The Key Behind ‘Girls with Powers’ TV Shows

Eleven of “Stranger Things” fame was a revelation in 2016.

Girls with powers has been a trope going back to “Escape from Witch Mountain” in 1975. Something about Eleven’s vulnerability combined with the Stephen King-meets-Steven Spielberg nostalgia made the show a worldwide phenomena.

And a well-deserved one, too, since “Stranger Things” has been consistently good with likable characters and fun adventures since that debut. Of course, once that door opened every streamer tried to replicate that success.

We’ve seen a dozen or more shows come and go since the premier of “Stranger Things” and yet none have lasted as long.

The Best ‘Girls With Powers’ Shows

1. “Stranger Things” (Netflix) (2016-2025) — A group of “D and D” geeks, shocked by the disappearance of their good friend, discovers a girl in the woods with unusual powers. They embark on a series of adventures to get their friend back with the help of the local Sheriff and the missing child’s mother.

2. “Hanna” (Prime) (2019-2021) — A girl with usual abilities trains in the woods with her father. The title character tries to find the truth behind her past while a rogue CIA agent is hunting her down.

3. “His Dark Materials” (HBO) — (2019-2022) A girl with the ability to read the “alethiometer” (truth teller) is searching for her estranged father and avoiding her dangerous mother in world similar to ours but different in critical ways.

4. “Lockwood & Co.” (Netflix) — (2023) A girl with a unique ability to speak to spirits is hired by a London firm to exercise ghosts. She gets involved in a greater mystery of how the ghosts came to be in England to begin with.

5. “The Power” (Prime) — (2023) Due to a mutation, women reaching puberty suddenly have the power to generate electricity giving them X-Men-like abilities. How will the men, and women without power, respond to this shift in the power dynamics between men and women? This isn’t a “woke” show as the subject suggests. It explores interesting ideas about how important physical power is in terms of safety.

6. “The Witcher” (Netflix) — (2019-2026) A monster hunter in a land of High Fantasy must protect a girl with powers who will save the universe.

7. “The Irregulars” (Netflix) — (2021) Loosely based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a group of teens investigates supernatural crimes with the help of Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson.

8. “Cursed” (Netflix) — (2020) So I like King Arthur stories, and this had a few interesting twists on familiar source material. It didn’t catch on with a large enough audience.

9. “The Nevers” (HBO) — (2021) In this science fiction show set in a Victorian-era London a strange meteor passes overhead giving some of the women in London extraordinary powers. As the women come to terms with their abilities they’re both exploited and discriminated against.

10. “Invisible City” (Netflix) — (2021-2023) The myths of the Amazon come to life as a man tracks down what happened to his wife and deals with the strange new powers his daughter seems to have.

11. “Warrior Nun” (Netflix) — (2020-2022) A girl crippled from birth and locked away in a convent is given a chance at life she can’t imagine when she receives the “Halo” and religious artifact of immense power. She and the members of her convent are tasked with protecting the Church from Satanic forces.

12. “The Umbrella Academy” (Netflix) — (2019-2024) A group of children all born on the same day to mothers who suddenly became pregnant join forces to fight forces of evil and maintain the timeline.

13. “Locke & Key” (Netflix) — (2020-2022) The Locke family moves back to its ancestral home in Massachusetts after experiencing a significant trauma. The discovery of magic keys opens doors and abilities beyond their imagination, leading them into a mystery that connects back to their father’s murder.

14. “Shadow and Bone” (Netflix) — (2021-2023) A girl in a High Fantasy world discovers her abilities as a “Sun Summoner” and begins a quest to end a conflict between warring nations.

15. “I’m Not Okay With This” (Netflix) — (2020) A young woman grappling with both teen life and her superpowers makes her way through high school.

So many of the aforementioned shows got canceled. Too many.

Part of this has to do with production costs and the narrow window to attract an audience. It became like throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks. Most of the shows are actually pretty good. Both “Lockwood & Co.” and “The Irregulars” in particular stood out, but neither garnered much buzz.

It got me thinking — why do good shows get canceled, what unites the show that end up being “hits?” I think the magic bullseye for shows like this is they appeal to a broad audience that includes men.

This is true of “Stranger Things,” “Hanna” and “His Dark Materials.”

I think we under estimate how important the father-daughter relationship is to so much of this “Girl Power” template, from TV shows to the rise of women’s sports. Think of how female-led volleyball, hockey, softball and basketball have thrived over the last decade.

That’s lot of dads spending quality time with their daughters.The conclusion? These shows have to win over dads to be successful.

Think “Stranger Things,” “Hanna” and “His Dark Materials” – they all have father figures in key roles.

Consider lovable Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) from “Stranger Things.” The character adopts Eleven early in the series, and that relationship delivers an emotional connection. Eleven’s unusual powers offer an emotional investment, but watching a grown man become a dad virtually overnight offers an emotional pull.

That’s relatable.

“Hanna” has Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman) looking out for his supercharged charge Hanna (Esme Creed-Miles) as she hunts down the project leader that took her mom’s life. The training sequence at the start of the series hooks you instantly.

Father and daughter out in the wilderness, learning to survive and thrive.

If they do reboot James Bond and he’s a she (which could work) they’d better have a backstory of her dad ready to go to secure that emotional hook.

James Bond worked because he had M as a mother figure. Jane Bond will, too, if there’s a strong father figure in her past.

If anybody tries to tell me that a female Bond won’t work I’d just say go watch Nebraska women play volleyball and then tell me you still believe that.

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