8 Best Shows Like Blue Bloods That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Shows Like Blue Bloods

One of the most popular CBS shows, Blue Bloods has aired 11 seasons so far, and there’s no sign of it ending any time soon. Watch Tom Selleck as the patriarch of a family involved in various departments of the New York Police Department, from Frank Reagan (the police commissioner) to Danny Reagan (the detective), played by Donnie Wahlberg. Erin Reagan is played by Bridget Moynahan (ADA).

If you can’t wait for the new season of Blue Bloods to start airing in the fall, when it will be on Friday nights, what else should you watch? Blue Bloods has a lot in common with the shows we’ve selected, whether they’re great cop shows or series about families running their own businesses.

Interested in seeing what else we recommend you check out? They’re in abundance here! Our picks for the best crime and police dramas are also available.

1. Rookie Blue

Rookie Blue

Rookie Blue, Ben Bass and Missy Peregrym

While Blue Bloods added a family twist to a cop show, Rookie Blue added the rookie blues to a cop show in Canada. Five rookie Toronto police officers were the focus of this six-season series that debuted in 2010 on Canada’s Global network and followed them as they learned how to be cops on the job while also dealing with the personal issues that come with being an officer. As with Blue Bloods, several of the show’s main characters have or had police officers as parents.

2. NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue

NYPD Blue’s Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz

For Blue Bloods (and every other cop show produced after about the mid-1990s) to be respected, it must be respected for what it was: a cop show that helped shape the genre we know today. Even though NYPD Blue ran for 12 seasons on ABC from 1993 to 2004, its influence on television can be traced back to its novel approach to drama, which stripped the show of some of its luster while also showing alcoholism and nudity in ways that shocked many viewers at the time. However, the show was an award-winning drama that showed the lives of police officers both in and out of uniform, garnering 84 nominations and 20 Emmys in total.

3. Brotherhood

Brotherhood

Brotherhood

As an alternative to being all cops, what if some members of the family were politicians and others were corrupt businesspeople? From 2006 to 2008, Showtime’s acclaimed drama Brotherhood followed the lives of two brothers: one who is a state legislator in Rhode Island, the other who has been involved in the criminal underworld his entire life. As the two main brothers redefine right and wrong with their flittering moral compasses, Brotherhood captures the feeling of a family at odds with itself, and the different degrees of loyalty that come from family division, while being more serialized than Blue Bloods.

4. Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds’ Paget Brewster and Matthew Gray Gubler

If you enjoy Blue Bloods but wish there was a little more danger and gore in it, you might enjoy Criminal Minds, another CBS police procedural. The series, which debuted in 2005 and ran for 15 seasons before being cancelled in 2020, was one of CBS’s most popular offerings. It follows the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), a special FBI unit that uses behavioral analysis and profiling to catch depraved killers, in Criminal Minds. Despite the absence of family members on the team, Criminal Minds does have a similar vibe due to the close bonds formed by the members of the crew. You can see it on Hulu or on the Paramount+ website.

5. Southland

Southland

The Southland’s Benjamin McKenzie

If you’re looking for a good straight-up cop show, look no further than Southland, which was so good that NBC decided to cancel it after only one season because that’s what NBC does. Fortunately, TNT renewed it for a further four seasons, allowing it to remain one of the best and most underrated police dramas on television. Taking place in Southern California, Southland is a welcome respite from the concrete jungle of Blue Bloods’ New York City and focusing on the professional and personal lives of a diverse group of cops, including Regina King, Michael Cudlitz, and Ben McKenzie.

6. Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under, by Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, and Freddy Rodriguez

Before you say anything, let me clarify “What are you talking about? What makes this item so special? “allow me to elaborate. Were you expecting a list of only other police shows? The cop show formula is rolled around in a sticky batter of family drama on Blue Bloods, which gives it a distinctive flavor. While watching Blue Bloods, keep an eye out for the complex dynamics of a multigenerational family working in the same industry, which can be found in the HBO dramedy Six Feet Under. While running a funeral home in Los Angeles, the Fisher family faces both personal and professional decisions. The Emmy-winning show follows their journey. They may not be catching thieves and then sitting down to a family dinner at the kitchen table, but their business’s heft keeps things interesting nonetheless. It’s regarded as one of the best dramas of the ’90s thanks to a stellar cast that includes Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, and Rachel Griffiths.

7. The Chicago Code

The Chicago Code

The City of Chicago’s Ordinance Code

Give The Chicago Code a try if you’re looking for another great cop show with a strong sense of place and an emphasis on different levels of law enforcement. Shawn Ryan, the man behind arguably the greatest cop show of all time, The Shield, created the show, which aired for only one season on Fox in 2011. Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke) works with Chicago Police Superintendent (Jennifer Beales) to fight corruption in the city, which could be linked to a powerful alderman. The show follows Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke) (Delroy Lindo).

8. Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom’s Ellen Barkin

In contrast to Blue Bloods, the TNT drama Animal Kingdom takes place on the beaches of California instead of in the city’s skyscrapers and follows a family of criminals rather than a family of cops. (Where is the flyover state crossover episode?) As Janine “Smurf” Cody, the family matriarch and crime lord who oversees a series of bank heists with her four sons and grandson, Ellen Barkin is the show’s Tom Selleck. You’ll enjoy Animal Kingdom if you want a change of scenery from the urban setting of Blue Bloods and want to soak up some (virtual) sun, or just like the idea of a family sticking together no matter which side of the law they’re on.