The explosive finale to Lucifer Season 5B not only left viewers with a hell of a cliffhanger, but it also carved out a binge-able void to be filled. While anticipation had been long built up for this last season, it was over in what felt like an instant for many Lucifans. While nothing can exactly match Lucifer, here are eight series that resemble its wit, ambiance and heart.
Grimm
Hellish comics and gritty fairy tales aren’t far apart at all. Featuring the familiar police procedural aspect of Lucifer, Grimm takes its fantasy notes in a somewhat different direction by bringing fairy tale creatures and cryptids into reality. Wolfmen are as real in this show as demons are in Lucifer. And fans will find comfort in the familiar tropes of a fantastical world slowly revealing itself to mortals and unwitting characters learning the truth one by one.
Grimm excels at balancing tension and action with humor and heart, creating multi-dimensional characters, shifting allegiances and a coming war that’s got high stakes. Though not Heaven versus Hell, it’s devious fairy tale creatures versus humanity — and a few choice allies. Grimm not only delivers on action and fantasy but relationships and humor, making it a great Lucifer substitute.
Supernatural
Just having its series finale in 2020 after an astounding fifteen-season run, Supernatural has plenty of content to keep viewers hooked. With a dynamic duo as the lead, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester are thrust into a chaotic world hunting the paranormal. For every mention of demons in Lucifer, expect to find a hundred more in Supernatural as the concepts of Heaven, Hell, angels, God and the Devil himself are explored. Supernatural weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and in-show lore. Snappy dialogue and deep character bonds balance out its demonic core, making it easy to get addicted.
Sleepy Hollow![]()
With a charismatic British male lead playing against a strong and quippy female detective, Sleepy Hollow has all the trappings of Lucifer delivered through the lens of a classic American story. Not to mention it has one of the best pilot episodes in television history, setting a sense of spooky excitement from its first minutes. As the seasons pass, some mysteries get solved while other questions arise. Though a mid-series character shakeup changes things a bit, there’s still a continuing thematic pull that casts a spell until the end.
What We Do in the Shadows![]()
For Lucifer fans drawn in by its irreverent humor in its approach to dark mythology, What We Do in the Shadows is a gift. Expanding on Taika Waititi’s 2014 film of the same name, the series focuses on four vampires (three traditional, one a day walking energy vampire) living in Staten Island. Though their origins are just as dark as Lucifer’s, these four heroes are equally capricious and hedonistic, approaching the (undead) life with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Though there have been no appearances by the Devil as of yet, Season 2 features an excellent Mark Hamill episode that’s worth its weight in blood.
Preacher![]()
Adapted from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s DC comic series of the same name, Preacher thrives on Biblical irreverence and dark humor. All the demons in Hell don’t hold a candle to criminal preacher Jesse Custer and Trainspotting-esque vampire Cassidy. Accidentally imbued with the power of Genesis (aka the word of God), Jesse and his hell-raising girlfriend Tulip embark on a quest against the powers of God that takes viewers into the bowels of Hell — and its bureaucracy. Not for the faint of heart, Preacher delivers a powerful punch and has one of the most satisfying series finales in years.
Fringe![]()
Lucifer is a procedural first, with its unsuspecting leads getting drawn into a fantasy world they never believed in. Fringe follows much of that same lead, taking a lot of cues from The X-Files but weaving in more fantasy elements than science fiction. Using fringe science, the core trio of FBI agent Olivia Dunham, reluctant civilian consultant Peter Bishop and Peter’s father, the mad scientist archetype Walter Bishop, investigate strange occurrences and unexplained phenomena. As the series goes on, more about the origins of these happenings are revealed. There’s delightful chemistry between the actors that makes Fringe an endearing watch.
Resident Alien![]()
Although having just one season under its belt, Resident Alien has already proved a delightfully watchable show. It stars Alan Tudyk as an alien unhappily stranded on Earth and posing as a small-town doctor while he searches for his lost weapon of annihilation. Resident Alien takes the charming reluctance of a duo investigating a murder, dark secrets and Lucifer‘s quippy humor and knocks it out of the park. A supernatural being hiding among Earth’s humans is a bottomless thematic well for humorous misunderstandings and close calls. Resident Alien also has a lot of welcome Native representation, pulling in cultural mythology that feels not only exciting but comforting.
Psych![]()
Though not of supernatural or demonic origins, Psych is a dark horse contender for filling that Lucifer-shaped gap. Also featuring outsider police consultants, Psych’s hero, Shawn Spencer, uses photographic memory disguised as psychic powers to solve crimes the regular police can’t. Throw in pop culture references and quick wit, and Shawn could probably go toe to toe with Lucifer himself.
The pairing of Shawn with his best friend Gus creates enjoyable chemistry, along with the slow-burn romance between Shawn and Detective Juliet O’Hara. And Psych isn’t fully without shades of the macabre either. It features episodes revolving around vampires, an homage to The Shining, a pitch-perfect replication of Twin Peaks and so much more.
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