The Wire series, which started broadcasting on the HBO channel in 2002 and made its finale in 2008 after five successful seasons, is one of the most successful detective productions ever, according to many. The reason why The Wire was so popular was because it was realistic. It was realistic because the show’s producer and writer, David Simon, was a former police reporter.
The Wire series took the audience to Baltimore, one of the largest cities in the US state of Maryland, and invited them to the dark back streets of the criminal world from a perspective never seen before. If you liked The Wire series, and even if you are not tired of watching it over and over like many fans, let’s at least take a closer look at similar series and stories that you can watch with the same pleasure.
TV shows like The Wire:
- Ozark
- The Night Of
- mindhunter
- House of Cards
- Mad Men
- Peaky Blinders
- narcos
- True Detective
- The Sopranos
- Breaking Bad
Did you really think you could escape: Ozark
- Year: 2017 – 2022
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Cast: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz
- IMDb: 8.5
Marty Byrde, the father of a quiet family in a suburb of Chicago, USA, is a financial advisor. When the company he works for gets involved in a Mexican drug cartel, he packs up a bowl and moves to Southern Missouri to protect his family. Of course, things don’t go as planned, and they end up in trouble right where they thought their family would be safest.
Strange relationship between lawyer and client: The Night Of
- Year: 2016
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Cast: John Turturro, Riz Ahmed, Bill Camp
- IMDb: 8.5
Even though The Night Of is a mini-series, the short story it tells is so deep and so human that it tires the audience as if it came out of a ten-season series. Our character in the story set in New York is accused of murdering a young girl. Another character is his lawyer. Throughout the story, we watch the strange details of the lawyer-client relationship that no one knows except those involved.
Get to know the criminals even better: Mindhunter
- Year: 2017 – 2019
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Cast: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv
- IMDb: 8.6
Holden Ford and his partner Bill Tench are two agents working in a special unit under the FBI. After a mission, they begin to investigate serial killers and rapists who are considered monsters. As the investigation deepens, they realize that the existing techniques are not sufficient and develop new criminal profiling techniques. These techniques they developed reveal the most disgusting aspects of the criminal world to the audience.
The dirty face of US politics: House of Cards
- Year: 2013 – 2018
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Diane Lane
- IMDb: 8.7
In the award-winning House of Cards series, we are guests of Washington DC, the heart of the US government. Frank Underwood, a South Carolina elected Democratic congressman, was promised but not given the secretary of state. Believing that the president shot him in the back, the congressman swears to practice politics at its dirtiest side from then on.
Imagination and reality are in their hands: Mad Men
- Year: 2007 – 2015
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery
- IMDb: 8.7
American business is always dirty, but if you work in advertising in 1960s New York City, things are even dirtier. Don Draper, one of the most famous advertisers of the period, is considered as an advertising guru. Our guru and his team have accomplished such successful projects in advertising that at some point the line between fantasy and reality gets thinner for Americans.
A war-weary gang: Peaky Blinders
- Year: 2013 – 2022
- Genre: Crime, Drama
- Cast: Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Natasha O’Keeffe
- IMDb: 8.8
Britain has just come out of the First World War and the country is in a mess. Many gangs have sprung up trying to earn their living illegally in the outskirts of poverty. One of them is the Peaky Blinders gang. The work of the Peaky Blinders gang, which even bribed the police to their side, will be turned upside down when a new police inspector arrives in the area.
A real beast: Narcos
- Year: 2015 – 2017
- Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
- Cast: Pedro Pascal, Damián Alcázar, Francisco Denis
- IMDb: 8.8
In the TV series Narcos, we follow the real life story of Pablo Escobar, one of the most famous and brutal crime syndicates in history. Our story begins when Mexican agent Javier Pena is sent to Colombia to capture Escobar. After the agent working for the United States comes to this country, he realizes that the man he is after actually has a much wider network than he thought.
Years of chase: True Detective
- Year: 2014 – 2019
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Cast: Mahershala Ali, Stephen Dorff, Carmen Ejogo
- IMDb: 8.9
Rust Cohle and Martin Hart are two detectives working together on the Louisiana Homicide Squad. One day, they realize that the murder report they received is actually a serial murder and they go after the serial killer. The story gets deeper and our detectives find themselves in this pursuit for 17 years. Years later, when the case is taken up again, they suddenly find themselves suspicious.
An Italian mafia family in America: The Sopranos
- Year: 1999 – 2007
- Genre: Crime, Drama
- Cast: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco
- IMDb: 9.2
The Mafia is a criminal empire that was founded in Italy and has taken root all over the world over the years. Part of this empire is in New Jersey, whose leader is Tony Soprano. Throughout the story of the mafia family, which carries out dark deeds on American soil, we not only see the unknown details of the mafia culture, but also witness the opening of the mystery of the criminal world.
A true legend: Breaking Bad
- Year: 2008 – 2013
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Cast: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn
- IMDb: 9.5
Walter White, an ordinary chemistry teacher, learns one day that he has lung cancer and is going to die. Before he dies, he begins to manufacture drugs, using his knowledge of chemistry to leave money for his family. His partner is his former student Jesse Pinkman. The drug he produces under the pseudonym Heisenberg is unique on the market. This sad story suddenly turns into the rise of a crime giant.
We briefly talked about the stories they presented to the audience by listing TV series like The Wire, in which we watched the most realistic version of action and detective action. Of course, this list could have been much longer. You can share the series like The Wire that you want to be on our list in the comments.
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