Top 250 Tv Shows Like The Easy Way

Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.

A first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat following Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. Based on Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction book of the same name.

Chronicles the life of Griselda Blanco, who created one of the most profitable cartels in history. A devoted mother, Blanco’s lethal blend of charm and unsuspecting savagery helped her expertly navigate between family and business leading her to become widely known as the “Black Widow”.

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.

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.

Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to March 19, 1985 on CBS. The series is based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job working at a roadside diner on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the episodes revolve around events at Mel's Diner.

Presented by Walsh, the show profiles and assist law enforcement in the apprehension of fugitives wanted for numerous crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping, child molestation, white-collar crime, organized crime, armed robbery, gang violence, and terrorism, and also many of whom are currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

The Rear Guard was a 1976 pilot episode for an American adaptation of the British situation comedy Dad's Army. Set in World War II, The Rear Guard followed a band of men in the American Civil Defense who were part of an auxiliary force in the event of an invasion of the USA. The episode was an adaptation of "The Deadly Attachment", in which a German U-Boat crew are placed under the supervision of the platoon. The pilot was aired on Tuesday the 10 August 1976, broadcast simultaneously on American Broadcasting Company channel 7 and 8. However it was not popular and never made it past its pilot to become a series. As it was a failure, the original tapes the show was recorded on were wiped. However copies of the show are in the possession of the show's director Hal Cooper and other producers that were associated with the show.

The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.

Unshackle your laughing gas, put your ball and chain away, take a prison break and get ready to escape with the Daltons! The fab four are back! The Daltons will try every trick in the books to get out and then some: a maze of tunnels, explosives, hot air balloons and rain dances, and a whole cast of zany characters to help them get free ... or not! The only thing they don’t try using are their brains! But what they lack in intelligence, they sure make up for in willpower and imagination! The far west has never been crazier!

Historical reenactments from A-list talent as told by inebriated storytellers. A unique take on the familiar and less familiar people and events from America’s great past as great moments in history are retold with unforgettable results.

When the head of a criminal organisation, Finn Wallace is assassinated, the sudden power vacuum his death creates threatens the fragile peace between the intricate web of gangs operating on the streets of the city. Now it’s up to the grieving, volatile and impulsive Sean Wallace to restore control and find those responsible for killing his father.

Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the commandant of the camp, and John Banner was the inept sergeant-of-the-guard, Hans Schultz. The series was popular during its six-season run. In 2013, creators Bernard Fein through his estate and Albert S. Ruddy acquired the sequel and other separate rights to Hogan's Heroes from Mark Cuban through arbitration and a movie based on the show has been planned.

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.

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.

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.

Michael Long, an undercover police officer, is shot while investigating a case and left for dead by his assailants. He is rescued by Wilton Knight, a wealthy, dying millionaire and inventor who arranges life-saving surgery, including a new face and a new identity--that of Michael Knight. Michael is then given a special computerized and indestructible car called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (nicknamed KITT), and a mission: apprehend criminals who are beyond the reach of the law. The series depicts Michael's exploits as he and KITT battle the forces of evil on behalf of the Foundation for Law and Government.

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.

This comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and Arthur Daley, a second-hand car dealer with an eye for a nice little earner. Alongside his many business ventures, Arthur would regularly hire Terry out as a minder or bodyguard, later replaced by nephew, Ray Daley.

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.

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.

Nine people are caught in a bank robbery gone wrong and endure a 52-hour hostage standoff that will leave more than one person dead. They will be forever affected and intertwined because of it.

Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.

In a small New York town, a haunted detective hunts for answers about perplexing crimes while wrestling with his own demons.

Reality series that follows high-level executives as they slip anonymously into the rank-and-file of their own organizations. Each week, a different leader will sacrifice the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their operation.

Aside from doubling the length of each episode, The New Scooby-Doo Movies differed from its predecessor in the addition of a rotating special guest star slot; each episode featured real-life celebrities or well known fictional characters joining the Mystery, Inc. gang in solving the mystery of the week. Some episodes, in particular the episodes guest-starring the characters from The Addams Family, Batman, and Jeannie, deviated from the established Scooby-Doo format of presenting criminals masquerading as supernatural beings by introducing real ghosts, witches, monsters, and other such characters into the plots.

Hardcastle and McCormick is an American action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983 through 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick. The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.

A fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel work as soldiers of fortune while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit."

The story of the Miami Police Department's vice squad and its efforts to end drug trafficking and prostitution, centered on the unlikely partnership of Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs - who first meet when Tubbs is undercover in a drug cartel.

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.

Dempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. The leading roles were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, who later married each other on 18 November 1989. The series combined elements of previous series such as the mis-matching of British and American crime-fighters from different classes as seen in The Persuaders! and the action of The Professionals.

Wealthy couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a self-made millionaire and his journalist wife, moonlight as amateur detectives.

Beautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could dream of... and way more than they could ever handle! Receiving their orders via speaker phone from their never seen boss, Charlie, the Angels employ their incomparable sleuthing and combat skills, as well as their lethal feminine charm, to crack even the most seemingly insurmountable of cases.

New York Undercover is an American police drama The series stars Detective J.C. Williams and Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases.

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 Fixer is a British drama television series, produced by Kudos for ITV. Set in modern Britain, it follows the life of John Mercer, an ex-British Special Forces soldier, arrested by police for killing his aunt and uncle following his discovery of their abuse of his sister, Jess Mercer. John Mercer is released early from prison to serve in a covert state security squad as a government-backed assassin responsible for eliminating criminals and renegade police officers that the law cannot apprehend.

The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.

A small group of military veterans sets out to rob a major bank in Pittsburgh. When things go awry, they're forced to take more than a dozen hostages from all walks of life, including a wealthy and powerful businessman's daughter.

Two high-class thieves caught red-handed strike a deal with the FBI to avoid imprisonment: put their skills at the service of an inter-agency task force whose mission is to recover missing and stolen government property.

The bird flu virus spreads through Los Angeles as a doctor from the CDC races to find a vaccine.

A drama about the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anticorruption unit.

In Southern California, a beachfront property was seized and turned into a residence for undercover cops. They are all top agents of the DEA, FBI, and Customs and they are living in this house unofficially known as "Graceland". Coming of a new graduating at the top of his class, FBI rookie, Mike Warren, could make the life of a legendary FBI agent Paul Briggs and the others, more complicated or it could reveal the truth. It is based upon actual events.

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.

Miniseries based on the true story of Clyde Barrow, a charismatic convicted armed robber who sweeps Bonnie Parker, an impressionable, petite, small-town waitress, off her feet, and the two embark on one one of most infamous bank-robbing sprees in history.

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.

Delve into the secret underworld of the American Mafia, as told by the criminals who lived it and the law enforcers who hunted it. This dramatic six-part series chronicles the true-life story of the modern Mob in America, as former mobsters, informants, and FBI agents expose the takedown of the deadliest and most infamous organized crime ring in U.S. history. A combination of recently declassified files, first-person accounts by federal officials and the mafioso themselves, and rare archival footage sheds a new light on the raw, violent, and corrupt underworld that gripped America for decades.

8 August 1963: Britain wakes up to news of the biggest robbery in the country’s history. A train has been hijacked and robbed, 35 miles from its arrival in central London. The country is stunned. Who could be behind it? How did they pull off such an audacious raid?

An absurdist, retro-futuristic 80s cop extravaganza. The series follows undercover detective Dazzle Novak, a handsome idiot who commits more crimes than most criminals. His tyrannical chief, Pizzaz Miller, won't get off his back, and hotshot rookie Rad Cunningham is dying to see him fail. With the world against him, Dazzle is thrust into a living nightmare: having to do actual police work.

Two ambitious vice presidents become rivals when an imminent board room vacancy arises.

A top Israeli agent comes out of retirement to hunt for a Palestinian militant he thought he'd killed, setting a chaotic chain of events into motion.

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.

An undercover reporter and his former mentor join forces to solve mysteries on a Spanish island. Woody is forced to go on the run from the British authorities after being set up by his corrupt newspaper editor. Woody escapes to find the one man he can trust, his former mentor at the newspaper, Brutus. Now an expatriate living a quiet life running a bar on a Spanish island, Brutus is initially less than thrilled to see Woody. However, he soon realizes that he can profit by putting his trouble-making protege to work. Woody takes on a series of investigations on the island, running rings around the locals by using his astonishing ability to adopt a variety of guises at a moment's notice.

The six-part series opens with a daring diamond heist before quickly delving into the dark heart of Europe where a shadowy alliance of gangsters and 'banksters' now rules. Naomi is the British loss adjustor charged with recovering the stolen diamonds whatever the cost. Also in pursuit is French-Algerian policeman Khalil.

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.

"Stockholm: Lost Identity" narrates over 13 chapters with almost surgical detail the criminal, judicial and media research about the disappearance of a young woman by a network of trafficking. An attorney general, an undercover agent and a journalist will be immersed in a police plot that mixes suspense, drama and action where law and justice are two different sides of the same coin.

Prime Suspect 1973 tells the story of 22-year-old Jane Tennison's first days in the police force, in which she endured flagrant sexism before being thrown in at the deep end with a murder enquiry.

A four-part documentary series that tells the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre -- one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - -- and their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture.

Alex Godman, the English-raised son of Russian mafia exiles, has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of their past, building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca. But when a murder forces his family's past to return to threaten them, Alex is drawn into the criminal underworld and must confront his values to protect those he loves.

Set against the backdrop of a major drug cartel bust, the series follows two low-level cops who have spent far too much time in a car together, two criminals who are largely kept in the dark, two dispatch workers who haven't really clicked and two Mexican tunnelers who are in way too small a space considering they've only just met.

The story of the audacious jewellery, gold and cash burglary at the heart of London's diamond district executed by an elderly gang of career criminals across the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in April 2015.

A mother, herself retired from the police, embarks on an underground exploration of Paris to find her daughter, a missing investigator on a mission.

Robert Kastell returns to Sweden after having been presumed dead for thirty years. A personal tragedy has made him leave his exile, and sent him on a last journey of revenge

This baffling true crime story starts with the grisly death of a pizza man who robs a bank with a bomb around his neck - and gets weirder from there.

Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.

The remarkable story of how murderer Charles Sobhraj was captured. As the chief suspect in unsolved murders of young Western travellers across India, Thailand and Nepal’s ‘Hippie Trail’ in 1975 and 1976, Sobhraj had repeatedly slipped from the grasp of authorities worldwide to become Interpol's most wanted man, with arrest warrants on three different continents.

Escaped convict Lin Ford flees to the teeming streets of 1980s Bombay, looking to disappear. Working as a medic for the city’s poor and neglected, Lin finds unexpected love, connection, and courage on the long road to redemption.

Journalist Kate Snow takes a journey with families as they go to great lengths to find answers about their loved ones' deaths. These ordinary heroes go undercover, hunt for evidence and put their lives in jeopardy while trying to find justice.

A government agency recruits teen driver Tony Toretto and his thrill-seeking friends to infiltrate a criminal street racing circuit as undercover spies.

In the near future, an undercover Detective Inspector gunned down and killed during a botched sting is brought back via an experimental Artificial Intelligence project. Full of glitches, he’s got to track down the person who shot him, prove himself as a cop so as not to get shut down, and save his marriage and his friendship, all with his partner Carver to boot.

An exploration of the case of the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 1980s, committing 50 sexual assaults and 10 murders, and true crime author Michelle McNamara's obsessive quest to find justice on behalf of his victims.

A 1980's series of events revolving around Benny Zerletta (William DeMeo), a Brooklyn based Italian-American, soldier in the Colezzo crime family. Benny depicts the difficulties.

Every year, dozens of inmates flee. This series presents spectacular escapes that occurred in Quebec. Narrated by prison guards, journalists and investigators, the breakouts are reconstructed with meticulousness and precision.

The drug trafficking drama is inspired by the true story of two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in the country. It revolves around brothers Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory and Terry "Southwest T" Flenory, who together took their vision beyond the drug trade and into the world of hip-hop. The drama, per Starz, will tell a story about love, family and capitalism in the pursuit of the American dream.

New York City in the 1970s was ruled with a bloody fist by five mafia families, until a group of federal agents tried the unthinkable: taking them down.

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

Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.

Real cases of perplexing disappearances, shocking murders and paranormal encounters fuel this gripping revival of the iconic documentary series. The official website is unsolved.com

Gripping clips of kidnappings, break-ins, car chases, violent road rage incidents and other crimes rack up millions of views. But crimes gone viral goes beyond the jaw-dropping footage to tell the full story. Viral video of good samaritans who intervene to stop crimes, brave victims who fight back against their attackers, clever prison escapes and a shark heist.

Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy’s never before revealed experiences of making the iconic 1972 film The Godfather that Francis Ford Coppola directed and adapted with Mario Puzo.

In 1980s East London, a gang of hopeless crooks become embroiled in a major gold heist.

In 1990, two men dressed as cops con their way into a Boston museum and steal a fortune in art. Take a deep dive into this daring and notorious crime.

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

Millions in stolen cash. Missing luxury bourbon. Watch ordinary people almost get away with these extraordinary heists in this true crime series.

An espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.

Rapper and host Remy Ma profiles ordinary people who reveal how they got mixed up in criminal acts, from bank robberies to jewelry heists, and share their road to redemption in this true crime series.

Mehdi, a qualified robber, and Liana, an apprentice thief, get involved in a turf war between drug dealers, and have to collaborate in order to save their loved ones.

A disgraced cop in debt is forced to return to his home state of Florida for a shady mission only to get swept up in a wild — and deadly — treasure hunt.

A master thief and his crew attempt an epic and elaborate heist worth $7 billion dollars — but betrayal, greed and other threats undermine their plans.

In 1970s NYC, the “Torso Killer” preys on women to fulfill his grotesque fantasies while eluding police. A docuseries dive into crime’s darkest places.

Antoine Verlaque, Investigating Judge in Aix-en-Provence, and romantic partner Marine Bonnet as they investigate the murders, mysteries and dark underbelly of their idyllic home.

Family man Joe Petrus is living the American dream with his fiancé and step-kids. However, unbeknownst to them, Joe was involved in a mysterious crime three years ago and now his dangerous past is about to catch up with him. When a killer starts targeting the crew behind the crime, Joe realizes it's only a matter of time before his family is targeted. He returns to London to track down his old gang and find out who is coming after them.

A new, in-depth peek inside the minds of notorious serial killing cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono who allegedly impersonated off-duty police officers to lure unsuspecting victims to their deaths before leaving their bodies to be found on the hillsides of East Los Angeles during the 1970s.

Journalist Susan Zalkind investigates the triple murder that took her friend’s life, the national tragedy that shook her city, and the haunting question that connects the two events: if the murders had been solved, could the Boston Marathon bombing could have been prevented?

One day, a tunnel opens up between Philippe's basement in Paris, Ontario and Paris, France. Here's a chance for Philippe, caught up in a midlife crisis, to escape his quiet life and go wild and crazy in the City of Light.

In December 1988, Scott Johnson, a gay American mathematician, was found dead beneath a cliff in Sydney, Australia. His death was quickly determined to be a suicide. But Steve Johnson, Scott's older brother, had doubts and would spend the next 35 years trying to solve the mystery of Scott's death. He could have never imagined the tinderbox he would crack open—a wave of anti-gay violence, which was systematically ignored for decades.

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.

An investigative journalist pursuing a political conspiracy known as the Octopus is found dead in his hotel room. Decades later, new details emerge.

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.