Boardwalk Empire

Series Similar to Boardwalk Empire

If you enjoyed Boardwalk Empire, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. The Wire

   2002 · Drama, Crime · ended99% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.9), also on HBO.

   The first season of The Wire (2002) concentrated on the often-futile efforts of police to infiltrate a West Baltimore drug ring headed by Avon Barksdale and his lieutenant, Stringer Bell. In Seasons Two and Three, as the Barksdale investigation escalated, new storylines involving pressures on the working class and the city's political leadership were introduced. Season Four focused on the stories of several young boys in the public school system, struggling with problems at home and the lure of the corner - set against the rise of a new drug empire in West Baltimore and a new Mayor in City Hall. The fifth and final season of The Wire centers on the media's role in addressing - or failing to address - the fundamental political, economic and social realities depicted over the course of the series, while also resolving storylines of the numerous characters woven throughout the narrative arc of the show.

2. Peaky Blinders

   2013 · Drama, Crime, History · returning99% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.5).

   An epic gangster drama set in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham.

3. The Sopranos

   1999 · Drama, Crime · ended99% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.9), also on HBO.

   The Sopranos, writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary television series, is nominally an urban gangster drama, but its true impact strikes closer to home: Like 1999's other screen touchstone, American Beauty, the HBO series chronicles a dysfunctional, suburban American family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano, there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families, his collegial mob clan and his own, nouveau riche brood.

4. Thorne

   2010 · Drama, Crime · ended99% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem.

   Thorne, a television drama series which debuted on Sky1 in the UK on 10 October 2010, is based on crime writer Mark Billingham's novels. The series stars David Morrissey in the title role of Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, and includes Aidan Gillen, Eddie Marsan, and Natascha McElhone as supporting cast members.

5. We Own This City

   2022 · Drama, Crime · ended98% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, also on HBO.

   We Own This City chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work. 

6. Oz

   1997 · Drama, Crime · ended98% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.7), also on HBO.

   HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The eight episodes of the first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of a vivid characters on both sides of the bars, four or five stories unleashed at a breakneck pace and framed by angry, oddball introductions, and a soaring casualty rate. Created by Homicide producer Tom Fontana, this drama quickly earned its rightful reputation as the most brutal show on TV. It's simple chemistry: combine volatile ingredients in a confined space, shut tight, and shake.

7. Bad Blood

   2017 · Drama, Crime · ended97% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, hidden gem.

   Bad Blood is a story of family, loyalty, deceit, power, greed, and ultimately revenge. Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto is a criminal anomaly. Determined to bring peace to the disparate wings of the Montreal crime world of the day, Rizzuto successfully unifies them, serving as a de facto CEO while ensuring a lucrative payday for all. When Rizzuto is suddenly arrested and extradited to Colorado's Supermax Prison for the 1981 murders of three Bonanno crime family members, the powerful empire he built begins to crumble. Rizzuto watches helplessly until his release from prison in October 2012, when a Shakespearean tale of revenge begins to unfold.

8. The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies

   2014 · Drama, Crime · ended96% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem.

   This drama tells the real-life story of retired schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies who was initially questioned by police as a suspect in the murder of Jo Yeates who rented a flat from him. He was vilified by the press, partly on account of his eccentric appearance and long flowing hair, even after he had been released on bail by the police.

9. Power

   2014 · Drama, Crime · ended96% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile.

   Power tells the story of James "Ghost" St. Patrick, a wealthy New York City nightclub owner who caters to the city's elite. He wants to build an empire, turn the club into a Fortune 500 business, but there's just one problem: Ghost is living a double life. When he is not in the club, he is the kingpin of the most lucrative drug network in New York for a very high-level clientele. His marriage, family and business all become unknowingly threatened as he is tempted to leave his criminal life behind and become the rags-to-riches businessman he wants to be most of all.

10. The Penguin

    2024 · Drama, Crime · ended95% match

    Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8), also on HBO.

    Starring Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb (aka The Penguin), the DC Studios series continues filmmaker Matt Reeves' The Batman epic crime saga that began with Warner Bros. Pictures' global blockbuster The Batman. Developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, the series centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.