Top 250 Tv Shows Like Schoolgirls

The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

Sydney Bristow, an agent who has been tricked to believe she is working for the U.S. government, is actually working for a criminal organization named the Alliance of Twelve. Upon learning this, Sydney becomes a double agent for the real CIA.

Carter Nash was a chemist in a police department who discovered a liquid which could turn him into Captain Nice, an odd sort of superhero: very shy and dominated by his mother. Captain Nice flew (he feared heights) in his tattered leotards, fighting bad guys because his mother told him to do so.

The life and times of a cat and a dog with a unique twist: they're connected, literally. They share one body with a Dog's head at one end and Cat's head on the other. Adding to their dilemma is Cat's annoyance with Dog, mainly caused by Dog's stupidity and Cat's up-tight personality. Characters: Cat - Cat is the smarter one of the two brothers, and is always hatching some kind of plot to get his brother to calm down, so that Cat doesn't get beat around and hurt. Even though most of these plots involve messing with Dog's feeble mind, they often backfire on Cat, much to his dismay. It may not show all the time but, he deeply loves, and cares for his brother Dog. Dog - Dog is the more lovable of the two brothers, Dog loves to play and party and play some more, he loves baseball and playing fetch with frisbees, balls, sticks, etc, He is very friendly, and happy, but does have a breaking point. He's very sensitive, and if he fails at something he feels horrible, and worthless

Set in the fictional college town of Hilltowne, Charmed follows the lives of three sisters, Macy, Mel and Maggie Vera who, after the tragic death of their mother, discover they are three of the most powerful witches of all time.

Taking numbers instead of names, five extraordinary 10-year-olds form a covert team called the Kids Next Door with one dedicated mission: to free all children from the tyrannical rule of adults.

A Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC. It is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities. While it was a spin-off from The Cosby Show, A Different World would typically address issues that were avoided by The Cosby Show writers. One episode that aired in 1990 was one of the first American network television episodes to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sick, twisted, politically incorrect and Freakin' Sweet animated series featuring the adventures of the dysfunctional Griffin family. Bumbling Peter and long-suffering Lois have three kids. Stewie (a brilliant but sadistic baby bent on killing his mother and taking over the world), Meg (the oldest, and is the most unpopular girl in town) and Chris (the middle kid, he's not very bright but has a passion for movies). The final member of the family is Brian - a talking dog and much more than a pet, he keeps Stewie in check whilst sipping Martinis and sorting through his own life issues.

Three women move to a tropical island where they’re joined by 24 men – 12 self-proclaimed “Nice Guys” looking for love, and 12 self-proclaimed “FBoys,” there to compete for cold, hard cash. Hosted by hit comedian and actress Nikki Glaser, the series is a social experiment that asks the age-old question: Can FBoys truly reform or do Nice Guys always finish last?

The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.

Guy Fieri sends four talented chefs running through the aisles in a high stakes, high skills, grocery store cooking competition. The chefs are hit by real-world challenges like finding workarounds when all the essential ingredients are suddenly "out-of-stock" or having to create a masterpiece when you can only cook with "5 items or less" or on a $10 budget. In the end, the food does the talking, as the last chef standing has the chance to make some serious dough!

A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.

Girl group HJ5, comprised of G with Love, Angel, Music and Baby, get in to all sorts of scrapes between shows while their manager does his best to get them to their shows on time. Based on an idea by Gwen Stefani A co-production between Canada, Malaysia and Australia, this series first screened in Australia on Network 10's channel 11. Three seasons have been produced.

After stealing the Tesseract during the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” an alternate version of Loki is brought to the mysterious Time Variance Authority, a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline. They give Loki a choice: face being erased from existence due to being a “time variant” or help fix the timeline and stop a greater threat.

After landing from a turbulent but routine flight, the crew and passengers of Montego Air Flight 828 discover five years have passed in what seemed like a few hours. As their new realities become clear, a deeper mystery unfolds and some of the returned passengers soon realize they may be meant for something greater than they ever thought possible.

My Boys follows PJ, a twenty-something professional sportswriter who is looking for love within her world which is dominated by her group of male friends. Her tomboyish, no-nonsense approach to relationships tends to freak out potential suitors which leads her only female friend to advise her to dress and act more feminine.

Inspired by actual cases and experiences, Numb3rs depicts the confluence of police work and mathematics in solving crime as an FBI agent recruits his mathematical genius brother to help solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles from a very different perspective.

Oscar's life seems almost perfect...sure he's divorced and his apartment is a mess, but he's the host of a well-known sports show, and is enjoying his bachelor lifestyle in New York City. That is until his college friend, Felix, shows up at Oscar's apartment having just been dumped by his wife. Oscar does his best to console his old buddy and get him back on the dating horse, but his attempts uncover just how unresolved his own feelings are about his ex.

Odd Squad saves the day whenever something unusual happens.

When strange anomalies start to appear all over England, Professor Cutter and his team must track down and capture all sorts of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth's distant past and near future.

Follow four college roommates as they arrive at New England’s prestigious Essex College. A bundle of contradictions and hormones, these girls are equal parts lovable and infuriating as they live out their new, free lives on campus.

A songwriting duo tries to create a hit with a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Jules balances her life of being a college student, while serving up vigilante justice on her school's campus. Until Ophelia, a computer hacker, discovers her secret and entangles herself in Jules' quest for vengeance.

A mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. Our only hope is an unexpected team: a scientist, a soldier and a history professor, who must use the machine's prototype to travel back in time to critical events. While they must make every effort not to affect the past themselves, they must also stay one step ahead of this dangerous fugitive. But can this handpicked team uncover the mystery behind it all and end his destruction before it's too late?

This story revolves around the lives of three teenagers, Berg, Pete and Sharon and how their lives are entwined. It further deals with the bonds they share with each other.

Valerie Tyler is a 28-year-old organization freak who loves her 16-year-old sister Holly. Even if Holly is rambunctious. Spontaneous. Impulsive. Disconcerting. And definitely disorganized. Then Holly moves in with Val, and the sisters discover they may make better siblings than roomies.

The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series, written around a theme of time travel adventure. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science fiction television series, released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran for one season of 30 episodes. Reruns are viewable on cable and by internet streaming. A pilot for a new series was produced in 2002, although it was not picked up.

The Powerpuff Girls is a animated television series about Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three kindergarten-aged girls with superpowers, as well as their "father", the brainy scientist Professor Utonium, who all live in the fictional city of Townsville, USA. The girls are frequently called upon by the town's childlike and naive mayor to help fight nearby criminals using their powers.

Casey Cartwright is poised to become the most powerful girl in the Greek system. Rusty, her little brother, is new on campus and he's the geek. But he sees Cyprus-Rhodes University as an opportunity to create a whole new identity.

Six brave fourth-graders at Third Street School make it their mission to protect the other kids on the playground. Despite the rule of King Bob and his minions, who enforce his unwritten laws, T.J, Ashley, Vince, Gus, Gretchen and Mikey seek a rational balance between conformity and individuality.

In his basement in San Francisco, boy-genius Quinn Mallory unlocks the doorway to an infinite number of Earths. During a test run, Quinn invites co-worker Wade Welles and his teacher Professor Maximillian Arturo to see his new invention. But an increase in power and an early departure leave all three, plus a washed-up soul singer named Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown, lost in a parallel world. Now they must "slide" from world to world, not only adapting to their changing surroundings, but also trying to get back to their world. Will they ever make it home?

The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it the longest running sitcom of the 1980s. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focuses on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, an all-female boarding school in Peekskill, New York.

A psychology major meets a prickly violinist on campus. As they communicate through sign language, their new relationship helps them face their fears.

Sydney Fox is a professor and globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner. She is aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel and occasionally by her somewhat air-headed secretary Claudia. She often ends up battling rival hunters seeking out artifacts for the money.

"Ever wish you could live your last week all over again? Well, my name's Frank B. Parker, and I do it all the time. I work for a secret government project experimenting in time travel. When things really get screwed up, I'm the guinea pig they send back to take care of it. The catch is, I can only go back 7 days."

Professor Joe Howe is a Korean War veteran who is hired to teach English at Channing College. The dean Fred Baker is his mentor as Howe is writing a novel about his experiences. They are frequently involved in the student's lives. Channing, a production of Revue Studios, aired during the same time frame as the first season of NBC's somewhat similar offering, Mr. Novak.

The Burning Zone is a television drama broadcast on the UPN network as part of its 1996–97 lineup. It ran for 19 episodes. The series was rerun on SciFi Channel in the mid-to-late 1990s. The Burning Zone featured a team of American agents who could be almost instantly dispatched almost anywhere in the world to fight biological warfare and naturally occurring biohazards. The series is believed to be cashing in on the success of the New York Times bestseller The Hot Zone, which spawned biological disaster movies like Outbreak. There was a villainous organization known as "The Dawn" that was responsible for some of the threats the team faced. The members of "The Dawn" were shadowy and never fully exposed but their goals and aims were clear: To allow disease and pestilence of a biological nature restore the Earth by rendering extinct the most virulent pestilence of all—mankind.

Terry Jones' Great Map Mystery is a four-part television documentary series first broadcast on BBC Two Wales in 2008 and presented by ex-Python Terry Jones. As described on the BBC's website, "Terry Jones sets out on a series of journeys through Wales following the world's first road atlas: John Ogilby's Britannia, published in 1675."

Ninomiya is an ordinary high school student who lives at home with his older sister Ryoko. However, Ninomiya's life ceases to be normal the moment a cute girl named Mayu descends into the middle of his school's campus in a military-grade helicopter. It turns out Ryoko sent this girl, along with her older brother Mikihiro, to live at the Ninomiya household.

The title character is a dishevelled (hence his nickname), accident-prone Afghan Hound puppy, whose real name is Prince Amir of Kinjan.

Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor, is recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind give him an extraordinary ability to read people, but his eccentric view of the world and less-than-stellar social skills can often interfere with his work.

Kahit Konting Pagtingin is a Philippine television drama that aired on ABS-CBN from January 28 to April 12, 2013 replacing Aryana and worldwide on TFC on January 29, 2013. Starring Angeline Quinto, Paulo Avelino, and Sam Milby.

Professor Robert Bartlett, a leading authority on the Middle Ages, presents a series which examines the way we thought during Medieval times.

Professor Robert Winston presents a series investigating the natural instincts inherent in people, covering survival, procreation, the drive to succeed and the heroic impulse.

Witness the miracle of cute, from a kitten's first tentative steps, to a puppy's first call to the wild. The first few months of their lives are an adorable adventure. These furry friends are simply too loveable, too curious, too cute!

Uncovers the extraordinary truth behind some of the Mafia's most notorious outlaws, and reveals how the FBI and law enforcement developed the techniques to crack the organization and bring it to justice. This is the story of the rise and fall of the Mafia, told by the people who brought it down.

The explosive lives, loves and losses of an intermingled group of Montréalers are explored as they confront the subject of difference. Managing a modern relationship can be a mess. Single? Attached? Married? Divorced? Open? Closed? The most common answer is ‘It’s complicated.’

Laura Hollis, a newly enrolled college student at Silas University, shares a room with Betty, who mysteriously disappears all of a sudden. Little does Laura know that after this fateful night, nothing will be the same in her life, starting with meeting her new roommate from hell, Carmilla Karnstein. "Carmilla" is a single-camera, scripted transmedia series that puts a modern spin on the cult classic Gothic vampire novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a story of a young woman’s susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire.

As a follow-up to The Worst Witch serial, we follow Mildred Hubble in her first year at Weirdsister College, a university for students of magic. Similar to her adventures at Cackle's, Mildred usually messes up, but saves the day in the end. The series has a darker side than The Worst Witch, with evil creatures and a possible doomsday.

Luc and Theo are best friends who get stuck in a time loop where every day is Monday but they rock it like it's Saturday. Luc is a 12 year old kid always looking for fun. After a major sucky school day he makes things worse by hopping on his skateboard and crashing into Theo's garage-lab. Chemicals mix, sparks fly and 17 scientific experiments mash into one freaky mess. The results: Luc and Theo find themselves caught in an irreversible time-loop. This would be a problem if the boys weren't having so much fun! Looped is every kid's dream. Theo and Luc may be stuck in a time-loop but their options are limitless. This provides them with only one over-riding challenge: How much fun can two kids squeeze into one Monday?

When Mary Ashley is approached to become ambassador of the United States of America in Romania she does not take the offer because her husband does not want to give up his well-going doctor's office. Shortly afterward Dr. Edward Ashley gets killed in a car accident. After this Mary Ashley reconsiders the offer and finally accepts. Arrived in Romania she is confronted with a complex plot in which the American President's current plans to improve relations between the US and communist countries shall be sabotaged.

Professor Stephen Hawking challenges a selection of volunteers to think like the greatest geniuses in history and solve some of humanity's most enduring questions.

Real-life stories of murder and mayhem on college campuses across the United States.

A professor creates a device that allows him and his colleague to change the course of events from the past in order to improve their current life.

The Revolting World of Stanley Brown is a science-based British sitcom produced by the CBBC and aired on the CBBC Channel. The series follows 13-year-old Stanley Brown, who shares his insatiable curiosity about the revolting world around him with a chaotic time-traveller, Archie, and his best friends Mike and Jess. Stanley is always in trouble but each week, he finds a new and exciting way to come out on top, delighting in the mess and mayhem the world throws at him. The series is produced by Retort Productions.

A dramatization of the life and death of Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto.

Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a gifted author, university professor and former CIA operative is lured back to his old life by tenacious top NYPD Detective Lizzie Needham. Though Dylan and Lizzie initially clash, when it comes to catching killers, they make an ideal team.

Follow an adventurous family on the time-travelling journey of a lifetime as they take on iconic trends in food, design and domestic gadgetry, beginning in the 1940s. Guided by host Carlo Rota, each week the Campus family from southern Ontario will live through a new decade of Canadian food and domestic trends.

Follow Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the “Aes Sedai” as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine believes one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it.

Uploading themselves by way of a time continuum software, Fire, Nevin, Paul, and Kikko, are suddenly whisked back through the ages on a desperate search for their missing computer professor. Unfortunately, they haven't made the journey alone. An evil Hacker is threatening to change world history. The endurance of each intrepid teen will be tested as they weave in and out of time; facing overwhelming perils and thrilling challenges.

In this modern adaptation of "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare, Viola Messing is just your regular teenaged social justice warrior attending an all male boarding school in disguise to prove a point. However, when her handsome roommate Oren falls for Liv, the town recluse, Viola unexpectedly finds herself caught up in one of literature's greatest love triangles.

2nd LT Rhian Bonifacio is a Military Nurse for the AFP and is dedicated in saving lives. But she has a secret. She's a spy, trained by her very own father, Tiago, to exact revenge against his enemy, Marcial, a general of the army. She will be wedged between the two forces because of her love for her family.

Featuring home videos with an edgier twist. A show where the hits are a little harder, the language a bit saltier, the animals a little less cute, the kids a tad less adorable and the embarrassing moments more revealing.

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.

Teams of LEGO enthusiasts go head-to-head, with infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO bricks. Teams of two will compete against each other in ambitious brick-building challenges to be crowned the country's most talented amateur LEGO builders. Based on the hit British reality-competition series of the same name.

Soon after moving to New York City to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, 22-year-old Andy is diagnosed with HIV. Now, Andy and his three best friends must come to terms with his life-changing news while struggling to survive life in the city.

Set in the 1960s; Paranormal follows the adventures of Dr. Refaat Ismail, a professor of hematology, as he comes up against various supernatural events with the help of his Scottish old flame, Maggie.

English student Ophelia falls in love with her married lecturer, seeing in him all the answers to her needs. When their affair is interrupted by a shocking and tragic death, Ophelia finds herself trapped in a world where she can no longer trust her own mind.

A chronicle of the many years of love and turmoil that bind a contemporary American couple, tracking their relationship as it progresses through a number of successive stages: matrimony, parenthood, infidelity, divorce and subsequent partnerships.

When Lucy Albright arrives on the campus of her small college, away from her mother whom she's never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer. But everything changes when she meets Stephen DeMarco, who has a mysterious past of his own. Their addicting entanglement will have consequences they never could have imagined.

Hit the hardwood in East Los Angeles as a coach with strong convictions leads young men who hope to fulfill major college potential.

George wakes up to find himself several months in the past before being recruited for the Lazarus Project – a secret organization that turns back time when the world is at threat of extinction.

Fluid millennial Sabi Mehboob straddles various identities from bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar, to the youngest child in a Pakistani family, to the de facto parent of a downtown hipster family. Sabi feels like they’re in transition in every aspect of their life, from gender to love to sexuality to family to career.

Four stylish and ambitious best girlfriends in Harlem, New York City: a rising star professor struggling to make space for her love life; a savvy tech entrepreneur always dating someone new; a no-filter singer; and a hopeless romantic fashion designer. Together, they level up into the next phase of their careers, relationships, and big city dreams.

Cruising Santa Cruz's ocean highways, Edmund Kemper appears to be a 6'9" gentle giant who offers hundreds of young female hitchhikers a ride. But behind his charming smile and signature gold-rimmed glasses lurks a brutal and perverted monster. In 1973, while awaiting trial, Kemper was interviewed by psychiatrist Dr. Donald Lunde. Lunde records Kemper's detailed confession on audiotape. For 50 years these tapes were locked away and forgotten, but now they are public for the first time and reveal a tormented childhood, dark sexual fantasies, and a thirst for revenge on the person he despises most, his own mother.

A detective who's also a public security agent and a member of a shadowy organization juggles his triple identities.

Mano Po Legacy: The Family Fortune is a 2022 Philippine television drama series broadcast by GMA Network. The series is the first installment of Mano Po Legacy. Directed by Ian Loreños, it stars Barbie Forteza, Sunshine Cruz and Maricel Laxa. It premiered on January 3, 2022 on the network's Telebabad line up. The series concluded on February 25, 2022 with a total of 40 episodes.

After surviving Godzilla's attack on San Francisco, Cate is shaken yet again by a shocking secret. Amid monstrous threats, she embarks on a globetrotting adventure to learn the truth about her family—and the mysterious organization known as Monarch.

Tomboy Tomo couldn't have picked a more awkward high school crush 'cause it’s on her childhood friend, Junichiro, but he only sees her as one of the guys. Despite her pretty looks and signals, nothing gets through to this meathead! Will Junichiro ever realize Tomo's into him and see her for the cutesy girl she actually is?!

Birdie and Rooney navigate their first years on campus. In doing so, they’ll form their own groups of “chicken girls”.

A mid-life crisis tale about the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.

Alec Mercer is a world-renowned professor of behavioral psychology with a unique insight into human nature who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, corporations and law enforcement. However, he meets his match in a female domestic terror suspect who turns his world upside down.

Guy Fieri, his wife Lori, and his sons Hunter and Ryder, “load up their RV and hit the road with a caravan of campers for family and friends on a trip they will never forget.” The Fieris and their friends take a “monster journey up the coast,” making their way from Northern California through Oregon and into Washington. The road trip is filled with adventure, fun competitions, and of course, unbelievable meals.

From finding lost items to cleaning up messes, three fairies in training love looking after kids in their care as they work toward earning their wings.

Victor “Bangis” Lualhati has always been a fighter. As a former boxer, he gets used to overcoming obstacles through tough times. However, when he finds a suspicious message on his wife's phone, he will be faced with a challenge he never saw coming. As Victor investigates, he discovers there is more at play than just a cheating spouse. The deeper he digs, the more shocking realizations he makes.

Witness the lives of two opposing women, which triggers the great controversy between their two opposing families as they are entangled in a web of lies, mysteries, secrets, intrigues, betrayals, conspiracies, and shocking revelations.

Kaputol ng Isang Awit or Unsung Melody is an Philippine drama airing on GMA Network, as the seventh instalment of Sine Novela. The original movie was released back in 1991. The series will air weekly on Honolulu's KIKU on Sundays at 3:00.

Award-winning actor Carlo Aquino joins Coleen Garcia and an ensemble of today's best actors in a bittersweet romantic drama series about different stories of love and giving up. Based on the bestselling book of Marcelo Santos III, author of Para sa Hopeless Romantic.

Walang Hanggan is a classic Philippine television drama aired by ABS-CBN and worldwide on The Filipino Channel, featuring an ensemble cast. The series is loosely based on the 1991 Gomez-Zulueta film Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit, a film based on the Emily Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights. The drama became a huge hit maintaining the top spot in viewer ratings for most of its run, with its final episode on October 26, 2012 attaining its highest rating of 45.4% nationwide.

Asian Treasures is an action-adventure Philippine drama aired and produced by GMA Network starred by Angel Locsin and Robin Padilla, and was directed by Eric Quizon. This show is all about Asian History. It was the first Philippine drama shot in multiple countries such as Mongolia, Thailand and China. Its pilot episode, which garnered a 41.8% rating, aired on January 15, 2007. It was the most expensive TV series ever produced in the Philippine television costing more than 140 million pesos, roughly 3.1 million dollars, but is now outbeated by Amaya as the most expensive series ever.

You wanted more, you got more! Passfire is back with Passfire the Series: Season 1. Six brand new episodes give you more footage, more depth, more fireworks, more Passfire! In 2016 Veverka Bros. Productions brought you Passfire, a documentary about fireworks culture across the globe that told the story of the world's most amazing fireworks, the people who make them and the cultures behind them in 23 countries on six continents. Passfire the Series continues the ride with more of what you want: more destinations, more information, more detail, and more fun! Season 1 has six exciting episodes: Maltese Wheels, Galician Rockets, Boom Boom Girls, Japanese Artistry, Fireworks Organizations and The Maltese Fireworker.

Vietnam Rose is a television series that was aired on the Philippine station, ABS-CBN.

Colin McLaren shares stories about his undercover work inside organized crime families; chilling firsthand details about how mafia families operate and why their ruthlessness was often their downfall.