The Wire

Shows Like The Wire

• Black Mirror

  Netflix · 2011

  Black Mirror is an anthology series questioning every day lives and technology in each episode. Every episode has its own characters and story. Black Mirror is a reference to the television screen when switched off, giving a dark reflection of the onlookers. "Black Mirror" is a reworking of "The Twilight Zone" with stories that tap into the collective unease about the modern world, particularly regarding both intended and unintended consequences of new technologies and the effect they have on society and individuals. Each story features its own cast of unique characters, including stars like Bryce Dallas Howard ("The Help"), Alice Eve, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Cullen and Jerome Flynn ("Game of Thrones"). Joe Wright, Dan Trachtenberg, and James Watkins are among the featured directors.

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• Breaking Bad

  Amc · 2008 · 5 faves

  Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels.

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• Fargo

  Fx · 2014

  "Fargo" is an anthology television series inspired by the Coen brothers' film of the same name, known for its darkly comedic tone and intricate storytelling. Each season of the series presents a self-contained story set in the frozen and often quirky landscapes of Minnesota and the surrounding regions. From small-town crimes to intricate webs of deception, "Fargo" explores the collision of ordinary people and extraordinary circumstances. Through its distinct blend of crime, suspense, and dark humor, the show delves into themes of morality, fate, and the consequences of human actions. With an ensemble cast of intriguing characters, unexpected twists, and sharp dialogue, "Fargo" offers a captivating and immersive journey into the bizarre and compelling underbelly of the Midwestern crime world.

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• Friends

  Hbo Max · 1994

  Six young men and women live in the same apartment complex and face life and love together in Manhattan, New York City. As they're constantly sticking their noses into each another's businesses, as well as sometimes swapping romantic partners, the group always get into the kind of comic situations that most other people never experience, especially during breakups.

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• Game of Thrones

  Hbo · 2011 · 29 faves

  George R.R. Martin's best-selling book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" is brought to the screen as HBO sinks its considerable storytelling teeth into the medieval fantasy epic. It's the depiction of two powerful families -- kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and honest men -- playing a deadly game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and to sit atop the Iron Throne. Martin is credited as a co-executive producer and one of the writers for the series, whose shooting locations include Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia and Spain.

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• Homeland

  Showtime · 2011

  When Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody returns home following eight years in captivity, CIA agent Carrie Mathison thinks he has turned and is connected to a terror plot to be carried out on American soil, so she engages him in a dangerous game of cat and mouse that puts America's national security at risk. Later on, Carrie gets a promotion and returns to the front lines overseas. She is assigned to one of the CIA's most volatile and dangerous stations in the Middle East, where she is in the heart of battle in the war on terror. Years later, after being disillusioned and placing herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, Carrie becomes estranged from the CIA, eventually returning stateside where she works for a foundation providing aid to Muslims living in America.

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• Peaky Blinders

  Netflix · 2013

  A gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby. Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War. Returning soldiers, newly minted revolutions and criminal gangs are fighting for survival in a nation rocked by economic upheaval. One of the most powerful gangs of the time is the Peaky Blinders, run by returning war hero Thomas Shelby and his family. But Thomas has bigger ambitions than just running the streets. When a crate of guns goes missing, he recognizes an opportunity to advance in the world because crime may pay but legitimate business pays better. Trying to rid Britain of its crime is Inspector Chester Campbell, who arrives from Belfast to try to achieve that goal.

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• The Sopranos

  Hbo · 1999

  Tony Soprano juggles the problems of his fractious family with those of a "Family" of a different sort - the mob. He sees a therapist to deal with his professional and personal problems, which bring on panic attacks. He deals with personal and professional power struggles, affairs, violence, the threat of exposure and betrayal, and a whole bunch of people being whacked.

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• True Detective

  Hbo · 2014

  Seasonal anthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law. Series explores the lives of police detectives as they chase criminals, using unconventional methods. The officers struggle to gain control of their own personal demons as they attack different cases. A 1995 murder case is revisited 17 years later, calling into question the supposed solving of the crime by Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart, and reopening old wounds related to the detectives' volatile partnership and personal lives. The enquiry unfolds in the present day through separate interrogations of the now former co-workers, who narrate the story of both the investigation and their lives, including why Cohle left Louisiana's Criminal Investigation Division in 2002. As the timeline weaves between 1995 and 2012, Cohle and Hart are brought back to a world both thought they had left behind.

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• Westworld

  Hbo · 2016

  Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park -- which is looked after by robotic "hosts" -- allows its visitors to live out their fantasies through artificial consciousness. No matter how illicit the fantasy may be, there are no consequences for the park's guests, allowing for any wish to be indulged. "Westworld" is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same name and features an all-star cast.

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