Sarah’s Top 10 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror TV Shows of 2020

If ever there was a year that people needed an escape, it’s 2020. Fortunately, we can always count on genre TV to offer worlds of adventure, magic, and monsters to immerse ourselves in when we need a break from reality.

From the return of a whiskey-soaked and reckless demon hunter to time-traveling misfits to a family of adventure-seeking ducks, there’s no shortage of exciting Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror gems to choose from this year. 

The best of them are sometimes weird (like REALLY weird), often poignant, and always creative. Some have things to say about society, while others explore more intimate themes about the human experience.

Above all, they are compelling stories that use the strange and surreal to tell emotional tales about characters we love (or love to hate), empathize with, and sometimes even aspire to be.

Here, in no particular order, are my top 10 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror TV shows of 2020 (a warning: some mild spoilers ahead).

1. Wynonna Earp (Syfy)

After over a year between seasons, Wynonna Earp returned with the first half of its fourth season and it did not disappoint. In fact, so far season four is its best yet.

According to the showrunner, Emily Andras, the show’s extended hiatus gave her a chance to breathe and reflect on what fans love most about the show, and the season is all the better for it.

In part, season four is a love letter to fans. But that’s not surprising. You won’t find any writer’s room more in touch or engaged with its fans than that of Wynonna Earp.

Whether it’s the return of fan favorites, pop culture references that make the show’s largely queer fanbase squeal, more scenes between Nicole and Wynonna, or lots and lots of WayHaught, there is plenty for long-time fans to cheer.

That unique bond between the fans and the crew is a major ingredient in the secret sauce that makes Wynonna Earp lightning in a bottle but, of course, it’s more than expert fan service that makes season four as good as it is.

Every aspect of the show reaches new levels of excellence in the fourth season. The cast, particularly Kat Barrell, all turn in outstanding performances; Andrea Higgins’s music choices are on point; the set, costume, and direction all level up creatively; and of course, the writers make clear they still aren’t afraid to take risks and go big.

Much like their titular character, the cast and crew of Wynonna Earp are always at their best when they are the underdogs. It’s that heart and spirit that has always made Wynonna Earp special and continues to make it a show worth fighting for.

2. Legends of Tomorrow (CW)

The big climactic battle of Legends of Tomorrow Season 5 Episode 15, “The Swan Song,” sees the team take on history’s worst villains, armed with shake weights, pogo sticks, and a Flowbee, all set to the sweet sounds of an animatronic Sisqo singing, “The Thong Song.”

It is delightful and thrilling, and it is absolutely on-brand for this team of lovable misfits. 

The joyful irreverence that has been a hallmark of the show for the last three seasons continues to be the show’s sweet spot in its fifth season as it finds new playful ways to make fun of pop culture and themselves. 

More than that though, Legends of Tomorrow leads with its heart and ultimately that’s why we love it so much. Woven into sublime farcical moments like Shakespeare’s version of the Justice League, beer pong with gods, and trips to Mr. Parker’s Cul de Sac, are sweet, sentimental stories about family and love.

We also can’t talk about season five of Legends of Tomorrow without talking about Tala Ashe and her marvelous performance. She plays two fully realized versions of the same character and manages to make us fall in love with both. It is one of my favorite performances of the year.

Legends of Tomorrow continues to be a welcome burst of color and fun in the CW Arrowverse and the perfect antidote to a stressful day or hard year.

3. Harley Quinn (HBO Max)

If you aren’t watching Harley Quinn you definitely should be, but just make sure the kids are out of the room first.

Harley Quinn is first and foremost a good time. Full of capricious screwball energy and brash unapologetic humor, one thing you won’t be while watching Harley Quinn is bored.

The series lovingly makes fun of the DC universe with lots of jokes for long-time comic fans but you don’t need to know anything about comics to find yourself cackling. The humor is equal parts sharp wit and impertinent satire, with a healthy amount of over-the-top cartoon violence mixed in.

In addition to the writing, a big reason the show is so funny is the many fantastic voice actors they have across the board. Actors like Alan Tudyk and Christopher Meloni, who play Clayface/Joker and Jim Gordon respectively, can trigger fits of giggling with even the most unassuming line.

Plus, there’s nothing more delightful more than Ivy’s (Lake Bell) special panache for cussing.

But the thing about Harley Quinn is that at the center of its madcap hijinks that’s jam-packed with jokes is a well-written story about the relationship between Harley and Ivy. 

As funny and flippant as the show can be, it always takes that story and those two characters seriously. That’s what makes it all work so well. You come for the chaos and inappropriate humor, but you stay because you care what happens to Harley, Ivy, and the rest of the gang.

4. Lovecraft Country (HBO)

Lovecraft Country isn’t an easy show to watch. The episodes can be dense, each packed with historical references and symbolism that are impossible to unpack in an hour. It’s worth the effort, though, because it’s a show that stays with and challenges you in ways few other shows do.

You can go back to episodes and see something new every time or learn about a visual reference that makes you see a scene in a whole new light. In the tradition of so many great horror stories, Lovecraft Country uses magic and monsters to say something about society and level often biting critiques about racism, privilege, gender, and power. 

Watching Lovecraft Country isn’t meant to be a passive activity and the reward for your efforts is a riveting story that, like its source material, subverts the problematic tropes of the genre of horror it takes its name from. 

Importantly, Lovecraft Country also centers the experience of Black characters, and especially Black women, in a genre that still predominately centers white characters and white stories. 

Watching the women of Lovecraft Country is especially satisfying. They are all vibrant, flawed, layered characters that make their presence felt in every scene. And the fact that there are so many of them means they all just get to be who they are without the burden of having to be everything to everyone. 

There was a lot of anticipation and expectations leading up to Lovecraft Country’s premiere. Luckily, the cast and crew were all more than up to the challenge.

5. Ducktales (Disney XD)

If you don’t have kids, this one might have flown under your radar. Finishing up its third and final season, DuckTales is that rare example of a reboot that is not just as good as the original, but leaps and bounds better. 

The original DuckTales is a classic and a treasured childhood memory for a lot of Gen Xers and older Millennials (myself included). It’s wonderful children’s programming but pretty standard cartoon fare for the time, albeit with an amazing theme song.

The 2017 reboot still has the same great theme song, but it has a lot more too. It’s funny and exciting and way more compelling than it has any right to be.

One of the best examples of how funny the show can be and how it improved on the original is the updated version of the maniacally single-minded but hapless villain Flintheart Glomgold. No character on the show makes me laugh as much or as hard as Flintheart, sometimes despite myself. 

But what really sets the reboot apart from the original is the series’ world-building and thoughtful character development.

Whether it’s the touching return of Huey, Dewy, and Louie’s mom, Della Duck, or the wonderful friendship between Webby and Lena, we are just as invested in the emotional journey of these cartoon ducks as we are in their grand adventures and supernatural mishaps.

Don’t sleep on DuckTales, it’s worth your time no matter how old you are.

6. Lucifer (Netflix)

Lucifer on Fox was a good show, Lucifer on Netflix is a great show. It might not have seemed like it at the time but getting canceled by Fox ended up being the best thing that ever happened to Lucifer Morningstar, at least creatively.

The first three seasons of Lucifer were fun, sexy, and well written. A good time all around.

But when it moved to Netflix for its fourth season it really hit its creative stride. Supporting characters were given new depths, the mythology expanded, and the show found a new comedic dexterity that made it even more fun to watch. 

This spring we got the first half of season five, and it is every bit as good as season four. 

There is another great arc for Maze, dear old dad (aka God) makes an appearance, and oh yeah, Chloe and Lucifer finally officially get together. It is an eventful season, to say the least.  

The best parts of the fifth season’s first half, though, are fun concept episodes like the black and white noir flashback or the murder on the set of a show that is basically a Lucifer parody.

Netflix gave Lucifer new life in multiple ways when it picked it up from Fox, and thank dear old dad for us that they did. 

7. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)

There are few shows that lifted my spirit or brought me more joy this year than She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Dropping its final season in the spring, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’s fifth season is the culmination of a rich, sophisticated story four seasons in the making.

With expansive world-building and nuanced character arcs that stretched over seasons, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is an epic adventure that I would put up against any high concept, prestige fantasy show from any network. 

Every season builds on the one that came before, giving viewers increasingly captivating stories and characters. Each season is better than the last and season 5 is hands down its best.

It makes you feel big important feelings about love and forgiveness. It’s a sweeping tale of idealism and redemption and the healing power of all those things.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is also a beautiful example of queer representation made all the more beautiful because it’s a show that families can watch with their kids.

There are multiple queer characters on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, each one unique and multi-faceted, which on its own is still quite remarkable and exciting. But more than that, it’s not a thing that has to get explained or pointed out. People just are who they are and love who they love. Pretty simple, but still a really big deal.

8. Doom Patrol (HBO Max)

From its fourth-wall-breaking narration in its first episode, it is obvious Doom Patrol is not your standard TV superhero show. No, Doom Patrol is an audacious, gloriously bizarre trip unlike just about anything else on TV.

Whether it’s meeting a new recurring character who is actually a genderqueer sentient street named Danny or a rocket powered by a goat head and fueled by apples, you’re going to ask yourself at least once during every episode, “what even is this show?” 

The answer is always the same: brilliant TV.

For all its quirks though, Doom Patrol is a deeply emotional series. At its core, it is a character study that happens to take place in a universe where a donkey can be a doorway to another dimension and collective orgasms can be triggered by a man with muscle-flexing superpowers.

In Season 2, the same season that has Danny the street become Danny the brick, and then Danny the tire and an infestation of sex phantoms, the series explores parenthood as some characters try to make amends for their parenting mistakes and other work to overcome the scars left by theirs. 

In between the shenanigans, characters work to break free of a past that’s trapped them. Just as often as it revels in the absurd, Doom Patrol leans into heartbreaking and moving moments that remind us how human and damaged this group of oddballs really are. The circumstances of their lives may be ludicrous, but the characters themselves never are.

9. Agents of Shield (ABC)

There are few things more satisfying than when a long-running show sticks the landing, and that’s exactly what Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D did in its seventh season. 

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is one of the first of a flurry of high profile superhero shows ushered to the small screen in the wake of the success of Marvel’s first Avengers movie. It seems fitting to say goodbye to Coulson and his team as the Marvel cinematic universe transition into its next incarnation. 

And what a lovely good by it is. All the characters get the happy endings they deserve after everything they’ve been through together in a season that focuses on the themes we’ve come to cherish about the show. These include themes like found family, tenacity in the face of impossible odds, and heroism.

The creators also weren’t afraid to shake things up. The season veers a bit from its normal format to become a time-hopping adventure through the past. Along the way, they pay tribute to movies and pop culture of each of the decades they land in, making it an exceptionally imaginative and fun season as well.

It’s always hard to say goodbye to characters we’ve loved for years, but when the goodbye is done right it’s a little easier. Plus this is Marvel, after all, so maybe we’ll see some of our favorites pop up somewhere else sometime soon.

10. Star Trek Discovery (CBS & CBS All Access) 

Including Star Trek Discovery on my personal list of best Sci-Fi shows is a bit of a cheat because even though the show is in its third season on CBS All Access, I am still in the middle of season 1 which is currently airing on CBS as part of its Fall line up. 

Normally, “new to me” wouldn’t be enough of a reason to put something on an end of the year like this but as with so many things, this year is different.

One of the few positives to come out of 2020’s production delays is that networks, scrambling for content, started airing shows previously not available in the US or only available through streaming services. It’s given folks like me who can’t subscribe to all one million and one streaming services a chance to check out shows we otherwise might not have.

Star Trek Discovery isn’t the only show I’ve started watching thanks to new runs on network TV, but it is my favorite. 

Micheal’s journey from rising Starfleet officer to mutineer to a furloughed prisoner and science officer is intriguing and unique among the long list of Star Trek series. Add to that a strong supporting cast, creative world-building, and characters that are more than they seem, and you have a pretty darn good entry in the Star Trek franchise. 

 

What are your favorite Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror series of 2020? Let us know in the comments.

 Follow us on Twitter and on  Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

20 Terrific TV Sibling Relationships