15 TV Shows Like The Bear You Need To Check Out

Created by Christopher Storer, FX's "The Bear" has garnered a glut of critical acclaim and accolades. The half-hour genre-blending dramedy stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, a successful chef who comes home to Chicago after the death of his brother (Jon Bernthal) leaves a working-class beef sandwich shop with no one to run it. Bonding and bickering with his staff rounded out by the brilliant cast of Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Liza Colón-Zayas, and many others, Carmy transitions the sandwich shop into something more while searching for inner healing along the way.

To watch "The Bear" is a uniquely visceral experience — the show is willing to loudly and passionately set its characters' professional and personal lives on fire for the purpose of human drama. Just like a delicious beef sammy or the high-wire lifestyle of working in a kitchen, it's addictive.

If you have a craving but you've already gobbled up the currently existing four seasons of Berzatto family mayhem, we've got 15 other dishes you might want to try. In this instance, we mean "dishes" as a metaphor for TV shows that have some thematic or tonal similarities with "The Bear." 

Sharing an executive producer with "The Bear" (Hiro Murai), "Atlanta" is an FX show that helped lay the runway for similarly experimental programs like "The Bear" to take off.

Creator and star Donald Glover plays Earnest "Earn" Marks, a smart but battle-hardened college dropout trying to manage the career of his budding rapper cousin Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles (Brian Tyree Henry). Earn also has an on-again, off-again relationship with Vanessa "Van" Kiefer (Zazie Beetz), the mother of his child, and everyone is generally befuddled by the eccentric Darius (LaKeith Stanfield).

Their misadventures in Atlanta, Georgia, make up the narrative of the show — at least, as much as "Atlanta" has a conventional narrative. As the series moves forward in its four-season run, it becomes increasingly comfortable with experimentation — Glover and his team increasingly blend the conventions of comedy, drama, and even horror into their half-hour timeslot.

Some of the best "Atlanta" episodes are almost like self-contained bottle episodes – especially "Teddy Perkins," in which an unrecognizable Glover plays a role you have to see to believe.

"Beef" is a Netflix anthology series that, at the time of this writing, has only debuted one season with the second scheduled for April 16, 2026. But that 10-episode first season demonstrates many similarities with "The Bear," namely breakneck pacing, intense performances, and ratcheting darkness that delves an ostensible comedy into thriller territory.

Season 1 takes two unstable characters played by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong and crashes them into each other. Danny Cho (Yeun) is a struggling contractor. Amy Lau (Wong) is a business owner making moves to level up. When the two almost get into a car accident, it escalates into out-and-out road rage and a dangerous car chase, planting the seeds of obsession.

What transpires is a game of psychological warfare, 3D chess, and terrible but oddly cathartic decisions. "Beef" feels like the "Fishes" episode of "The Bear" stretched out over an entire season and cross-pollinated with a 1990s suspense piece like "Single White Female." It's beyond compelling.

Spun off from a 2021 film of the same name, "Boiling Point," like "The Bear," puts us in the heart of a restaurant and turns the screws as its chefs make their dishes while psychologically careening into each other.

After volatile head chef Andy (Stephen Graham, also a co-creator) suffers a heart attack, he's no longer able to lead the staff of his luxurious English restaurant, Jones & Sons. So, his former employee, Carly (Vinette Robinson), opens a new restaurant called Point North and picks up all of Andy's old staff to lead. Thus, Carly must try to assert her authority, avoid cascading into Andy's old toxic tricks, and maybe even find some level of understanding with her old boss.

"Boiling Point" takes its workplace premise and uses it as a launchpad into lots of emotionally traumatic situations and discussions, especially related to mental health and substance abuse. All of this should be catnip for "Bear" fans, with the London setting offering a set of different specifics to get lost in.

"The Bear," ostensibly a half-hour comedy, features some of the most scorching, excoriating, and pitch-black drama you'll see in any television show. If those are the cursed vibes you're attracted to, look no further than "BoJack Horseman."

The Netflix animated TV show stars Will Arnett in the title role — a washed-up horse and actor whose glory days starring on the cheesy sitcom "Horsin' Around" are behind him. He spends his days lounging around his house with his slacker roommate Todd (Aaron Paul) trying to revitalize his career with the help of his agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), and bickering with his chipper rival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins). But when ghostwriter Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie) arrives to help BoJack write his autobiography, the possibility for personal growth opens. Is BoJack a basically okay horse who occasionally makes poor choices, or is BoJack an irredeemable black hole of toxic self-involvement? Even after six seasons and a terrific finale, we're still not sure.  

It's a stylized show, taking place in a fantastical version of Hollywood where humans and animals coexist. It's often got a joke-a-second pace and visual gags to the gills. But it's also relentlessly, even perversely, willing to unpack the worst impulses of humanity and explore mental health and trauma. Episodes like "That's Too Much, Man!" will leave you rocked to your core.

Saying Chicago is another character in "The Bear" is a dumb cliche — but it's also true. The show oozes with the particular gritty vibes of the Windy City. If you want more prestige TV unpacking life in the biggest metropolitan Midwest city, check out Netflix's unique "Easy."

"Easy" is an anthology series with each episode presenting a self-contained story, though some characters and actors make repeat appearances over the three seasons. The common thread is its setting. It all takes place in Chicago, where its creator — indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg — spent many of his formative years.

Beyond the setting, "Easy" also shares the tonal complexities and experimentations with "The Bear," sometimes using its anthology structure to push boundaries even further. The best episodes of "Easy," like "Utopia" (featuring guest stars Orlando Bloom, Malin Åkerman, and Kate Micucci), observe relationships with flexibility, empathy, and a willingness to get ugly.

Some of the most compelling sequences of "The Bear" play like honest, if aggressive, therapy sessions — think Carmy finally telling David Fields (Joel McHale) all the ways David messed him up. So why not try a show that's literally composed of honest, if aggressive, therapy sessions?

HBO's "In Treatment," developed by Rodrigo García from the Israeli series "BeTipul," takes the daily format of the soap opera and combines it with high-quality writing and acting to deliver one of the most unique and direct dramas you'll ever see.

Its first three seasons star Gabriel Byrne as Paul Weston, a successful but doubting psychotherapist. The show originally aired five days a week, with each half-hour installment dedicated to a different patient on a different day. For example, Dr. Weston sees Alex Prince (Blair Underwood) every Tuesday episode in Season 1, or Walter Barnett (John Mahoney) every Thursday episode in Season 2. And every Friday episode, Dr. Weston sees his own therapist and mentor, Gina Toll (Dianne Wiest).

A fourth revival season originally aired in 2021, starring Uzo Aduba as a new therapist, Dr. Brooke Taylor. No matter where you dive in, "In Treatment" is like nothing else — except, maybe it's a little bit like "The Bear."

A group of young professionals in a deeply stressful work environment do their best to survive and thrive while navigating tempestuous interpersonal relationships along the way. This is HBO's "Industry," created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, and it's like "The Bear," "Succession," and a splash of "Euphoria" all pooled their resources for a hostile takeover of your TV.

Myha'la stars as Harper Stern, a young and precocious employee of London investment bank Pierpoint & Co. A fiery ensemble cast surrounds her, offering her allies, enemies, and people who eradicate boundaries at any opportunity. This includes Ken Leung as Harper's mentor Eric Tao, Kit Harington as tempestuous CEO Sir Henry Muck, and Marisa Abela as gifted coworker Yasmin Kara-Hanani.

"Industry," even for those who typically don't find "rich people problems" interesting, is among the most addictive shows you'll find. It's shocking, bold, tightly written, and confidently performed. It will give you an anxiety attack in the best way possible.

The late, great chef Anthony Bourdain is a television icon unto himself, with shows like "No Reservations" and "Parts Unknown" cementing his status as one of our great nonfiction storytellers. But in 2005, someone else had a take on Bourdain — future Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper.

The eventual "Maestro" star plays Jack Bourdain, the lightly fictionalized version of Anthony Bourdain based on his successful memoir "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly." As created by future Academy Award nominee David Hemingson, the Fox take on "Kitchen Confidential" is a single-cam sitcom with some edge (and an introduction of the cutthroat nature of working in a restaurant to American TV audiences) and some network sanitization.

It makes for a fascinating watch — a snapshot of an attempt to capture the magic of "The Bear" about 20 years too early.

Like "24" before, HBO's "The Pitt" drags us through the worst day on Earth in real time, with each episode presenting an hour of a shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. If you thought working in a restaurant was hard, try working at a hospital.

"The Pitt" is a return to form from "ER" collaborators Noah Wyle (star), R. Scott Gemmill (creator), and John Wells (producer). Wyle plays Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, the attending physician of his ragtag crew of doctors, nurses, residents, and interns. The team deals with gnarly medical issues, stubborn patients, and emotional flare-ups, all while making multiple impossible decisions per hour.

"The Pitt" is sensational TV, taking the complexity and intrigue present in prestige shows like "The Bear" and combining it with the procedural accessibility of "ER." You just might need some aspirin after, though.

"The Bear" creator Christopher Storer worked as an executive producer and director on Hulu's "Ramy," a dramedy starring Ramy Youssef, who returned the favor by directing the acclaimed "The Bear" episode "Honeydew." While "Ramy" moves at a slower pace than "The Bear," the two share thematic DNA.

Youssef, who also co-created "Ramy," plays Ramy Hassan, a millennial Muslim-American who lives in New Jersey and navigates his intersectional identity with some difficulty. His sister Dena (May Calamawy) struggles under the thumb of their traditional parents (Hiam Abbass and Amr Waked). Meanwhile, Ramy's friends — like Steve (Steve Way), who lives with muscular dystrophy — open the door to uninhibited, zany, occasionally disturbing experiences.

Beyond its explorations of the second-generation immigrant experience and malaise, "Ramy" dives into the blurred boundaries between religion and cultural identity through the protagonist's evolving relationship to Islam. This leads to a powerful guest star appearance in Season 2 from Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as a sensitive and unexpectedly flexible Sheikh.

Want to see where "The Bear" star Jeremy Allen White got his start and continue your televisual journey of Chicago-based dramedies that explore dysfunctional, working-class, shouty, and vulgar families? Give Showtime's "Shameless," based on the British series of the same name, a binge immediately.

White plays Phillip "Lip" Gallagher, one of the seven children of patriarch Frank (William H. Macy). Lip is the eldest son of the brood, a street-smart and atypically book-smart kid who nonetheless has his demons, including alcohol addiction and running criminal schemes like taking other students' SATs for hire. White starts his tenure on the 11-season show in his early 20s, and it's interesting to watch him grow into himself and see the roots of what would become Carmy.

Lip's demons are arguably inherited from his dad, Frank, an impoverished, sleazy trickster who will do anything for a quick buck and a jolt of pleasure. If you think the families, both biological and found, of "The Bear" are intense, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Given the choice between working at a restaurant or working at a movie studio, you'd probably choose the latter every time, right? Well, give "The Studio" a stream before you make that decision, because the Apple TV show makes show business look like the least glamorous, most chaotic field there is.

Co-creator and star Seth Rogen plays Matt Remick, the new head of the in-universe acclaimed movie studio Continental. Matt is an idealist — a man who knows the movies are a lucrative business with lots of competing interests, but still wants to make great art. But he and his team (including comedy superstar Catherine O'Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, and Chase Sui Wonders) quickly discover how hard it is to value quaint concepts like "a conscience" or "a good idea" in such a ruthless world.

Rogen and co-creator Evan Goldberg lens these half-hour anxiety attacks in long, sweeping takes — there's even an episode called "The Oner" about how hard it is to shoot in long, sweeping takes. This gives every episode, packed with jokes and cameos, even more of an immersive and gripping feeling.

Ella Purnell, whom you might know from other TV hits like "Yellowjackets" or "Fallout," stars in the underrated Starz drama "Sweetbitter" about life working in the cutthroat kitchens of New York City's fine-dining scene.

The show is created by Stephanie Danler, based on her novel of the same name. Both are a fictionalization of Danler's real experiences working at New York City's Union Square Cafe, a place full of delicious dishes and ginormous egos.

Purnell plays the Danler stand-in Tess, a newcomer to New York City who snags a gig at an acclaimed downtown restaurant and quickly realizes life in the big city is tougher than expected. She dives into a world full of alcohol, drugs, partying, backstabbing, and some incredible food. All of this is exhausting, destabilizing, and for Tess, tantalizing.

"Sweetbitter," which aired for two seasons, plays a little like "The Bear" crossed with "Girls," in the respect that Tess is a young woman coming of age in New York City during roughly the same period in time as Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) and her pals.

A British show with elements of "The Bear," "The Pitt," and "Fleabag" in its DNA, "This Is Going to Hurt" is nonetheless unique and one of AMC's best shows.

The medical drama, with a pitch-black sense of humor coursing through its veins, takes place in the OBGYN ward of a London-based National Health Service hospital (see, in the U.K., they have publicly funded healthcare — what a concept). Ben Whishaw stars as Adam Kay (whose real-life counterpart created this series), orienting us through a litany of intense circumstances, medical trauma, and squabbling among the doctors. Oftentimes, the characters will break the fourth wall and address the camera directly, giving "This Is Going to Hurt" atypical power to hurt us with its scathing conclusions about the emotional toll of helping people.

Rounding out the rich ensemble cast is Alex Jennings as Adam's skeptical boss; Michele Austin as Tracy, a midwife with fraught ties to Adam; and Ambika Mod as Shruti Acharya, Adam's new trainee.

An underseen Hulu dramedy from creator Tracy McMillan, "UnPrisoned" gives us two of our great working actors and sets them at each other. Psychological fireworks and a rich well of empathy ensue.

Kerry Washington stars as Paige Alexander, a successful therapist and marriage counselor who nonetheless struggles with her personal relationships. Complicating everything is the arrival of her father Edwin (Delroy Lindo) a no-goodnik who just got out of prison after 17 years. He's back with an attempt to reconcile with his daughter and put his life back together, but can Paige fairly give herself back to someone who's been absent for most of her life?

McMillan's work highlights the oft-unrepresented struggles of the formerly incarcerated after they re-enter society. It also digs deeply into the familial scars people give each other, especially with the surreal technique of Paige speaking with a younger version of herself (Jordyn McIntosh).