VeloraTV

Behind the veil

VeloraTV is an English guide to 156 television series about people who live behind a veil: spies who raise families in the suburbs, police officers who live among the criminals they hunt, impostors who borrow another name, killers who smile at their neighbours, teenagers who keep a secret from their parents, heroes who hide their faces, and strangers from other worlds who pass for human. A secret is the oldest engine of the television series, because it can last for years: every episode brings it closer to the light, and every season finds a new reason to keep it. The series sit on twelve shelves of thirteen, grouped in three families: lies and lawbreakers; secret selves; and strangers among us. Every series has an English synopsis, the creators, the cast, the network, the list of its episodes and a Watch now button that opens it on JustWatch, which shows where it can be watched in your country.

The guide runs from 1963 to 2024, from The Fugitive, the doctor wrongly convicted who changes his name in every town, to the newest series of spies, witches and ghosts. Its 156 series carry about 292,100 votes on TMDB, with an average rating of 7.65, and together they hold 650 seasons and about 10,200 episodes. The most voted and the best rated is Breaking Bad, of 2008, the chemistry teacher of Albuquerque who becomes the drug lord Heisenberg, with about 18,900 votes and a 9.0. The guide Start with VeloraTV gives a first route through the shelves.

The series of the guide come from every genre, from the sitcom to the horror series, but they share one question: what happens to a person who must be two people at once? Some of them answer with comedy, like the witch of Bewitched who promises her husband to live as a mortal housewife and keeps breaking her word with a twitch of the nose; some with tragedy, like the agents of The Americans, whose children are kept in the dark about who their parents are; and some with suspense, like the killer of Dexter, who hides his crimes inside a police laboratory. The guide Secret lives on TV follows the theme across the decades.

The name and the look

The name VeloraTV is read here as a veil, the light cloth that hides a face, from the Latin velum, and the look of the site is that of a masquerade ball. The Wayback Machine holds veloratv.com in 2025 and 2026 only as an offline notice and an empty page, and velora.tv as the site of an unrelated live-streaming platform, so the design of VeloraTV is original. The page is a dark velvet, between plum and black; the header is near-black under a gold line and a rose shadow; the logo is a masquerade mask in gold with a rose ribbon, beside the name in italic capitals.

The introduction sits on a velvet card under a fringe of gold beads, and the twelve shelves form a board called Behind the mask, in three columns, one per family, each line marked with a small mask: gold for lies and lawbreakers, rose for secret selves and violet for strangers among us. Each shelf sits on a velvet panel under a gold rule, with a Lift the veil button that opens the full shelf. The guide The look of VeloraTV explains each colour.

How the veils work

The series of the guide were chosen by hand from TMDB. Each one had to be built on a hidden identity or a double life: a secret that its hero keeps from the world, from the family or from the law, and that the story turns around. Each series sits on a single shelf, the one that best names its secret, and each shelf holds the thirteen most voted series of its kind with an English synopsis on TMDB, so that the spies of the Cold War sit beside the spies of today, and the witches of the 1960s beside the witches of the streaming services.

The twelve shelves are the spies in plain sight, the undercover agents and fugitives, the con artists and impostors and the killers next door for the first family; the double lives at home, the teenage secrets, the masked heroes and the witches and magic at home for the second; and the aliens among us, the vampires and monsters, the clones and machines and the ghosts and the dead for the third. The three families each hold 52 series. The guide How the veils work sums up the rules.

Secret lives on television

The double life came to television almost as soon as the long series did. In the 1960s it was a source of comedy: the witch Samantha of Bewitched, of 1964, who married a mortal and hid her powers from the neighbours; the genie of I Dream of Jeannie, of 1965, kept secret by an astronaut of NASA; and the clumsy Agent 86 of Get Smart, of 1965, by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, who parodied the spies of James Bond. It was also a source of suspense: in The Fugitive, of 1963, the oldest series of the guide, Dr. Richard Kimble escapes on the way to his execution and lives under false names while he hunts the one-armed man who killed his wife, and in The Invaders, of 1967, an architect alone knows that aliens have taken human form.

The 1970s and 1980s turned the secret into a weekly adventure: the scientist of The Incredible Hulk, of 1977, who hides from a reporter; the alien of Mork & Mindy, of 1978, with Robin Williams; the soldiers of fortune of The A-Team, of 1983, framed for a crime and on the run from the army; the vice detectives of Miami Vice, of 1984, who pose as dealers, and, outside this guide, the robot girl of Small Wonder, of 1985, raised as a daughter in the suburbs. The 1990s and 2000s gave the secret depth, from the slayer of Buffy to the killer of Dexter and the teacher of Breaking Bad, and the 2010s and 2020s spread it across every network and service, from the superheroes of The CW to the spies of Apple TV.

Lies and lawbreakers

The first family, Lies and lawbreakers, holds the spies in plain sight, the undercover agents and fugitives, the con artists and impostors and the killers next door, all the people whose secret is a crime or a mission. Its 52 series carry about 63,800 votes, with an average rating of 7.63, and its most voted are Prison Break, Suits, Dexter and You. The guide Lies and lawbreakers sums up the family.

Spies in plain sight

The shelf Spies in plain sight holds thirteen series from 1965 to 2024 of agents who hide their work from their families, their friends and the enemy. Its most voted is Homeland, of 2011, for Showtime, with Claire Danes as an officer of the CIA who suspects that a marine freed after eight years of captivity, played by Damian Lewis, has been turned by al-Qaeda, eight seasons with about 2,700 votes. The best rated is Slow Horses, of 2022, for Apple TV, from the novels of Mick Herron, with Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the slovenly chief of a team of failed agents of MI5, rated 8.1, followed by the old comedy Get Smart at 8.0.

The double life at home is the heart of The Americans, of 2013, for FX, with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as two officers of the KGB who live as a married couple of travel agents in the suburbs of Washington in the 1980s, rated 7.9, and the comedy of Chuck, of 2007, by Josh Schwartz, in which a young man of an electronics store downloads the secrets of the government into his brain. Alias, of 2001, by J.J. Abrams, with Jennifer Garner as a student who is secretly an agent, and Covert Affairs, of 2010, with Piper Perabo, follow two young women into the CIA; Burn Notice, of 2007, a spy dismissed overnight and stranded in Miami; Mr. & Mrs. Smith, of 2024, with Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, two strangers who are given new names and a marriage as cover.

The spies of the new century work in many countries. The Night Manager, of 2016, from the novel of John le Carré, with Tom Hiddleston as a hotel manager who infiltrates the circle of an arms dealer played by Hugh Laurie; The Night Agent, of 2023, a young agent of the FBI who answers a phone in the basement of the White House; Tehran, of 2020, an Israeli hacker who returns to the city of her birth under a false name, and Fauda, of 2015, the Israeli unit whose soldiers pass as Palestinians in the West Bank. The guide The spy series follows the shelf.

Undercover and on the run

The shelf Undercover and on the run holds thirteen series from 1963 to 2022 of police officers who live among criminals and of fugitives who live under false names. Its most voted is Prison Break, of 2005, for FOX, with Wentworth Miller as an engineer who has himself sent to prison, the plans of the building tattooed on his body, to free his brother from death row, five seasons with about 6,200 votes, rated 8.1, level with Reacher, of 2022, for Prime Video, with Alan Ritchson as the military policeman of Lee Child who drifts from town to town with only the clothes on his back. The best rated of the shelf is the British Line of Duty, of 2012, by Jed Mercurio, the anti-corruption unit AC-12 and its officers who go undercover inside the police itself, rated 8.2.

The undercover cops of American television fill the decade of the 1980s. 21 Jump Street, of 1987, by Stephen J. Cannell, sent young officers who looked like teenagers back to high school, with Johnny Depp in his first great role; Miami Vice, of 1984, by Anthony Yerkovich and Michael Mann, with Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two detectives who pose as dealers in the pastel suits of the decade. Cannell also created The A-Team, of 1983, the four veterans of Vietnam wanted by the army who work as mercenaries for the weak. The new century brought Graceland, of 2013, by Jeff Eastin, a house of undercover agents by the beach in California; the Belgian Undercover, of 2019, two agents who pose as a couple in a camping site to catch a dealer of ecstasy, and Gangland Undercover, of 2015, the true story of an informer inside a gang of bikers.

The fugitives and wanderers complete the shelf. The Fugitive, of 1963, with David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, the oldest series of the guide; Kung Fu, of 1972, with David Carradine as a Shaolin monk on the run across the American West; The Incredible Hulk, of 1977, with Bill Bixby as the scientist presumed dead who hides in a new town each week, and Quantum Leap, of 1989, by Donald P. Bellisario, with Scott Bakula as a scientist who leaps into the bodies of strangers across the decades, rated 8.0. The guide Undercover and on the run follows the shelf.

Con artists and impostors

The shelf Con artists and impostors holds thirteen series from 1996 to 2024 of people who live under a stolen or invented name. Its most voted is Suits, of 2011, for USA Network, by Aaron Korsh, with Patrick J. Adams as a brilliant dropout hired by a great law firm of Manhattan who pretends to have a degree from Harvard, and Gabriel Macht as the lawyer who keeps his secret, nine seasons with about 6,000 votes, rated 8.2, level with White Collar, of 2009, by Jeff Eastin, with Matt Bomer as a forger who works for the FBI to stay out of prison. Mad Men, of 2007, by Matthew Weiner, belongs here too: its hero Don Draper, the genius of advertising of Madison Avenue, is in truth Dick Whitman, a poor soldier who took the name of a dead officer in Korea, rated 8.1.

Two impostors take the place of the law. Banshee, of 2013, for Cinemax, with Antony Starr as a thief released from prison who becomes the sheriff of a small town of Pennsylvania under the name of a dead man, rated 8.0; Sneaky Pete, of 2015, with Giovanni Ribisi as a con man who takes the name of his cellmate and moves in with his family. The French Lupin, of 2021, with Omar Sy as Assane Diop, a master thief inspired by the gentleman burglar of Maurice Leblanc, is one of the most watched series in French of Netflix; the gangs of Hustle, of 2004, for the BBC, and Leverage, of 2008, rob the rich and greedy for the good of their victims.

The shelf ends with the people who invent themselves. Ripley, of 2024, by Steven Zaillian, with Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, who kills a rich young man and takes his place in Italy; Inventing Anna, of 2022, the false heiress of New York; The Pretender, of 1996, with Michael T. Weiss as a genius who can become anyone, a doctor one week and a pilot the next, the oldest series of the shelf; The Riches, of 2007, with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as a family of travellers who take the identity of a rich couple, and The Tourist, of 2022, with Jamie Dornan as a man who wakes up in the Australian outback with his memory wiped clean. The guide Impostors follows the shelf.

Killers next door

The shelf Killers next door holds thirteen series from 2006 to 2024 of murderers who live ordinary lives in plain view, and it is the best rated shelf of its family, with an average of 7.81 and seven series rated 8 or more. Its most voted is Dexter, of 2006, for Showtime, with Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter analyst of the police of Miami who kills the killers that the law lets go, by a code his adoptive father taught him, eight seasons with about 5,900 votes, rated 8.2. You, of 2018, by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, with Penn Badgley as a bookseller of New York who stalks the women he loves, follows with about 4,100 votes and an 8.0.

Four series share the best rating of the shelf, 8.3. Hannibal, of 2013, by Bryan Fuller, for NBC, with Mads Mikkelsen as the psychiatrist and cannibal Hannibal Lecter and Hugh Dancy as the profiler who consults him; the Australian Mr Inbetween, of 2018, written by and starring Scott Ryan as a hit man who is also a devoted father; and two Korean series of tvN, Flower of Evil, of 2020, a craftsman whose wife, a detective, begins to suspect his past, and Mouse, of 2021, a young policeman who learns that he may carry the mind of a psychopath. Bates Motel, of 2013, the youth of Norman Bates and his mother before Psycho, is rated 8.0.

The women hold the rest of the shelf. Killing Eve, of 2018, by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with Sandra Oh as an officer of MI5 and Jodie Comer as Villanelle, the assassin she becomes obsessed with; The Fall, of 2013, with Gillian Anderson as a superintendent who hunts a family man of Belfast, played by Jamie Dornan, who kills at night; Dead to Me, of 2019, with Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, two widows who become friends while one hides the truth about the death of the other's husband, and Barry, of 2018, by Bill Hader and Alec Berg, a hit man of the Midwest who discovers acting in Los Angeles. The Following, of 2013, by Kevin Williamson, with Kevin Bacon against a cult of killers, and Bodkin, of 2024, three podcasters in a small town of Ireland, close the shelf. The guide Killers next door follows the shelf.

Secret selves

The second family, Secret selves, holds the double lives at home, the teenage secrets, the masked heroes and the witches and magic at home, all the people whose secret is a second self. It is the most voted family of the guide, with about 149,400 votes, more than the two others together, and the best rated, with an average of 7.68; its most voted are Breaking Bad, Riverdale, The Boys and The Flash. The guide Secret selves sums up the family.

Double lives at home

The shelf Double lives at home holds thirteen series from 2004 to 2020 of parents, spouses and neighbours whose families know only half of their lives, and five of them come from Showtime. Its most voted, and the most voted and best rated of the whole guide, is Breaking Bad, of 2008, by Vince Gilligan, with Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a teacher of chemistry who learns that he has cancer and begins to make methamphetamine with his former student Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul, while his family believes him a modest teacher, five seasons and 62 episodes, rated 9.0. Cranston appears again in Your Honor, of 2020, as a judge of New Orleans who covers up a hit-and-run by his son, rated 8.0.

The money of crime hides behind other families too. Ozark, of 2017, with Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as a financial adviser of Chicago and his wife who launder money for a Mexican cartel in the lakes of Missouri, is rated 8.2, the second best of the shelf; Weeds, of 2005, by Jenji Kohan, with Mary-Louise Parker as a widow of the suburbs who sells marijuana; Good Girls, of 2018, three mothers of Michigan who rob a supermarket, and Bloodline, of 2015, a family of the Florida Keys and the secret of its eldest son. Nurse Jackie, of 2009, with Edie Falco, hides an addiction to painkillers from her family and her hospital, and United States of Tara, of 2009, by Diablo Cody, with Toni Collette as a mother with several personalities, lives with other selves who take over her life in turn.

The secrets of the suburbs close the shelf: Desperate Housewives, of 2004, by Marc Cherry, the women of Wisteria Lane and the suicide of their friend, narrated by her from beyond the grave, eight seasons and 177 episodes; Big Little Lies, of 2017, from the novel of Liane Moriarty, with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, the mothers of Monterey and a death at a school party; Revenge, of 2011, with Emily VanCamp as a young woman who returns to the Hamptons under a new name to destroy the family that framed her father, and The Affair, of 2014, the same love affair told from two points of view. The youngest of the double lives belongs to Hannah Montana, of 2006, for Disney Channel, with Miley Cyrus as a schoolgirl of Malibu who is secretly a pop star under a blonde wig. The guide Double lives follows the shelf.

Teenage secrets

The shelf Teenage secrets holds thirteen series from 1994 to 2022 of teenagers who hide something from their parents, their schools or each other. Its most voted and best rated is Riverdale, of 2017, by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, for The CW, the teenagers of the comics of Archie in a small town full of murders and secret societies, seven seasons with about 13,800 votes and an 8.4. Aguirre-Sacasa also made Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, of 2022, the new generation of a series about anonymous threats, after the original Pretty Little Liars, of 2010, in which four friends receive messages from a stranger who signs A and knows all their secrets, rated 8.0.

Anonymous voices lead two more series. Gossip Girl, of 2007, by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the rich students of the Upper East Side watched by a blogger whose identity stays hidden until the last episode, rated 8.1, and 13 Reasons Why, of 2017, the cassettes left by a girl who explains her death to the classmates she blames. The Spanish Elite, of 2018, the only series in Spanish of the guide, sets three students of a poor school in the elite school of Las Encinas and a murder at its heart, rated 8.0; Veronica Mars, of 2004, by Rob Thomas, with Kristen Bell as a student who works as a private detective for her father, rated 7.8; Cruel Summer, of 2021, the disappearance of a popular girl told across three summers, and One of Us Is Lying, of 2021, five students in detention and the death of one of them.

The secrets of the shelf can be stranger. The Secret World of Alex Mack, of 1994, the oldest series of the shelf, a girl of thirteen who gains powers after an accident with a chemical and hides them from the plant that caused it; Kyle XY, of 2006, a boy found naked in the woods, his belly smooth where a navel should be and his past a blank; The Society, of 2019, the teenagers of a rich town of New England who find that every adult has vanished, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, of 2008, a girl of fifteen who hides her pregnancy. The guide Teenage secrets follows the shelf.

Masked heroes

The shelf Masked heroes holds thirteen series from 1966 to 2021 of heroes who hide their faces or their powers behind a second name, and it is the most voted shelf of the guide, with about 67,900 votes. Its most voted is The Boys, of 2019, by Eric Kripke, for Prime Video, in which the superheroes are celebrities owned by a corporation and Homelander, played by Antony Starr, hides a cruel man behind the smile of a national hero, rated 8.4 with about 13,600 votes. The best rated is the animated INVINCIBLE, of 2021, from the comics of Robert Kirkman, with Steven Yeun as the son of the most powerful hero on Earth, and Sandra Oh as his mother, rated 8.6.

Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg created three series of the shelf for The CW and CBS, from the comics of DC: Arrow, of 2012, with Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, a playboy believed dead who returns as a hooded archer; The Flash, of 2014, with Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, the forensic scientist who becomes the fastest man alive, nine seasons and 184 episodes, the second most voted series of the shelf, and Supergirl, of 2015, with Melissa Benoist as the cousin of Superman. Berlanti also created Titans, of 2018, the young heroes led by Robin. Superman himself appears twice: as the teenager Clark Kent of Smallville, of 2001, ten seasons and 216 episodes, rated 8.2, and as the reporter of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, of 1993, with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher.

Batman is here twice too: the camp Batman, of 1966, with Adam West, the oldest series of the shelf, and the young Bruce Wayne of Gotham, of 2014. Netflix gives the shelf two heroes of Marvel in New York: Marvel's Daredevil, of 2015, with Charlie Cox as a blind lawyer of Hell's Kitchen who fights crime at night, rated 8.2, and Marvel's Jessica Jones, of 2015, with Krysten Ritter as a hero turned private detective. The French cartoon Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, of 2015, closes the shelf with two teenagers of Paris who fight evil in masks and hide their identities even from each other, six seasons and 155 episodes, rated 8.1. The guide Masked heroes follows the shelf.

Witches and magic at home

The shelf Witches and magic at home holds thirteen series from 1964 to 2023 of witches, wizards and genies who hide their magic in ordinary houses. The oldest is Bewitched, of 1964, for ABC, with Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, the witch who marries an advertising man and promises to live as a mortal, eight seasons and 254 episodes; the next year I Dream of Jeannie, of 1965, with Barbara Eden as a genie found on a beach by Larry Hagman as an astronaut, kept the same secret, both rated 7.8. The best rated series of the shelf is Wizards of Waverly Place, of 2007, for Disney Channel, with Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, one of three young wizards who hide their powers above the sandwich shop of their family in New York, rated 8.6, the second best of the whole guide with Invincible.

Sabrina came to television twice. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was the sitcom of 1996 with Melissa Joan Hart and the talking cat Salem, seven seasons rated 7.8, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, of 2018, by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, for Netflix, with Kiernan Shipka, the darker version from the same comics, the most voted series of the shelf, with about 3,800 votes and an 8.2. Charmed, of 1998, by Constance M. Burge, for The WB, the three Halliwell sisters of San Francisco who discover that they are witches, eight seasons and 178 episodes, shares that 8.2.

The other witches of the shelf hide in towns and colleges. A Discovery of Witches, of 2018, from the novels of Deborah Harkness, with Teresa Palmer as a historian of Oxford and Matthew Goode as a vampire; Good Witch, of 2015, the gentle witch of a small town; Witches of East End, of 2013, a mother and two daughters on Long Island; The Secret Circle, of 2011, the teenagers of a small town of Washington; Salem, of 2014, the witch trials of Massachusetts in 1692; Mayfair Witches, of 2023, from the novels of Anne Rice, the newest series of the shelf, and The Worst Witch, of 2017, the clumsy pupil of a school of magic. The guide Witches and magic follows the shelf.

Strangers among us

The third family, Strangers among us, holds the aliens among us, the vampires and monsters, the clones and machines and the ghosts and the dead, all the beings who pass for human or live beside us unseen. Its 52 series carry about 79,000 votes, with an average rating of 7.63, and its most voted are The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Westworld and Mr. Robot. The guide Strangers among us sums up the family.

Aliens among us

The shelf Aliens among us holds thirteen series from 1967 to 2022 of visitors from other worlds who hide on Earth, and comedy has a large place on it. Its most voted is ALF, of 1986, for NBC, the furry alien of the planet Melmac who crashes into the garage of the Tanner family and has to hide from the neighbours and the government, with about 1,300 votes; Mork & Mindy, of 1978, with Robin Williams as the alien of Ork who lives in Boulder, and 3rd Rock from the Sun, of 1996, with John Lithgow as the leader of a team of aliens who pose as a family in Ohio, are its classics. The best rated are two series of the 2020s, both at 7.8: Resident Alien, of 2021, with Alan Tudyk as an alien who takes the place of a doctor in a small town of Colorado, and the animated Solar Opposites, of 2020, a family of aliens in the suburbs.

The dramas of the shelf hide their aliens in high schools and in history. Roswell, of 1999, for The WB, three teenagers of New Mexico who are the survivors of the crash of 1947, and its new version Roswell, New Mexico, of 2019, both rated 7.7; Taken, of 2002, produced by Steven Spielberg, ten episodes that follow three families and the abductions over fifty years; The 4400, of 2004, the 4,400 people who return at once after years missing, with powers; Invasion, of 2005, a hurricane in Florida and the people who return changed; The Event, of 2010, a group of aliens hidden in America since the 1940s, and The Man Who Fell to Earth, of 2022, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, from the novel of Walter Tevis. The Invaders, of 1967, the oldest series of the shelf, with Roy Thinnes as the architect who alone knows the truth, closes it. The guide Aliens among us follows the shelf.

Vampires and monsters

The shelf Vampires and monsters holds thirteen series from 1997 to 2022 of vampires, werewolves and other creatures who live hidden among people, and it is the best rated shelf of the guide, with an average of 7.88 and six series rated 8 or more. Its most voted is The Vampire Diaries, of 2009, by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, for The CW, a girl of a small town of Virginia between two vampire brothers, eight seasons with about 9,800 votes, rated 8.3. The best rated is Teen Wolf, of 2011, for MTV, a teenager of California bitten by a werewolf who hides his transformation at school, rated 8.4, and Grimm, of 2011, a detective of Portland who discovers that he can see the creatures of the fairy tales hidden in human form, follows at 8.3.

Joss Whedon gave the shelf its classic: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of 1997, with Sarah Michelle Gellar as a girl of California who hides from her mother and her school that she is the Chosen One who fights vampires, seven seasons rated 8.1, the oldest series of the shelf, and its spin-off Angel, of 1999, with David Boreanaz as the vampire with a soul who works as a detective in Los Angeles, rated 7.9. The vampires of the 2000s and 2020s live more openly: True Blood, of 2008, by Alan Ball, for HBO, the vampires of Louisiana who come out of the coffin when a synthetic blood is invented, and Interview with the Vampire, of 2022, from the novel of Anne Rice, for AMC.

The comedies and the other creatures complete the shelf. What We Do in the Shadows, of 2019, for FX, four vampires who share a house of Staten Island with a familiar, rated 8.0; the British Being Human, of 2009, a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf who share a flat in Bristol; iZombie, of 2015, by Rob Thomas, a young doctor turned zombie who works in a morgue and eats brains to stay human, taking on the memories of the dead; Lost Girl, of 2010, a succubus of Canada; Shadowhunters, of 2016, the hunters of demons of New York, and Wolfblood, of 2012, for the BBC, the teenagers of a family of werewolves in the north of England, rated 8.0. The guide Vampires and monsters follows the shelf.

Clones and machines

The shelf Clones and machines holds thirteen series from 2004 to 2023 of robots, androids, clones and minds that pass for human or watch us unseen. Its most voted is Westworld, of 2016, by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, for HBO, a park of the Wild West where android hosts begin to remember their past, with Evan Rachel Wood and Anthony Hopkins, about 6,400 votes and an 8.0. Nolan also created Person of Interest, of 2011, a machine that sees every crime before it happens, rated 8.1. The best rated is Mr. Robot, of 2015, by Sam Esmail, with Rami Malek as a hacker of New York who lives a double life as a security engineer, rated 8.3.

Battlestar Galactica, of 2004, by Ronald D. Moore, for Syfy, the series that followed the miniseries of 2003, is the great story of machines that look like people: the Cylons have taken human form, and any member of the crew may be one of them and be unaware of it, four seasons rated 8.2. Orphan Black, of 2013, with Tatiana Maslany as a con woman who discovers that she is one of many clones, all played by Maslany; Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, of 2008, with Lena Headey and Summer Glau as a cyborg who poses as a schoolgirl; Humans, of 2015, for Channel 4, the synthetic servants of a family of London; Dollhouse, of 2009, by Joss Whedon, the agents whose minds are wiped and rewritten for each mission, and Almost Human, of 2013, a detective of 2048 and his android partner.

The new machines of the 2020s close the shelf. Raised by Wolves, of 2020, produced by Ridley Scott, two androids who raise human children on a distant planet; Altered Carbon, of 2018, a future where minds move from body to body; the Russian Better Than Us, of 2018, an android of a new kind who chooses a family, and Mrs. Davis, of 2023, a nun at war with an artificial intelligence that rules the world. The guide Clones and machines follows the shelf.

Ghosts and the dead

The shelf Ghosts and the dead holds thirteen series from 2003 to 2024 of the dead who walk among the living and of the living who see them. Its most voted and best rated is Supernatural, of 2005, by Eric Kripke, the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester who drive across America hunting the ghosts and demons hidden in its small towns, fifteen seasons and 327 episodes, the longest series of the guide, with about 8,800 votes and an 8.3. Kripke also created The Boys, on the shelf of masked heroes.

The mediums of the 2000s talk to the dead in secret. Ghost Whisperer, of 2005, with Jennifer Love Hewitt as a woman who helps the ghosts of her town to cross over, rated 8.1, and Medium, of 2005, with Patricia Arquette as a mother of Phoenix who sees the dead in her dreams and helps the district attorney. Bryan Fuller made two series of the shelf: Dead Like Me, of 2003, a girl of eighteen killed by a falling toilet seat from a space station who becomes a grim reaper under a new face, and Pushing Daisies, of 2007, a pie maker who brings the dead back with a touch, rated 7.9. Tru Calling, of 2003, with Eliza Dushku, a worker of a morgue whose corpses ask her for help and send her back to relive their last day.

The dead come home in the rest of the shelf. The Good Place, of 2016, by Michael Schur, in which Kristen Bell is mistaken for a good woman after her death and hides her past in heaven, rated 8.0; the French The Returned, of 2012, and the American Resurrection, of 2014, the dead who return to their families years later; the British Ghosts, of 2019, the spirits of every age in a country house, rated 7.9; Truth Seekers, of 2020, with Nick Frost as an installer of broadband who hunts ghosts on his rounds and Simon Pegg as his boss; Lockwood & Co., of 2023, the young ghost hunters of a London haunted after dark, and Dead Boy Detectives, of 2024, the newest series of the shelf, two ghosts of boys who solve the mysteries of the dead. The guide Ghosts and the dead follows the shelf.

The faces behind the masks

A few actors wear more than one mask in the guide. Amy Acker appears in three series, as the scientist and then the demon of Angel, the agent of Alias and the hacker Root of Person of Interest; Margo Martindale in three, among them the handler of the KGB in The Americans and the grandmother of Sneaky Pete. Bryan Cranston is the teacher of Breaking Bad and the judge of Your Honor; Antony Starr the false sheriff of Banshee and the Homelander of The Boys; Sandra Oh the officer of Killing Eve and the voice of the mother of Invincible; James Marsden a host of Westworld and the former fiancé of Dead to Me, and Katherine Heigl the alien of Roswell and the lawyer Samantha Wheeler of Suits. The guide The stars lists them all.

The makers of secrets

Greg Berlanti is the creator who appears most often, with five series: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Titans among the masked heroes, and You among the killers. Andrew Kreisberg shares the first three with him. Three more creators have three series each: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, with Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin; Bryan Fuller, with Hannibal, Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies, and Joss Whedon, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse. Two series each go to Eric Kripke, with The Boys and Supernatural; Kevin Williamson, with The Vampire Diaries and The Following; Jonathan Nolan, with Westworld and Person of Interest; Rob Thomas, with Veronica Mars and iZombie; Josh Schwartz, with Gossip Girl and Chuck; Jeff Eastin, with White Collar and Graceland; David Greenwalt, with Angel and Grimm, and Stephen J. Cannell, with The A-Team and 21 Jump Street. The guide The creators follows them.

The networks

Netflix is the first network of seventeen series of the guide, from Ozark and Lupin to Dead to Me and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, ahead of NBC with fifteen, from Get Smart and ALF to Hannibal and The Good Place, and ABC with fourteen, from Bewitched and The Fugitive to Desperate Housewives and Revenge. Showtime follows with nine, five of them double lives at home; The CW, FOX and USA Network with eight each, The CW for its heroes and vampires, USA Network for its spies and impostors, from Burn Notice to Suits, and Prime Video and The WB with six each. The guide The networks lists them all.

VeloraTV in figures

The 156 series of the guide carry about 292,100 votes on TMDB, with an average rating of 7.65, and 45 of them reach 8 or more; the collection Rated 8 or more gathers them, best first, from Breaking Bad at 9.0 to Invincible and Wizards of Waverly Place at 8.6 and on down to 8.0. The most voted are Breaking Bad, Riverdale, The Boys, The Flash, The Vampire Diaries and Elite. Together they hold 650 seasons and about 10,200 episodes; the longest is Supernatural, with fifteen seasons and 327 episodes, ahead of Bewitched with 254 and Smallville with 216. Of the 156 series, 104 have ended, forty were cancelled and twelve still return, gathered in the collection Still returning.

By decade of first broadcast, the guide holds six series of the 1960s, three of the 1970s, five of the 1980s, nine of the 1990s, 37 of the 2000s, 69 of the 2010s and 27 of the 2020s; the collection Before 1990 gathers the fourteen oldest, from The Fugitive to Quantum Leap. Drama is the first genre of fifty series and science fiction and fantasy of 38, and 146 of the series are in English, with three in French, two in Korean, two in Hebrew and one each in Spanish, Russian and Dutch. The guide The figures gathers every number.

Where to begin

For a first evening behind the veil, take one series from each family: The Americans or Dexter for lies and lawbreakers, Breaking Bad or Smallville for secret selves, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Westworld for strangers among us. Then follow your mood: Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie for the comedies of the 1960s, Chuck and 3rd Rock from the Sun for a lighter secret, Slow Horses and Line of Duty for British suspense, Flower of Evil and Mouse for the thrillers of Korea, and Wizards of Waverly Place for the whole family. The guide Start with VeloraTV gives a first route.

How to use VeloraTV

The home page opens with an introduction on a velvet card under a fringe of gold beads and the board Behind the mask, with the twelve shelves in three columns, one per family, each line marked with a gold, rose or violet mask. Each line shows the family, the shelf and its number of series, and leads to its row. Each row sits on a velvet panel under a gold rule, with twelve posters and the button Lift the veil, which opens the full shelf. The menu in the header leads to the three families, and the search box finds any series by its title; the guide Search tips explains how.

Each poster shows the year of first broadcast on a dark tag, the TMDB rating on a gold tag and, on a dark band edged in rose at the bottom, the tag of its shelf, for example Spy or Ghost; under the poster come the title, the first genre and the number of episodes. The series page has the English synopsis, the creators, the cast, the network and the list of episodes. The Watch now button opens the series on JustWatch, which shows the services that offer it in your country, and the button Add to My List keeps it in My list, stored in your browser. The guide How to use VeloraTV explains each part, and the guide The Watch now button explains how JustWatch works.

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