Television series

Wednesday

A gothic teen mystery with the driest sense of humour on television. Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Addams gets exiled to a boarding school for outcasts, where she investigates a monster murder spree without ever cracking a smile. It's Tim Burton's visual world colliding with CW-style teen drama — murder board, coming-of-age angst, and deadpan one-liners in equal measure. Good for horror-curious teens and adults who like whodunits with a side of eye-rolling contempt.

TVMaze rating7.9

If you liked this

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1997

The original sardonic teen girl fighting literal monsters while juggling school and heartbreak — this is the show that taught a generation how to be funny about horror.

But Early seasons show their budget hard, and some of the effects and fashion have aged badly.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina2018

A witch academy with the same gothic, candy-coloured visual flair and a heroine who refuses to play nice — campy, stylish, and genuinely creepy in places.

But It leans harder into full-blown occult horror and gets weirder and darker than Wednesday ever does.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina poster

Veronica Mars2004

A deadpan teen outsider solving a case-of-the-week with a mouth full of one-liners and a chip on her shoulder — the noir-detective blueprint under Wednesday's gothic paint job.

But No supernatural element at all; the grounded, sun-bleached California noir feels flatter after Wednesday's flourishes.

Veronica Mars poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Twin Peaks1990

Wednesday's blend of deadpan comedy, small-town secrets, and a murder investigation that keeps widening owes a direct debt to this show — it's the blueprint, decades before the trend caught up.

Before any teen detective walked a small town full of secrets, this invented the quirky-meets-uncanny murder mystery — nothing since has quite matched its strangeness.

But It's slower, far weirder, and more interested in dread and atmosphere than tidy answers — patience required.

Twin Peaks poster
More like this (8)

Riverdale2017

A brooding outsider investigates a murder in a picture-perfect small town full of secrets — same teen-soap-meets-mystery DNA, cranked to eleven.

But It escalates into full soap-opera absurdity by later seasons, and the writing quality drops off a cliff.

Riverdale poster

The Umbrella Academy2019

A found family of misfit weirdos, dry humour, striking visuals, and a supernatural mystery running underneath — Netflix's other great stylish oddball show.

But Juggles a whole ensemble and multiple timelines, so it's messier and less tightly focused than Wednesday's single POV.

The Umbrella Academy poster

Only Murders in the Building2021

A comedic murder mystery built on banter and deadpan delivery, if you want the wit without the werewolves.

But The leads are decades older, there's nothing supernatural, and the tone is cosier than gothic.

Only Murders in the Building poster

The Craft1996

Teen witches at war with their school and each other, dripping with 90s dark style and gallows humour — a genuine ancestor of Wednesday's whole aesthetic.

But It turns genuinely nasty by the end, with less of a comedic safety net than Wednesday offers.

The Craft poster

Legacies2018no page yet

A boarding school for supernatural teens with monster-of-the-week mysteries and a similarly outcast-heavy cast.

But Leans much harder into teen-soap romance, and the writing is noticeably softer around the edges.

Deadly Class2019no page yet

Dark academia taken to its furthest point — a boarding school that trains assassins, with the same brooding-outsider energy as Nevermore.

But Far more violent and bleak, with none of Wednesday's comic relief, and it was cancelled after one season.

Death Note2006

Swap Nevermore's gothic hallways for Tokyo high-rises and you get the same engine: a detached, superior teen genius at the centre of an escalating murder investigation, toying with people who underestimate them.

A brilliant, morally hollow teenager treats death like an intellectual puzzle while a genius investigator closes in — the same cat-and-mouse thrill as Wednesday's murder plot, colder and higher stakes.

But It's an anime, subtitled or dubbed, and its hero is far less lovable — this is genuinely dark, with none of Wednesday's warmth.

Death Note poster

Harold and Maude1971

Wednesday's whole comic persona — flat affect, fascination with mortality, contempt for normal teenage life — has an ancestor here, decades before 'morbidly deadpan outsider' became a genre of its own.

A teenager obsessed with death and thoroughly checked out of normal life finds an unlikely, tender connection — funny, strange, and quietly moving in a way few comedies dare.

But There's no mystery plot and nothing supernatural — this is a slow, character-driven oddity from a very different era.

Harold and Maude poster

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