Best tv shows like I Spy
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows like I Spy? Leverage your knowledge to steer others toward tv series and films you've watched before that they might like too. Help broaden the circle of people recommending videos to each other. We value your engagement!
Plot Summary:
I Spy is an American television secret-agent adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC from 1965 to 1968 and teamed Robert Culp as international tennis player Kelly Robinson with Bill Cosby as his trainer, Alexander Scott. The characters' travels as ostensible "tennis bums", Robinson playing talented tennis as an amateur with the wealthy in return for food and lodging, and Scott tagging along, provided a cover story concealing their roles as top agents for the Pentagon. Their real work usually kept them busy chasing villains, spies, and beautiful women. The creative forces behind the show were writers David Friedkin and Morton Fine and cinematographer Fouad Said. Together they formed Three F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Studios where the show was produced. Fine and Friedkin were co-producers and head writers, and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes, one of which Friedkin directed. Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season. Actor-producer Sheldon Leonard, best known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and '50s, was the executive producer. He also played a gangster-villain role in two episodes and appeared in a third show as himself in a humorous cameo. In addition, he directed one episode and served as occasional second-unit director throughout the series.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 51 min
Plot tags: exciting, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, witty, cynical, stylized, semi serious
Best tv shows and movies like I Spy (1965):
Similar in 81%
Jason King (1971)
Plot Summary:
Jason King - a suavely sophisticated former secret agent turned novelist - travels the world searching for material to fill his books, encountering an endless parade of glamorous women, exotic locales, menacing villains and daring intrigue! Before Austin Powers swung into action, Jason King set the standard for the hip crime-fighting international playboy!.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 325
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 77%
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966)
Plot Summary:
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy-fi TV series that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966 to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith, which was rearranged into a slightly different, harder-edged arrangement by Dave Grusin.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 508
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: spy comedy
Similar in 76%
A Man Called Sloane (1979)
Plot Summary:
A Man Called Sloane is an American secret agent adventure television series that aired on NBC during the 1979-1980 television season. It was a Woodruff Production in association with QM Productions, and became the final series produced by Quinn Martin's company to debut. The series starred Robert Conrad as Thomas R. Sloane III, a freelance spy who takes on occasional assignments for UNIT, a secret American intelligence operation run by "The Director," played by Dan O'Herlihy. The secret entrance to UNIT headquarters was through a toy store. KARTEL was the evil secret organization that was UNIT's nemesis. Aiding Sloane's missions was Torque, his deadly right-hand man played by Ji-Tu Cumbuka. Torque had a mechanical hand with interchangeable parts that often helped during their assignments. The pair were also assisted by "Effie", a computer voiced by Michele Carey. A Man Called Sloane was an amalgam of elements from numerous spy series of the previous 15 years, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, and Conrad's own The Wild Wild West. One of the more expensive series produced during the season, it failed to gain an audience and was cancelled after 12 episodes were broadcast.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 150
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
The Persuaders! (1971)
Plot Summary:
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most expensive of Sir Lew Grade's international action adventure series". The Persuaders Series was filmed in France, Italy and England between May 1970 and June 1971. Despite its focus on the British and American markets, the show was popular elsewhere. It won its highest awards from Australia and Spain, while Roger Moore and Tony Curtis were decorated in Germany and France for their acting. It persists in the memory of European filmmakers and audiences, having been casually referenced in 21st century productions from Sweden, France, Britain and Germany.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, humorous, realistic, semi serious, surprise ending, buddy comedy, vintage
Similar in 87%
CHAOS (2011)
Plot Summary:
A comedic drama about a group of rogue CIA spies in the Office of Disruptive Services (ODS), who combat threats to national security amidst bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, thrilling, humorous
Similar in 89%
Jack of All Trades (2000)
Plot Summary:
Jack of All Trades is a half-hour long syndicated action-comedy television series which ran for two seasons in 2000. With Cleopatra 2525, it formed the Back2Back Action Hour and both shows were notable for being the first American non-animated action series to be produced in the half-hour format since the 1970s. The show was canceled in the middle of its second season. The program is set at the turn of the 19th century on the fictional French-controlled island of Pulau-Pulau in the East Indies. Jack Stiles is an American secret agent sent there by President Jefferson. While there, he meets his British contact and love interest, English spy Emilia Rothschild. Together, the two work to stop Napoleon and various other threats to the United States. To the public, Jack is seen as Emilia's attaché, but when the need arises, he transforms into a masked hero: The Daring Dragoon. The show contained many on-going gags, such as deliberate historical inaccuracies, Jack being responsible for many important historical events but not receiving credit, Emilia inventing a miraculous invention in an obvious deus ex machina, sexual puns and innuendos, and Jack and Emilia's ongoing romantic tension.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Country: USA, New Zealand
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, witty, semi serious, parody, detective, realistic, stylized, spoof, slapstick comedy
Similar in 77%
Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966)
Plot Summary:
The head (Wendell Corey) of the Human Aetiological Relations Machine pits an agent (Mark Richman) against a flesh-to-fungus spore gun.
IMDB Rating: 2.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, psychotronic, psychedelic, parody, humorous
Similar in 77%
Spitfire (1995)
Plot Summary:
A sultry assassin is the target of two separate operatives in this globe-trotting action flick shot on location in the Bahamas, Athens, Rome and Hong Kong.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: cult classic, independent film, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, cult film, cult movie cast
Similar in 86%
It Takes a Thief (1968)
Plot Summary:
It Takes a Thief is an American action-adventure television series that aired on ABC for two and a half seasons between January 9, 1968, and March 24, 1970. It starred veteran movie actor Robert Wagner in his television debut as sophisticated thief Alexander Mundy, who works for the U.S. government in return for his release from prison. For most of the series, Malachi Throne played Noah Bain, Mundy's boss. It was among the last of the 1960s spy television genre, although Mission: Impossible continued for several years. It Takes A Thief was inspired by, though not based upon, the 1955 Cary Grant motion picture To Catch a Thief, directed by Alfred Hitchcock; both of their titles stem from the English proverb "It takes a thief to catch a thief.".
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 51 min
Plot tags: exciting, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, vintage
Similar in 77%
Danger 5 (2011)
Plot Summary:
Set in a bizarre, 1960's inspired version of World War II, the action comedy series follows the finest group of spies the Allies have to offer on a mission to kill Adolf Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: Australia
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: surreal, parody, humorous, stylized, not serious, spoof, sitcom, offbeat, psychedelic, absurd
Similar in 77%
She Spies (2002)
Plot Summary:
She Spies is an action-adventure television show that ran from September 9, 2002 until May 17, 2004, in two seasons. The show was sold into syndication but the first four episodes premiered on the NBC network, whose syndication arm was one of the producers. Disappointing ratings during the show's second season led to its cancellation after season two ended. She Spies bore noticeable production and directive similarities with Charlie's Angels.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: humorous, stylized, semi serious, sentimental, realistic, fast, campy
Similar in 89%
Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983)
Plot Summary:
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance, after encountering one another in a train station.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, humorous, semi serious, iconic
Similar in 84%
Counterstrike (1990)
Plot Summary:
Counterstrike is a Canadian/French crime-fighting/espionage television series. It premiered on November 2, 1991 on CTV in Canada and on November 20, 1991 on TF1 in France. It also aired in the United States on cable channel USA Network, premiering on July 1, 1990. The series ran for three seasons, airing 66 hour-long episodes in total. Counterstrike has since aired in reruns in Canada on Showcase and TVtropolis.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: USA, Canada, France
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
Agent X (2015)
Plot Summary:
Hidden from the view of the public - and even from the President - there is a top secret agent who is trained and ready to serve, deployed only at the careful discretion of the Vice President.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, tense, political, action adventure
Similar in 77%
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
Plot Summary:
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. Originally co-creator Sam Rolfe wanted to leave the meaning of U.N.C.L.E. ambiguous so it could be viewed as either referring to "Uncle Sam" or the United Nations. Concerns by the MGM Legal department about possible New York law violations for using the abbreviation "U.N." for commercial purposes resulted in the producers clarifying that U.N.C.L.E. was an acronym for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Each episode of the television show had an "acknowledgement" credit to the U.N.C.L.E. on the end titles.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: retro, exciting, humorous, suspenseful, semi serious, fast, parody, freeze frame, homoerotic, vintage
Similar in 90%
Asker (2000)
Plot Summary:
When deadly anthrax missiles are stolen by a militia, ATF agent Ethan Carter (Dean Cain) must go undercover and join the group to save the country from disaster.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 827
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, action packed, independent film, fast
Similar in 90%
The Wild Wild West (1965)
Plot Summary:
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969. Two television movies were made with the original cast in 1979 and 1980, and the series was adapted for a motion picture in 1999. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was conceived by its creator, Michael Garrison, as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, the series followed Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States. The show also featured a number of fantasy elements, such as the technologically advanced devices used by the agents and their adversaries. The combination of the Victorian era time-frame and the use of Verne-esque style technology have inspired some to give the show credit for the origins of the steam punk subculture. These elements were accentuated even more in the 1999 movie adaptation. Despite high ratings, the series was cancelled near the end of its fourth season as a concession to Congress over television violence.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: humorous, exciting, suspenseful, semi serious, retro, funny, action adventure, stylized, fast, road movie
Similar in 90%
Undercovers (2010)
Plot Summary:
Five years after leaving the CIA to open a catering company, Steven and Samantha Bloom are recruited back into the agency by Carlton Shaw. They take on special missions the average agent cannot handle. Having made a pact to never discuss their pasts with each other, the Blooms find surprising new things about their spouse in the course of each mission.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, humorous, semi serious, sexy, fast
Similar in 76%
Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997)
Plot Summary:
Soldier of Fortune, Inc. was a television show created by Dan Gordon which ran for two seasons, from 1997–1999 The show was about an elite team who performed "unofficial" missions for the US Government. During the first season, the show dealt with terrorists and drug lords, and often tackled issues such as patriotism and self-sacrifice. For the second season, the show was renamed SOF: Special Ops Force. Andrews and Sheppard left the show. Dennis Rodman and David Eigenberg replaced them, though their "hip" characters and new plots led many to abandon the show, leading to its cancellation. The theme song was performed by Trevor Rabin. During the second season, a voice-over by Peter Graves was added.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 503
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The A-Team (1983)
Plot Summary:
The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series, running from 1983 to 1987, about a fictional group of ex United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". A feature film based on the series was released by 20th Century Fox on June 11, 2010. A comic book series, A-Team: Shotgun Wedding, began March 9, 2010.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, tense, retro, bad ending, detective, rough, humorous
Similar in 80%
Whiskey Cavalier (2019)
Plot Summary:
A pair of CIA agents embark on missions to save the world, but have to put up with each other first.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: light, captivating, entertaining, humorous, detective, action adventure
Similar in 81%
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 87%
Get Smart (1965)
Plot Summary:
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show stars Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Edward Platt. Henry said they created the show by request of Daniel Melnick, who was a partner, along with Leonard Stern and David Susskind, of the show's production company, Talent Associates, to capitalize on "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today"—James Bond and Inspector Clouseau. Brooks said: "It's an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy." This is the only Mel Brooks production to feature a laugh track. The success of the show eventually spawned the follow-up films The Nude Bomb and Get Smart, Again!, as well as a 1995 revival series and a 2008 film remake. In 2010, TV Guide ranked Get Smart's opening title sequence at No. 2 on its list of TV's Top 10 Credits Sequences, as selected by readers.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Family, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sitcom, parody, spoof, retro, detective, hilarious, funny, spy comedy, exciting, humorous
Similar in 82%
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1996)
Plot Summary:
Two globetrotting private eyes with diferente styles team up, guarding their true identities at all costs from the bad guys‒and from each other.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 696
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious
Similar in 88%
La Femme Musketeer (2004)
Plot Summary:
The legend of Jacques D'Artagnan (Michael York) gets a gender-bending update in this swashbuckling adventure. Though legendary swordsman Jacques D'Artagnan's best days may be well behind him, he has schooled his daughter Valentine (Susie Amy) well in the way of the sword. Now it's time for Valentine to strike out on her own. With her father's sword and a letter of introduction to Commander Finot (Roy Dotrice), the eager young novice sets out to seek her fortune in Paris. Though a woman has never before been appointed the rank of swordsman, Valentine is determined to prove her worth by taking on a deadly mission to rescue the bride-to-be of King Louis XIV from a band of fearsome kidnappers, teaming with the three sons of the legendary Three Musketeers who rode with her father.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Croatia, Germany, USA
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: semi serious, realistic, captivating, exciting, tense, suspense
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 78%
Mission: Impossible (1966)
Plot Summary:
Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, stylized, suspense, retro, action adventure, fast, cult classic
Similar in 87%
Airwolf (1984)
Plot Summary:
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme. The show was created by Donald P. Bellisario. The first three seasons star Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord, and Jean Bruce Scott. After the original series was cancelled, a fourth season, with an entirely new cast and on a much smaller budget, was filmed in Canada for the USA Network. The show's distinctive musical score, which was originally orchestral-based and shifted to more synthesizer-oriented arrangements early in the second season, was composed and conducted mainly by Sylvester Levay. Udi Harpaz conducted the scores for many later second and third season episodes.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, fast, vintage
Similar in 90%
Barbarian (2003)
Plot Summary:
An ancient land suffocates in the shadow of evil. A dark lord rules unopposed. One warrior will become legend. He is the Barbarian... the last great warrior king.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 367
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: semi serious, exciting, captivating, stylized, humorous
Similar in 88%
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013)
Plot Summary:
Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) puts together a team of agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 224000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, stylized, semi serious, intellectual, epic, saga, teen, serious, heroic