Play yes with a mix of genres, from fantasy to horror, from mystery to comedy, but Wednesday it is first and foremost a coming-of-age story. The eight-episode series follows the story of Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as a student at the boarding school called Nevermore Academy, a private school for outcasts attended by her own parents. From werewolves to vampires to mermaids, the school is home to many creepy characters and life-threatening mysteries that Wednesday — like the morbid, death-obsessed girl she is — tries to solve (thankfully, she gets to solve mysteries, including the crime she his father was accused years ago, as well as who is the Hyde, terrorizing the students of Nevermore).
The fictional Addams Family, which originated from a cartoon, is best known from 1960s television series and iconic 1990s films starring Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Raúl Juliá as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, Jimmy Workman as Pugsley, and Christina Ricci as Wednesday (Ricci appears in the series as a new character). If you have already finished watching the first season of Wednesday and you are already anxiously waiting for the second one, don’t panic! Fortunately, there are series very similar to the one created by Tim Burton, which you can watch or rewatch at any time.
Here are the 8 must-see series similar to Wednesday
1. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a series very similar to Wednesday
Based on the comic series of the same name by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who also created the series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a supernatural horror drama that follows Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), a half-witch, half-mortal who must accept her nature in order to defend her family and the world of light itself. Set in the fictional town of Greendale, Sabrina must be able to balance both as an ordinary teenager and as a child of her family’s legacy, the Church of Night. How Wednesday, this series is a coming-of-age story for women set in a darker and more mischievous context. Plus, just like Little Addams, Sabrina has a few tricks up her sleeve too, and there’s even a love triangle that just proves that the scariest girls continue to be the most alluring teenagers.
2. A series of unfortunate events
After the tragic deaths of their parents, the recently orphaned Baudelaire children – Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes) and Sunny (Presley Smith) – decide to uncover the truth behind their disappearance. Things get complicated when wanton con man Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) invades their lives to claim their massive fortune for himself. Based on the books by Lemony Snicket by Daniel Handler, the Netflix series A series of unfortunate events draws on the extravagant gothic fairytale style that Tim Burton loves so much and on which the much adored Wednesday.
3. Stranger Things it is definitely a must see if you loved Wednesday
Stranger Thingsanother hugely successful Netflix series, is dark come Wednesday, but more comical and light. The two series have some fascinating parallels: the first follows a group of kids battling monsters and demons, as well as struggling with the everyday obstacles of growing up. The main premise of Stranger Things is that despite being “normal” kids, the core team members never quite fit in with their peers. It’s evocative of how everyone at Nevermore Academy feels like an outsider. The characters of Stranger Thingslike Max for example , have characteristics similar to Wednesday: They are often depressed, uncommunicative, and flippant, and don’t seem to care what other people think of them.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Based on the 1992 film of the same name, the series follows Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a high school girl who is the latest in a long line of women known as vampire hunters. In an effort to escape her dark past and be a normal teenager, Buffy moves to Sunnydale, California with her mother, only to fall in love with a mysterious young man named Angel (David Boreanaz). However, Buffy’s new life begins to get complicated when Angel reveals that he’s a vampire, confirming that it might be harder than expected to escape your destiny. The series was nominated for 14 Emmys while on the air, but only managed to get one, related to Make Up.
Without Buffy the Vampire Slayer it’s hard to imagine a supernatural teen drama centered on a cheeky young heroine who fights monsters and so it’s hard to imagine even Wednesday. The lead vampire hunter, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, finds humanity amidst the chaos as the series focuses on a high school girl just trying to live a normal school life. Thanks to the humorous character dynamics and intelligent writing, Buffy is a genre series that was ahead of its time.
5. Riverdale
Also adapted from Archie Comics by Aguirre-Sacasa, Riverdale is a young-adult series that follows the teenage inhabitants of the city of the same name; we meet the inhabitants after one of them is found dead. The series is much darker than classic comics, borrowing more themes and its tone from the line of books.”After Dark“. Although his characters are in high school at the beginning of the series, the problems they face are very adult, and mature very quickly (gangs, prison, cults, etc.) – later they also collide with the supernatural. The series is occasionally narrated by Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), and also stars KJ Apa as the infamous Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge. Filled with drama, scandal, and horrific twists and turns, this series is unsettling and strange as well as self-aware, not unlike the dark teenage angst of Wednesday.
6. Lovecraft country it has atmospheres similar to those of Wednesday
Based on the novel by Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country follows veteran Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his friend Leti (Jurnee Smollett), and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip across 1950s America in search of their missing father. The series begins as a journey across America, but evolves into something that spans space and time. In addition to Jim Crow America and the racist white people they encounter, there are also supernatural creatures. The characters struggle to survive and overcome whatever evil they encounter, while dealing with intense generational trauma throughout the process.
Lovecraft country was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, taking home two awards (including one for Michael K. Williams’ performance as Atticus’ father). It was originally intended to be a series with more than one season, but despite critical acclaim and awards, HBO canceled the series after the first season. So while the characters and themes may be more mature than the average fan of Wednesdayit is certainly a series to be seen in one go, which has very similar atmospheres to those present in Tim Burton’s show.
7. The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy is a superhero series set in a world where 43 women around the world give birth at exactly the same time, despite having shown no signs of pregnancy before. Seven of the children are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), an eccentric billionaire who raises children who exhibit unique supernatural abilities in order to create a team of superheroes. The series begins in the present day when all the siblings are distant from each other, but are brought together by the news that their adoptive father has passed away. Of course, what follows is anything but a simple family reunion or story about grief, as one of the brothers arrives with news of an impending apocalypse – the brothers must come together to stop it. However, it’s not that simple – and they learn it while trying to save the world – so much so that they end up changing certain orders in the fabric of space-time with catastrophic knock-on effects. How Wednesday, this series deals with the concepts of chosen family and outsiders that fans of the series will surely appreciate. Until now The Umbrella Academy was nominated for six Emmys.
8. Legacies has several similarities with Wednesday
If you are looking for another series that takes place in a supernatural school, we suggest you Legacies. The spin-off of the Vampire Diaries And The Originals follows half-vampire, half-werewolf, half-witch Hope Mikaelson who enrolls at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, a boarding school for bestial teenagers. She lacks much of the humor and style of Wednesday – Tim Burton definitely didn’t direct any of this – but if you love the world, aesthetics and storylines of the original series from which Legacies it’s a treat, you can’t not take a look.