Best tv shows like The Guard
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows similar to The Guard? Contribute your knowledge to direct others toward films and tv series you've already seen that might similarly enthrall them. Aid in enlarging the circle of people referring videos amongst each other. We encourage your engagement!
Plot Summary:
The Guard is a Canadian drama television series portraying the life of the Canadian Coast Guard along the British Columbia Coast. Filming takes place in Squamish, British Columbia with Howe Sound standing in for the fictional Port Hallet and a real 47-foot Coast Guard lifeboat Cape St. James has been renamed Cape Pacific for the series. The show primarily revolves around the four main characters: Miro Da Silva, Laura Nelson, Andrew Vanderlee, and Carly Greig. There is also a strong supporting cast, including Gordon Michael Woolvett, who worked with Bacic previously on Andromeda, and Eve Harlow, who won a 2009 Leo Award for her role on the show. The show focuses on both the professional and personal lives of the lead characters, confronting issues such as addiction, post traumatic stress disorder, and family problems. It was picked up by Ion premiering March 13, 2010. By late April, it was put on hiatus on the basis that it "did not find a broad enough audience on the network", explained a spokesperson. It subsequently aired for a period on the ION Life digital channel.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, exciting, touching, serious
Best tv shows and movies like The Guard (2008):
Similar in 76%
Unite 9 (2012)
Plot Summary:
Marie Lamontagne, a widowed mother of two in her forties, confesses to a murder she didn't commit to protect her daughter. Thrust into brutally unfamiliar and hostile surroundings, she first learns survival, then confronts the biggest challenge of her life: bonding with her fellow inmates and helping them take back control of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 593
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, psychological, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Steel River Blues (2004)
Plot Summary:
Steel River Blues is a British television drama serial first broadcast in September 2004 on ITV. based on the working and private lives of a group of firefighters in Middlesbrough. Critics were quick to dub the new drama "Middlesbrough's Burning" or "Teesside's Burning", after the popular fire-fighting drama that preceded it, London's Burning, yet there were very few similarities between the two, apart from them being about the business of firefighting. Like its predecessor, Steel River Blues was an ensemble drama without any single starring part, though perhaps the best-known actor was Daniel Casey, who was previously a co-star in ITV's ratings banker, Midsomer Murders. The show's title song was performed by Middlesbrough-born Chris Rea. It was announced in January 2005 that the series would not be recommissioned.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 32
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Forgive Me (2013)
Plot Summary:
A series that breaks the seal of the Catholic confessional booth. A young insomniac priest gets caught up in the sins of his congregants while a secret from his own past threatens his calling.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 33
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: sincere, psychological, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, touching, gloomy
Similar in 87%
She's One of Us (2003)
Plot Summary:
At the start, Christine Blanc is a temp, her boyfriend has gone. Near the story's end, she's been offered a steady job, she has a fiancé, other men seem interested in her, she's passed her driving test, and, after she wins 1000 Euros in a scratch-off, her colleagues sing that she's a jolly good fellow ("one of us"). But something's askew: her gaze is too direct, her eyes open too widely; conversational gambits hit odd notes; she parrots others' words; she cooks too much food when she invites a supervisor to dinner. When the supervisor takes Christine on a spontaneous outing that disorients her, her oddities become something else. Can things ever be normal?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, captivating, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (2010)
Plot Summary:
Follows the lives of three young doctors fresh from medical school, and embarking on their new careers.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 125
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, medical drama
Similar in 86%
Samurai Girl (2008)
Plot Summary:
This story follows Heaven, who at six months old was the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash. The press had named her Heaven, because it seemed that she fell from the sky. Soon after, she was adopted by the powerful Kogo Family and lived a very privileged life. But then, 19 years later, things take an unexpected turn, when her wedding is attacked and her brother, Ohiko, is killed trying to save her, not before warning her that the Yakuza have infiltrated her family. So she breaks free from her family and begins training to be a samurai and fight back against the Yakuza.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration:
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, emotional, teen, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
My Gal Sunday (2014)
Plot Summary:
It was love at first sight for beautiful young lawyer Sandra "Sunday" O'Brien-Parker (Rachel Blanchard) and Henry Parker (Cameron Mathison), retiring White House Secretary of State, when Sunday's dad Danny (Jack Wagner), Henry's colleague and Secret Service Agent, introduced them at the picturesque Why Worry Ranch in California. Now, a year after their wedding, Sunday and Parker, living on the ranch near Lake Tahoe after Parker's recent term as beloved state governor, are an irresistible sleuthing team who enjoy the political spotlight while taking pleasure busting the bad guys. But when Parker's mom Miriam (Janet-Laine Green) and Danny are suddenly kidnapped on their way to a high-profile family event, Parker and Sunday are immediately on the case and this time it's personal.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 531
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, psychological, emotional, exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Love Child (2014)
Plot Summary:
Love Child follows the lives of staff at the fictional Kings Cross Hospital and the wild streets of Darlinghurst in the 1960s. Joan Miller is a smart and sophisticated midwife who returns home from London to take a job at the Kings Cross Hospital. Dr Patrick McNaughton is a charismatic head of obstetrics at Kings Cross Hospital. Frances Bolton is the tough matron who also controls the running of Stanton House, a home for unwed pregnant young women.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, stylized, medical drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
Prom Queen (2007)
Plot Summary:
Prom Queen is the first web television series produced by former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner's new production company Vuguru and veteran web television production company Big Fantastic, the creators of Sam Has 7 Friends. The series, consisting of 80 episodes of 90 seconds each, is one of the best-funded entrants into the world of original programming designed exclusively for online video. The show generated revenue through sponsorships, by selling some of the clothing worn by the characters, and by carrying advertising for Hairspray. The series premiered April 1, 2007 on MySpace, and supplemental scenes can be seen on MySpace as each of the characters has a MySpace page that includes blogs, Vlogs, and comments between the characters. According to the Financial Times, it marks MySpace's boldest push into original video content. The series was also distributed on YouTube, Veoh, and on an original Prom Queen website. The first season ended on June 20, 2007, with over 15 million views of the episodes during the original 12-week run, and has been viewed by over 40 million people to date. A 15-episode spinoff series, Prom Queen: Summer Heat, debuted on August 27, 2007. On May 7, 2008, a Japanese remake of the series, titled Tokyo Prom Queen, began airing in a similar format.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 124
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 1 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 89%
Life of Lies (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mentir para vivir is a Mexican telenovela produced by Rosy Ocampo for Televisa. The telenovela is written by Maria Zarattini, who last wrote La Fuerza del Destino. Mayrín Villanueva and David Zepeda star as the protagonists, while Altair Jarabo, Leticia Perdigón and Diego Olivera star as the antagonists.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 75
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, soap opera, telenovela
Similar in 90%
Laws of love (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story of two lawyers specializing in family law, Ricardo and Alejandra, that despite coming from two disappointments and being in a world where it seems that love loses strength, before so much divorce, they still have faith in finding true love.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 111
Genere: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, atmospheric, captivating, telenovela
Similar in 79%
Where the Heart Is (1997)
Plot Summary:
Where the Heart Is is a British television family drama series set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite. First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone, and focuses on the professional and personal lives of the district nurses who work in the town. The original leads were Sarah Lancashire and Pam Ferris, who played sisters-in-law and colleagues at the Skelthwaite Health Centre. Both actresses had left the series by 2000; however, the format of at least two female leads continued with various different actresses until the show's end. A typical episode would focus on one or two medical storylines interweaved with personal stories featuring one or both nurses. One of ITV's longest-running shows, Where the Heart Is was known for being what has been described as a haven for former soap stars, including Lancashire, Philip Middlemiss, Samantha Giles, Kerrie Taylor, Brian Capron and Shobna Gulati. In October 2006, the series was cancelled after nine years, despite viewing figures of well over 7 million. The theme song "Where the Heart is" was performed by Prefab Sprout. It was released as a single and appears on the band's 38 Carat Collection.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 540
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, soap opera
Similar in 83%
Casualty (1986)
Plot Summary:
Casualty, stylised as CASUAL+Y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The original producer was Geraint Morris. The programme is based around the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Department. The show has very few ties to its sister programme Holby City which began as a spin off from Casualty in 1999 and is set in the same hospital, but upstairs. The show's plots and characters occasionally crossover between the two programmes, but this is rare, and each show can easily be followed without having to watch the other. Casualty is shown weekly on a Saturday evening, which has been its time slot since the early 1990s.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: captivating, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, medical drama, soap opera, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Trauma (2009)
Plot Summary:
When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco City Hospital is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city's Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives, and give meaning to their own existence in the process.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: medical drama, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, exciting
Similar in 75%
Presidio Med (2002)
Plot Summary:
Presidio Med is an American medical drama that aired on CBS from September 2002, to January 2003. The series centers on a San Francisco hospital. It was created by John Wells and Lydia Woodward, who also created ER.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 116
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, emotional, realistic, medical drama
Similar in 87%
Holby City (1999)
Plot Summary:
Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, captivating, realistic, serious, medical drama, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Breathless (2013)
Plot Summary:
Hospital drama set in London during the early 1960s, following the staff of a busy gynecology ward at a time when abortion is illegal and the contraceptive pill is only just becoming available to married women.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, realistic, stylized, captivating, period piece, sweet, medical drama, touching, period drama
Similar in 87%
Black Box (2014)
Plot Summary:
Catherine Black is a world-famous neurologist at the state-of-the-art medical institution known as "The Cube". Catherine is brilliant, beautiful, and at the top of her game, though she's hiding a secret of her own: she's bipolar. Each week, the doctors on staff attempt to unravel the mysteries of the brain and are constantly challenged by cases never-before-seen on television. The medical stories are moving, bizarre and a visual feast. The personal stories are riveting. The patients have rare, highly visual, often hallucinogenic and startling conditions, which we’ll see through their eyes as Catherine diagnoses and treats them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, touching, gloomy, mad
Similar in 79%
3 lbs (2006)
Plot Summary:
3 lbs is a drama that aired on CBS from November 14 to 28, 2006, replacing the cancelled series Smith. The show itself was then canceled three weeks later due to poor ratings. The title refers to the fact that the average human brain weighs approximately three pounds. The show follows the medical careers of prominent brain surgeon Doctor Douglas Hanson and his protégé, Jonathan Seger. The show was promoted as, "The next great medical drama." The theme song is "Calling All Angels" by Train. Eight episodes were made, and the five episodes that did not originally air in the United States are available on Amazon Unbox. The program filmed in New York City at the request of Tucci, who didn't want to be away from home to make the series. When the pilot was originally filmed Dylan McDermott played Dr. Doug Hanson, and Reiko Aylesworth played Dr. Adrienne Holland.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: medical drama, realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 76%
Umizaru (2005)
Plot Summary:
.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 61
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 78%
The Smoke (2014)
Plot Summary:
An experienced fire fighter is badly injured and spends almost a year recovering at home. Now he returns to work, but is he as emotionally and physically sound as he thinks he is?.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, captivating, psychological, exciting, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Choking Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, touching, captivating, psychological, sentimental, serious, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Arctic Air (2012)
Plot Summary:
Arctic Air is about a Yellowknife-based maverick airline and the unconventional family who runs it. The owners are Mel Ivarson, an old school bush pilot; Krista Ivarson, Mel's daughter; and Bobby Martin, the son of Ivarson's deceased partner. Episodes focus on interpersonal conflicts between the characters as well as dramatic flying missions with their aging fleet of Douglas DC-3s, de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters and other aircraft. Each episode has one or more flying missions. The series was canceled on March 17, 2014, due to government budgetary cuts.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 89%
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 87%
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 89%
Trauma Center (1983)
Plot Summary:
When a person is seriously injured in an accident, they often have only one hour to live. Dr. Michael "Cutter" Royce (James Naughton) leads a hospital's specialized emergency department that is designed to make maximum use of that one golden hour to save lives, a trauma center. However, even before that crack medical team can begin, it is the task of paramedics like John Six (Lou Ferrigno) and "Hatter" Pacelli (Alfie Wise) to rescue such victims and get them to the center within that hour. With all the emergencies that occur in their city, this medical team both in the field and in the hospital are challenged to the utmost.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 61
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: medical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Lucky 7 (2013)
Plot Summary:
What would you do if you won the lottery? How would it change your life? Follow a group of seven gas station employees in Queens, New York, who have been chipping into a lottery pool for years, never thinking they'd actually win. They need to be careful what they wish for, because while the money could solve problems for each of them, it will forever change the close-knit bonds these friends have formed.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 669
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating
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 86%
Hotelier (2007)
Plot Summary:
An incident in the past causes Ogata Kouhei (Tanabe Seiichi) to resign his position and leave the country in shame. Now, at the hotel's 30th anniversary, the hotel is facing a crisis; the president has just been submitted to the hospital, and the hotel is facing a potential takeover. Under his request, assistant manager Odagiri Kyoko (Ueto Aya) goes to Korea in order to convince Kouhei to return. Kyoko is caught up in an incident when her purse is stolen when she meets Mizusawa Keigo (Oikawa Mitsuhiro), who tries to help her. Ultimately, Kyoko comes back to Japan unsuccessful. However, under the advice from Korean hotel manager Shin Dong Hyuk (Bae Yong Jun), Kouhei returns to Tokyo Ocean Hotel as the position of the new general manager. Upon his return however, Kyoko once again meets Mizusawa Keigo. Little does Kyoko know, not only does Keigo want to take over the Tokyo Ocean Hotel, but he also carries affections for her.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 53
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Trust Me (2009)
Plot Summary:
The series revolves around Rothman, Greene, and Moore, a fictional advertising firm. The storylines center on the difficulties of securing accounts and the characters' personal lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, humorous, witty, stylized, semi serious