Top 250 Tv Shows Like The Outsider

A list of the best tv shows similar to The Outsider. If you liked The Outsider then you may also like: Bones, The Wire, Blue Bloods, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad and many more great tv shows featured on this list.

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Philippe Jordan is a policeman prone to advancing the cause of justice by any means necessary. On his agenda is a powerful drug cartel working out of Paris and Marseilles, with a drug lord who is essentially inaccessible -- but not immortal.

Bones

Dr. Temperance Brennan and her colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab assist Special Agent Seeley Booth with murder investigations when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that the standard identification methods are useless.

The Wire

Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.

Blue Bloods

A drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as Chief.

Better Call Saul

Six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White. We meet him when the man who will become Saul Goodman is known as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer searching for his destiny, and, more immediately, hustling to make ends meet. Working alongside, and, often, against Jimmy, is “fixer” Mike Ehrmantraut. The series tracks Jimmy’s transformation into Saul Goodman, the man who puts “criminal” in “criminal lawyer".

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.

Griselda

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”.

NCIS

From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has a shred of evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.

The Rookie

Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.

21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to go undercover and solve crimes involving teenagers and young adults.

Adam-12

Adam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12.

A Touch of Frost

Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.

Baywatch Nights

Baywatch Nights is an American police and science fiction drama series that aired in syndication from 1995 to 1997. Created by Douglas Schwartz, David Hasselhoff, and Gregory J. Bonann, the series is a spin-off from the popular television series, Baywatch.

The Closer

Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.

Cold Case

The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.

Columbo

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

Dexter

Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.

Dragnet

Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

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.

The Fall Guy

Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers picks up some extra pocket money by using his rough-and-tumble skills to track and capture bail jumpers.

Fastlane

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

Homicide: Life on the Street

An American police procedural chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.

Hunter

Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.

The Killing

The Killing is an American crime drama television series based upon the Danish television series Forbrydelsen. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.

Kingpin

Kingpin is an American crime drama television series which debuted on the NBC network in the U.S. and CTV in Canada on February 2, 2003 and lasted 6 episodes. NBC's answer to The Sopranos and also influenced by The Godfather, Macbeth and Traffik, the story was about a Mexican drug trafficker named Miguel Cadena and his family life. It was to be followed by a television series, but low ratings canceled those plans. Commercials for the mini-series on NBC featured the song "Más" by the Mexican band Kinky.

L.A.'s Finest

Syd Burnett has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Syd is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don't agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.

Life on Mars

A detective chief inspector from 2006 is investigating a serial killer when he is knocked over by a speeding car. Waking up, he finds himself mysteriously transported back in time to 1973. Initially struggling to come to terms with his situation, he has to come to terms with the old-fashioned technology and attitude of the day, while figuring out how he came to be trapped in the past.

Luther

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Major Crimes

Major Crimes explores how the American justice system approaches the art of the deals as law enforcement officers and prosecutors work together to score a conviction. Los Angeles Police Captain Sharon Raydor heads up a special squad within the LAPD that deals with high-profile or particularly sensitive crimes.

The Mentalist

Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.

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. 

Police Story

Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV. Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots.

Prime Suspect

Highly skilled Detective Inspector Jane Tennison battles to prove herself in a male dominated world.

Riptide

Riptide is an American TV detective series that ran on NBC from December 3, 1983 to August 22, 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions in the wake of Magnum PI's success. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. A mid-season replacement, it debuted as a two-hour TV movie in early 1984.

Rizzoli & Isles

Perhaps their strikingly different personalities make the relationship between detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles so effective. Jane, the only female cop in Boston's homicide division, is tough, relentless and rarely lets her guard down, while the impeccably dressed Maura displays a sometimes icy temperament — she is, after all, more comfortable among the dead than the living. Together, the best friends have forged a quirky and supportive relationship; they drop the protective shield in each other's company, and combine their expertise to solve Boston's most complex cases.

Robocop: Prime Directives

Ten years after the original Robocop, Delta City is city owned and operated by OCP. RoboCop finds himself nearly obsolete and his former partner, John Cable, has returned to Delta City as its new Security Commander. But slowly, new enemies arise, and Murphy and Cable begin an investigation into a mysterious villain known as the Bone Machine.

The Shield

The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.

Silk Stalkings

Silk Stalkings is a crime drama television series. The series portrays the daily lives of two detectives who solve sexually-based crimes of passion among the ultra-rich of Palm Beach, Florida.

Snowfall

Los Angeles. 1983. A storm is coming and its name is crack. Set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it, the story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course.

Starsky & Hutch

Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.

S.W.A.T.

S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Like The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.

S.W.A.T.

A locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he's tasked to run a highly-trained unit that's the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles.

T. J. Hooker

Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recuits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.

Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.

A chronicle of the two major police investigations by LAPD Detective Greg Kading into the deaths of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.

Walker, Texas Ranger

Modern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.

Without a Trace

The series follows the ventures of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.

Nash Bridges

Fun-loving San Francisco Police Department investigator Nash Bridges is part of the elite Special Investigations Unit. He tackles crime using his keen sense of humor and charm. Joe Dominguez comes out of retirement to become Bridges' wisecracking yet more rule-abiding partner.

The Sweeney

Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.

Castle

After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.

Miami Vice

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.

Dempsey and Makepeace

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.

Hawaii Five-O

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".

L.A. Heat

L.A. Heat is an American action series starring Wolf Larson and Steven Williams as Los Angeles police detectives, in the tradition of films like Lethal Weapon. The series aired on TNT from March 15, 1999.

The Streets of San Francisco

Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate murders and other serious crimes in San Francisco. Stone would become a second father to Keller as he learned the rigors and procedures of detective work.

The Untouchables

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.

Hill Street Blues

A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.

Spiral

This gritty crime drama set in the dark underbelly of Paris follows police officers and lawyers as they investigate and prosecute crimes. Throw any romantic notion of Paris out the window. Crime is dark. The legal system is darker. This is Spiral.

Murdoch Mysteries

A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.

Memphis Beat

Memphis Beat is an American drama series that debuted on TNT on June 22, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2011. Memphis Beat was officially canceled on October 14, 2011.

Braquo

A group of police officers in Paris use violence and intimidation to solve crimes.

The Shadow Line

A murder is investigated by both sides of the line, cops and criminals, using opposing methods. But the real line is the morality within each person and how far they will go before they cross it.

True Justice

Elijah Kane leads a hardcore undercover team of Seattle based cops who take on the local criminal element with a high-octane style of enforcement.

Gang Related

Every villain has a noble cause, and every hero has a dark side. Detective Ryan Lopez is a rising star in Los Angeles' elite Gang Task Force. What the world doesn't know is that long before Ryan became a cop, he pledged allegiance to a different band of brothers – a powerful Latino gang called Los Angelicos. When Ryan's best friend and police partner is senselessly killed by a notorious gang member, Ryan teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green who has been at the forefront of the city's war on organized crime. In this war between law enforcement and gangs, the series explores how only people who really know the streets can win the battle on the streets.

Power

A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential, all while wanting to escape the underworld and keep his family safe.

Bosch

Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to remain loyal to his personal code: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”

Happy Valley

Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.

NCIS: New Orleans

A drama about the local field office that investigates criminal cases affecting military personnel in The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment and decadence.

Dragnet

Police Detective Sgt. Joe Friday and his partners investigate crimes in Los Angeles.

Profiling Paris

Chloé Saint-Laurent is a profiler and works with a police team to solve murders in Paris. She's very sweet, she wears very colored clothes and a huge yellow bag. She looks like a little girl who need a doll, but she's very smart and a very good profiler. Step by step, she fit in the team and her colleagues, very reserved at first, became her best friends.

Fabio Montale

Fabio Montale, a crime squad superintendent who knows Marseille like the back of his hand. The city crawls with gangs, corrupt policemen, shady politicians and the mafia – all standing in the way of justice.

El Señor de los Cielos

Set in the 1990s, these are the life and times of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, a man who became the head of the Juárez cartel. Nicknamed “El Señor de los Cielos” (Lord of the Skies) because of the large fleet of airplanes he used to transport drugs, he was also known for washing more than $200 million through Colombia to finance his huge fleet. He is described as the most powerful drug trafficker of his time.

Witnesses

A young female detective is put in charge of a case and must delve into her partner's mysterious past in order to solve it.

Narcos

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

The Last Panthers

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.

Maigret

Adaptation of the novels written by Georges Simenon featuring his fictional French police commissioner Jules Maigret.

La Mante

Jeanne Deber, known as "La Mante", the famous serial murderer who terrorized France more than 20 years ago, is forced by the police to come out of isolation to track down her copycat. She agrees to collaborate on one condition: to have only one interlocutor, Damien Carrot, her son, who became a cop because of the crimes of his mother, and who refuses all contact with her since her arrest.

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.

Drug Lords

Witness the stories of history's most notorious kingpins, their terrifying enforcers, and the men and women who've sworn to bring them down.

Nox

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

Nude

In 2026, a radical change requires everyone to live naked in a pacified and peaceful France. But the murder of a young woman found dressed revives tensions. The investigation is entrusted to a young inspector who collaborates with her ex-partner, just out of the coma in which he had fallen at the time ... where everyone was still wearing clothes.

Too Old to Die Young

Detective Martin Jones, who leads a double life as a killer for hire in Los Angeles' deadly underground, suffers an existential crisis which leads him deeper into a blood splattered world of violence.

Narcos: Mexico

See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in 1980s Mexico.

ZeroZeroZero

Based on the book of the same name by bestselling author Roberto Saviano, ZeroZeroZero is an unforgettable exploration of the inner workings of the global cocaine trade.

Seis Manos

Orphans raised by a martial arts master are plunged into a mystery involving demonic powers, drug cartels, ancient rituals and blood sacrifice.

Mare of Easttown

A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.

La Garçonne

Louise, framed for murder, sees the only solution is to pose as her twin brother who has just been assigned a job as a detective. The discovery of the body of a woman modelling for artists leads her into the decadent world of high society.

The Last Narc

In 1985, American DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by Mexico’s most notorious drug lords. Thirty-five years later, three former cartel insiders share unprecedented details. This is the story of Camarena, the drug cartel he infiltrated, and the narc who risked everything to discover the truth.

Cocaine Trade Exposed: The Invisibles

The true story of the rise of a shadowy new generation of cocaine kingpins and of law enforcement's desperate efforts to bring them down.

Narco Wars

Narco Wars explores how opportunistic smuggling networks in Latin America turned into powerful and ruthless drug cartels with the power to destabilize and tear apart whole countries. The series combines gripping access to cartel members and the law enforcement agencies opposing them with a deep dive documentary exploration of the geo-political, social and cultural factors that led the cartels' rise.

CSI: Vegas

Facing an existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City.

The Story of Drug Trafficking

This series explores the history of drug trafficking from a political perspective and reveals the murky role played by many states which have used the drug trade as an instrument of power. Opium, heroin, cocaine, and designer drugs have sparked wars, financed militias, and brought down states.

The Responder

Under pressure, fraying at the edges. In relentless night-time Liverpool, copper Chris is paired with a rookie. Will they save or destroy each other?

En la Boca del Lobo

Based on a true story and the book, At the Devil's Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel by award-winning investigative reporter William C. Rempel, En la Boca del Lobo follows the series of events that ultimately lead to the dramatic downfall of Colombia’s infamous Cali drug cartel. The story centers on Ricardo Salgado, an engineer and soldier who rises ranks and became in charge of the security of the godfather of the Cali Cartel, one of the largest criminal organizations in the world and rival of the Medellin Cartel.

Last King of the Cross

Inspired by John Ibrahim's best-selling autobiography, this series is an operatic story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organize the street but lose each other in their ascent to power. The story tracks John Ibrahim's rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia's most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney's Kings Cross — a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on offer.

Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer

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.

Black Ops

Dom and Kay join the Met Police in the hope of cleaning up their community, but are unwittingly thrust into the murky world of deep cover infiltration as they become part of a powerful criminal enterprise. But for Dom and Kay it quickly becomes more of a fiasco than Donnie Brasco…

East New York

Regina Haywood is the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, a working-class neighborhood at the edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting in the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.

NCIS: Sydney

The brilliant and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS Agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are grafted into a multi-national taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.

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