7 TV Shows That Tried To Replace The Sopranos

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As a huge fan, I truly believe The Sopranos is one of the greatest TV shows ever made. So many shows have tried to capture what it did, but nothing has really come close. Created by David Chase, it originally aired on HBO from 1999 to 2007 and it’s a gripping crime drama. James Gandolfini was incredible as Tony Soprano, the head of the DiMeo crime family – he really was Tony!

The Sopranos centers on Tony’s challenges balancing his work, family life, and personal demons, prompting him to seek therapy for severe anxiety. The show is considered a rare television masterpiece, with each season surpassing the last, and is famous for its memorable, though often debated, series finale.

Many people consider The Sopranos to be one of the most important and groundbreaking TV shows ever made, and it’s influenced countless others. Some shows clearly built upon what The Sopranos did, while others seemed to try and replicate its success, though they ultimately found their own unique paths.

The Americans

Six Seasons

The Americans is a spy drama set during the Cold War, created by Joe Weisberg. It aired on FX from 2013 to 2018 and centers on Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, an American couple who are secretly Soviet KGB spies.

The TV show The Americans centers on the challenges faced by two KGB spies as they try to raise their children in America while posing as ordinary citizens. Their efforts are made even more difficult by their neighbor, Stan Beeman, who is actually an FBI agent. The show also explores the complex relationship between the spies, Philip and Elizabeth, both as a married couple and as agents, particularly as their lives become more complicated.

Both The Americans and The Sopranos are crime dramas, and The Americans was often compared to the latter because of shared elements like family dynamics, characters leading double lives, and a focus on complex psychological issues and hidden secrets. While The Americans didn’t surpass The Sopranos, it’s widely considered one of the greatest TV dramas ever made.

Deadwood

Three Seasons

Deadwood is a Western television series created by David Milch that originally aired on HBO from 2004 to 2006. The show is set in the 1870s in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, and centers around Al Swearengen, the tough owner of The Gem Saloon, and Seth Bullock, an honest lawman who recently came to town.

The show Deadwood blends real historical characters with fictional ones, exploring how they navigate life in a rough frontier town. Today, it’s considered one of the greatest Westerns ever made, and despite being set in a very different era, it’s often compared to The Sopranos for its complex storytelling and character development.

As a critic, I’ve always appreciated shows that aren’t afraid to present characters in shades of gray, and Deadwood absolutely delivers. Like The Sopranos, it dives deep into the messy realities of power and what it takes to lead – or try to. It’s a testament to the show’s lasting impact that HBO revisited this world with a movie back in 2019, giving us a chance to revisit those complex characters and that fascinating setting.

The Shield

Seven Seasons

The Shield is a crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan that ran on FX from 2002 to 2008. The show is set in Los Angeles and follows an innovative LAPD unit operating in a neighborhood struggling with gangs, drugs, and other criminal activity. Their goal is to lower crime rates and keep the peace.

I’m a huge fan of the Strike Team – Detectives Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell, Curtis Lemansky, and Ronnie Gardocki. They’re the ones who really get things done in the division, but they don’t always play by the rules. They’ll bend them, and even break them, to get information and make arrests, and honestly, it’s effective. But their boss is starting to notice their… unconventional methods, and it’s causing some tension.

Many viewers and critics saw The Shield as an attempt to fill the void left by The Sopranos. Like its predecessor, it was a crime drama featuring complex, flawed characters who often operated in a gray area between right and wrong, though The Shield generally had a faster pace and more action.

The Wire

Five Seasons

Credit: MovieStillsDB

Created by David Simon, The Wire is a highly acclaimed HBO crime drama that originally aired from 2002 to 2008. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the show realistically portrays the city’s drug trade and its complex connections to various institutions, including politics, law enforcement, the news media, and schools.

Despite not being immediately popular when it first came out, The Wire has slowly become a beloved show with a dedicated fanbase. It’s now considered by many to be one of the greatest TV series ever made, and is frequently compared to The Sopranos in discussions about the best HBO crime dramas.

Similar to The Sopranos, The Wire delves into the issue of corruption, but from a unique angle. Both shows feature characters with complex morals and examine the fading promise of the American dream. Rather than simply replacing The Sopranos, The Wire established itself as a distinctive and important series in its own right.

Boardwalk Empire

Five Seasons

Boardwalk Empire is a crime drama created by Terence Winter, inspired by Nelson Johnson’s 2002 book of the same name, which details the history of Atlantic City. The show aired on HBO from 2010 to 2014 and is set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition years of the 1920s and 30s.

Boardwalk Empire centers on Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi), a powerful and corrupt politician who controls Atlantic County. The series depicts how Nucky creates a criminal empire through bootlegging and the challenges he faces from competing gangsters and investigations by federal authorities.

Both Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos focus on the world of organized crime, but they’re set in different eras and locations. The Sopranos shows the mob losing power, while Boardwalk Empire depicts its growth, and the characters Nucky and Tony share some compelling similarities.

Breaking Bad

Five Seasons

Often hailed as one of the greatest TV shows ever made, Breaking Bad is frequently compared to The Sopranos. Created by Vince Gilligan, the series ran on AMC from 2008 to 2013 and introduced audiences to Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), a compelling and unforgettable anti-hero.

Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, receives a life-altering diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer. To provide for his family, he starts manufacturing methamphetamine. He partners with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, and quickly becomes involved in the dangerous drug trade. This new life brings a host of problems, impacting his relationships with his family, attracting the attention of the DEA, and putting him at odds with powerful drug cartels.

Both Breaking Bad and The Sopranos center around main characters deeply involved in criminal worlds, and examine how they grapple with their morality while trying to balance family life with their roles as crime bosses. While Breaking Bad didn’t surpass The Sopranos in popularity, it established itself as another leading show in the genre.

Succession

Four Seasons

Let me tell you about Succession, the HBO show everyone was talking about from 2018 to 2023. It’s created by Jesse Armstrong, and honestly, comparisons to The Sopranos aren’t far off. It’s a darkly funny, often uncomfortable drama that centers around the Roy family – the incredibly wealthy and powerful owners of a massive media empire called Waystar RoyCo. It’s a show about power, family, and just how messed up both can be.

The HBO show Succession centers on the Roy family—Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his children Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook)—as they battle each other for power over their father’s media empire when his health starts failing. Many consider it to be one of the greatest TV shows ever made, and it’s definitely a standout from the 2020s.

Both Succession and The Sopranos explore the dynamics of flawed families, alongside themes of power, money, and moral decay. Both shows are celebrated for their sharp writing, compelling performances, and richly developed characters, and are considered among HBO’s finest achievements.

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2025-11-12 03:01