Top 250 Tv Shows Like Riot
The streets of Los Angeles became a battlefield
A list of the best tv shows similar to Riot. If you liked Riot then you may also like: The Rookie, Fargo, True Detective, 21 Jump Street, Adam-12 and many more great tv shows featured on this list.
In April 1992, following the notorious Rodney King verdict, the streets of Los Angeles became a battlefield, the backdrop to four personal intertwined stories.
True Detective
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to go undercover and solve crimes involving teenagers and young adults.
American Crime Story
An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.
The Bold and the Beautiful
Continuing drama combining romance and intrigue set against the glittering backdrop of Beverly Hills and the American fashion industry.
Burke's Law
Burke's Law, a revival of the 1960s cop television series of the same name, aired on CBS from 1994 to 1995. The series centers on Amos Burke, a senior Los Angeles police officer and millionaire, and his son, Peter, who is a detective under his command.
Castle Rock
Based on the stories of Stephen King, the series intertwines characters and themes from the fictional town of Castle Rock.
The Closer
Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.
Code Black
Inspired by the award-winning documentary, this medical drama is set in the busiest and most notorious ER in the nation where the extraordinary staff confront a challenged system in order to protect their ideals and the patients who need them the most.
Get Real
Get Real was a short-lived comedy-drama on the FOX Network centering on the fictional Green family of Los Angeles. It ran from September 1999 to April 2000. It starred Eric Christian Olsen and Anne Hathaway in very early roles, as the older siblings to central character of the series, youngest child, Kenny.
Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball (also referred to as simply The Ball) was a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV, MTV2 (its sister channel), MTV Australia, MTV Rocks (formerly known as MTV2 Europe), MTV Adria (the MTV subsidiary covering the former Yugoslavia), MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV Israel, MTV Hungary and MTV Japan. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987,[1] playing heavy metal and hard rock music videos late at night, from both well-known and more obscure artists. The show offered (and became famous because of) a stark contrast to Top 40 music videos shown during the day. However, with the mainstream rise of alternative rock, grunge, pop punk and rap music in the 1990s, the relevance of Headbangers Ball came into question, and the show was ultimately canceled in 1995. Over eight years later, as new genres of heavy metal were gaining a commercial foothold and fan interest became unavoidable, the program was reintroduced on MTV2. It has remained in varying degrees on the network's website, but is no longer shown on television. Many of the videos that aired on the first incarnation of the series would find a home on the similarly themed Metal Mayhem on sister channel MTV Classic.
Hunter
Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.
King
King is a Canadian police drama which premiered April 17, 2011 on Showcase. The series stars Amy Price-Francis as Jessica King, a veteran police officer who gets promoted to head of the Major Crimes Task Force in Toronto after her predecessor has a breakdown on television. Season 2 began production in September 2011 and premiered 29 February 2012. On June 2, 2012, it was reported that King had been cancelled after 2 seasons.
L.A.'s Finest
Syd Burnett has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Syd is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don't agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.
Law & Order: LA
From the tony Beverly Hills to the seedy side of Hollywood, LAPD’s elite Robbery Homicide Division is on the case. Fusing classic ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling with the backdrop of LA, the series delves into the high profile crimes of the west coast.
Lethal Weapon
A slightly unhinged former Navy SEAL lands a job as a police officer in Los Angeles where he's partnered with a veteran detective trying to keep maintain a low stress level in his life.
Life
Complex, offbeat Detective Charlie Crews returns to the force after serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Crews’ new lease on life has provided him with a Zen-like outlook, peace of mind and no need for vengeance, an attitude which can be challenging to maintain when someone he cares about is threatened — or when he is investigating the mystery surrounding the murder he was falsely accused of.
Lucifer
Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar abandoned his throne and retired to Los Angeles, where he has teamed up with LAPD detective Chloe Decker to take down criminals. But the longer he's away from the underworld, the greater the threat that the worst of humanity could escape.
Major Crimes
Major Crimes explores how the American justice system approaches the art of the deals as law enforcement officers and prosecutors work together to score a conviction. Los Angeles Police Captain Sharon Raydor heads up a special squad within the LAPD that deals with high-profile or particularly sensitive crimes.
The New Normal
Los Angeles couple Bryan and David have successful careers and a loving relationship and are ready for a baby. Just as they start to worry that they will never be blessed with parenthood, they meet Goldie, a waitress who has just moved to California with her precocious eight-year-old daughter to escape from her closed-minded grandmother and a life without a future. The guys quickly work out a deal with Goldie to become their surrogate, and in the process, the little group forms a unique family unit of its own.
Orange Is the New Black
A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.
Perry Mason
The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.
Police Story
Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV. Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots.
Police Woman
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.
Ripper Street
A drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the "Ripper" murders. The action centres around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel. Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper's legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama's heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.
Riptide
Riptide is an American TV detective series that ran on NBC from December 3, 1983 to August 22, 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions in the wake of Magnum PI's success. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. A mid-season replacement, it debuted as a two-hour TV movie in early 1984.
Robocop: Prime Directives
Ten years after the original Robocop, Delta City is city owned and operated by OCP. RoboCop finds himself nearly obsolete and his former partner, John Cable, has returned to Delta City as its new Security Commander. But slowly, new enemies arise, and Murphy and Cable begin an investigation into a mysterious villain known as the Bone Machine.
Shark
Notorious Los Angeles defense attorney Sebastian Stark becomes disillusioned with his career after his successful defense of a wife-abuser results in the wife's death. After more than a month trying to come to grips with his situation, he is invited by the Los Angeles district attorney to become a public prosecutor so he can apply his unorthodox-but-effective talents to putting guilty people away instead of putting them back on the street.
The Shield
The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.
Sons of Anarchy
An adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that, charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers, and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegal arms business driven by the seduction of money, power, and blood.
S.W.A.T.
S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Like The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.
Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
A chronicle of the two major police investigations by LAPD Detective Greg Kading into the deaths of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Victorious
Aspiring singer Tori Vega navigates life while attending a performing arts high school called Hollywood Arts.
Watching Ellie
A single woman, Ellie Riggs, tries to navigate her way through the Los Angeles music scene and her own messy personal life.
When We Rise
The personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today. The period piece tells the history of the gay rights movement, starting with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
Wicked City
Detectives Jack and Paco investigate a murder spree on the rock ’n’ roll, cocaine-infused revelry of the Sunset Strip.
Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.
The Sweeney
Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.
American Experience
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Noah's Arc
Noah's Arc is an American cable television dramedy. The series, which predominantly features gay black and Latino characters, focused on many socially relevant issues, including same sex dating, same-sex marriage, same-sex parenthood, HIV and AIDS awareness, infidelity, promiscuity, homophobia, gay bashing. It ran from October 19, 2005, to October 4, 2006. After its cancellation, a film was produced entitled Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, which was released theatrically in 2008.
Reunion
Reunion is an American television series that aired on FOX in late 2005. The series was intended to chronicle 20 years in the lives of a group of six high school friends from Bedford, New York, with each episode following one year in the lives of the six, beginning with their high school graduation year 1986. Each episode also featured scenes in the present where Detective Marjorino is investigating the brutal murder of one of the group during the night of their 20-year class reunion in 2006. The identity of the murder victim was not revealed until the fifth episode, "1990". Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after only nine episodes, and the identity of the killer remained unrevealed in the aired episodes.
The Jewel in the Crown
A sweeping drama about the ruling and ruled classes of World War II India, the story begins with an unjust arrest for rape. The consequences of this arrest echo throughout the series with questions of identity and personal responsibility being explored against a background of war and personal intrigue.
Hill Street Blues
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
So NoTORIous
So Notorious, sometimes stylized So NoTORIous, is an American sitcom on VH1, loosely based on the life of actress Tori Spelling. The series debuted on April 2, 2006 and despite lasting only ten episodes, received substantial acclaim from critics.
Jigsaw John
Jigsaw John is an American crime drama television series that aired from February 2 until June 14, 1976.
The Protector
Gloria Sheppard is an intuitive LAPD homicide detective who juggles her demanding personal and professional lives while raising two sons with the help of her troubled younger brother, Davey.
Urban Gothic
Urban Gothic was a horror based series of short stories shown on Channel 5 running for two series between May 2000 and December 2001. Filmed on a low budget and broadcast in a later time-slot, it nonetheless acquired a following. It has also since been repeated on the Horror Channel. Set around London there is an underlying story thread that only becomes clear in the last episodes of each series. Each episode was different in style from the others, running the gamut of documentary-style independent film to spoof, to slick dramas similar in style to The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone.
The Kennedys
The Kennedys is an Emmy-winning Canadian-American television miniseries chronicling the lives of the Kennedy family, including key triumphs and tragedies it has experienced. It stars Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Barry Pepper and Tom Wilkinson among others, and is directed by Jon Cassar. The series premiered in the United States in April 2011 on ReelzChannel and on History Television in Canada.
True Justice
Elijah Kane leads a hardcore undercover team of Seattle based cops who take on the local criminal element with a high-octane style of enforcement.
Death Valley
A year ago, vampires, werewolves and zombies mysteriously descended upon the streets of California's San Fernando Valley. The Undead Task Force (UTF) was created to combat the emergence of monsters.
L.A. Dragnet
Within L.A. incredibly diverse landscape, two dedicated cops are relentless when it comes to solving crime. Detective Joe Friday is a seasoned veteran who has seen it all. Through his voiceovers, viewers will gain insight into the crime investigation process, as well as hear the honest thoughts of a 21st century cop. Although a veteran of the beat, Friday still has the same passion and energy as his young partner, Frank Smith, who has recently been promoted to the robbery/homicide division from vice.
Gang Related
Every villain has a noble cause, and every hero has a dark side. Detective Ryan Lopez is a rising star in Los Angeles' elite Gang Task Force. What the world doesn't know is that long before Ryan became a cop, he pledged allegiance to a different band of brothers – a powerful Latino gang called Los Angelicos. When Ryan's best friend and police partner is senselessly killed by a notorious gang member, Ryan teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green who has been at the forefront of the city's war on organized crime. In this war between law enforcement and gangs, the series explores how only people who really know the streets can win the battle on the streets.
Bosch
Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to remain loyal to his personal code: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”
Stalker
A pair of detectives investigate stalkers in Los Angeles. Strong and focused, Lt. Beth Davis is an expert in the field of repeated harassment, driven by personal experience of being a victim. She heads the LAPD's Threat Assessment Unit, which investigates cases of stalking -- including voyeurism, cyberharassment and romantic fixation. The history of recent transfer Jack Larsen -- whose personality and questionable behavior have been an issue in the past -- may help him in his assignment to her team. Her other detectives are young but eager Ben Caldwell and deceptively intelligent Janice Lawrence. Together they try to stop situations from spinning out of control -- and to keep their personal obsessions at bay.
Full Circle
The series from Neil LaBute aims to examine "the human condition and relationships through a series of conversations between 11 people", whose lives are intertwined, unbeknownst to them. Each episode takes place in a restaurant and is a conversation between two characters. One of the character's storylines then will carry over into the next episode through a conversation with a new character. That character will then be featured in the following episode. The process will continue until the final episode.
Quarry
The story of Mac Conway, a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972 and finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River.
Gangsters: America's Most Evil
A cinematic documentary series that explores the rise and fall of some of the most nefarious and notorious criminals brought to justice by the United States government. From thugs to lethal beauties, outlaws to kingpins, each episode profiles these gangsters and reveals their sinister motives, transgressions and the circumstances that eventually led to their downfall.
EastSiders
What happens after the world ends? This show explores the aftermath of infidelity on a gay couple in Silver Lake, CA.
Louis Theroux's LA Stories
Louis Theroux’s LA Stories - three new films putting Los Angeles under the microscope.
Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story
In 1930s Saskatchewan, a small town parish has a new young new pastor, Tommy Douglas. However, for all his regular duties, which include boxing lessons, Tommy sees the poverty and injustice around him which seem beyond his power to address with the pulpit. With that in mind, Douglas enters politics with the socialist Canadian Commonwealth Federation and starts a career where his steadfast idealism runs headlong into the powerful opposition of the rich and the powerful. Despite the long odds, Douglas' new calling would soon make him a leader that would transform Canada and have him hailed as the greatest Canadian of all.
Roman Empire
This stylish mix of documentary and historical epic chronicles the reign of Commodus, the emperor whose rule marked the beginning of Rome's fall.
In the Dark
DI Helen Weeks grapples with pregnancy as she undertakes a very personal abduction case.
On My Block
A coming of age comedy following a diverse group of teenage friends as they confront the challenges of growing up in gritty inner-city Los Angeles.
Drug Lords
Witness the stories of history's most notorious kingpins, their terrifying enforcers, and the men and women who've sworn to bring them down.
Flint Town
Over a two-year period, filmmakers embedded with cops in Flint, Michigan, reveal a department grappling with volatile issues in untenable conditions.
I Am the Night
Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother, begins to investigate the secrets to her past, following a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist connected to the legendary Black Dahlia murder.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
Rooted in the conflict between characters connected to the deity Santa Muerte and others allied with the Devil, this saga explores an exciting mix of the supernatural and the combustible reality of 1938 Los Angeles, a time and place deeply infused with Mexican-American folklore and social tension.
Games People Play
Three ambitious women navigate the highly competitive world of professional sports.
America Beyond the Color Line
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard's chair of Afro-American Studies, travels the length and breadth of the United States to take the temperature of black America at the start of the new century. He explores this rich and diverse landscape, social as well as geographic, and meets the people who are defining black America, from the most famous and influential to those at the grassroots.
Helter Skelter: An American Myth
The untold story behind cult leader Charles Manson and his followers' heinous crimes as told through interviews with former members, archival footage, and newly-unearthed images.
American Horror Stories
An anthology series of stand alone episodes delving into horror myths, legends and lore.
Riot Police
A fictionalised look into the human tragedy of riot police and police brutality in Spain.
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
This series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
Beneath the sunlit glamour of 1985 L.A. lurks a relentlessly evil serial killer. In this true-crime story, two detectives won't rest until they catch him.
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
The notorious Cecil Hotel grows in infamy when guest Elisa Lam vanishes. A dive into crime's darkest places.
City of Ghosts
Meet the Ghost Club! Their adventures take them all around Los Angeles as they interview ghosts, solve problems and learn about their city's history.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
A fast-break series chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court.
Last King of the Cross
Inspired by John Ibrahim's best-selling autobiography, this series is an operatic story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organize the street but lose each other in their ascent to power. The story tracks John Ibrahim's rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia's most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney's Kings Cross — a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on offer.
Crime Stoppers: Case Files
Unforgettable cases, featuring dedicated homicide detectives and forensic scientists to hunt down the perpetrators. Crime Stoppers is an 8-time Emmy award-winning program that exposes horrifying, unsolved homicide and kidnapping cases across the United States. The crime stories go behind the headlines to reveal compelling insights with reenactments, narrated by the detectives and victims' families to and involve the viewer to ensure justice is served.
The Long Shadow
Dramatizing one of the most infamously notorious and shocking serial killer cases in the world, the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, commonly dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper, between October 1975 and January 1981, South Yorkshire police undertook the biggest manhunt in British criminal history. The search for Sutcliffe lasted five years, involved over a thousand officers and changed the way the British police worked forever.
The Real Murders of Los Angeles
In the City of Angels, everyone is striving for the unattainable high life, and some are willing to kill for it. Encompassing everything from beach communities like Venice and Malibu to the wealth of Beverly Hills and hip enclaves like Thai Town and Highland Park, Real Murders of Los Angeles exposes the dark underbelly of the city's glamorous façade. Follow the stories of those whose lust for fame and fortune led them to commit salacious, sinful, and scandalous murders.
Of Black America
Of Black America was a series of seven one-hour documentaries presented by CBS News in the summer of 1968, at the end of the Civil Rights Movement and during a time of racial unrest (Martin Luther King had been assassinated that spring and riots in many cities had followed). The groundbreaking[1] series explored various aspects of the history and current state of African-American community.
The Rookie
Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.