Best tv shows like Commander in Chief
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Commander in Chief is an American drama television series that focused on the fictional administration and family of Mackenzie Allen, the first female President of the United States, who ascends to the post from the Vice Presidency after the death of the sitting President from a sudden cerebral aneurysm. The series began broadcasting on ABC on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, although most countries outside North America began screening the series in mid-2006. The show was #1 on Tuesday nights until FOX's American Idol started in January. The show was also the #1 new show of the season until CBS' Criminal Minds surpassed it. Its major competitor in the 9:00 p.m. timeslot was FOX's House, which aired after American Idol. The series was created by American director Rod Lurie, director of the films The Contender and Deterrence and may have been inspired by The West Wing, a popular political drama on rival NBC. The network replaced Lurie with Steven Bochco as show runner, but declining ratings brought about a hiatus, a timeslot change and ultimately cancellation.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, serious, realistic, political, talky, political drama
Best tv shows and movies like Commander in Chief (2005):
Similar in 85%
Spin (2012)
Plot Summary:
The President of the French Republic, visiting Saint-Etienne in the Loire, in a striking plant dies, victim of a bomb attack. The political world is agitated: early presidential elections to be held within the next thirty-five days. There is no doubt that Philip Deleuvre, the prime minister, will run for the Elysee. But what few people know is that the leader of the government knows more things he claimed. This state causes lie back to business Kapita Simon, a former communications adviser (spin doctor) of the late president. Anxious to preserve the honor of his deceased friend and some form of political ethics, the man of the shadows has now set a goal: to find a candidate who will be able to beat Deleuvre.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 790
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, realistic, political, clever, suspenseful, political drama
Similar in 88%
Body & Soul (2002)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Rachel Griffen returns from the Far East, planning on incorporating alternative medicine with traditional practices. Her mentor Dr. Isaac Braun is skeptical and administrator Quinten Bremmer outright hostile. Oz is the ever cheerful orderly.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 61
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 85%
Outlaw (2010)
Plot Summary:
Outlaw is an American television series that was aired on the NBC network. The one-hour courtroom drama stars Jimmy Smits as a Supreme Court Justice who resigns from the bench and returns to private practice in an elite law firm where Claire Sax, love interest to Garza, is a powerful senior partner. As part of the deal the firm has an Ex-Supreme Court Justice on their staff of lawyers and Garza is allowed to pick his team and the cases he works. The series premiered on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, and began airing on Fridays beginning September 24. On October 11 Outlaw was announced as canceled by NBC and the remaining four episodes were moved to a Saturday time slot. The series finale aired on November 13, 2010.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 729
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, clever, psychological, captivating, sincere, serious
Similar in 85%
Made in Jersey (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete among her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues at a prestigious New York law firm.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, talky
Similar in 86%
Breaking News (2002)
Plot Summary:
Breaking News is an American drama television series about the fictional Milwaukee-based 24-hour cable news television network I-24, with the motto 'Around the Clock, Around the World.' The series premiered July 17, 2002, on Bravo.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 48
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 83%
Strong Medicine (2000)
Plot Summary:
The lives of staff in the womens' health clinic of a fictitious hospital in Philadelphia.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, emotional, medical drama
Similar in 84%
LAX (2004)
Plot Summary:
LAX is a television drama set at the Los Angeles International Airport and draws its name from the airport's IATA airport code, "LAX". On May 17, 2004 NBC announced that they had picked up the pilot to series. This show was not renewed for season two.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 436
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, psychological, fast
Similar in 86%
First Monday (2002)
Plot Summary:
A newcomer to the Supreme Court finds himself a pivotal force on an often deadlocked bench, frequently at odds over hot-button cases in this earnest but brief legal drama.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 211
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Mister Sterling (2003)
Plot Summary:
Mister Sterling is an American television serial drama created by Lawrence O'Donnell that ran from January to March in 2003. It starred Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, and featured Audra McDonald, William Russ, David Noroña, and James Whitmore as members of his staff. Despite mostly positive reviews, the show, which aired on NBC on Friday nights, was cancelled after 10 episodes after the show only ranked 58th in the yearly ratings Although it had numerous similarities to The West Wing in style and tone, it was not set in the same universe as O'Donnell's other political show. It is unknown if a cross-over would have ever occurred had Mister Sterling not been cancelled; however Steven Culp played presidential aspirant Sen. Ron Garland on Mister Sterling and House Speaker Jeff Haffley on The West Wing, and Democrats appeared to be in the majority in the US Senate on Mr Sterling, while in The West Wing consistent Republican control of both Houses of Congress was a key plot point. James Whitmore was nominated for a 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for playing former Governor Bill Sterling, the senator's father.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 81%
Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)
Plot Summary:
The story of a power-hungry U.S. President, and the men he surrounds himself with in order to keep his hold on power. Based on John Ehrlichman's book about the Nixon administration.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 750 min
Plot tags: political drama
Similar in 89%
State of Affairs (2014)
Plot Summary:
Each day the President is faced with dozens of life and death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst - Charleston Tucker - assembles the President's Daily Briefing. This list of the most vital security issues facing the nation brings with it moral and political judgment calls for Charleston and her trusted group of brilliant analysts at the agency. Aside from the political minefields she has to walk, Charlie has a close personal relationship with the President because she was once engaged to her son before a tragic terrorist attack took his life. Charlie survived that attack and is now determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. Navigating a complex personal life and a pressure-cooker profession is, of course, a challenge, and Charlie sometimes engages in boundary-pushing behavior to avoid facing her grief. But when the clock strikes 2 a.m., she is all about her job - protecting her nation, serving her president and still trying to get to the bottom of her fiancé's murder that will reveal itself as a shocking mystery.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, political, compassionate, tv series pilot
Similar in 79%
Tanner '88 (1988)
Plot Summary:
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics, in which actors Michael Murphy (as contender Jack Tanner) and Cynthia Nixon (as his daughter) rub elbows on the campaign trail with real-life political players Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart, Bob Dole, Ralph Nader, Kitty Dukakis, and Gloria Steinem, among many others. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the complete eleven-episode television series—more relevant today than ever.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 936
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 353 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, political, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 87%
LBJ: The Early Years (1987)
Plot Summary:
LBJ: The Early Years was a television movie that appeared on the NBC network in February 1987, depicting the life of former President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1934 until 1973. Actor Randy Quaid won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Johnson.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 278
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, political
Similar in 84%
Madam Secretary (2014)
Plot Summary:
Former CIA agent Elizabeth Faulkner McCord is suddenly thrust into the position of US Secretary of State where she must quickly learn to drive international diplomacy, wrangle office politics and balance a complex family life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, political, intelligent, political drama
Similar in 78%
Backstairs at the White House (1979)
Plot Summary:
Behind the scenes at the White House during eight administrations, as told by the people who work there.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 472
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 540 min
Plot tags: historical drama, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, political drama
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Political Animals (2012)
Plot Summary:
Political Animals is a six-part miniseries. Elaine Barrish's husband Bud was a popular President of the United States during the 1990s despite his extramarital affairs. After leaving the White House, Elaine Barrish was elected Governor of Illinois and ran for the Democratic nomination for President, but lost to Paul Garcetti. The night Barrish conceded the nomination, she asked her husband for a divorce. Two years later, as Garcetti's Secretary of State, Barrish deals with State Department issues while trying to keep her family together.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: realistic, political, serious, talky, suspense, clever, captivating, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
The Politician's Husband (2013)
Plot Summary:
Aiden Hoynes is a senior cabinet minister who has always put his career before family, with the support of Freya, his devoted wife and mother to their two young children. But when Freya's own political career takes off and threatens to overshadow his, Aiden's life is thrown into chaos. As his political career comes to a standstill, and with his marriage turned upset down, Aiden takes increasing risks in his quest for power.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, tense, serious, political, psychological, clever, talky
Similar in 79%
Borgen: Power & Glory (2010)
Plot Summary:
Borgen is a drama series about the fight for political power – and about the personal sacrifices and consequences this has for those involved on and behind the political stage. The central figure is the 40-year old political leader Birgitte Nyborg, who through her idealism and huge effort secures her party a landslide victory and thus faces the biggest challenge of her life: how most effectively to use the newly won seats, and how far she is willing to go in order to gain as much influence as possible. Privately, Birgitte leads a happy family life with her husband and two children. She is a woman with a burning commitment, a big heart and little time. Will she be able to be a successful and professional top politician and stay true to herself at the same time?.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: political, tense, serious, captivating, realistic, intellectual, atmospheric, noir, clever, talky
Similar in 90%
True Colors (1991)
Plot Summary:
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: political, talky, intense, realistic, serious, captivating, clever, tense, sincere, crime drama
Similar in 86%
Advise & Consent (1962)
Plot Summary:
A Senate investigation into the President's newly-nominated Secretary of State gives light to a secret from the past, which may not only ruin the candidate, but the President's character as well.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: political, black and white, clever, realistic, sincere, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, contemplative, tense
Similar in 83%
Canterbury's Law (2008)
Plot Summary:
Elizabeth Canterbury is a force of nature. An attorney on the rise, she puts her career on the line to take on risky and unpopular cases, even when they take a toll on her personal life. Elizabeth and her law professor husband, Matt Furey, haunted by the unsolved disappearance of their young son, struggle to distance themselves from the tragedy and put their relationship back together. But those goals become elusive whenever Elizabeth's work provides a stark reminder of the justice absent in their own lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 644
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Deadline (2000)
Plot Summary:
Deadline is a television series which was shown on NBC in the 2000–2001 season. It starred Oliver Platt as Wallace Benton, who worked for the fictional New York Ledger. This was a daily newspaper which was seen in many episodes of Law & Order.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 135
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 77%
The Newsroom (2012)
Plot Summary:
A behind-the-scenes look at the people who make a nightly cable-news program. Focusing on a network anchor, his new executive producer, the newsroom staff and their boss, the series tracks their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles-not to mention their own personal entanglements.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: clever, intellectual, political, sincere, realistic, dramatic, exciting, inspirational, thought provoking, controversial
Similar in 75%
Scandal (2012)
Plot Summary:
Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their clients, but it becomes apparent that these "gladiators in suits," who specialize in fixing the lives of other people, have trouble fixing those closest at hand -- their own.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: political thriller, serious, political, realistic, clever, bleak, erotic, sexy, sad, soap opera
Similar in 76%
The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)
Plot Summary:
Respected liberal Senator Joe Tynan is asked to to lead the opposition to a Supreme Court appointment. It means losing an old friend and fudging principles to make the necessary deals, as well as further straining his already part-time family life. But it could be a big boost to his career, so he takes it on. Helping him prepare the case is pretty southern researcher Karen Traynor, and their developing relationship further complicates and compromises his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: realistic, clever, serious, suspenseful, political, cynical, gloomy, biting, suspense
Similar in 77%
Lincoln (1988)
Plot Summary:
After arriving in Washington in 1861 after his election, Abraham Lincoln struggles with personal and political problems during his Presidency. Originally titled "Lincoln", the name of this miniseries was changed to "Gore Vidal's Lincoln" when it was released for home entertainment.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 444
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 188 min
Plot tags: historical drama, clever, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, talky
Similar in 78%
The West Wing (1999)
Plot Summary:
The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.
IMDB Rating: 8.9
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: clever, political, talky, sincere, serious, realistic, political thriller, sitcom, intelligent, action adventure
Similar in 79%
The Contender (2000)
Plot Summary:
Political thriller about Laine Hanson's nomination and confirmation as Vice President. An allegation that she was involved in a sexual orgy at the age of 19 is leaked to the press. As pressure mounts on Laine, she's torn between fighting back or sticking to her principles and refusing to comment on the allegations.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: political, clever, thought provoking, serious, sincere, suspense, realistic, talky, dark, independent film
Similar in 81%
Kennedy (1983)
Plot Summary:
Biography of the 1961-1963 presidency of John F. Kennedy.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 573
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 282 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic
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Power (1986)
Plot Summary:
Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is rapidly drafted to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, unknown and mysterious businessman Jerome Cade.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, clever, cynical, political, retro, talky