TV Shows Like Once Upon a Time
If you like Once Upon a Time, here are 10 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
ABC · Drama · Once Upon a Time is ended
Once Upon a Time works because it takes the stories everyone already knows and asks what happens when those characters are stripped of their endings. The fairytale framework is familiar, but the show keeps pulling the rug out, layering curses on top of curses and revealing that almost every character has a secret history that complicates the one you thought you knew. It is soapy and serialized in a way that rewards loyalty, and the Maine-meets-magic setting gives it a grounded anchor that keeps the more outlandish fantasy elements from floating away entirely.
The best shows like Once Upon a Time
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Once Upon a Time fans who love a mythology that feels ancient and lived-in will find a lot to appreciate here. The Rings of Power builds out a world where every character carries the burden of a long history, and the tension between peaceful appearances and a creeping, returning darkness mirrors Storybrooke's own uneasy surface. The scale is much larger, but the question underneath is the same: how do you stop evil when most people refuse to see it coming?
Stream on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
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2. Elena of Avalor
Elena of Avalor has the same princess-stepping-into-her-power arc that runs through so many Once Upon a Time storylines, but here it gets to breathe across a full series. The magic feels genuine rather than decorative, and Elena's struggle to be good and capable at the same time, rather than just one or the other, gives the show more substance than its animated format might suggest.
Stream on Disney Plus, Hulu, YouTube TV
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3. The Ghost and Molly McGee
The central premise, a curse that binds two very different characters together against their will until they slowly come to care for each other, is essentially Once Upon a Time's emotional engine in miniature. It is lighter and funnier, but the warmth is real, and the show takes its ghost-world mythology seriously enough that it never feels throwaway. A good watch for fans who loved the unlikely alliances Storybrooke kept producing.
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4. The Worst Witch
The Worst Witch follows a young girl navigating a world of magic she has not quite mastered, surrounded by people with more power and longer histories than she has. That underdog-in-an-enchanted-institution setup will feel familiar to Once Upon a Time fans, who watched ordinary people repeatedly hold their own against far more powerful magical forces. The show has genuine charm and does not talk down to its audience, young or otherwise.
Stream on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
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5. Charmed
Of all the shows on this list, Charmed (2018) sits closest to Once Upon a Time in tone and structure. Three sisters suddenly discovering they have enormous magical power, a world of supernatural threats layered over everyday life, and a serialized mythology that deepens as the seasons go on, it hits most of the same beats. Fans who liked watching ordinary women become something more while still dealing with recognizably human problems will be comfortable here almost immediately.
Stream on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
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More on shows like Once Upon a Time
Fans of the show tend to want a few specific things from whatever they watch next: a world with its own internal mythology, characters who carry the weight of a long history, and some kind of magic system that has real consequences. They also tend to have a soft spot for stories where good and evil are not quite as simple as they first appear, and where the emotional core is built around family, belonging, and identity. A show that delivers spectacle without any of that emotional texture tends to feel hollow to this audience.
The recommendations here cover a wide range of tones and age groups but all share that basic DNA. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the most ambitious in terms of scope and world-building, while Charmed (2018) is the closest in format and feel to Once Upon a Time itself. Elena of Avalor and The Worst Witch skew younger but both center on young women navigating magic and responsibility, themes that run through the source show constantly. The Ghost and Molly McGee is the lightest entry on the list, but its central curse-as-unexpected-bond premise will feel immediately recognizable to anyone who spent time in Storybrooke.
None of these shows are perfect matches in every dimension, but each one scratches a specific itch. Fans who want grand mythology should head toward Middle-earth. Fans who want witches with complicated lives and messy relationships should go straight to Charmed. And fans who just want to feel the warmth of a show that genuinely believes in magic should try any of the remaining three.
More shows like Once Upon a Time
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like Once Upon a Time?
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the most popular show similar to Once Upon a Time in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like Once Upon a Time still on the air?
- Of the 10 shows similar to Once Upon a Time listed here, 1 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like Once Upon a Time?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.