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Shows that feel likeCIA (2026–)

When by-the-book FBI Special Agent Bill Goodman is loaned out to a clandestine CIA/FBI task force, he finds himself teamed up with secretive and roguish CIA case officer Colin Glass. Together they work covert operations in New York, uncovering international plots, terrorist cells, and geopolitical secrets.

If you loved CIA, the closest series we have are Blue Bloods (2010), Tracker (2024) and FBI (2018). All three share CIA's 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).

11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Paramount+ ↗
Buy seasons:Amazon see price ↗Apple TV$2.99 buyCIA, Season 2 · Apple price as of 2026-10-06

If CIA hit the spot, these will too

Blue Bloods poster
Blue Bloods
2010–2024 · 14 seasons · CBS
★ 7.7crime · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Both rooted in New York City

The difference: Trades the uplift of CIA for an angle of its own

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.

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.

FBI poster
FBI
2018– · 9 seasons · CBS
★ 7.1crime · action & adventure · dramaParamount+

The same hand behind both of them: Dick Wolf

The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than CIA does

The New York office of the FBI brings to bear all their talents, intellect and technical expertise on major cases in order to keep their city and the country safe.

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

One thread runs through both: inspirational

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.

Maid poster
Maid
2021 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.3dramaNetflix

Both land grit and stillness at once

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.

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

Both are Dick Wolf's work, and they rhyme

The difference: 36 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.

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

Both lean on hope more than on drama

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.

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

Crime built on grit, twice over

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.

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

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

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

Drama with a pulse of hope, in both cases

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

Contemplative drama in both cases

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

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

Common ground in both: criminal investigation and police procedural

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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The best-reviewed series that share CIA’s defining feeling.