10 Shows That Tried (& Failed) to Be the New Game of Thrones

These failed. Over to you, Harry Potter.

10. Emerald City (2016 – 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38%

It didn’t need hindsight to show this was never going to work. The Wizard of Oz movies are children’s films set in a very different type of fantasy world.

The musical, Wicked, worked because it fed off of the same vibe. Emerald City couldn’t decide whether it was a gritty remake or a new show set in Oz. In the end, it was neither.

9. Marco Polo (2014 – 2016)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%

Based on the real-life adventures of the Italian explorer, Marco Polo showed initial promise. Set far enough back in history, it featured enough sex and intrigue to be easily compared with GoT. But it faced two major problems.

Charting the story of one individual rather than a complex collection of characters, it didn’t have the same depth as GoT. And it was expensive to produce. Netflix lost a reported $200 million on production and pulled it after two seasons. This was a shame as season 2 was good enough to launch a franchise.

8. True Detective ( 2014 – Present)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%

True Detective’s star shone brightly for one season. Essentially a police procedural with multiple protagonists, it seems strange to compare it to GoT. But season 1 was critically acclaimed and it looked like a show that had legs.

Whether it could have risen to the heights of GoT is questionable. It’s a decent cop show that explored topics like philosophy and masculinity but never really displayed the levels of complexity we saw in GoT. It could have been a top-ranked police show, but season 2 was too much of a letdown.

7. Black Sails (2014 – 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

A prequel to a children’s book, Black Sails managed to distance itself sufficiently from that genre. Predominantly based on the lives of pirates, prostitutes and local governors in Nassau, it had the political intrigue to match GoT along with the same gritty authenticity when it came to exploring the murkier sides of life.

The show contained strong characters, compelling storylines and plenty of intrigue. Maybe it just never had the chance to attract audiences in the same way as some other shows. But whatever the reason, it sailed under the radar.

6. Westworld ( 2016 – 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

A dystopian sci-fi-Western, Westworld had all the hallmarks of a top show during its first season. Set in a theme park where visitors could play out their Western fantasies against androids, it easily matched GoT for complexity and intrigue. And it had viewers talking long after the first season ended.

But whereas GoT built on a successful first season, Westworld quickly went down the route of becoming overly complicated.

5. The Witcher ( 2019 – Present)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

A decent fantasy show, but it’s centred around an individual rather than an issue and doesn’t have the scope to explore its world in the same way as GoT.

Geralt of Rivia is a strong character, but he lacks depth, and it's hard to get an audience fully on board with so much brooding. If you forget the source material, it's an okay show about a monster hunter, but it will never be great.

4. The Wheel of Time (2021 – Present)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The Wheel of Time hasn’t put up a challenge to GoT yet. But the second series was better than the first and it could still be a success.

Set in a fantasy world that provides scope to develop, the show follows Moiraine, a member of the As Sedai who takes five youngsters from a secluded village on a quest, believing one of them to be the reincarnation of the Dragon.

3. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 – Present)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

This franchise has all the credentials to be bigger than GoT. The show achieved the highest ever viewing figures for a debut episode on Prime but lost over half its audience before the season ended.

A prequel to The Hobbit, it’s set thousands of years before the film series and charts the history of Middle Earth.

2. House of the Dragon ( 2022 – Present)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

HotD wouldn’t exist without GoT. We’re yet to find out how successful it might be as the first season was pretty slow going. But with the stage now set for the path toward the Dance of the Dragons, there is potential for the series.

Where it might come unstuck is that it will be almost entirely focused on House Targaryen and may lack the same grounded reality that resonated with the GoT audience.

1. Watchmen (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Set in Tulsa 34 years after the comic book series of the same name, this superhero show followed a police unit looking to bring down white supremacist terror group, the Seventh Kavalry.

The casting, writing and acting were superb and the story was a seamless prequel that was relevant for its time while remaining true to its source material. Unfortunately, the series was pulled after 1 season of 9 episodes. Given the chance, it may well have built up a decent following as it had endless possibilities for character development and world expansion.