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Blue Bloods poster

Shows that feel likeBlue Bloods (2010–2024)

A drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as Chief.

If you loved Blue Bloods, the closest series we have are Tracker (2024), Snowfall (2017) and Maid (2021). All three share Blue Bloods' gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Law & Order (1990).

★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗14 seasons · CBScreated by Robin Greengrittycontemplativehopeful
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

If Blue Bloods hit the spot, these will too

Tracker poster
Tracker
2024– · 4 seasons · CBS
★ 7.2drama · crimeHuluParamount+

The same preoccupation in both: inspirational

Lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw roams the country as a “reward seeker,” using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family.

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Snowfall
2017–2023 · 6 seasons · FX
★ 8.5drama · crimeHuluDisney+

Crime as a family business where loyalty and the law pull opposite ways

The difference: The dealers are the family here — no comfort, no one protecting the city

Los Angeles. 1983. A storm is coming and its name is crack. Set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it, the story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course.

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Maid
2021 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.3dramaNetflix

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

After fleeing an abusive relationship, a young mother finds a job cleaning houses as she fights to provide for her child and build them a better future.

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MacGyver
1985–1992 · 7 seasons · ABC
★ 7.6drama · action & adventure · crimeParamount+

An old-school decent hero doing right week after week, no cynicism

The difference: Pure 80s adventure cheese — nothing about family or the cost of the job

He's everyone's favorite action hero... but he's a hero with a difference. Angus MacGyver is a secret agent whose wits are his deadliest weapon. Armed with only a knapsack filled with everyday items he picks up along the way, he improvises his way out of every peril the bad guys throw at him. Making a bomb out of chewing gum? Fixing a speeding car's brakes... while he's riding in it? Using soda pop to cook up tear gas? That's all in a day's adventures for MacGyver. He's part Boy Scout, part genius. And all hero.

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New Amsterdam
2018–2023 · 5 seasons · NBC
★ 7.9drama

Hopeful drama in both cases

The difference: Easier on the grit than Blue Bloods

The new medical director breaks the rules to heal the system at America's oldest public hospital. Max Goodwin sets out to tear up the bureaucracy and provide exceptional care, but the doctors and staff are not so sure he can succeed. They've heard this before. Not taking "no" for an answer, Dr. Goodwin's instinctive response to problems large and small is four simple words: "How can I help?" He has to disrupt the status quo and prove he'll stop at nothing to breathe new life into this underfunded and underappreciated hospital, returning it to the glory that put it on the map.

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Castle
2009–2016 · 8 seasons · ABC
★ 8.1drama · crimePrime VideoHulu

NYPD cases worked with warmth — the squad feels like family by season two

The difference: A flirty two-hander at heart, without the weight of duty or politics

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.

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Superman & Lois
2021–2024 · 4 seasons · The CW
★ 7.8drama · sci-fi & fantasyMax

Common ground: inspirational

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Blue Bloods does

After years of facing megalomaniacal supervillains, monsters wreaking havoc on Metropolis, and alien invaders intent on wiping out the human race, The Man of Steel aka Clark Kent and Lois Lane come face to face with one of their greatest challenges ever: dealing with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today's society.

3 Body Problem poster
3 Body Problem
2024– · 1 season · Netflix
★ 7.5sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · dramaNetflix

Crime built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into sci-fi & fantasy than Blue Bloods does

Across continents and decades, five brilliant friends make earth-shattering discoveries as the laws of science unravel and an existential threat emerges.

Law & Order poster
Law & Order
1990– · 26 seasons · NBC
★ 7.8crime · dramaNetflixHulu

Both rooted in New York City

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1990s show

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

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Only Murders in the Building
2021– · 6 seasons · Hulu
★ 8comedy · mystery · crimeHuluDisney+

Crime-solving as an excuse for a found family to gather every week

The difference: A cozy comedy of amateurs — nobody wears a badge or carries its weight

Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.

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Dexter: New Blood
2021–2022 · 1 season · Showtime
★ 8drama · crimeParamount+

A father weighing what he owes his son against what the job made him

The difference: One dark winter of a story — here the father is the killer, not the commissioner

10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, we find him living under an assumed name in the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger beckons.

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Chicago P.D.
2014– · 14 seasons · NBC
★ 8.1crime · dramaPrime VideoPeacock

District cops carrying their city's weight, personal cost included

The difference: Rougher and morally muddier — Voight bends rules Frank Reagan never would

A riveting police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department's District 21 who put it all on the line to serve and protect their community. District 21 is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.

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The best-reviewed series that share Blue Bloods’ defining feeling.