10 TV Shows Like Breaking Bad (And Where To Watch Them)
The original version of this article was written by Jenni Russell and published in 2024.
Breaking Bad is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed TV series of the last 25 years. Created by Vince Gilligan, it stars Bryan Cranston in the iconic role of Walter White: a terminally-ill high school chemistry teacher who “breaks bad” by cooking crystal meth in order to secure his family’s financial future.
With Galligan’s latest, the critically acclaimed sci-fi brain-melter Pluribus, now very much with use, we’ve decided to round up ten shows like Breaking Bad that might help wile away the hours until Season Two begins. The following list, which I've arranged in no particular order, includes crime dramas, dark comedies and ethically dubious protagonists—or in other words, all the things that fans of Galligan’s work tend to love.
Read on to discover more and hit the guide below to find out where to stream each one on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.
We’ll start with a bit of a no-brainer: Breaking Bad’s prequel series Better Call Saul. This is naturally a great place to start if you’re looking for something super similar, and especially if you’re a fan of Bob Odenkirk’s performances: of course as Saul Goodman in the original show but also more recently in movies like Little Women or Nobody.
The series begins six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White and tracks the character’s own gradual journey of “breaking bad”.
When Walter White is diagnosed with cancer, he begins making and distributing methamphetamines in order to provide for his family. The drug trade is a pivotal part of Breaking Bad’s lore, yet there are few TV series that deal with that world in greater detail than Netflix’s Narcos and Narcos: Mexico.
Over six seasons, these two shows track the rise and fall of various drug lords in Mexico and Colombia, most notably Pablo Escobar (The Secret Agent’s Oscar-nominated star, Wagner Moura) and Miguel Gallardo (Andor’s Diego Luna). Pedro Pascal even appears as an investigator in season 3.
One of the things that makes Breaking Bad so good is Walter White’s character arc: over the course of six seasons, White gradually becomes an unimaginable version of the man we met in the first episode. Ozark does something similar with Jason Bateman’s Marty Byrde, a mild mannered financial advisor who, over the course of the show’s three seasons, becomes a money launderer for a Mexican Cartel.
This is another high quality show with a great cast of actors: notably Laura Linney (The Truman Show) as Byrde’s wife, Wendy, and Julia Garner (Weapons) as their daughter, Ruth.
Similar to some of the shows I’ve already mentioned here, the central antagonists in the recent HBO series Task are also conflicted criminals attempting to secure their families' futures. This riveting show works from three perspectives: one from the criminals’, another from the POV of the skinhead, drug-dealing bikers they’ve been stealing from, and another from the FBI task force attempting to work out what’s going on.
This is the latest expansive and wonderfully-acted show from Brad Ingelsby, so if you were a fan of his Kate Winslet-starring Mare of Easttown, you’ll want to check it out. It also stars Mark Ruffalo in full sad dad mode—so if that’s the kind of thing you’re into, you know what to do.
At this stage, The Sopranos basically speaks for itself—but if for some reason you’ve yet to see it, you’re in for a great time. Breaking Bad has basically become synonymous with the idea of the problematic protagonist, but The Sopranos kind of invented the genre—at least as far as prestige TV is concerned.
David Chase’s story of a New Jersey mob boss trying to hold onto power while dealing with the everyday struggles of suburban life (up to and including seeing a therapist) gave us six flawless, hilarious and occasionally profound seasons of television—and if you’re a fan of Goodfellas, The Godfather and anything in between, you’re going to love it.
The first prestige TV show to offer a panoramic view of the drug trade was former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon’s phenomenal series The Wire. Over five seasons, and with a rollcall of unforgettable characters, Simon shows you an entire ecosystem: from the street level traders and big money men to the cops, unions, politicians and schools.
Like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, this is a show widely considered amongst the pantheon of modern Television classics—and if you like the expansive approach of shows like Peaky Blinders and Boardwalk Empire, you’ve simply got to check it out.
If you’re looking to follow Breaking Bad up with something a little lighter in tone, we can point you in the direction of the Netflix series How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast)—which is a German show but currently available with both English dubbing and subtitles.
The show’s story arc takes a somewhat similar route to Walter White’s but with a very different vibe, focusing on a nerdy teen who starts selling drugs to impress a girl but ends up as one of the biggest dealers in Europe. This is a series that slightly younger viewers might also enjoy—more in the ballpark of shows like Skins, Euphoria and Sex Education.
Similar to both Breaking Bad and Ozark, Bloodline is another family affair in which the only thing more uncomfortable than the weather—this time it's the hot and humid Florida Keys—is the nervous tension between the characters. Set in the present day, it focuses on the Rayburns: a wealthy, resort-owning family whose lives are turned upside down when an estranged older brother returns home.
This is another show that boasts a cast of beloved actors: alongside Kyle Chandler and the legendary Sissi Spacek, Ben Mendelsohn steals the show in a deliciously layered role (as the prodigal son), so if you appreciate what he brought to shows like Andor or movies like Animal Kingdom and Mississippi Grind, you’ll want to check this one out.
If you’re a fan of Breaking Bad and also like the movies of Nicolas Winding Refn (think Drive, Pusher and The Neon Demon), Too Old To Die Young is a show you have to seek out. The story focuses on a morally complex LAPD detective who gets embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld after his partner is killed.
Like any Refn joint, this is a violent and heavily stylised show. It also features a stacked cast of trendy actors including Miles Teller (Whiplash), John Hawkes (Deadwood) and Jena Malone (Donnie Darko).
We’ll end our list with the long-running BBC and Netflix production, Peaky Blinders. This is a period-set drama about the rise of the fictional Shelby crime family in Birmingham in the 1920s—and if you’re a fan of how Breaking Bad showed Walter’s gradual rise to power, or appreciate the period detail of series like Boardwalk Empire or House of Guinness, you’ll easily get into this one.
This is the show that really cemented Cillian Murphy as a global star, so if you’re a fan of all things Cillian, you also owe it to yourself to check it out.
