Best tv shows like Burn Notice
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Burn Notice (2007):
Similar in 79%
MacGyver (1985)
Plot Summary:
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles during seasons 1, 2 and 7, and in Vancouver during seasons 3–6. The show's final episode aired on April 25, 1992, on ABC. Episode List The show follows secret agent Angus MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson, who works as a troubleshooter for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles and as an agent for a fictional United States government agency, the Department of External Services. Educated as a scientist, MacGyer served as a Bomb Team Technician/EOD during the Vietnam War. Resourceful and possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of the physical sciences, he solves complex problems with everyday materials he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife. He prefers non-violent resolutions and prefers not to handle a gun, but will if necessary.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: realistic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, stylized, intellectual, retro, scenic, action adventure, relaxing
Similar in 79%
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (2011)
Plot Summary:
Before Sam Axe teamed up with Michael and Fiona, he was Commander Axe, U.S. Navy SEAL. The Fall of Sam Axe tells the story of how Sam went from respected Naval Commander to the man of mystery we've come to know on Burn Notice. On what will turn out to be Sam's last military mission, he is sent to the jungles of Colombia to investigate claims of a vicious terrorist organization known only as the "Espada Ardiente" (Flaming Sword). His mission: to determine whether U.S. military aid is necessary to deal with the threat. But when he arrives, things are more complicated than he'd imagined. He receives word that the rebels have targeted a small civilian clinic deep in the jungle. Sam must now save the clinic's doctors and patients from certain death. However, nothing is as it seems and the Espada Ardiente may not be the biggest threat Sam Axe faces.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, talky, suspenseful, semi serious, exciting, realistic, cliffhanger, funny, cult classic, fast
Similar in 83%
Magnum, P.I. (1980)
Plot Summary:
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network. According to the Nielsen ratings, Magnum, P.I. consistently ranked in the top twenty U.S. television programs during the first five years that the series was originally broadcast in the United States. Originally appearing in a prime time American network timeslot of 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays, Magnum, P.I. was one of the highest-rated shows on U.S. television.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, light, entertaining, detective, funny, retro, slapstick, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Touching Evil (2004)
Plot Summary:
Returning from a year-long psychological leave of absence after surviving an almost-fatal gunshot wound to the head, Detective David Creegan is assigned to the FBI's Organized and Serial Crime Unit – a rapid-response, elite crime investigation squad – where he and his new partner, Detective Susan Branca, find themselves committed to saving lives and solving cases. In spite of his inability to abide by common sense and the laws he's sworn to uphold, Creegan, with the help of Branca, works on hunting down the most vicious criminals on the streets.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective, crime drama
Similar in 77%
XIII: The Series (2011)
Plot Summary:
After a plot to kill the president of the USA an agent with lost memories tries to recover his life and memories. Others use him to cover up some dirty business involving high ranking officials from the CIA and the White House.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, suspenseful, realistic, tense, fast
Similar in 75%
Spooks (2002)
Plot Summary:
Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they work against the clock to safeguard the nation. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, and the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a highly secure suite of offices known as The Grid.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, crime drama, political, bleak, fast
Similar in 84%
24: The Movie (2014)
Plot Summary:
Jack Bauer comes out of hiding in London to head off a massive terrorist attack while being hunted down by American forces dispatched by President James Heller.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, exciting, rough, bleak, political, detective, anime, clever, realistic
Similar in 84%
Charlie's Angels (2011)
Plot Summary:
Charlie's Angels is a remake developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar for ABC, based upon the 1976 series of the same name created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts. The series ran on ABC from September 22 to November 10, 2011. A remake of the original show had been in the works since 2009. Although there were going to be 13 episodes to be aired, production of Charlie's Angels ended on October 14, 2011 after airing only four episodes due to extremely poor ratings and critical reviews. It burned off three of the remaining four episodes and concluded its run on ABC on November 10, 2011. The show's critically negative reviews focused on its acting, plot, and action scenes. Charlie's Angels is currently available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, semi serious, humorous, sexy, heroic, detective, fast, captivating, realistic
Similar in 80%
Chuck (2007)
Plot Summary:
Chuck is an American action-comedy/spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central Intelligence Agency; the message embeds the only remaining copy of a software program containing the United States' greatest spy secrets into Chuck's brain.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 145000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: light, humorous, semi serious, captivating, sweet, offbeat, sitcom, spoof, comedy drama, witty
Similar in 77%
Covert Affairs (2010)
Plot Summary:
A young CIA operative, Annie Walker, is mysteriously summoned to headquarters for duty as a field operative. While Annie believes she's been promoted for her exceptional linguistic skills, there may be something or someone from her past that her CIA bosses are really after. Auggie Anderson is a CIA military intelligence agent who was blinded while on assignment and is Annie's guide in this world of bureaucracy, excitement and intrigue.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, heroic, detective, crime drama, political drama
Similar in 80%
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Plot Summary:
Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 521000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: exciting, breathtaking, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, clever, entertaining, action adventure, stylized, action packed
Similar in 81%
MacGyver (2016)
Plot Summary:
20-something Angus MacGyver creates a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, disturbing, tense, cliffhanger, action adventure, captivating, interesting
Similar in 79%
The Finder (2012)
Plot Summary:
Walter Sherman, an Iraq War veteran, has the extraordinary ability to help people find the unfindable.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: witty, exciting, realistic, detective, semi serious, crime drama, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
The Glades (2010)
Plot Summary:
This Crime series follows Matt Passmore as Jim, a Chicago cop who gets kicked off the force after being shot and wrongfully accused by his ex-captain of having an affair with his wife. After receiving his payout, Jim decides to moves to a small Florida town to join the state police.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, detective, semi serious, cliffhanger, realistic, grindhouse, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
The Terminal List (2022)
Plot Summary:
Navy SEAL Commander James Reece turns to vengeance as he investigates the mysterious forces behind the murder of his entire platoon. Free from the military’s command structure, Reece applies the lessons he’s learned from nearly two decades of warfare to hunt down the people responsible.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 103000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: dark, spectacular, crime thriller, relaxing, thrilling, neo noir
Similar in 84%
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018)
Plot Summary:
When CIA analyst Jack Ryan stumbles upon a suspicious series of bank transfers his search for answers pulls him from the safety of his desk job and catapults him into a deadly game of cat and mouse throughout Europe and the Middle East, with a rising terrorist figurehead preparing for a massive attack against the US and her allies.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 170000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspense, captivating, intellectual, action adventure, political, anime, crime thriller, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Nikita (2010)
Plot Summary:
Nikita will stop at nothing to expose and destroy Division, the secret U.S. agency who trained her as a spy and assassin.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, stylized, serious, realistic, thrilling, interesting
Similar in 89%
The Equalizer (1985)
Plot Summary:
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It stars Edward Woodward as a middle aged retired intelligence officer with a mysterious past who helps people in trouble. The show mixes ingredients from popular spy films and private investigator shows with violent realism. A film adaptation starring Denzel Washington was released in 2014.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, detective, neo noir
Similar in 79%
Alias (2001)
Plot Summary:
Sydney Bristow, an agent who has been tricked to believe she is working for the U.S. government, is actually working for a criminal organization named the Alliance of Twelve. Upon learning this, Sydney becomes a double agent for the real CIA.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, cliffhanger, heroic, detective, action thriller, action adventure, thrilling, stylized
Similar in 90%
Human Target (2010)
Plot Summary:
Human Target is an American action drama television series that was broadcast by Fox in the United States. Based loosely on the Human Target comic book character created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino for DC Comics, it is the second series based on this title developed for television, the first TV series having been aired in 1992 on ABC. Developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg, Human Target premiered on CTV in Canada and on Fox in the United States in January 2010. The series was officially canceled on May 10, 2011, after the conclusion of the second season.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, cliffhanger, sweet, epic, detective, smart, action packed, thrilling
Similar in 82%
Leverage (2008)
Plot Summary:
Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, detective, anime, crime drama, teen, thrilling, stylized, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
24 (2001)
Plot Summary:
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 195000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, cliffhanger, serious, stylized, realistic, suspenseful, rough, suspense, dramatic, crime drama
Similar in 75%
The Blacklist (2013)
Plot Summary:
Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 274000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, serious, captivating, clever, detective, disturbing, realistic, intellectual, political
Similar in 77%
Rubicon (2010)
Plot Summary:
Rubicon is an American television series that centers on an intelligence analyst at a national think tank in New York City called the American Policy Institute, who discovers that he may be working with members of a secret society that manipulates world events on a grand scale.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, atmospheric, suspenseful, political, cliffhanger, mysterious, dramatic, intelligent, spooky
Similar in 85%
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Plot Summary:
Bourne is brought out of hiding once again by reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar, an upgrade to Project Treadstone, in a series of newspaper columns. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally uncover his dark past while dodging The Company's best efforts to eradicate him.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 652000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, France, Spain
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: exciting, intense, suspenseful, rough, suspense, entertaining, action packed, stylized, clever, tense
Similar in 78%
NCIS (2003)
Plot Summary:
From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has a shred of evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 159000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, serious, detective, crime drama, suspense, semi serious, tense, cliffhanger, thrilling
Similar in 76%
Person of Interest (2011)
Plot Summary:
Person of Interest follows former CIA paramilitary operative, John Reese, who is presumed dead and teams up with reclusive billionaire Finch to prevent violent crimes in New York City by initiating their own type of justice. With the special training that Reese has had in Covert Operations and Finch's genius software inventing mind, the two are a perfect match for the job that they have to complete. With the help of surveillance equipment, they work "outside the law" and get the right criminal behind bars. .
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 186000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, serious, clever, detective, cyber, heroic, surprise ending, atmospheric, mysterious
Similar in 79%
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 89%
The Mentalist (2008)
Plot Summary:
Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 197000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, intellectual, suspenseful, suspense, thrilling, realistic, surprise ending, philosophical, clever
Similar in 75%
Prison Break (2005)
Plot Summary:
Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 569000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, suspenseful, serious, rough, realistic, crime drama, thrilling, clever, enigmatic