Top 250 Tv Shows Like The American

A list of the best tv shows similar to The American. If you liked The American then you may also like: Vikings, Reacher, The Sopranos, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 24 and many more great tv shows featured on this list.

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Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, assassin Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him.

Vikings

The adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods. Legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.

Reacher

Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served.

The Sopranos

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.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Meet the Smiths: two lonely strangers, John and Jane, who have given up their lives and identities to be thrown together as partners – both in espionage and in marriage

24

Counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer fights the bad guys of the world, a day at a time. With each week's episode unfolding in real-time, "24" covers a single day in the life of Bauer each season.

The Affair

The Affair explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between Noah Solloway and Alison Lockhart after the two meet in the resort town of Montauk in Long Island. Noah is a New York City schoolteacher with one novel published (book entitled A Person who Visits a Place) and he is struggling to write a second book. He is happily married with four children, but resents his dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison is a young waitress trying to piece her life and marriage back together in the wake of the tragic death of her child. The story of the affair is told separately, complete with distinct memory biases, from the male and female perspectives.

Alias

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.

The Americans

Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.

Angel

The vampire Angel, cursed with a soul, moves to Los Angeles and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption. A spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Big Brother

A British reality television game show in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house for several weeks, trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run.

Boardwalk Empire

Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition is a place where the rules don't apply. And the man who runs things -- legally and otherwise -- is the town's treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, who is equal parts politician and gangster.

The Borgias

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.

Brimstone

Brimstone is a short-lived Fox television series, featuring a dead police detective whose mission is to return to Hell 113 spirits who have escaped to Earth. The series ran for only one partial season. Since cancellation, Brimstone reruns have aired on Syfy in the United States from the summer of 1999 onward. The reruns have no set schedule, but are usually aired in marathons during the channel's seasonal events like "Creatureland", "Inhumanland" and "the 31 Days of Halloween". Chiller also began airing reruns, on July 28, 2007. It currently airs in sporadic weekday marathons, like Syfy, and has no set airing schedule.

Bugs

Bugs was a British television drama series which ran for four series from April 1995 to August 1999. The programme, a mixture of action/adventure and science-fiction, involved a team of specialist independent crime-fighting technology experts, who faced a variety of threats based around computers and other modern technology. It was originally broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One, and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Carnival Films.

Burn Notice

A formerly blacklisted spy uses his unique skills and training to help people in desperate situations.

Carmen Sandiego

A master thief who uses her skills for good, Carmen Sandiego travels the world foiling V.I.L.E.'s evil plans -- with help from her savvy sidekicks.

Cover Up

Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984 to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson.

Danger Man

Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

The Equalizer

Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them.

Fastlane

Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from September 18, 2002 to April 25, 2003.

The Incredible Hulk

During an experiment gone bad, radiation turns a scientist into a raging green behemoth whenever he becomes agitated. Unable to control his transformations, David Banner searches for a cure as he crosses the country, fugitive-style, with a dogged tabloid reporter on his trail.

It Takes a Thief

Convicted cat burglar Alexander Mundy gets an offer he can't refuse from the United States government: If he puts his formidable thieving skills to work for them, he'll be released from prison. Alexander's dad, Alister, sometimes comes out of retirement as a thief to help his son on special jobs.

K.C. Undercover

K.C. Cooper, a high school math whiz and karate black-belt, learns that her parents are spies when they recruit her to join them in the secret government agency, The Organization. While she now has the latest spy gadgets at her disposal, K.C. has a lot to learn about being a spy, including keeping her new gig a secret from her best friend Marisa. Together, K.C. and her parents, Craig and Kira, and her younger siblings, Ernie and Judy (a humanoid robot), try to balance everyday family life while on undercover missions, near and far, to save the world.

Killing Eve

A security consultant hunts for a ruthless assassin. Equally obsessed with each other, they go head to head in an epic game of cat-and-mouse.

Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.

The Night Manager

Former British soldier Jonathan Pine navigates the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Pine must himself become a criminal.

Nikita

Nikita will stop at nothing to expose and destroy Division, the secret U.S. agency who trained her as a spy and assassin.

Person of Interest

John Reese, former CIA paramilitary operative, is presumed dead and teams up with reclusive billionaire Finch to prevent violent crimes in New York City by initiating their own type of justice. With the special training that Reese has had in Covert Operations and Finch's genius software inventing mind, the two are a perfect match for the job that they have to complete. With the help of surveillance equipment, they work "outside the law" and get the right criminal behind bars. 

Rome

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Spooks

Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid.

Strike Back

The series follows John Porter, a former British Special Forces soldier, who is drafted back into service by Section 20, a fictional branch of the Secret Intelligence Service.

Taboo

Adventurer James Keziah Delaney returns to London from Africa in 1814 along with fourteen stolen diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father.

X Company

An emotionally-driven character drama, set in the thrilling and dangerous world of WWII espionage and covert operations. It follows the stories of five highly skilled young recruits - Canadian, American and British - torn from their ordinary lives to train as agents in an ultra-secret facility on the shores of Lake Ontario. These agents parachute behind enemy lines, where they're fair game for torture and execution. From elegant hotels to hellholes in the field, it's one risky operation after another, masterminded by the brains of Camp X.

Acapulco H.E.A.T.

Acapulco H.E.A.T. is a 1993 syndicated television series that followed the Hemisphere Emergency Action Team [H.E.A.T.], a group of top-secret agents based in Acapulco, Mexico and recruited by C-5, a secret government coalition, to fight terrorism and international crime. The team kept a low profile, by acting as models and photographers who represented a Beach Fashion enterprise.

The Prisoner

After resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is really a bizarre Kafkaesque prison. His warders demand information. He gives them nothing, but only tries to escape.

Paradise Falls

Paradise Falls was a weekly soap opera shown nationally on the Showcase channel in Canada, starting in 2001. It is set in a summer cottage community in Central Ontario.

Oz

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

The L Word

A group of lesbian friends struggle with romance and careers in Los Angeles.

Callan

Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972. The series starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, a reluctant professional killer for a shadowy branch of the British Government's intelligence services known as 'the Section'.

The Company

The Company tells the thrilling story of Cold War CIA agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an amoral, elusive, formidable enemy – and each other – in an internecine battle within the Company itself.

I, Claudius

Acclaimed blackly comic historical drama series. Set amidst a web of power, corruption and lies, it chronicles the reigns of the Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius.

Howard Stern on Demand

A collection of the "best of" The Howard Stern Show in selected clips and segments, streaming On Demand. From Silly to Sexy. It's Howard and Crew at their "Best"? Shocking.

Bliss

Bliss is a Canadian produced, half hour dramatic television series, produced by Montreal-based Galafilm and Toronto-based Back Alley Films, an anthology of women's erotica. The series ran from 2002 to 2004. The format of the show—short, sensual vignettes adapted for television—aired on Oxygen in the United States and Showcase, TMN and Movie Central in Canada. The series is distributed by Oasis International in Toronto.

Reilly: Ace of Spies

Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the British. Among his exploits, in the early 20th century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.

Naked News

A real television newscast, the show is prepared in Toronto and runs daily, with 25-minute episodes 6 days per week. The female anchors read the news fully nude or strip as they present their news segments.

Undercovers

Five years after leaving the CIA to open a catering company, Steven and Samantha Bloom are recruited back into the agency by Carlton Shaw. They take on special missions the average agent cannot handle. Having made a pact to never discuss their pasts with each other, the Blooms find surprising new things about their spouse in the course of each mission.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

Erotic Confessions

Anthology series wherein each episode, Jacqueline Stone reads a letter sent in from women recounting their erotic experiences.

Killer Women

Anthology series, in which every episode introduces fictionalized versions of real cases about women who, for different reasons, ended up committing murder.

Gigolos

Make a date with the Gigolos. An extremely rare and uncensored look into the personal and professional lives of five hot guys in Vegas who like to hang out, have fun and get girls, but in their case they get paid for it. They find themselves in some unexpected positions as they balance relationships, friends and family with the demands of their female clientele. A reality series like no other, Gigolos is not only provocative but also surprisingly heartfelt. It's a wild ride for these real-life escorts who never miss a trick.

Magic City

Set in 1959 Miami, Florida shortly after the Cuban Revolution, Magic City tells the story of Ike Evans, the owner of Miami's most glamorous hotel, the Miramar Playa. Evans is forced to make an ill-fated deal with Miami mob boss Ben Diamond to ensure the success of his glitzy establishment.

Labyrinth

Jumping back and forth between modern and medieval France, the lives of two women separated by centuries, are united in their search for an ancient artifact.

Women in Love

Powerful adaptation of DH Lawrence's novels The Rainbow and Women in Love, focusing on the lives of two sisters as they struggle with love, passion and commitment in the build-up to WWI.

DTLA

The relationships and sex lives of a diverse group of friends who works and lives in the vibrant community of Downtown Los Angeles.

Top of the Lake

A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.

M.I. High

M.I. High is a BBC children's spy-fi adventure series. It was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Kudos, who also produced the hit BBC spy drama Spooks. It follows in the success of the Young Bond and the Alex Rider series of books and films. M.I. High is recorded in high definition and is shown on the CBBC Channel and CBBC Outputs on BBC One and BBC Two. M.I. High is also shown on the BBC HD Channel. Repeats also frequently air in Australia on ABC3. As of October 2012 the series has began airing on the UKTV channel Watch.

Mafia's Greatest Hits

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.

Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal

In this two part special, best-selling author Ben Macintyre explores Kim Philby, the most famous double agent in history.

Sex & Violence

Follows the lives of a social worker, a victims' advocate and four others who provide support to victims of violence.

The Mafia with Trevor McDonald

Trevor McDonald embarks on an eye-opening journey inside the secretive world of the American Mafia, gaining unprecedented access to people who have experienced first-hand, the money, glamour and violence of the United States’ most famous organised crime network. In this two-part documentary series, Trevor delves into the lives of people with a fascinating story to tell, some of whom have never appeared on television before.

The Girlfriend Experience

Explore the relationships between exclusive escorts and their clients, for whom they provide far more than just sex. Known as GFEs, they are women who provide “The Girlfriend Experience”—emotional and sexual relationships at a very high price.

Counterpart

Howard Silk is a lowly cog in a bureaucratic UN agency who is turning the last corner of a life filled with regret when he discovers the agency he works for is guarding a secret: a crossing to a parallel dimension.

Versailles

The story of a young Louis XIV on his journey to become the most powerful monarch in Europe, from his battles with the fronde through his development into the Sun King. Historical and fictional characters guide us in a world of betrayal and political maneuvering, revealing Versailles in all its glory and brutality.

Slasher

Thirty years ago, in the sleepy community of Waterbury, a killer known as “The Executioner” murdered Sarah Bennett's parents. Now Sarah and her husband Dylan have returned to town, only to find herself the centerpiece in a series of horrifying murders centered around the seven deadly sins.

Submission

Beautiful but unfulfilled Ashley has her eyes opened to the tantalizing possibilities of BDSM when she discovers the popular erotic novel SLAVE by Nolan Keats. But her fascination with the mysterious Mr. Keats leads her into a sexy but dangerous love triangle, and tests the boundaries of her own sexual limitations.

I Love Dick

Adapted from the lauded feminist novel and set in a colorful academic community in Marfa, Texas, this is the story of a struggling married couple, Chris and Sylvere, and their obsession with a charismatic professor named Dick. Told in Rashomon-style shifts of POV, the series charts the unraveling of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a reluctant messiah.

The Deuce

The story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early ’70s through the mid ’80s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed there until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence of the area.

Apple Tree Yard

What starts out as a simple, reckless mid-life affair between a genetic scientist named Yvonne and a Westminster paper pusher takes an intriguing turn when she realizes he’s a spook – then suddenly gets very dark indeed. A provocative study of obsession, longing and just how far down a criminal path desire can take you.

Ingobernable

The First Lady of Mexico has big plans to improve conditions for the country. As she starts to lose faith in her husband, President Diego Nava, she finds herself at a crossroad where she will need to find a way to deal with a great challenge.

Caught

David Slaney escapes from jail and attempts to hook up with his partner for one last deal, while evading the detective on his trail. Based on the novel by Lisa Moore.

The Secret Life of Couples

Sexologist and therapist Sofia Prado, director of an institute of alternative therapies, has to deal with her own emotional disorders, which she hides from everyone. From the revelation of one of her patients, the specialist becomes involved in a dangerous network of corruption.

Black Sun

A historical fiction drama and thriller set in the turbulent period of the late 1930s in the Balkans as a place where high politics, local interests, capital and crime all merge together.

Condor

Young CIA analyst Joe Turner has his idealism tested when he learns that the CIA has been using an algorithm he developed to spy on American citizens, leading the organization to a terrorist plot that threatens the lives of millions. Inspired by Sydney Pollack’s 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor.

Hanna

This thriller and coming-of-age drama follows the journey of an extraordinary young girl as she evades the relentless pursuit of an off-book CIA agent and tries to unearth the truth behind who she is. Based on the 2011 Joe Wright film.

Carnival Row

In a mystical and dark city filled with humans, fairies and other creatures, a police detective investigates a series of gruesome murders leveled against the fairy population. During his investigation, the detective becomes the prime suspect and must find the real killer to clear his name.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick

Winston Scott is roped into a world of assassins and must make things right after his brother's attack on the Continental hotel.

Hightown

Amid the drug trade on Cape Cod, a body washes ashore and is discovered by an irreverent National Marine Fisheries Service officer, Jackie Quinones, who is determined to help solve the murder even if the state cops want her nowhere near the case.

Obliterated

A special forces team thwarts a deadly plot in Sin City and parties accordingly. But when the real threat emerges, they must sober up to save Las Vegas.

White Lines

Zoe Walker leaves her quiet life behind to investigate her brother's disappearance in Ibiza, where she quickly heads down a decadent and dangerous path.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

In a dystopia riddled with corruption and cybernetic implants, a talented but reckless street kid strives to become a mercenary outlaw — an edgerunner.

Conversations with Friends

Two college students, Frances and Bobbi, forge a strange and unexpected relationship with a married couple.

La Bruja

La Bruja is a 2011 Colombian telenovela starring Flora Martínez, based on the novel of the same name by Colombian writer Germán Castro Caycedo.

Glória

A small town in Portugal becomes engulfed in a web of political intrigue when a young engineer is recruited as a KGB spy in this historical thriller.

Special Ops: Lioness

Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program, is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

The Informant

1950s. Under the communist regime, a struggling actor joins the KGB as an informant to make ends meet. He quickly finds himself caught up in a dangerous web of deceit and treachery.

The Ipcress File

As the Cold War rages, ex-smuggler turned reluctant spy Harry Palmer finds himself at the centre of a dangerous undercover mission, on which he must use his links to find a missing British nuclear scientist.

Clark

This is the incredible story behind Sweden's most notorious gangster, Clark Olofsson, whose infamous crimes gave rise to the term "Stockholm Syndrome".

Black Bird

As Jimmy Keene begins a 10-year prison sentence, he gets an incredible offer: If he can elicit a confession from suspected killer Larry Hall, Jimmy will be freed. Completing this mission becomes the challenge of a lifetime.

American Gigolo

Julian Kaye has always been an object of desire, so much so that people are willing to destroy him in order to have him. Exonerated, after 15 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, he now faces the challenge of picking up the pieces as the detective who put him behind bars tries to unravel the mystery that led to his wrongful incarceration.

Brazzers House

Co-hosted by Nikki Benz and Keiran Lee, Brazzers House is home to 10 sexy pornstar contestants, all living under the same roof. The competition heats up when the house guests are divided into two teams and face elimination with a series of mental and physical challenges. Brazzers members have a chance to vote for their favorite team at the end of each episode and when all the votes are counted, one team will be evicted and the other will be crowned the winner of the house challenges. That lucky team of 5 contestants gets to participate in the final live challenge, where each house guest will compete against each other in the hopes of taking home the Grand Prize!

Dexter: New Blood

10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, we find him living under an assumed name in the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger beckons.

Hotel Portofino

A classic whodunit mystery, as the characters go about their lives in 1920s Italy, when Benito Mussolini's brand of fascism was on the rise.

Swarm

A young woman's obsession with a pop star takes a dark turn.

FUBAR

When a father and daughter discover they both secretly work for the CIA, an already dicey undercover mission turns into a dysfunctional family affair.

Ghosts of Beirut

Told from the American, Israeli and Lebanese perspectives, discover one of the greatest espionage stories of modern times: the manhunt for Imad Mughniyeh, the elusive Lebanese terrorist who outwitted his adversaries in the CIA and Mossad for over two decades.

Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home

Two pairs of complete strangers are stripped bare of all clothes and possessions to race across the English countryside in a bid to be the first to reach a cash prize for charity and their clothes.

Get Gotti

Murder. Extortion. Drug smuggling. Racketeering. The charges are mounting against John Gotti — but will any of them stick to the "Teflon Don"? Told from both sides of the law, this docuseries from the makers of "Fear City" follows the FBI's battle to bring down infamous mob boss.

Mafia Killers With Colin McLaren

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.

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