My favorite TV show of all time is Breaking Bad, which stars Bryan Cranston as a terminally ill high school chemistry teacher who turns to manufacturing crystal methamphetamine to support his family. Since creator Vince Gilligan’s Emmy-winning drama ended after five seasons in 2013, I have been on the lookout for more titles that remind me of the best episodes of Breaking Bad in terms of content and tone. As far as I am concerned, the following TV series are just about “Heisenberg-level.”
Better Call Saul (2015-2022)
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn
What it's about: An Albuquerque attorney rises up in the world of practicing law by scheming his way toward wins and taking on shady clients.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Of course, no list of TV shows like Breaking Bad would be complete without the series’ acclaimed spinoff show, Better Call Saul, in which Breaking Bad cast member Odenkirk reprises his role of the slimy Saul Goodman in the earlier years of his career when he was still known as Jimmy McGill.
How to watch Better Call Saul
- Stream Better Call Saul on Netflix
- Buy Better Call Saul on Amazon
- Buy Better Call Saul on Blu-ray on Amazon
Dope Thief (2025)
Starring: Brian Tyree Henry, Wagner Moura
What it’s about: Two criminals who specialize in posing as DEA agents to rip off drug dealers put themselves in danger when they steal from the wrong person.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Unlike Breaking Bad, the Emmy-nominated, acclaimed Apple TV+ original series Dope Thief, from producer Ridley Scott, starts out with the anti-heroic protagonists already involved in the criminal lifestyle when story, but similar to Walter White’s story, it sees them get in over their heads when they ruffle feathers with something bigger than they are.
How to watch Dope Thief
Banshee (2013-2016)
Starring: Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic
What it’s about: A recently released convict assumes the identity of a recently appointed sheriff to a small Pennsylvania community, allowing him to continue indulging in his criminal lifestyle in plain sight.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Also boasting some intense action sequences that make a great show for Reacher fans, Banshee relates to Breaking Bad as a story of crime and corruption in a quaint community, led by a protagonist leading a double life.
How to watch Banshee
Top Boy (2011-2023)
Starring: Ashley Walters, Michael Ward
What it’s about: An inside look at London’s criminal underworld, as seen mostly from the point of view of the young people working in it.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Creator Ronan Bennett’s British Netflix original series Top Boy (starring Adolescence actor and 2025 Emmy nominee Ashley Walters) is another story of a person lured into the criminal lifestyle to support their family.
How to watch Top Boy
Barry (2018-2023)
Starring: Bill Hader, Sarah Goldberg
What it's about: A contract killer from the Midwest on an assignment in Los Angeles decides to switch career aspirations after randomly walking into an acting class.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Breaking Bad is not without its humorous moments, especially in the earlier seasons before growing darker over time, much like Barry (also created by Hader with Alec Berg), a story about a man’s struggle to escape his criminal lifestyle, which is at its absolute bleakest during the final season.
How to watch Barry
Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014)
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald
What it's about: The story of a New Jersey politician and his criminal exploits in the age of Prohibition.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: From creator Terence Winter and executive producer Martin Scorsese, the Emmy-winning Boardwalk Empire is yet another stunning crime drama about crime, corruption, and double lives.
How to watch Boardwalk Empire
- Stream Boardwalk Empire on HBO Max
- Buy Boardwalk Empire on Amazon
- Buy Boardwalk Empire Blu-ray on Amazon
The Dexter Franchise (2006-Present)
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter
What it's about: A man with homicidal urges acts as judge, jury, and executioner on Miami’s most awful criminals while working as a police forensics expert.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Dexter is a classic example of an absorbing, twisted crime drama that tricks you into rooting for a criminal and, also like Breaking Bad, would spawn a franchise with a limited series revival called Dexter: New Blood in 2021, a prequel called Dexter: Original Sin premiering in 2025, and another revival called Dexter: Resurrection that premiered in 2025.
How to watch the Dexter franchise
Title |
Stream |
Buy |
Blu-ray/DVD |
Dexter (2006-2013) |
Stream Dexter on Netflix; Stream Dexter on Paramount+ with Showtime add-on |
||
Dexter: New Blood (2021-2022) |
|||
Dexter: Original Sin (2024-2025) |
Stream Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+ with Showtime add-on |
||
Dexter: Resurrection (2025) |
Stream Dexter: Resurrection on Paramount+ with Showtime add-on |
Fargo (2014-Present)
Starring: Various
What it's about: Every season of this series, loosely inspired by one of the best Coen Brothers movies, tells a different story, such as one about a contract killer who makes a damning impact on a small town, another about a wife and mother whose dark past comes back to haunt her, and more.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Creator Noah Hawley’s Fargo is a great anthology TV show filled with characters like Walter White: seemingly average folk hiding dangerous secrets.
How to watch Fargo
Ozark (2017-2022)
Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney
What it's about: A Chicago family abruptly relocates to rural Missouri when the husband and father, a financial advisor, makes a deal with a deadly drug lord to become his money launderer.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: While Walter White and Marty Byrde are very different characters, both in the way they interact with their respective families and their approaches to their business, the additional comparisons between Ozark and Breaking Bad are undeniable.
How to watch Ozark
Snowfall (2017-2023)
Starring: Damson Idris, Carter Hudson
What it's about: The rise of a young man who comes to play a pivotal role in the Los Angeles crack epidemic of the 1980s.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Another series that earned comparisons to Breaking Bad early on for its earnest and visceral depiction of drug trafficking is FX’s Snowfall, from creators John Singleton, Eric Amadio, and Dave Andron.
How to watch Snowfall
Sons Of Anarchy (2008-2014)
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman
What it's about: The daily struggles of an outlaw motorcycle club in California’s Central Valley.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: The fraught relationship between Hunnam’s Jax Teller and his father, Clay Morrow (Perlman), has a lot in common with the relationship between Walt and his young partner-in-crime, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), which is just one of many similarities between Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy.
How to watch Sons of Anarchy
- Stream Sons Of Anarchy on Hulu
- Stream Sons of Anarchy on Disney+
- Buy Sons Of Anarchy on Amazon
- Buy Sons of Anarchy on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Sopranos (1999-2007)
Starring: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco
What it's about: A New Jersey mob boss struggles to balance his criminal lifestyle with being a family man.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Breaking Bad, and modern television’s obsession with anti-hero stories, may never have existed without the influence of The Sopranos, which may have ended on a polarizing note, but is still widely remembered as one of the best dramas of its time, if not ever.
How to watch The Sopranos
Weeds (2005-2012)
Starring: Mary-Louise Parker, Justin Kirk
What it's about: A teacher turns to dealing drugs to support her family.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Even though Weeds follows a recently widowed mother selling marijuana instead of an ailing husband and father peddling meth, it is easy to see why Vince Gilligan was accused of ripping off Jenji Kohan’s Emmy-winning dramedy when he pitched Breaking Bad, as he recalled at the Paley Center for Media.
How to watch Weeds
- Stream Weeds on The Roku Channel
- Stream Weeds on Plex
- Stream Weeds on Philo
- Buy Weeds on Amazon
- Buy Weeds on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Wire (2002-2008)
Starring: Dominic West, Idris Elba, Michael K. Williams
What it's about: An inside look at the world of drug trafficking, as told from the perspective of both law enforcement and outlaws of Baltimore.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: One of Breaking Bad’s fiercest rivals for the title of “all-time greatest TV show” is, creator David Simon’s The Wire, which also tells an alluring story about those in the illicit drug business with many twisted surprises along the way.
How to watch The Wire
Your Honor (2020-2023)
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Hunter Doohan
What it's about: A judge from New Orleans defies his typical moral principles to help his young son when he becomes a target of the mob after a hit-and-run accident.
Why it is worth watching if you like Breaking Bad: Cranston would eventually return to television with a role similar to Walter White, in that he takes desperate measures to help a loved one, in developer Peter Moffat’s Your Honor.
How to watch Your Honor
- Stream Your Honor on Netflix
- Stream Your Honor on Showtime through Paramount+
- Buy Your Honor on Amazon
- Buy Your Honor on DVD on Amazon
If you still have yet to see any of these acclaimed shows similar to Breaking Bad, I think your best course of action would not be to tread lightly, but to binge them all as soon as possible!
