10 Best TV Shows and Movies like Wednesday
Jeff
Jeff, TV analyst for WatchTVAbroad hails from Pennsylvania, United States and after growing up disinterested in sport found his sport calling in his late teenage years. Now he loves nothing more than streaming boxing, MMA and other combat sports.
There were three actresses that played Wednesday Addams over the last 60 years, Lisa Loring, Christina Ricci, and now, with Wednesday out, Jenna Ortega.
Each of them has brought her own unique feel to Wednesday that has been inspiring the fans of the Addams Family for more than half a century.
The Guardian commented on it, saying that “This Netflix series transports Wednesday Addams into a whole new fantasy realm of her own. It’s creepy, charming and has a lead who more than matches Christina Ricci.”
Of course, Wednesday being the most recent, and featuring the oldest and most mature of three Wednesdays, which enrolled into the Nevermore Academy, the show only has one season out as of yet, so it is understandable if you are left craving for more once you see these first eight episodes.
Fortunately, there are many shows and films that are similar enough to Wednesday to help you pass the time, I’ve put together a list of the following ten.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018 – 2020)
The first on our list is a show called Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Titular character, Sabrina, is a half-witch, half-mortal, and as such, she struggles with her dual nature, while at the same time, she must also protect her friends and family from evil forces that would do them harm.
The half-witch half-human teenage girl attends the Academy of Unseen Arts, and the show is likely the closest thing you could get to Wednesday.
The similarities between the two shows continue beyond the magical boarding school and macabre production value of the pair. Both characters are trying to solve murder mysteries, clashing with authority figures, classmates, and others.
Wednesday fans will likely appreciate scary stories, supernatural themes, magical powers, and other aspects of the show while waiting for the next Wednesday season to drop.
The show stars Kiernan Shipka, Gavin Leatherwood, Ross Lynch, Tati Gabrielle, Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, and others.
Fate: The Winx Saga (2021 – 2022)
Moving on, we have Fate: The Winx Saga. This is another TV series that features a magical boarding school and a struggling young woman who is trying to find a way to control her potentially dangerous powers.
The series focuses on Bloom, a fairy who attends the supernatural school and befriends other fairies while she attempts to master her powers.
However, there are much more dangerous and stranger things out there than fairies, as ancient creatures threaten everyone in said school.
So, once again, we have an enchanted school, a supernatural threat, attempts by a high school girl to forge new friendships and relationships, and more. You can already see why we put this show on our list of Wednesday alternatives.
Plus, just like Wednesday, this is a Netflix series, so you can go and watch it right now.
The show stars Abigail Cowen, Danny Griffin, Elisha Applebaum, Sadie Soverall, Freddie Thorp, Paulina Chavez, and others.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003)
When it comes to Buffy Summers, there is really only one big difference between her and Wednesday Addams, and that is the fact that Buffy is trying to live a normal life, and be obsessed with clothes, hair, boys, and alike.
Buffy, from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is hiding who she really is from the public, while Wednesday Addams is trying to be her true self openly.
However, both young girls deal with supernatural powers. In Buffy’s case, she is the chosen one, a slayer of vampires, demons, and everything else that is evil and lurks in the night.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer could be taken as a horror drama, set in a supernatural universe of dangerous creatures, but she only lives this kind of life because a higher power had chosen her, and there is no one else to protect the innocent.
The show stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Head and others.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Moving on, we have our first film on this list, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice.
You will quickly see that the film is similar to Wednesday in some aspects, including the style of the movie, which is dark and mysterious, like Wednesday herself. In fact, this is the Tim Burton quality that can be found in pretty much every single movie that he had ever directed.
Apart from that, both the film and the show have supernatural elements in common, and after that the similarities between the film and the first season of Wednesday end.
The film features a recently deceased couple who are trying to scare away a new family that moved into their old home, and to do it, they turn to the freelance bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse, for help.
The Guardian described it as “Vibrant to the point of being garish, warm and generous, with a spiky sense of satire.”
The film stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O’Hara, and others.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Halfway down the list of films and shows like Wednesday, we have Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
This is a film that is absolutely packed with fantasy and superpowers, but it also has a strange familial mystery that threads through it. In that sense, it is similar to Wednesday.
The film was inspired by a novel of the same name, and overall, it offers great performances by child actors.
The plot follows a young, gifted boy called Jake, who discovers Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, where the students are other kids like him, children with magical powers.
However, apart from superpowers, the school also has terrifying enemies. Fortunately, Jake’s own peculiarity will come in handy when he becomes the only one who can save his friends.
The film stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Samuel L. Jackson, Lauren McCrostie, Finlay MacMillan, and others.
Yellowjackets (2021 — )
If you are looking for a show similar to Wednesday, then you should definitely give Yellowjackets a try, a show that features Wednesday Addams (from the ‘90s) herself, Christina Ricci, who plays Misty Quigley.
Now, granted, Ricci does not play an adult version of Wednesday in this show. In fact, the show itself doesn’t follow the same narrative or stylistic ground that Wednesday does.
However, it does have a high school girls’ soccer team that ends up stranded after a plane crash.
The series explores two separate timelines, and it follows the girls in the wilderness, and in the present day.
But, just because you know that they made it, do not think that you know the whole story.
The show stars Melanie Lynskey, Ella Purnell, Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, and others.
The Addams Family (1991)
Moving on to the 7th spot, we have The Addams Family, one of the comic series of movies from the ’90s. The Addams Family was famous before and after this film, but for a lot of people, this is their favorite version of the strange family.
The characters of Morticia and Gomez Addams, Uncle Fester, and even young Wednesday and her brother, have charmed and inspired entire generations of fans and established themselves as part of the ’90s pop culture.
More importantly, they have presented viewers with the unique Addams family values, where everyone is accepted and loved, no matter how different they might be, or in what way, as long as they are willing to be a part of the family and love one another unconditionally.
Sadly, the character Wednesday Addams did not see a lot of attention or development in the film, but on the plus side, she got her own show 30 years later.
The film stars Raul Julia, Anjelica Houston, Christina Ricch, Jimmy Workman, Christopher Lloyd, and Carel Stryucken.
Legacies (2018 – 2022)
Next, we have Legacies, which is another supernatural series that features a school for gifted children. The show is actually a spin-off of a spin-off.
From the original love-triangle Vampire Diaries came the show The Originals, and from that show, Legacies emerged, featuring Hope Mikaelson.
Hope is a half-vampire, half-werewolf, and half-witch. She enrolls at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, a school for beasty teens where they can learn to be themselves without risking discovery or losing control in a regular school that is unequipped to handle creatures like them.
It is more action-packed than Wednesday, and it offers four seasons of good content in the universe you likely know and love from before.
The show stars Danielle Rose Russell, Kaylee Bryant, Aria Shahghasemi, Jenny Boyd, Matthew Davis, Quincy Fouse, and others.
Penny Dreadful (2014 – 2016)
Nearing the end of the list, we have Penny Dreadful, a true horror drama that is dark, dangerous, and mysterious. It is an adult drama that includes characters like Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein, and other similar entities.
The series takes place in 1891, at the height of Victorian England. A woman and her daughter were abducted, only to be found mutilated later on.
Suspecting that vampires were involved, Sir Malcom Murray hires Ethan Chandler and a number of other specialists, each expert in their own field and creates a team that will solve the mystery.
Like Wednesday, the show has a larger universe (or rather, universes) of characters, including good guys, bad guys, monsters, and more, to draw from.
The show stars Eva Green, Timothy Dalton, Josh Hartnett, Rory Kinnear, Reeve Carney, Billie Piper, Harry Treadaway, and others.
You (2018 – )
Finally, the last on our list is You, a psychological thriller that follows Joe Goldberg a bookstore manager who is also a serial killer.
Goldberg falls in love with various women, and he becomes obsessed with them. In the first season, his obsession lies with Guinevere Beck, while in the second season, he moves to Los Angeles and falls in love with chef Love Quinn.
However, after his second love story doesn’t end much better than the first one, he is once again packing his bags and moving to a new place.
One of the reasons why this show is on the list is the fact that it features Jenna Ortega herself, although she only plays Joe’s neighbor, Ellie.
Again, this is a much more mature show that Wednesday, even though it does feature Jenna Ortega.
The show stars Penn Badgley, Victoria Pendretti, Tati Gabrielle, Elizabeth Lail, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Arnold, and others.
Summary
Keep in mind that this is not the complete list, and you can also enjoy a number of other great shows and films.
You could watch Smallville and enjoy the adventures of young Clark Kent, or set aside an hour and a half to see Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you are a fan of magic, why not give the good old Harry Potter series a rewatch?
Umbrella Academy is another great choice, featuring superpowered kids who attend the titular school as adults looking back on their lives.
Alternatively, you can also watch Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, Lovecraft country, or the Midnight Club and its secret society.
Which is your favorite alternative to Wednesday. I would love to know so drop me a comment below.
