Top 250 Tv Shows Like The Children Act
We all make choices. Hers make history.
A list of the best tv shows similar to The Children Act. If you liked The Children Act then you may also like: Law & Order, Breaking Bad, Suits, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 13 Reasons Why and many more great tv shows featured on this list.
In the midst of a marital crisis, a High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teen with cancer despite his family's refusal to accept medical treatment for religious reasons.
The Children Act
Breaking Bad
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.
Suits
While running from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a brilliant young college-dropout, slips into a job interview with one of New York City's best legal closers, Harvey Specter. Tired of cookie-cutter law school grads, Harvey takes a gamble by hiring Mike on the spot after he recognizes his raw talent and photographic memory.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
13 Reasons Why
After a teenage girl's perplexing suicide, a classmate receives a series of tapes that unravel the mystery of her tragic choice.
American Crime Story
An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.
Boston Legal
Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. A spin-off of long-running series The Practice.
Call the Midwife
Drama following the lives of a group of midwives working in the poverty-stricken East End of London during the 1950s, based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth.
Chasing Life
April, an aspiring journalist, is balancing her ambitious career with her family and a new office romance. In an unexpected twist of fate, April learns that she has leukemia.
Commander in Chief
Mackenzie Allen has a lot on her plate -- she has twin teenagers, a 6-year-old at home and an ambitious husband at the office, and she is about to become the first female president of the United States. Before that happens, however; Mackenzie, who serves as vice president, has to decide whether or not to go against the dying wishes of the current president, who has asked her to step down and let someone "more appropriate" fill his shoes in the Oval Office. Not only does the president want her to resign, so does the entire party that elected her in the first place. But when the moment of truth arrives, Mackenzie isn't willing to be a mere footnote in history. Instead of allowing her detractors to keep her down, she decides to trust her instincts and accept the most powerful job in the world.
Dead to Me
A hotheaded widow searching for the hit-and-run driver who mowed down her husband befriends an eccentric optimist who isn't quite what she seems.
The Diplomat
In the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser is a doctor. He is also a 16-year-old genius who graduated college at age 10 and finished medical school at age 14. But he is still a teenager, with normal teenage friends and problems. But unlike a normal teenager, he is just learning to drive while also consulting on serious medical cases like heart transplants.
The Firm
As a young associate, Mitchell McDeere brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob—and his life was never the same. After a difficult decade, which included a stay in the Federal Witness Protection program, Mitch and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future—only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.
For The People
Brand new lawyers work for both the defense and the prosecution as they handle the most high profile and high stakes cases in the country – all as their personal lives intersect.
Goliath
Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of Cooperman & McBride, the massive law firm he helped create, Billy and his ragtag team uncover a vast and deadly conspiracy, pitting them all in a life or death trial against the ultimate Goliath.
The Good Wife
Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
A group of East High students countdown to the opening night of their school’s first-ever production of “High School Musical.” Showmances blossom; friendships are tested while new ones are made; rivalries flare and lives are changed forever as these young people discover the transformative power that only a high school drama club can provide.
How to Get Away with Murder
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.
Insatiable
A bullied teenager turns to beauty pageants as a way to exact her revenge, with the help of a disgraced coach who soon realizes he's in over his head.
JAG
Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. is a former pilot turned lawyer working for the military's JAG (Judge Advocate General) division, the elite legal wing of officers that prosecutes and defends those accused of military-related crimes. He works closely with Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie, and together they do what needs to be done to find the truth.
Judd for the Defense
High-priced Houston lawyer Clinton Judd and his assistant Ben Caldwell take difficult cases throughout the U.S.
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by retired Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show features Sheindlin adjudicating real-life small claims disputes within a simulated courtroom set. All parties involved must sign contracts, agreeing to arbitration under Sheindlin. The series is in first-run syndication and distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Judge Judy, which premiered on September 16, 1996, reportedly revitalized the court show genre. Only two other arbitration-based reality court shows preceded it, The People's Court and Jones and Jury. Sheindlin has been credited with introducing the "tough" adjudicating approach into the judicial genre, which has led to several imitators. The two court shows that outnumber Judge Judy's seasons, The People's Court and Divorce Court, have both lasted via multiple lives of production and shifting arbiters, making Sheindlin's span as a television arbiter the longest.
Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series is a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same character on a recurring basis. As the series progressed, Coach Lubbock's four eldest daughters, the teenagers Marie, Cindy, Wendy, and Connie, became the primary focus of the show. Just the Ten of Us aired on ABC starting with a trial run on April 26, 1988 and ending on May 17, 1990. After the first four episodes in an abbreviated first season were aired, the show was renewed for two more seasons, eventually ending after 47 episodes on May 4, 1990. The show was most notably a part of what would become that network's TGIF programming block.
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: Criminal Intent
The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.
Law & Order: UK
Adapted from the hit US series, Law & Order: UK follows a team of police detectives and prosecutors representing the public interest in the criminal justice system.
Manifest
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.
Never Have I Ever
After a traumatic year, all an Indian-American teen wants is to go from pariah to popular -- but friends, family and feeling won't make it easy on her.
New Amsterdam
The new medical director breaks the rules to heal the system at America's oldest public hospital. Max Goodwin sets out to tear up the bureaucracy and provide exceptional care, but the doctors and staff are not so sure he can succeed. They've heard this before. Not taking "no" for an answer, Dr. Goodwin's instinctive response to problems large and small is four simple words: "How can I help?" He has to disrupt the status quo and prove he'll stop at nothing to breathe new life into this underfunded and underappreciated hospital, returning it to the glory that put it on the map.
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone. It was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on Barney Miller in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Outlaw
Few jobs are guaranteed for a lifetime, and a Supreme Court appointment is one you just don't quit. Unless you're Cyrus Garza. A playboy and a gambler, Justice Garza always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law. Until he realized the system he always believed in was flawed. Now, he's quit the bench and returned to being an attorney. Determined to represent "the little guy," he's using his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today's biggest legal cases. And making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way.
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.
The Practice
A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”
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.
Still Standing
After 18 years of marriage, high school sweethearts Bill and Judy Miller still make each other laugh and try to keep their marriage intact, even when their family pulls them in different directions. Since Bill has a far more immature approach to marriage and raising their three children than Judy does, they work at striking a balance and remembering why they love each other, quirks and all.
The People's Court
The People's Court is an American arbitration-based reality court show currently presided over by retired Florida State Circuit Court Judge Marilyn Milian. Milian, the show's longest-reigning arbiter, handles small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. The People's Court is the first court show to use binding arbitration, introducing the format into the genre in 1981. The system has been duplicated by most of the show's successors in the judicial genre. Moreover, The People's Court is the first popular, long-running reality in the judicial genre. It was preceded only by a few short-lived realities in the genre; these short-lived predecessors were only loosely related to judicial proceedings, except for one: Parole took footage from real-life courtrooms holding legal proceedings. Prior to The People's Court, the vast majority of TV courtroom shows used actors, and recreated or fictional cases. Among examples of these types of court shows include Famous Jury Trials and Your Witness. The People's Court has had two contrasting lives. The show's first life was presided over solely by former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wapner. His tenure lasted from the show's debut on September 14, 1981, until May 21, 1993, when the show was cancelled due to low ratings. This left the show with a total of 2,484 ½-hour episodes and 12 seasons. The show was taped in Los Angeles during its first life. After being cancelled, reruns aired until September 9, 1994.
Matlock
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. The show, produced by The Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove Productions, Viacom Productions and Paramount Television originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC; and from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC. The show's format is similar to that of CBS's Perry Mason, with Matlock identifying the perpetrators and then confronting them in dramatic courtroom scenes. One difference, however, was that whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury.
Murder One
Theodore 'Teddy' Hoffman is a highly-regarded defense attorney in a prestigious Los Angeles law firm. Having successfully defended the wealthy but suspicious Richard Cross in a much-publicised murder trial, he is now involved in the defense of Neil Avedon, a famous young actor who has been suffering from severe drug and alcohol problems - and has been charged with the murder for which Cross was acquitted.
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
The Wonder Years
The story of Kevin Arnold facing the trials and tribulations of youth while growing up during the 1960s and 70s. Told through narration from an adult Kevin, Kevin faces the difficulties of maintaining relationships and friendships on his enthralling journey into adulthood.
The Commander
Determined and ambitious detective, Commander Clare Blake takes charge of the Serious Crime Group within the Metropolitan Police.
Fairly Legal
Kate Reed is a firm believer that justice can always be found – even if it's not always in the courtroom. Once a lawyer at her family's esteemed San Francisco firm, Kate's frustration with the legal system led her to a new career as a mediator. Thanks to her innate understanding of human nature, thorough legal knowledge, and wry sense of humor, Kate is a natural when it comes to dispute resolution. Except, it seems, when it comes to conflicts in her own life.
Harry's Law
Harriet, Matthew and Malcolm couldn't be any more different, but when they cross paths, they realize they're all looking for a fresh start. The most unlikely of people are starting a law practice in the most unlikely of places -- a rundown shoe store.
The Whole Truth
As District Attorney Kathryn Peale and defense attorney Jimmy Nolan rally their teams around their arguments and prepare to go head-to-head in the the courtroom, they make frantic moves and countermoves of complex legal wrangling to tilt justice in their favor.
The Client
The Client is an American television series that aired on CBS from September 18, 1995 to August 16, 1996. The series was based on the 1994 film The Client, itself adapted from the 1993 John Grisham novel also of the same name.
The Escape Artist
A chilling and bloody legal thriller that explores the line between law and justice. Will Burton, a talented junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm, specialises in spiriting people out of tight legal corners. He is in high demand as he has never lost a case. But when his talents acquit the notorious prime suspect in an horrific murder trial, that brilliance comes back to bite him with unexpected and chilling results, not to mention a shocking twist.
Red Band Society
Children and teenagers become friends in a hospital where they are all patients. Together they try to escape the sad reality to create their own world with their own codes , while the nursing staff do their best to bring them a little happiness everyday. Charlie , in a coma for several months, attending meanwhile helplessly bustle around him. He sees nothing , but he hears everything ...
Fatal Vows
When marriages fall apart, divorce can turn ugly - even deadly. From blushing brides turned cold-blooded killers to smitten grooms with shocking dark sides, the criminal psychology behind deadly divorces is examined. Guiding viewers through actual stories of love gone wrong are psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser and forensic psychologist Dr. Brian Russell, who analyze each couple to better understand how the marriage turned from flawed to fatal. .
Judge Mills Lane
Judge Mills Lane is an American television series and arbitration-based reality court show that ran in first-run syndication from August 17, 1998 to September 7, 2001. Reruns later aired on The National Network. The show was produced by John Tomlin and Bob Young for Hurricane Entertainment Corporation, and distributed by Rysher Entertainment. The show's judge was Mills Lane. Mills Lane was previously a well-known professional boxing referee, as shown in the show's intro; "he's been a boxer, a lawyer, a prosecutor, and a referee." The intro also declared Lane to be "America's Judge." Lane uses his catchphrase "Let's get it on!" at the beginning of each case, and occasionally when someone states something that is either quite obvious or tried to deceive him, he usually states "I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night!"
Act of Will
Act of Will is a 1989 mini-series directed by Don Sharp. It the third mini series based on a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel he had directed and was an early lead role for Elizabeth Hurley.
The Witness for the Prosecution
The hunt is on to find the murderer of a wealthy glamorous heiress who is found dead in her London townhouse. Based on the short story by Agatha Christie.
The High Court
Join Doug Benson as he presides over actual courtroom arguments. The catch? Judge Doug makes all his rulings while extremely high. After hearing both sides, Doug smokes up with a guest bailiff and deliberates. (And yes, this is legal. Somehow.)
Stiletto Vendetta
Three girls in high school made a prank on the fourth girl and caused her to be expelled from the high school with her teacher. After 20 years they got together in a high society environment.
Here and Now
A provocative and darkly comic meditation on the disparate forces polarizing present-day American culture, as experienced by the members of a progressive multi-ethnic family — a philosophy professor and his wife, their adopted children from Vietnam, Liberia and Colombia and their sole biological child — and a contemporary Muslim family, headed by a psychiatrist who is treating one of their children.
Burden of Truth
A big city lawyer returns to her hometown to take the case of a group of girls suffering from a mysterious illness.
The Look-See
A tragic event draws a group of troubled people together, bonded by their shared pasts and dirty secrets. However, one by one they are visited by a demonic entity known as the Look-See, which forces them to confront their grief and trauma, or suffer a gruesome fate...
We the People with Gloria Allred
We the People with Gloria Allred is an American nontraditional/dramatized court show that debuted in first-run syndication on September 12, 2011. The series is presented by famed celebrity lawyer/attorney Gloria Allred, who also serves as co-producer with series creator Byron Allen through his production company Entertainment Studios, LLC. John Cramer does the narration of the judge's final verdict.
Bitter Lands
The love story of Zuleyha, who grew up without a father and works with Yilmaz as an auxiliary weaver in order to earn money for her brother, a gambler. The lives of these two young people blinded by the love of one ordinary night will turn into a dark nightmare. This nightmare will take them first from Istanbul and far away, and later to the estate of the Yaman family. In the first episode of the series, Yilmaz and Zuleyha set out to work on the Yaman estate. However, because of one of Zuleyha's lies - the lives of all of them will change radically.
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
A unique look inside the mind of an infamous serial killer with this cinematic self-portrait crafted from statements made by Ted Bundy, including present-day interviews, archival footage and audio recordings from death row.
The Politician
Payton has known since childhood that he's going to be president. First he'll have to navigate the most treacherous political landscape: high school.
State of the Union
Tom and Louise meet in a pub immediately before their weekly marital therapy session. With each successive episode we piece together how their lives were, what drew them together and what has started to pull them apart.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Maya, the young communications director for a New York senatorial campaign, receives a wedding invitation from her college schoolmate now living in London. She leaves her professional and personal life behind, in favor of traveling to England and reconnecting with old friends and ends up in the midst of their personal crises. Relationships are forged and broken, political scandals exposed, London social life lampooned, love affairs ignited and doused, and of course, there are four weddings…and a funeral.
Deadwater Fell
When a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they knew and trusted, cracks appear on the surface of a supposedly idyllic community.
I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter
Teen Michelle Carter’s actions shocked a nation — but what really happened behind closed doors?
Chrissy's Court
Chrissy Teigen reigns supreme as the “judge” over small claims cases. The plaintiffs, defendants, and disputes are real, as Chrissy’s mom turned “bailiff,” Pepper Thai, maintains order in the courtroom.
Murder Trial
Murder, mystery, and a search for justice. A compelling insight into the work of the police and prosecutors bringing suspects to trial at Glasgow’s High Court.
I Am Not Okay with This
A teen navigates the complexities of high school, family and her sexuality while dealing with new superpowers. Based on Charles Forsman's graphic novel.
Relative Strangers
Maureen is an Irishwoman, happily married and living in Germany. Or so she thinks. When her husband dies, she finds that not only had he debts, but was also a bigamist, having had a second wife and family in Ireland. Shocked and angry, she travels there to meet the other family. And she learns that they have troubles of their own, the worst of them being that the other woman's young son is suffering from leukemia and a suitable bone marrow donor is urgently needed.
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Detective Elliot Stabler returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. Stabler journeys to find absolution and rebuild his life, while leading a new elite task force that is taking apart the city’s most powerful criminal syndicates one by one.
Julie and the Phantoms
Teenage Julie finds her passion for music and life while helping the Phantoms -- a trio of ghostly guys -- become the band they were never able to be.
Chaos in Court
CHAOS IN COURT examines clips of dramatic, unexpected, and cathartic courtroom moments. Each episode brings the backstories of the crimes and legal proceedings to the forefront with insightful analysis from a diverse panel of experts including judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and criminal psychologists. Featured within each episode are interviews with defendants, family members, and others who witnessed the action to help bring dramatic courtroom moments to life, and the emotional realities of what happens when the ultimate stakes are on trial.
Scenes from a Marriage
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.
The Miramar Murders: The State vs. Pablo Ibar
In July 1994, Pablo Ibar is arrested, accused of a triple murder in Miami. A crime that shook the foundations of the whole community given that the whole thing was recorded on a home security camera. Although he defends his innocence throughout, Pablo is condemned to death and will spend more than 20 years in prison... until Florida Supreme Court confirms the lack of proof against him and orders a retrial. Back in the starting box, the District Attorney’s office once again asks for the death sentence while the Ibar family sets about finding the money to pay for a trial that will cost more than a million dollars. This is his last chance.
The Lincoln Lawyer
Sidelined after an accident, hotshot Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller restarts his career - and his trademark Lincoln - when he takes on a murder case.
Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
Lahela 'Doogie' Kamealoha, a 16-year-old prodigy juggles a budding medical career and life as a teenager. With the support of her caring and comical 'ohana (family) and friends, Lahela is determined to make the most of her teenage years and forge her own path.
Heartstopper
Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series.
The Staircase
An exploration of the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.
Partner Track
At an elite NYC law firm, Ingrid Yun fights to make partner — and hold onto her principles — while balancing romance, friends and family expectations.
XO, Kitty
Teen matchmaker Kitty Song Covey thinks she knows everything there is to know about love. But when she moves halfway across the world to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend, she’ll soon realize that relationships are a lot more complicated when it’s your own heart on the line.
Night Court
Unapologetically optimistic judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, follows in her father's footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding.
Court Night Live
Court Night Live brings live trials to the people as civil court cases from across the country are litigated from courtrooms in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Tampa.
Lucky Hank
A mid-life crisis tale about the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.
Life Therapy
AJ Johnson encourages her clients to live their best lives by examining the hard truths that have kept them stuck in unhealthy situations. In collaboration with trained mental health professionals, AJ Johnson uses her natural instinct of nurturing people's suffering to exude positivity in a genuine effort to improve people's lives. Clients are aided in doing the work that will improve their lives, whether looking for love, looking to overcome insecurities or looking to figure out their next big step.
Law & Order
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.