Oz

Series Similar to Oz

If you enjoyed Oz, 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. 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.

3. Wentworth

   2013 · Drama, Crime · ended99% match

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

   Fans of the iconic Prisoner series which pushed boundaries over three decades ago and still today boasts a loyal following worldwide, will remember Bea Smith as gutsy and fearless, ruling Wentworth Correctional Center with an iron fist. But who was Bea Smith before prison? How did a wife and mother from the suburbs become a top dog without rival? Wentworth is a dynamic, often confronting, drama series that begins with Bea's early days in prison. Set in the present day, it is a modern adaptation of Prisoner contemporising legendary characters and their stories for today's audience. This ten-part series takes the viewer inside to an uncompromising environment exploring the politics of women in a world without men, and how such a threatening experience both challenges and often changes those confined and working behind the razor wire.

4. Boardwalk Empire

   2010 · Drama, Crime · ended95% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.4), also on HBO.

   As the country struggles to cope with the Great Depression and the end of Prohibition looms, Nucky Thompson looks to legitimize himself through alliances with liquor producers, while rivals Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky seek to consolidate their power in the wake of Arnold Rothstein's death and eliminate all competition - by any means necessary on Boardwalk Empire.

5. MINDHUNTER

   2017 · Drama, Crime, Thriller · ended95% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.4).

   MINDHUNTER is based on the 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, by former special agent John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. For years, Douglas pursued some of the most notorious serial killers and rapists, developing profiling techniques to catch them. The book goes behind the scenes of some of his highest-profile cases, including the man who hunted prostitutes in Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle's Green River killer. To hone in his profiling methods Douglas interviewed and studied a skew of serial killers. Several book and TV characters have been based in part on him, including Jack Crawford in Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs, Will Graham on Hannibal and Jason Gideon on Criminal Minds.

6. The Shield

   2002 · Drama, Crime · ended94% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.6).

   Detective Vic Mackey is the leader of an elite Strike Team unit, a group of cops effective at eliminating crime but also operating under Vic's own set of rules. But his rules sometimes cross the fine line between legal and illegal. Now the precinct has a new captain who doesn't like Vic's tactics and wants to bust him off the force - even as the captain finds himself going to Vic for help whenever the going gets rough.

7. The Night Of

   2016 · Drama, Crime, Legal · ended94% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.4), also on HBO.

   The Night Of is an eight-part limited series that delves into the intricate story of a fictitious murder case in New York City. The series follows the police investigation and legal proceedings, all the while examining the criminal justice system and the purgatory of Rikers Island, where the accused awaits his trial.Filmed in and around Manhattan, the HBO series is based on the BBC's Criminal Justice, created by Peter Moffat.

8. Thorne

   2010 · Drama, Crime · ended93% 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.

9. Prison Break

   2005 · Drama, Crime, Thriller · ended92% match

   Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.2).

   Lincoln Burrows is currently on death row and scheduled to die in a few months for an assassination his younger brother Michael is convinced he did not commit. With no other options and time winding down, Michael takes drastic measures to get himself incarcerated alongside his brother in Fox River State Penitentiary. Once he's inside, Michael - a structural engineer with the blueprints for the prison - begins to execute an elaborate plan to break Lincoln out and prove him innocent. When Michael arrives at Fox River State Penitentiary, he meets the prison denizens who will, unknowingly, help in his escape plans - his cellmate, the lovelorn Sucre; beautiful prison doctor Dr. Sara Tancredi, who happens to be the governor's daughter; former mob boss John Abruzzi; and Warden Henry Pope. Meanwhile, outside the prison walls, the brothers' childhood friend and Lincoln's lost love, attorney Veronica Donovan, works within the law to free them; Lincoln's teenage son LJ may be going down a path similar to his convicted father's; and Secret Service Agent Paul Kellerman's investigation into Lincoln's case proves that there may be a national conspiracy.

10. Hannibal

    2013 · Drama, Crime, Horror · ended91% match

    Recommended for similar Crime profile, highly rated (8.2).

    Criminal profiler Will Graham is tasked by FBI agent Jack Crawford, the head of Behavioral Sciences, to help investigate the disappearances of eight young girls across Minnesota. Graham and Crawford's team investigate several subsequent murders, while also trying to catch the Chesapeake Ripper. With the investigation weighing heavily on Graham, Crawford decides to have him supervised by psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who, unbeknownst to them, is the Chesapeake Ripper himself, actively seeking to derail the investigation.