The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Saga Officially Heads to TV — With Plans for 7+ Seasons
TV’s adaptation hot streak continues: after The Last of Us, Reacher, Cross, Fallout, and The Lincoln Lawyer, the crown jewel of sci-fi and fantasy is finally headed to the small screen.
Adaptations are having a moment. The Last of Us, Reacher, Cross, Fallout, The Lincoln Lawyer — all hits, all pulled from books or games. Now Peacock is taking a swing at one of the most addictive sci-fi/fantasy series out there: Dungeon Crawler Carl. If they stick the landing, this thing could run for years.
So what got announced?
Per Variety, a live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl series is officially in development at Peacock. Chris Yost is writing and executive producing, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Erica Huggins, and the books’ author, Matt Dinniman. Rachel Hargreaves-Heald is the executive in charge of production for MacFarlane’s company, Fuzzy Door. That’s a legit team for a premise this wild.
The hook (and why fans love these books)
Dungeon Crawler Carl launched in September 2020 and blew up fast for a reason: it mashes sci-fi, fantasy, humor, and action into a gleefully unhinged survival story. The setup is clean: an alien- triggered apocalypse turns Earth into a televised dungeon crawl watched across the galaxy. Our reluctant hero is Carl — a Coast Guard vet — and his partner is Princess Donut, his ex-girlfriend’s extremely fancy, extremely opinionated cat. Yes, the hero’s party is one guy and a diva cat in a tiara. I’m in.
"An alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity and any survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. Sounds bad, right? Now try doing it with bare feet and a stuck-up, self-centered, tiara-wearing talking cat as your partner. Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, where the apocalypse will be televised ... and Coast Guard vet Carl finds himself stuck with his ex-girlfriend's award-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, as they try to survive the end of the world, fighting monsters, aliens, an insane A.I. and even other survivors ... all for the sake of good TV. Survival is optional. Entertainment is not."
Seven books in, with more on the way
There are currently seven books in the series, which makes the TV math pretty simple: one season per book gets you seven seasons out of the gate. The next installment, A Parade of Horribles, is slated as book eight and is due later this year. In other words, the runway keeps extending — as long as season 1 works and viewers show up.
Who’s doing what (quick breakdown)
- Platform: Peacock
- Format: Live-action series
- Writer/EP: Chris Yost
- Executive Producers: Chris Yost, Seth MacFarlane, Erica Huggins, Matt Dinniman
- Production company: Fuzzy Door (MacFarlane’s banner)
- Executive in charge of production (Fuzzy Door): Rachel Hargreaves-Heald
This thing is already turning into a franchise
Beyond TV, the brand is expanding fast. At Toy Fair, Playmates Toys rolled out new toy lines based on the series. Renegade Game Studios has Dungeon Crawler Carl games on the way too. For Peacock, that’s a strong bet: if the show connects, they’re not just launching a series — they’re potentially lighting up a whole multimedia machine.
Bottom line
It’s early days — there’s no release date yet — but the ingredients are there: a fan-favorite book series, a clear season-by-season roadmap, and a production team that knows how to build out a world. Now it just has to be good. No pressure, except for the millions of alien viewers watching the apocalypse for entertainment. And us.