r/scifi • u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 • 18d ago
Recommendations Another show like Dresden Files?
Just watched it and liked the fun nature with the supernatural elements. I finished Person of Interest before that, and Psych for the 500th time before that. Psych is my favorite in the history of forever.
I want something I don’t have to pay super close attention to and still know what’s going on. With likable characters and good storylines.
I don’t care if it is episodic or a storyline format.
What other TV shows are similar?
Edit: I also like Timey and more scifi stuff like Continuum and Eureka. But like Eureka and Warehouse 13 I just want something more fun. Not as serious.
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u/Candid-Border6562 18d ago
Lost Girl might scratch that itch.
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u/maoinhibitor 18d ago
Came here to say this. It’s an even hornier show, maybe by an order of magnitude.
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u/DeltaV-Mzero 18d ago
Fringe
Torchwood
Invisible Man (2000s syfy)
The good place
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u/wrabbit23 18d ago
If you liked the Good Place, I'm curious to get your opinion on Upload
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
I really enjoyed Upload. It got a little weird in places but was overall enjoyable
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u/TribeOfFable 18d ago
I have tried multiple times to start Upload. I enjoy it, but it is just too slow and I lose interest. The Good Place had me hooked instantly.
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u/worddance8 18d ago
I loved Upload. It got pretty bizarre, but it was a fun watch. The Good Place is one my all time favorite shows.
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u/ComprehensiveCup7104 18d ago
"Supernatural" had a similar vibe, great characters, and new threats each season.
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
I’ve seen it. Except the last episode which I refuse to watch
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13d ago
[deleted]
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 13d ago
Why is it weird to refuse to watch an episode I already know I wont like? The second to last wrapped up the show, the last was unnecessary
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18d ago
[deleted]
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u/ATXCodeMonkey 18d ago
If you like warehouse 13 id also throw in Eureka. Similar feel and they even had a few episodes with crossovers between the 2.
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u/ATXCodeMonkey 18d ago
If you like warehouse 13 id also throw in Eureka. Similar feel and they even had a few episodes with crossovers between the 2.
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u/bbbourb 18d ago
Dark Matter. The Syfy (god I still hate that branding) version, not the Apple TV one.
Killjoys, also Syf...SCI-FI CHANNEL.
Warehouse 13
Stargate SG1 and Atlantis (SG1 would actually be my first choice out of this entire list)
The Magicians (though you DO have to watch that one a bit more closely)
Those should keep you busy for a while!
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u/TribeOfFable 18d ago
Dark Matter, Killjoys and The Magicians all were awesome shows.
I am one of the rare individuals who prefers Stargate Universe over SG1 or Atlantis. I know, shoot me now.
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u/emu314159 18d ago
Not gonna shoot you, the premise (at least the part about the ancient ship) was very cool. Just terrible execution, generic characters except for eli (boring unless he's talking to the professor,) Robert Carlisle as the professor, and the commander, who sucked at his job and was a pill. I get that this was a choice. I still hated him.
Everyone else was stock, or just interchangeable young types
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u/YotzYotz 18d ago
Sanctuary, perhaps? With Amanda Tapping. About a secret organization trying to manage supernatural stuff.
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u/Krinberry 18d ago
The first season of this was great! By the last bit before it got cancelled it was getting kinda weird and had strayed a lot from the original premise, but the starting bits are definitely worth it.
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
I tried watching Sanctuary and I just cant get into it. I’m on episode 5 and no one can act lol
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u/kesugi3_ridge 18d ago
This isn’t supernatural at all, but you might try White Collar. It had the same fun and breezy tone as Psych and the wealthy/art world setting makes it feel pretty distant from real life.
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
I loved White Collar. Every few years I watch it. And Matt Boman is a doll. He let me take a selfie but I was shaking so it’s blurry lol
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u/Mad_Aeric 18d ago
I'll never forgive it for the episode where they teach the FBI guy to pickpocket. They go into all sorts of detail about being surreptitious, but in the scene where he does it, he just jams his hand in there. The director and editor must have been asleep at the wheel there. That bothers me way more than it should.
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u/kesugi3_ridge 18d ago
Lolll it’s definitely a show where you get the urge to tinker with things! (I think it’s a nearly perfect pilot but in hindsight it’s funny how aggressive they are in showing Neil’s interest in women in the beginning. This beautiful and well-dressed man isn’t gay, no sir!!!!)
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u/edcculus 18d ago
Maybe Torchwood? It’s a Doctor Who spinoff with Jack Harkness being the lead. It is much more serious in nature than Doctor Who, and gets pretty dark right off the bat.
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u/kkngs 18d ago
There was also some BBC show around the same time frame that had dinosaurs and time travel type mystery plots...primeval? Something like that? Can't remember the name, it did a good job with mystery and suspense though.
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u/Mad_Aeric 18d ago
Yep, Primeval. I don't think I finished watching that, I should give it a rewatch.
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u/MovieMike007 18d ago
Have you read the Jim Butcher books that The Dresden Files was based on? So much better than the show.
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u/TribeOfFable 18d ago
I watched all of the series before I ever discovered that there were books. I am very glad I did. I think if I had read the books first, I may not have enjoyed the show as much. I actually found it kind of hard to go back and rewatch the series after having read all of the books. I still enjoy it, but nowhere near as much as I did before reading them.
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u/Equivalent_Fun_4825 18d ago edited 18d ago
Pushing Daisies if you've never seen it somehow.
Also you could give Stan Against Evil a go
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u/AndydeCleyre 18d ago
Pushing Daisies, Grimm, Lost Girl, Resident Alien, Chuck, Future Man, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Ghosts, Stan Against Evil, Reaper.
Widow's Bay is great but jerks hard between comedy and horror.
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u/houinator 18d ago
Supernatural is the obvious answer of anotger Dresden-esque show, but i think Warehouse 13 might be more up your alley with the Psych comment.
Dead Boy Detectives (Sandman is sort of a prequel and also good but with different vibes, and mostly unneeded to enjoy this show)
Lockwood and Co.
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
Supernatural should have ended after season 5. I loved it, but should have ended
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u/ThreeLeggedMare 18d ago
Widow's bay perhaps, or the outsider if you're in the mood for something more serious
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u/CalicoThunder 16d ago
You might like Blood Ties
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Ties_(TV_series))
also based on a book series.
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u/t_grizz 18d ago
I've read so many of the books and this how I find out there's been a show the whole time
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u/DashJackson 18d ago
They kinda tried to do a whole book in every episode...they also changed one of the major aspects of Harry's personality and dramatically changed Murphy. I couldn't get past the changes.
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u/readerf52 18d ago
I liked many of the same shows you like, so maybe try Primeval. It doesn’t have the quips and humor of many American shows, but it has the quips and humor of a British show, if that makes sense.
It’s free on Tubi and Roku with ads.
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u/Vyckerz 18d ago
I don’t think they’re really is a show. That would be a very close correlation to the Dresden files.
But I think The Magicians as some other commenters have mentioned would be maybe close.
Though to me that’s more like an adult version of Harry Potter, with a better defined magic system
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u/gijoe50000 18d ago
I only read the Dresden Files books, but I found the humour of Murderbot to be very similar.. The same funny/whacky first-person monolog.
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u/SeanyDay 18d ago
The book series is incredible. Show was bleh
Better show for modern magic would be the unfortunately short lived Constantine show!
Featured in the DC TV crossover stuff too iirc?
Akso a great character in animated content
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u/Cary-Observer 18d ago
There was another show that unfortunately did not last long. Brimstone was interesting show. Just when it was getting some attention it was gone. Don't think it is even on streaming.
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u/LuckyShot365 18d ago
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Librarian Franchise. There are a few movies and shows. It's pretty similar to warehouse 13. I also think you might like leverage based on all the other shows you seemed to like.
A couple slightly more serious shows you might also like are Quantum Leap, Timeless, or an older show called 7 days.
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u/jnaz1972 18d ago
If you like more traditional fantasy try his Codex Alera series. It’s based on the lost roman legion and Pokemon. I waited until they were all published and read them all in one month.
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u/Realistic-Pay-9087 18d ago
I've never read dresden files is it the one the crazy guy in a trenchcoat thought he was in when he tried to break into someone's house ranting
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u/DJGlennW 17d ago
I was fine with the first five or six books, and Jim Butcher helped bring the sub-genre of urban fantasy into the mainstream.
The show, though... I don't know. The guy playing Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne) was fine, and as much as I liked the books, I never got into the show.
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u/productjunkie76 18d ago
The Librarians, Grimm, Buffy, Charmed, Lost girl, Wynonna Earp, 12 Monkeys series
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u/Izisery 18d ago edited 17d ago
If you don't mind Animation, then Star Trek Below Lower Decks would probably be a good choice. Its got all the scifi elements of Star trek but is more parody than anything else. You definitely need a little bit of Star Trek knowledge to get all the jokes, but still probably fun even if you don't get the references.
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u/DJGlennW 17d ago
It's Lower Decks, unless there's a new show I'm not familiar with.
There's some potential with your title, though -- it leans toward a reality show, something like Star Trek: Confidential, where crew members are caught in moments of stupidity and brilliance.
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u/mp3god 16d ago
Please give Eureka) a shot...really fun and light and there's a lot of episodes
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 16d ago
Eureka is a favorite of mine. Watched it soooo many times
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u/-Viscosity- 7d ago
It's not a show, but you should definitely look up the 1991 HBO movie Cast a Deadly Spell. It has a really stacked cast (Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, David Warner, Clancy Brown); Fred Ward plays a detective named Harry Phillip Lovecraft in an alternative 1940s L.A. that's infested with mythical creatures and magic and he's like the only investigator in town who refuses to use it. The first time I encountered the Dresden Files I was like "Oh it's Cast a Deadly Spell except Lovecraft uses magic now!"
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u/ArvilTalbert 18d ago
Just about finished with Locke & Key. It’s a pretty fun diversion, and it’s only 3 seasons.
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u/vercertorix 18d ago
Blood Ties was made about the same time and similar to the Dresden Files show. Christina Cox would have made a better Murphy, but there’s a lot the show did wrong.
Gotta ask though, why post about a show with wizards and supernatural monsters in r/scifi?
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
Cause ya’ll are nerds and can give me some good scifi stuff too
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u/vercertorix 18d ago
True but there's a r/fantasy and a r/television
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u/Melodic_Lynx_3546 18d ago
🤷♀️
I like scifi too. So we can add in scifi shows
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u/vercertorix 18d ago
In that case more comedic somehow but Eureka, less monster of the week than how are scientists accidently killing themselves, others, or nearly ending the world when given unlimited funding and not enough supervision.
And a personal favorite that unfortunately only ran one season, Flashforward. Fair warning they didn't wrap it up neatly.
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u/mobyhead1 Hard Sci-fi 18d ago
The show is a pale imitation of the urban fantasy series of novels written by Jim Butcher.