Desperate Housewives

Series Similar to Desperate Housewives

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

1. Veronica Mars

   2004 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

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

   In the wealthy, seaside community of Neptune, the rich and powerful make the rules. They own the town and are desperately trying to keep their dirty little secrets just that... secret. Unfortunately for them, there's Veronica Mars, a smart, fearless private investigator dedicated to solving the town's toughest mysteries. During the day, Veronica studies hard, but by night, she helps her father Keith with his private investigator business, sneaking through back alleys and scoping out no-tell motels with a telescopic-lens camera in an attempt to uncover the California beach town's darkest secrets.

2. Devious Maids

   2013 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile.

   Devious Maids is set in a world where murder and mayhem collide in the mansions of Beverly Hills' wealthiest and most powerful families. Class warfare has never been as fun and dirty as it is in the tiny enclave where the staff is as clever, witty and downright devilish as their employers. The series centers on a close-knit group of maids, Marisol, Rosie, Carmen Valentina and Zoila, who are bonded together by their jobs, life struggles and the melodramatic universe that engulfs their employers.

3. Revenge

   2011 · Drama, Thriller, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile, also on ABC.

   This is not a story about forgiveness; Revenge is a show about retribution. Meet Emily Thorne, the newest resident of The Hamptons. When she was a little girl (and known as Amanda Clarke) her father, David Clarke, was framed for a horrific crime and subsequently sent to prison. While serving his time, the conspirators plotted and murdered David in order to prevent the truth from coming out. Emily is now back with a new identity and ready to take vengeance on the people that murdered her father and stole her childhood.

4. Big Little Lies

   2017 · Drama, Comedy, Mystery · returning

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile.

   In the tranquil seaside town of Monterey, California, nothing is quite as it seems. Doting moms, successful husbands, adorable children, beautiful homes: What lies will be told to keep their perfect worlds from unraveling?Told through the eyes of three mothers – Madeline, Celeste and Jane – Big Little Lies paints a picture of a town fueled by rumors and divided into the haves and have-nots, exposing the conflicts, secrets and betrayals that compromise relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and friends and neighbors.

5. The Nine

   2006 · Drama, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile, hidden gem, also on ABC.

   The Nine is a complex character drama series that will unravel the mystery of what transpired during a bank robbery turned 52-hour hostage situation in Los Angeles. Chronological flashbacks of what happened inside the bank will open each episode, but the heart of the series is how that harrowing experience impacts the key characters in their present day lives as they continue to intertwine, deepen and complicate the connections to one another.

6. Dead to Me

   2019 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile.

   Dead to Me is about a powerful friendship that blossoms between a tightly wound widow and a free spirit with a shocking secret.

7. Janet King

   2014 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile, highly rated (8), also on ABC.

   Created as a spin-off from the 2011 legal drama Crownies. Janet King follows the story of Senior Crown Prosecutor Janet King, tracing her journey in Series 1 in the Department of Public Prosecutions to a Royal Commission into Serious Firearm Crime in Series 2 to the National Crime Commission in Series 3.

8. Castle

   2009 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile, highly rated (8.2), also on ABC.

   Castle follows Rick Castle who is one of the world's most successful crime authors. But when his rock star lifestyle isn't enough, this bad boy goes looking for new trouble and finds it working with smart, beautiful Detective Kate Beckett. Inspired by her professional record and intrigued by her buttoned-up personality, Castle's found the model for his bold new character whether she likes it or not. Now with the mayor's permission, Castle is helping solve crime with his own twist.

9. Paradise Lost

   2020 · Drama, Mystery · ended

   Recommended for similar Mystery profile, highly rated (8).

   Paradise Lost is about a psychiatrist who moves with her family from California to her husband's hometown in Mississippi only to uncover shameful secrets that irrevocably change the lives of everyone involved.

10. The Doctor Blake Mysteries

    2013 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · ended

    Recommended for similar Mystery profile, highly rated (8.1), also on ABC.

    Doctor Lucien Blake returns to Ballarat to once again solve a series of strange and baffling murders, only to find change is afoot, nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.