One of the earliest Peak TV offerings, The Wire is a gritty, dramatic series with widespread critical acclaim and a devoted fandom. It is set in Baltimore and each season focuses on a different aspect of the city and its relationship with the justice system, including the illegal drug trade, schools, and the media.

While the series was praised throughout all five seasons for its storytelling and realism, fans were still disappointed by the fact that it ended and they had to say goodbye to the show and their favorite characters. Luckily, there are some other shows out there that can help to fill the void The Wire has left.

Show Me A Hero (2015)

  • Available to stream on HBO Max, HBO Now, and Max Go

Show Me A Hero was an HBO miniseries based on the real-life story of Yonkers, New York’s youngest mayor Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) attempting to bring public housing to his hesitant constituents. It delves into the inner workings of local politics in a realistic way and has a base civil rights storyline.

The show sees Wasicsko attempt to make everyone happy while also doing his job to bring public housing to Yonkers, which is an unlikable position. It portrays realistic people on both sides of the argument and the city is a big part of the storyline, similar to The Wire.

The Shield (2002-2008)

  • Available to stream on Hulu

The Shield blurs the line between lawman and criminal as Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) leads a new, experimental police unit of the LAPD. The members of this police force are allowed to operate outside of the rules, which leads to them acting more like criminals than law enforcers.

The members believe they’re breaking the law for the greater good, but a lot of their decisions are morally ambiguous or self-serving. The Shield shares a theme with The Wire in that it is an intriguing look at the criminal justice law enforcement world and the potentially corrupt actions of the police.

Justified (2010-2015)

Justified follows two main antagonists U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and enigmatic local criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) who grew up together in Harlan, Kentucky. The series follows both of their lives and the respective gray areas of being a lawman and in organized crime as both Givens and Crowder surprise the audiences with their actions.

Like The Wire, Justified followed both sides of the law and wasn’t afraid to delve into the moral ambiguity of real people that aren’t just good or bad archetypal characters in a location that’s always important to the plot.

Ozark (2017- )

  • Available to stream on Netflix

Ozark follows a family that has been pulled into the criminal world of money laundering when Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) has to pay back a cartel for the money that his business partner stole. The Byrdes flee to the Ozarks and they all try to survive while reconnecting as a family.

This is another show like The Wire where the location is important to the plot. Ozark portrays complex characters in the drug-dealing and money-laundering world.

Mindhunter (2017-2019)

Netflix’s Mindhunter is based on the real formation of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit that focuses on the psychology of crimes, specifically serial killers and criminal profiling. The series follows a group of two FBI agents and a scholar who begin to interview convicted serial killers to try to understand their motives.

In the same vein as The Wire, Mindhunter follows both sides of the law as the agents throw themselves into their work and become dangerously close to the serial killers they’re supposed to be studying from a distance.

The Night Of (2016)

  • Available to stream on HBO Max, HBO Now, Max Go, DIRECTV, and Pure Flix

The Night Of is an eight-part miniseries that aired on HBO. It is based on a British drama and stars Riz Ahmed as a Pakistani-American college student named Nasir Khan and John Turturro as his lawyer.

This miniseries follows the events that take place after Nasir meets a woman on his way to a party and is charged with her murder after her body is found, stabbed to death. Like The Wire, The Night Of is a gritty HBO series that has a heavy focus on life in the city and the criminal justice system.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

  • Available to stream on HBO Max, HBO Now, Max Go, and DIRECTV

The Sopranos aired on HBO and is still a highly regarded series. It focuses primarily on the complicated character of Tony Soprano, a man who has two completely separate types of “family.” At home, he has a wife and two children; when he leaves his house, his “family” is his mafia family.

As the series opens, Tony is a stressed-out mob boss who begins seeing a therapist as a way to deal with his personal and professional issues. The series follows him as he tries to balance his personal life with running the mob in New Jersey. If fans are missing the East Coast drama of The Wire, this HBO drama is perfect.

Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

  • Available to stream on Netflix and DIRECTV

If fans are into Peak TV crime dramas, like The Wire, then they’ll have likely already seen AMC’s Breaking Bad and the subsequent Netflix film El Camino. This series had everyone rooting for the bad guy while it aired and, until El Camino landed on Netflix in 2019, wondering what happened to his faithful sidekick.

Breaking Bad follows a high school chemistry teacher who finds himself in quite a financial bind when he’s diagnosed with lung cancer. In order to pay for his treatment and leave enough money behind for his family to go on without him, he teams up with his former slacker student, Jesse, to make the best methamphetamine New Mexico has ever seen. But when greed gets the better of him, Walt changes.

Narcos (2015-2017)

Netflix’s Narcos starts out following the life and business dealings of infamous cocaine dealer Pablo Escobar. After Escobar’s fall, the series looks into the aftermath and the DEA’s continued attempts to take down his rising competitors who are thriving in his absence.

Even though there aren’t many characters whom the viewer will feel themselves rooting for or sympathizing with the way they likely did with The Wire, Narcos is still a pretty engrossing one to watch.

Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014)

  • Available to stream on HBO Max, HBO Now, Max Go, DIRECTV, and Spectrum On Demand

Boardwalk Empire is set in the 1920s in Atlantic City and stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, and Kelly Macdonald. In the series, Buscemi portrays the role of Nucky Thompson, the corrupt and incredibly powerful treasurer of Prohibition-era Atlantic City.

The story follows both Nucky’s personal life as well as his professional life as he tries to balance his relationships with people in Atlantic City, the mob, and the illegal activity that thrives in the city. Nucky is based on the real-life politician Enoch L. Johnson, and this series’ dramatic elements and focus on a corrupt system are perfect for fans of The Wire.

Longmire (2012-2017)

Longmire’s setting may be a far cry from the big city drama of The Wire, but that doesn’t mean that this show’s intensity isn’t a perfect fit for people that miss that HBO series. Longmire is a modern western drama that began airing in 2012 on A&E but released its final seasons on Netflix.

The series follows Absaroka County Sheriff, Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), who tries to balance dealing with his personal life and the recent loss of his wife with while keeping the Wyoming county safe. Longmire’s balance of crime drama and personal relationships is a perfect fit for Wire fans looking for something new.

Oz (1997-2003)

Oz is HBO’s first hour-long original drama and has definitely stood up to the test of time as a show that has fans coming back to re-watch it over and over. It also boasts a tremendous cast, many of whom also worked on The Wire.

The prison drama is set in Oswald State Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison, that is nicknamed Oz by the inmates. Much of the series is set in a section of the prison that is known as “Emerald City,” an experimental sector that focuses on rehabilitating the prisoners instead of punishing them.

Sharp Objects (2018)

Based on the Gillian Flynn novel of the same names, Sharp Objects is a miniseries that stars Amy Adams as Camille, a journalist who is forced to move back to her small hometown in order to investigate a string of murders.

This incredibly dark show is part psychological thriller, part crime drama, and just as captivating as The Wire. Even though it only has a total of eight episodes, this show is enough to keep fans guessing about the fate of the girls in Wind Gap through the very end.

Peaky Blinders (2013- )

Peaky Blinders has aired five seasons with season 6 having recently wrapped production and a movie in the works to end the series. The show is a period drama set in England in the early 20th century and focuses on a gang called Peaky Blinders.

Cillian Murphy stars as a veteran of WWI and the leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, Thomas Shelby, who tries to grow the Peaky Blinders gang and extend his reach across England in order to gain more power for his gang and for himself, making him rather similar to characters in The Wire.

True Detective (2014- )

True Detective is an anthology series that follows a different group of investigators each season. This gritty series has so far aired three seasons, each of which has a different case to focus on and different investigators that are working to solve it.

If the focus on solving crimes in The Wire is what really got fans into the show, then True Detective is definitely one that will have them immediately hooked. This series, like The Wire, is a great example of HBO’s intense, dramatic shows.