Best tv shows like Bored to Death
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Jonathan Ames, a young Brooklyn writer, is feeling lost. He's just gone through a painful break-up, thanks in part to his drinking, can't write his second novel, and carouses too much with his magazine editor. Rather than face reality, Jonathan turns instead to his fantasies — moonlighting as a private detective — because he wants to be a hero and a man of action.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 28 min
Plot tags: witty, humorous, intellectual, semi serious, detective, sitcom, funny, neo noir, dark comedy, psychedelic
Best tv shows and movies like Bored to Death (2009):
Similar in 82%
Andy Barker, P.I. (2007)
Plot Summary:
Certified public accountant Andy Barker reluctantly becomes a private investigator after he is mistaken for the former office tenant, who was a private eye.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, detective, sitcom, bleak, entertaining, offbeat, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Search Party (2016)
Plot Summary:
A dark comedy about four self-absorbed twenty-somethings who become entangled in an ominous mystery when a former college acquaintance suddenly disappears.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, funny, neo noir, dark comedy, psychological thriller, queer cinema
Similar in 78%
Wild Card (2003)
Plot Summary:
Wild Card is an American comedy-drama series starring Joely Fisher. It was broadcast in the United States on Lifetime, and on the Global Television Network in Canada from August 2003 to July 2005.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 360
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, humorous, emotional, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Michael Richards Show (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Michael Richards Show is a sitcom that debuted on NBC in 2000. The show starred Michael Richards as reality-challenged but successful private detective Vic Nardozza who gets the job done despite his unconventional methods.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, suspenseful, semi serious, realistic, detective
Similar in 76%
Party Down (2009)
Plot Summary:
Party Down is an American comedy television series that follows a Los Angeles, California, catering team for the titular company. The sextet of aspiring Hollywood actors and writers, as well as drifting lost souls, work small-time catering gigs while hoping for their break or some positive change in their lives.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, witty, not serious, cynical, funny, mockumentary, parody, sweet, epic
Similar in 87%
HAPPYish (2015)
Plot Summary:
Thom Payne is a 44 year-old man whose world is thrown into disarray when his 25 year-old "wunderkind" boss arrives, saying things like "digital," "social" and "viral." Is he in need of a "rebranding," or does he just have a "low joy ceiling?" Maybe pursuing happiness is a fool's errand? Happiness after all is pretty high bar. In a world as absurd as ours, maybe the best anyone can hope for is happyish.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, cynical, semi serious, dark comedy, captivating, psychological, funny, satirical, offbeat
Similar in 88%
Take Two (2018)
Plot Summary:
Sam Swift, the former star of a hit cop series whose epic breakdown is broadcast to the public and sends her to rehab. Desperate to restart her career, she talks her way into shadowing lone-wolf private investigator Eddie Valetik as research for a potential comeback role. Though Eddie resents the babysitting gig, high-spirited Sam uses the skills she learned as an actor playing a cop and proves herself to be surprisingly valuable.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: feel good, light, captivating, sweet, detective
Similar in 88%
Mike Hammer, Private Eye (1997)
Plot Summary:
Mike Hammer, Private Eye is an American syndicated television program based on the adventures of the fictitious private detective Mike Hammer, created by novelist Mickey Spillane. The show starred Stacy Keach and was seen as an attempt to revive the character he had played in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer - two moderately successful syndicated CBS series from the 1980s. Mike Hammer, Private Eye premiered on September 27, 1997. The show failed to gain a wide audience and, as a result, it was canceled after only one season. The final show of the series aired on June 14, 1998.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 675
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, serious, neo noir, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Terriers (2010)
Plot Summary:
Ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Hank Dolworth partners with his best friend, former criminal Britt Pollack, in an unlicensed private investigation business. The series is set in Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, although it is portrayed as a distinct town, with Dolworth having once been a member of the fictional Ocean Beach Police Department.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspenseful, dark comedy, captivating, detective, tense, atmospheric, serious, anime, realistic
Similar in 78%
Louie (2010)
Plot Summary:
Louis C.K. stars as a fictionalized version of himself; a comedian and newly divorced father raising his two daughters in New York City.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 81000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: humorous, sitcom, sincere, dark comedy, clever, realistic, semi serious, funny, hilarious, witty
Similar in 88%
Dirk Gently (2010)
Plot Summary:
Dirk Gently is a British comedy detective drama TV series based on characters from the Dirk Gently novels by Douglas Adams. The series was created by Howard Overman and stars Stephen Mangan as holistic detective Dirk Gently and Darren Boyd as his sidekick Richard MacDuff. Recurring actors include Helen Baxendale as MacDuff's girlfriend Susan Harmison, Jason Watkins as Dirk's nemesis DI Gilks and Lisa Jackson as Dirk's receptionist Janice Pearce. Unlike most detective series Dirk Gently features broadly comic touches and even some science fiction themes such as time travel and artificial intelligence. Dirk Gently operates his Holistic Detective Agency based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things", which relies on random chance methods to uncover connections between seemingly-unrelated cases. He claims that he follows the principles of quantum mechanics, and although the majority of his clients suspect he may be a conman he often produces surprising results. With the help of his assistant, Richard MacDuff, Dirk investigates a number of seemingly unrelated but interconnected cases. An hour-long pilot episode loosely based on plot elements from Adams' 1987 novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was broadcast on BBC Four on 16 December 2010 and was watched by 1.1 million viewers. Critical reception was generally positive. A full series of three one-hour episodes was subsequently commissioned in March 2011 and was broadcast on BBC Four in March 2012. The series was the first continuing drama series produced for the digital channel.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: detective, humorous, semi serious, captivating, exciting, touching, hilarious, offbeat, suspenseful, witty
Similar in 78%
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2008)
Plot Summary:
The adventures of Mma Ramotswe, a Motswana woman who starts Botswana's first female-owned detective agency.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, Mystery
Country: UK, USA, South Africa
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, detective, offbeat, clever
Similar in 90%
Nero Wolfe (2012)
Plot Summary:
Interesting modern actualization made by Italian broadcasting service (RAI) of immortal, well-known characters created by the genial American novelist Rex Stout.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 201
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: detective, psychological, intellectual, captivating, witty, stylized, detective series
Similar in 82%
Remington Steele (1982)
Plot Summary:
Remington Steele is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic comedy, drama, and detective procedural. Remington Steele is best known for launching the career of Pierce Brosnan and for serving as a forerunner of the similar series Moonlighting. Remington Steele's premise is that Laura Holt, a licensed private detective played by Stephanie Zimbalist, opened a detective agency under her own name but found that potential clients refused to hire a woman, however qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whom she names Remington Steele. Through a series of events that unfold in the first episode, "License to Steele", Pierce Brosnan's character, a former thief and con man whose real name is never revealed, assumes the identity of Remington Steele. Behind the scenes, Laura remains firmly in charge.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, soap opera, hilarious, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, stylized, semi serious, neo noir
Similar in 82%
Seinfeld (1989)
Plot Summary:
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998. It lasted nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block in Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City, the show features a handful of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, particularly best friend George Costanza, former girlfriend Elaine Benes, and neighbor across the hall Cosmo Kramer.
IMDB Rating: 8.9
IMDB Votes: 343000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, buddy comedy, witty, talky, not serious, funny, hilarious, anime, atmospheric
Similar in 90%
Girls (2012)
Plot Summary:
The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 28 min
Plot tags: realistic, humorous, semi serious, witty, mumblecore, clever, sexy, funny, sitcom, grindhouse
Similar in 85%
Jack & Jill (1999)
Plot Summary:
A lighthearted romantic comedy about post-collegiate life, love and career in New York City.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sitcom, talky, sexual
Similar in 80%
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Plot Summary:
A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 235000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: neo noir, funny, black comedy, dark comedy, detective, humorous, sexy, suspense, entertaining, absurd
Similar in 84%
Death in Paradise (2011)
Plot Summary:
Detective Inspector Richard Poole is transferred to Sainte Marie, an island in the Caribbean. Totally unsuited to the Caribbean way of life, Richard hates the sun, sea and sand and isn't used to the Sainte Marie style of policing. Working with the exotic Camille each week Richard investigates intricate and intriguing murders.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, stylized, semi serious, detective, crime drama, light, exciting, funny, dark
Similar in 81%
Only Murders in the Building (2021)
Plot Summary:
Three strangers who share an obsession with true crime suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 114000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, detective, funny, captivating, entertaining, exciting, light, feel good, sitcom, independent film
Similar in 83%
Burn Notice (2007)
Plot Summary:
A formerly blacklisted spy uses his unique skills and training to help people in desperate situations.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, semi serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, detective, political, anime, grindhouse, crime drama
Similar in 78%
Psych (2006)
Plot Summary:
Thanks to his police officer father's efforts, Shawn Spencer spent his childhood developing a keen eye for detail (and a lasting dislike of his dad). Years later, Shawn's frequent tips to the police lead to him being falsely accused of a crime he solved. Now, Shawn has no choice but to use his abilities to perpetuate his cover story: psychic crime-solving powers, all the while dragging his best friend, his dad, and the police along for the ride.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 104000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, witty, detective, not serious, humorous, talky, realistic, intellectual, funny, offbeat
Similar in 80%
Perception (2012)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor, is recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind give him an extraordinary ability to read people, but his eccentric view of the world and less-than-stellar social skills can often interfere with his work.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, mind bending, offbeat, intellectual, serious, detective, psychological, entertaining, dramatic, crime drama
Similar in 88%
Weeds (2005)
Plot Summary:
Weeds is an American dark comedy-drama series created by Jenji Kohan. The central character is Nancy Botwin, a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling cannabis to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a heart attack. Over the course of the show, she and her family become increasingly entangled in illegal activities.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 28 min
Plot tags: humorous, dark comedy, sitcom, witty, realistic, cynical, erotic, funny, offbeat, explicit
Similar in 88%
White Collar (2009)
Plot Summary:
Neal Caffrey, a con man, forger and thief, is captured after a three-year game of cat and mouse with the FBI. With only months left serving a four-year sentence, he escapes to look for Kate, his girlfriend. Peter Burke, the FBI agent who initially captured Caffrey, finds and returns him to prison. This time, Caffrey proposes a deal with the FBI, as part of a work-release program. After some hesitation, Burke agrees, and thus begins this unconventional arrangement where Caffrey helps Burke apprehend white collar criminals.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 139000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, light, serious, intellectual, entertaining, suspenseful, realistic, detective, thought provoking
Similar in 85%
Castle (2009)
Plot Summary:
After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 172000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: witty, realistic, detective, entertaining, crime drama, sensitive, thrilling, suspenseful, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 84%
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
Plot Summary:
The series follows Las Vegas criminalists working for the Las Vegas Police Department as they use physical evidence to solve grisly murders in this unusually graphic drama, which has inspired a host of other cop-show "procedurals". The series mixes deduction, gritty subject matter and character-driven drama. The network later added spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, which have both been cancelled after ten and nine seasons respectively.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 88000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, detective, psychological, suspenseful, rough, realistic, suspense, dramatic, exciting, funny
Similar in 88%
Criminal Minds (2005)
Plot Summary:
An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 214000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: psychological, exciting, serious, rough, detective, intellectual, thrilling, psychological thriller, bloody, dramatic
Similar in 81%
Lie to Me (2009)
Plot Summary:
The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and government agencies uncover the truth. But his skills also make it easier for him to deceive others.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 126000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: clever, psychological, serious, detective, suspenseful, realistic, thrilling, surprise ending, philosophical, intellectual
Similar in 88%
True Detective (2014)
Plot Summary:
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
IMDB Rating: 8.9
IMDB Votes: 618000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: neo noir, serious, atmospheric, anthology, gloomy, realistic, southern gothic, clever, stylized, captivating