11 Recent TV Shows That Surprised Everyone

We live in a world where the next ‘must see’ series never seems to be more than a few days away.

However, the explosion of programming, largely fuelled by the ‘streaming wars’ that have seen many major entertainment studios launch their own platform to contend with the likes of Netflix and Amazon, has made it nigh-on impossible to keep up with everything.

The market is now so saturated that there’ll probably never be another universal phenomenon like Game of Thrones, or anything subject to as much discussion and dissemination as the likes of Lost, which helped kickstart the notion of ‘peak TV’ in the early noughties.

For every Stranger Things and Bridgerton there are countless shows that have failed in their attempts to attract viewers, and it’s becoming more and more difficult for new and innovative concepts to find a footing against the latest offerings from behemoth franchises such as the MCU or Star Wars.

There are many that have managed to succeed, however, thriving on a combination of their interesting premises, marketing and support from studios that occasionally do realise the importance of creating new IPs and original ideas.

Those familiar with just the console side of gaming may only have a fleeting knowledge of League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) PC title that has developed into one of the world’s most popular games since its launch in 2009.

It serves as one of the most popular e-sports titles across the globe, with upwards of forty million viewers turning into to watch the annual world championships, which boast prizes in the millions of dollars.

Games are rarely adapted well to film or television and there have been hundreds of critical duds over the years, from Super Mario Bros through to the recent Uncharted. The natural assumption was that Arcane, an animated show based on the vast lore of League of Legends’ world and roster of champions, would be another quickly forgotten addition to this collection.

Instead, it became an overnight phenomenon, attracting universal acclaim from fans of the series and completely uninitiated critics alike for its dark and multifaceted driven story, stunningly unique animation style and diverse cast of well-written characters.

It swept the recent 2021 Annie Awards, winning in all nine of the categories in which was nominated, and audiences around the world now wait with baited breath to find out the fates of Jinx, Vi, Jayce, Caitlyn and company.