potter, The Magicians is a more mature and often much grimmer story. It follows characters who are older and deals with complex and unsettling themes. A key part of the story involves Julia, Quentin’s friend, seeking magical training outside of Brakebills after being rejected. The series also tackles important social issues like mental health and LGBTQ+ identities.
The Magicians Is The Kind Of Show TV Is Missing
Television has changed a lot in recent years. Though the fantasy series The Magicians only ran for a decade, ending five years ago, the landscape for fantasy shows has already shifted dramatically. The era of flashy, somewhat cheesy fantasy shows like True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Merlin, Supernatural, and The Magicians is largely over.
Today, production companies are focusing on big-budget shows like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. These shows are made on a scale similar to movies, and each season can take years to complete. While these large-scale projects are often excellent, there aren’t many shows offering what shows like The Magicians used to.
Streaming May Have Killed Fantasy TV
Image via MovieStillsDB
The problem we discussed stems from the recent shift to streaming television. For the past ten years, most major shows have been created specifically for these platforms, representing significant financial investments with high return expectations. As a result, the older practice of releasing a season each year – which worked well for fun, over-the-top fantasy series – is becoming less common.
If you haven’t seen The Magicians yet, streaming services make it easy to catch up and watch it all at once. Hopefully, strong viewership numbers will encourage studios and streaming platforms to create more fantasy shows like it in the future.
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2025-12-13 22:11