Television series

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Name: DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Genre: Drama, Action, Science Fiction
Released: 2016
Cast: Caity Lotz, Amy Pemberton, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano, Brandon Routh

A superhero team-up show that starts as earnest Arrow-verse spinoff and gradually mutates into something gloriously unhinged — time travel as an excuse for genre-hopping chaos, disco heists, and a plush toy monster called Beebo. It cares less about power fantasies than about a scrappy found family bumbling through history. For anyone who wants superheroes that stop taking themselves seriously and just have fun.

TVMaze rating

7.1

If you liked this

Doctor Who2005

The original time-travel troupe: a ship, a rotating crew of misfits, and a willingness to swing from farce to genuine grief inside a single episode. Legends inherited its DNA of cosmic silliness wrapped around real heart.

But Sixty years of continuity is intimidating, and quality swings wildly depending on era, showrunner, and which Doctor you catch.

The Umbrella Academy2019

Another dysfunctional found family of oddballs trying to save the world, badly, with apocalypse resets and time travel used for both comedy and heartbreak. Same chaotic sibling energy, moodier lighting.

But It takes itself more seriously in places, and the tone can lurch from goofy to grim without much warning.

Loki2021

A bureaucratic time-cop agency, a reformed troublemaker learning to be a team player, and a plot that treats the timeline as something to be lovingly, ridiculously messed with. Very much the same playground.

But It's slicker and more plot-serialized, with less of the anything-goes, low-stakes silliness Legends thrives on.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Dirty Dozen1967

Same premise at its core: a reluctant commander assembles society's rejects and villains for a mission only they can pull off, and something like loyalty grows between them anyway.

A hard-nosed leader recruits criminals and outcasts nobody else wanted for an impossible mission, forging them into something like a family along the way. It's Rip Hunter's whole pitch, two decades early and dead serious.

But War-movie violence and 1960s pacing replace the jokes entirely — this is grim where Legends is giddy.

Warehouse 132009

A bantering team of agents chasing down absurd magical artifacts every week, powered by the same low-budget charm and genuine affection between its cast. Comfort-food adventure television at its finest.

But The effects and stakes are smaller-scale, and it never quite reaches the same level of gleeful self-parody.

Supernatural2005

Fifteen seasons of a ragtag crew driving into increasingly ridiculous scenarios, cracking jokes over the apocalypse, and somehow making found family the emotional core of a monster-of-the-week show.

But It's a massive time commitment, and the mythology gets convoluted well before the final stretch.

Ash vs Evil Dead2015no page yet

Gleeful, gory, ridiculous, and completely aware of its own absurdity — a hero who's more punchline than paragon leading a scrappy crew against forces of darkness. Pure campy joy.

But Much bloodier and more horror-adjacent, with a meaner sense of humor than Legends ever gets.

Guardians of the Galaxy2014

A team of misfits and reformed criminals bonding over a killer soundtrack while saving the galaxy — the found-family-in-space template Legends borrows wholesale, minus the time-travel gimmick.

But It's a single tight film rather than a sprawling series, so the character time you get is much shorter.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1997

The blueprint for taking genre nonsense completely seriously as emotional storytelling while still being very funny about it. Legends' willingness to be silly and sincere in the same breath owes it a debt.

But Late-90s effects and pacing show their age, and some early seasons are noticeably rougher than the later ones.

Stargate SG·11997

A tight-knit team hopping through time and space on episodic missions, mixing pulpy adventure with real camaraderie over ten seasons. A close cousin in structure and spirit.

But It's slower-paced and more military-procedural in flavor, without much of Legends' anarchic sense of humor.

Dark2017

Both shows treat the timeline as something fragile that keeps snapping back with consequences — Dark just refuses the comedy and lets the paradoxes actually hurt.

A German series about a small town discovering that meddling with time doesn't fix anything, it just tangles the wound further across generations. Same time-travel-changes-everything engine, run through pure existential dread.

But Subtitled, punishingly serious, and structurally complex enough to require a family tree just to follow along.

The Mighty Boosh2004

Both shows figured out that once you fully commit to nonsense — a talking gorilla, a plush toy god — the silliness becomes the point rather than a flaw to apologize for.

British surrealist sketch-adventure about two friends stumbling into increasingly deranged fantasy scenarios, powered entirely by commitment to the bit and homemade-looking absurdity. It's Legends' anarchic spirit with the sci-fi scaffolding stripped away.

But Deeply weird, low-budget by design, and an acquired taste even among people who like weird British comedy.