Trying to find a show that’s literally as good asThe Sopranosis an exercise in futility, since nothing is quite as good. It’s perhaps the ultimate crime show, and yet it’s so much more than a TV show about crime, working as a dark comedy, a family drama, something psychology-focused, and, quite simply, just a work of fiction that captures a certain reality about life in America during the early 21st century (even though it did admittedly start airing in the late 1990s).
Butif you want shows that are almost as good, these ones are probably worth checking out… and, admittedly, few of the picks here will be surprising. Also, these shows are kind of “R-rated” in spirit, likeThe Sopranos, even though the R-rating is technically exclusive to films, and the TV equivalent in America is TV-MA. Just roll with that title.
10’True Detective' (2014-2024)
Created by Nic Pizzolatto, Issa López
As an anthology series, the lack of consistency inTrue Detectiveis a little easier to forgive, or at least tolerate. You can kind of take what you want out of a show like this, with each season being a self-contained story that focuses on a different police investigation, and with a differing set of characters (plus other varying circumstances).
Most willagree that the first season was pretty great, and one of the best things that aired on HBO (which also airedThe Sopranos) during the 2010s.True Detectivealso earns its stripes as a TV show with very R-rated content, withthe lack of restrictions on a pay television service like HBO ensuring this has a harder edge than most other police procedurals, given the bulk of the most popular ones tend to be network TV shows.
True Detective
9’Game of Thrones' (2011-2019)
Created by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Okay, speaking of inconsistency, here’sGame of Thrones, which is a show where much has been written about the last handful of seasons and how they weren’t as good as the first handful of seasons. Such complaints are warranted, but even the back half of the show had its moments (especially when it came to spectacle), and nothing can take away from how consistently good the first few seasons were.
It is a fantasy show, but it’s also more than just that,working as a great dramathat also happens to have immense production value and some cinema-quality action as icing on a(n initially) well-written cake.Game of Thrones, even with its flaws, is still the quintessential HBO drama series of the 2010s, and at its peak, was an undeniable cultural event.
Game Of Thrones
8’Berserk' (1997-1998)
Created by Kentaro Miura
Of all the anime shows that have the sort of content that, if released theatrically, would result in R ratings being handed out, few are quite asgood (or quite as dark) asBerserk. You do feel the age of this one in places, especially since the animation is rough, but there’s a style here that does ultimately work more often than not, and the core story is so good that the presentation sometimes feels oddly secondary.
Nowadays, it might not be as much of a novelty to have an anime series beso relentlessly grim, bloody, and nightmarish, butBerserkdoing so in the 1990s made it stand out. Ithelped pave the way for other animated shows made in its wake to push boundaries and target adult audiences exclusively, moving its medium forward and making it more mature in a comparable way to how, you could argue, The Sopranos did.
7’Veep' (2012-2019)
Created by Armando Iannucci
The characters ofVeepare profane enough that they might well be some of the only fictional characters in TV history who’d stand a chance at offending the also potty-mouthed characters ofThe Sopranos.Veepwas a political satire and a sitcom first, airing on HBO and making use of the lack of restrictions on language. It was funny, and rarely played things for drama, but did touch upon serious issues and had an exceptionally dark sense of humor, too.
It’s still vicious. It’s still got bite. It’s still funny. And at least the level of profanity will likely be timeless.
Whether it’s aged well or doesn’t feel as funny when watched nowadays… well, your mileage might vary. It depends.Veepcould well be better now, or maybe it’s just become out of step with the sort of political chaos that defined the 2020s, which is – regardless of your political opinion – different from the sort of political chaos that might’ve defined America whenVeepstarted airing. Oh well.It’s still vicious. It’s still got bite. It’s still funny. And at leastthe level of profanity will likely be timeless.
Created by Vince Gilligan
Breaking Badis another one of those seminal shows that doesn’t usually need much of an introduction. But if you really want one, here goes. There’s a guy named Walter White. He’s pretty meek. He’s not a great guy, but he’s ordinary enough, working as a high school teacher. But then he gets diagnosed with cancer, and decides to start cooking meth, earning large quantities of money to leave behind for his family once he dies.
But then, because it’sBreaking Bad, very little goes to plan, anda series of tragic things escalateuntil the show reaches an inevitable –yet still gripping – final stretch of intense episodes. It’s more directly plotted and perhaps less rewatchable than something likeThe Sopranos, but damn, the punch it packs the first time around is so monumental and emotionally satisfying that it’s the sort of thing you do have to watch once before your time, like Walt’s, is up.
Breaking Bad
5’Oz' (1997-2003)
Created by Tom Fontana
Actually, for all this talk aboutThe Sopranosbeing groundbreaking and medium-shifting, it was beaten to the punch, as far as HBO dramas go, byOz. This show isn’t quite as good, sure, and so you’re able to sort of see why it lives in the shadow ofThe Sopranosinstead of the other way around… but, that all being said, it’s still pretty great, and remains admirably shocking all these years on from when it first aired.
It’s a shocking show because it takes place in what might well bethe deadliest and most dangerous prisonin all of fiction (even including prisons from dystopian works).InOz, brutal gangs make an already difficult life even more hellish by being inconstant conflict, and across six seasons, it becomes clear no one’s safe from horrific injury or death; not even the show’s narrator, for crying out loud.
4’Peep Show' (2003-2015)
Created by Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Andrew O’Connor
Thoughit’s a sitcom,Peep Showmanaged to be bleak enough to rival some dramas, at least when it came to inspiring levels of discomfort. Almost everything is played for laughs, but the show feels like it’s almost daring you to keep laughing, what with how misanthropic it gets, and the depthsits main characters continue to sink toas the seasons go on.
Also, just about every shot ofPeep Showis shown from somebody’s point of view, and the disturbed inner thoughts of the two main characters are heard frequently; both things put you right in the middle of the action/discomfort.If you like cringe comedy, few comedies are as effectively cringe-inducing asPeep Show(but that’s “cringe” in a good/intentional way, rather than in the negative way it’s more commonly used as of late).
3’Six Feet Under' (2001-2005)
Created by Alan Ball
Families don’t get much more dysfunctional than the Fisher clan, who find their lives thrown further out of balance at the start ofSix Feet Under, when the family patriarch dies suddenly. The family has tons of familiarity with death broadly speaking, given they run a funeral home, but the personal/sudden nature of the one at the show’s start is something else, and its fallout is explored throughout many of the seasons to come.
Otherwise,Six Feet Underis just aboutstruggling through life and dealing with loved oneswho are, ultimately, human, and therefore flawed. Well, maybe the characters inSix Feet Underare a little more flawed than usual. But for all their frustrating qualities, their struggles are still compelling, andthe show successfully evokes pathos both for them, and for humanity at large, what with the non-stop reminders that everyone dies one day.
Six Feet Under
2’Succession' (2018-2023)
Created by Jesse Armstrong
Speaking offlawed characters making for compelling drama,Successionsomehow works and proves riveting, even with everyone being some shade of terrible. Certain people are worse than others, and there are times when you may pity some of them, butSuccessionshows that most people are stuck in their ways, and that true change is rarer in reality than it might seem, thanks to TV (and that was a big thingThe Sopranosdrove home, too).
But, at the same time,Successionis also a very funny show on top of having its serious moments, and might well bemore of a comedy than a drama if you find yourself seldom having sympathy for all the ultra-rich peoplebickering, failing to scheme, and tripping over themselves. It’s undoubtedly one of the greatest shows in recent memory; maybe even the very best of the late 2010s/early 2020s.
Succession
1’The Wire' (2002-2008)
Created by David Simon
Maybe the only HBO drama that most will agree is on the same level asThe Sopranos,The Wireis also, it should be noted, quite a different show. Both can be called crime dramas, sure, butThe Wireis more of an ensemble drama, and one that gets noticeably grander in scope with every season, eventually painting a portrait of an entire city through exploring numerous institutions within it.
There’s also an emphasis on narrative inThe Wire, compared to the more character-focusedThe Sopranos, and an arguably greater need to pay attention to what’s going on (it’s about as far from a “second screen” show as you can get). Butfew TV shows reward quite likeThe Wire, andeven with a start that sometimes feels slow, everything slots neatly into place at a point,and by the time it’s over, 60-ish hours having largely flown by, you really feel as though you’ve watched a perfect piece of television.
