Television series

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

This is myth as Saturday-matinee comfort food: a demigod with the reflexes of a stuntman and the sincerity of a Boy Scout, wandering ancient Greece righting wrongs between one-liners. Kevin Sorbo plays it dead straight while the show winks at you constantly — cheap effects, big heart, genuine wit. Good for nostalgia, for camp, or for anyone who just wants a hero who's actually nice.

TVMaze rating6.9

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Xena: Warrior Princess1995

The spinoff that outgrew its parent show — darker, weirder, funnier, with a genuinely great villain-turned-hero arc and two leads whose chemistry the writers eventually stopped pretending was subtext.

But It leans harder into melodrama and myth-remixing than Hercules ever did, which some fans of the original find alienating.

Xena: Warrior Princess poster

Legend of the Seeker2008no page yet

Same DNA as Hercules — sunny hero, loyal sidekick, sword fights choreographed for fun rather than realism, and monster-of-the-week plotting with a soft moral centre throughout.

But Only two seasons exist, so the world feels a bit undercooked before the show ends.

Stargate SG·11997

Trades Greek gods for aliens posing as gods, but keeps the same formula: a tight team, episodic adventures, and a sense of humour that never lets the stakes get too heavy.

But It's a much bigger commitment — over 200 episodes — and the mythology can feel dense if you're after quick fun.

Stargate SG·1 poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kaos2024no page yet

Same gods, same myths, wildly different mood: where Hercules plays the Olympians for adventure and light comedy, Kaos reimagines them as a dysfunctional, contemporary ruling family — petty, cruel, and darkly funny.

A modern-dress, prestige-drama take on the exact same mythology — Zeus as an insecure tyrant, prophecy as bureaucratic dread — that's sharp, strange and genuinely unpredictable.

But It was cancelled after one season, so there's no resolution, and its cynicism is a world away from the earnest good cheer of Hercules.

More like this (8)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1997

Different monsters, same spirit: a chosen hero who cracks jokes mid-fight, a loyal circle of friends, and low-budget effects the show turns into a feature rather than a flaw.

But It gets considerably darker and more emotionally serious in later seasons than Hercules ever attempted.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster

Charmed1998

Syndication-era fantasy comfort food from the same period — sibling banter, demon-of-the-week plots, and a house that's basically a magical clubhouse. Easy to dip into, easy to binge.

But The effects and writing are uneven, very much a product of late-90s network sensibilities.

Charmed poster

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda2000no page yet

Produced by the same team behind Hercules and Xena, so the swashbuckling instincts carry over intact — just swapped for spaceships, with Sorbo playing someone considerably less wholesome.

But The scripts are shakier than the myth-based shows, and it visibly struggles after its creator departs partway through.

Jason and the Argonauts1963

The Ray Harryhausen stop-motion classic that every Greek-myth adventure since owes something to — Talos, the Hydra, the skeleton army. Gorgeous, earnest, still thrilling despite its age.

But The pacing is slower and the acting stagier than modern viewers may expect from an adventure film.

Jason and the Argonauts poster

Conan the Barbarian1982

A far more brutal, mythic take on the musclebound-hero-wanders-the-ancient-world premise, with Schwarzenegger at his most iconic and a genuinely haunting score. Same engine, much heavier gear.

But It's considerably more violent and humourless than Hercules — no quips, no winks, just blood and doom.

Conan the Barbarian poster

Clash of the Titans1981

Greek gods meddling in mortal affairs, told with the same earnest, slightly cheesy charm — plus Harryhausen's last great stop-motion creatures, including Medusa at her career best.

But The effects, while lovingly crafted, will look dated to viewers used to CGI, and the pace is leisurely by today's standards.

Clash of the Titans poster

Hercules Unchained1959no page yet

This is literally where the show's version of Hercules comes from — the Steve Reeves 'peplum' films of the 1950s invented the beefy, good-natured demigod wandering ancient settings, and Sorbo's show is a loving, knowing pastiche of exactly this.

See the actual source material: a genuinely charming, low-budget Italian spectacle that made Hercules a household name decades before Sorbo, dubbed dialogue and all.

But The dubbing is rough and the pacing creaky — it takes patience to enjoy on its own terms rather than as a curiosity.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller1988no page yet

Same raw material — Greek myth — filtered through an entirely different register: puppetry, firelight, and a genuine sense of dread that Hercules always kept at arm's length. It's what these stories feel like when the show stops winking.

Jim Henson's puppet anthology tells four Greek myths as genuinely eerie fireside tales, with gorgeous practical creature work and a narrator (John Hurt) who makes the danger feel real.

But Only four half-hour episodes exist, and the tone is closer to fairy-tale horror than adventure — no fights, no quips.

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Recommended by

Army of Darkness, Monkey, Xena: Warrior Princess