SpaceShows Like The Sopranos
Looking for shows like The Sopranos? Here are 10 titles with the same morally complex crime-family depth.
Last updated Oct 1, 2026
Best Shows Like The Sopranos
The best shows like The Sopranos are The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Boardwalk Empire. Each delivers the same complex crime drama.
Looking for shows like The Sopranos? Here are 10 titles with the same morally complex crime-family depth. We picked each title based on shared tone, themes, and emotional feel.
1. The Wire
2002CrimeWhere to watch The WireThe Wire is a series set in Baltimore that follows the drug trade and the police, schools, politics, and press that are all tied to it. Like The Sopranos, it is a crime drama that treats both criminals and lawmen as complex people. It is a much wider portrait of a city rather than the story of one family, and its pace is slow and detailed.
2. Breaking Bad
2008DramaWhere to watch Breaking BadBreaking Bad follows Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque who turns to making methamphetamine after a cancer diagnosis. Like The Sopranos, it is a series built around a morally compromised lead who justifies his crimes as protecting his family. It has a tighter, more thriller-like structure, focused on one man's transformation rather than an established mob world.
3. Boardwalk Empire
2010CrimeWhere to watch Boardwalk EmpireBoardwalk Empire follows Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, a corrupt political boss in Prohibition-era Atlantic City who runs a bootlegging empire. It is the closest gangster series to The Sopranos, with Terence Winter, a writer from The Sopranos, as its creator. It is a lavish period drama with more historical gangsters and politics, and less of Tony's psychological introspection.
4. Ozark
2017CrimeWhere to watch OzarkOzark follows a financial planner, played by Jason Bateman, who moves his family to the Missouri Ozarks to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. Like The Sopranos, it shows a family man and his wife getting deeper into crime while trying to keep up appearances. It is tenser and more plot-driven, with constant danger replacing The Sopranos' slower, character-focused rhythm.
5. Succession
2018DramaWhere to watch SuccessionSuccession follows the Roy family, the wealthy owners of a massive media company, as the aging patriarch's children fight over who will take control. It has no gangsters, but its powerful, ruthless father figure and vicious family politics feel very similar to The Sopranos. The dark humor is even sharper, and the violence is replaced by corporate backstabbing.
6. Goodfellas
1990CrimeWhere to watch GoodfellasGoodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, follows Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, from his teenage years in a Brooklyn mob crew to his eventual downfall. Several cast members from The Sopranos appear in this film, and its view of everyday mob life had a huge influence on the series. As a film rather than a TV show, it covers decades at a fast, energetic pace.
7. The Godfather
1972CrimeWhere to watch The GodfatherThe Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, follows the Corleone crime family, as the youngest son, Michael, played by Al Pacino, is drawn into the family business. It is the foundational mob story that The Sopranos' characters reference and admire throughout the series. As a film, it plays as an epic, operatic tragedy, more formal and less funny than The Sopranos.
8. Narcos
2015CrimeWhere to watch NarcosNarcos is a series that follows the rise of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the DEA agents trying to bring him down. Like The Sopranos, it gives a criminal boss a complex family life alongside his violent business. It is more of a historical crime thriller, narrated from the law enforcement side, with less focus on psychology.
9. Casino
1995CrimeWhere to watch CasinoCasino, directed by Martin Scorsese, follows a gambling expert, played by Robert De Niro, who runs a Las Vegas casino for the mob, and his volatile friend, played by Joe Pesci. Its portrait of the mob's business, its excesses, and its downfall connects to the world of The Sopranos. As a film, it is a sprawling, narration-heavy epic rather than a weekly drama.
10. The Shield
2002CrimeWhere to watch The ShieldThe Shield is a series following Vic Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis, a corrupt Los Angeles police detective who leads a unit that commits crimes while fighting gangs. Like The Sopranos, it centers a charismatic, dangerous antihero you can't stop watching. It is grittier and faster-paced, with a documentary-like visual style and a focus on police corruption.
Why These Shows Are Similar to The Sopranos
The Sopranos follows Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mob boss balancing his crime family, his actual family, and therapy sessions about his panic attacks. Fans love its dark humor, psychological depth, and morally complicated lead. The Wire, Breaking Bad, and The Shield are the strongest TV matches, each built around compromised men in a corrupt system. Boardwalk Empire is the closest gangster series, Ozark and Succession look at family dynasties, and Narcos covers the drug trade. Goodfellas, The Godfather, and Casino are films rather than series, but they are the mob classics that The Sopranos constantly echoes.