Fictional stories about organized crime have been some of television's most popular, intriguing, and enticing programming since the late 1990s and early 2000s. There have always been a lot of smart and cruel gangsters to choose from on the small screen since David Chase remade the genre with "The Sopranos." What's going on? Well, without getting into an elaborate study and thorough analysis of the human psyche, let's just say there's an inherent appeal and thrill in watching extended stories about dangerous, unpredictable, and violent figures who never stand down when it comes to achieving their goals.
Because of their unique rules, structures, and hierarchy, mafia-like crime syndicates naturally pique the interest of the general public. We fear mobsters just as much as we're captivated by them because they follow a delicate and often arbitrary moral code that allows them to do abhorrent things that we would be incapable of executing. They're often extremely intelligent psychopaths with uncanny confidence and fierce determination, able to walk through hell if they need to and kill without hesitation in order to survive or conquer. They elicit respect and practice terror through intimidation and control, all for a luxurious life that's marred by the need to constantly look over one's shoulder.
Here, we gather 10 of the best and most engrossing mafia and gangster shows that television has to offer.
10. Ozark
Although Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams' "Ozark" was far from being the first of its kind, the reason the Netflix series is on this list instead of its far better thematic predecessor "Breaking Bad" is that it's more gangster than it appears on a first impression. The series excellently portrays how a perfectly ordinary middle-class family can become associated with the Mexican criminal world through force instead of by choice.
Through no fault of their own, Marty and Wendy Byrde, played by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, along with their two teenage children, Charlotte (played by Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (played by Skylar Gaertner), fall under the control of a threatening drug cartel in Mexico. That's not entirely accurate; it's complicated. The bottom line is that Marty has to utilize every bit of his knowledge and shady skills as a finance advisor to launder the cartel's money so his family doesn't end up another casualty in the drug trade business. In order to accomplish this, he will need to relocate them to Osage Beach, Missouri, which will completely disrupt their cozy and comfortable life in Chicago. This relocation will necessitate admitting some hard truths.
9. Peaky Blinders
"Peaky Blinders," Steven Knight's historical drama, is crisp with a filthy, gritty milieu, showcasing various street gangs who rule nearly every corner of England's seedy Birmingham. Set in the early nineteenth century, right after the First World War, the show is a stylish celebration of cunning hoodlums. Tommy Shelby, played by an overbearingly amazing Cillian Murphy, is the series' antihero. He leads his family and gang from being small-time criminals to powerful and respected city rulers. There's a poetic dirtiness about Knight's show that's both raw and appealing as it combines old-fashioned mafia tropes with personal traumas. During its six seasons, it has become a huge hit with critics and viewers alike. When it comes to providing nuanced narrative and in-depth character development, "Peaky Blinders" is far from perfect. Sometimes, the writing takes on too much at once, but it's hard to deny how electric the series is when it finds the right balance and tone.
8. ZeroZeroZero
Stefano Sollima's 2020 miniseries, "ZeroZeroZero," may fall more on the side of underrated/underseen gangster shows, but don't let that fool you about its importance and super-realistic portrayal of organized crime. Based on Italian author and journalist Robert Saviano's — who singlehandedly exposed the inner workings of the Camorra through his work by putting his own life at a constant risk — non-fiction book of the same name, the series follows the transportation of a large cocaine shipment from the hands of a Mexican drug cartel to the powerful senior boss of the 'Ndrangheta in Italy, with a family of American brokers acting as the handlers during the journey.
7. Brotherhood
Blake Master's "Brotherhood" aired at a time (2006-2008) when it stood little chance to truly stand out in the murderer's row of Peak TV giants. Any series airing during the tail end of "The Sopranos" and the last years of "The Wire" had scarce opportunity to shine the brightest in that era. Thanks to its more traditional concept and a lesser-known but still outstanding cast of performers, "Brotherhood" just didn't (and couldn't) get its fair due in the mid-aughts. However, its premise is novel and timeless in many ways, particularly in its portrayal of the American dream and a working-class, blue-collar community from a variety of perspectives. It's a classic gangster trope that we've seen in many movies, but rarely on the small screen, especially to such an extent.
6. The Sons of Anarchy
It is absolutely necessary to include Kurt Sutter's "Sons of Anarchy" when discussing small-screen gangs. Before the 7-season-long show came around, there was nothing like it on the small screen. Sutter created an original television milieu by capturing a brotherhood of bikers who slowly turned into vicious, if genuinely relatable, outlaws and murderers, ruling their small fictional town of Charming in San Joaquin, California. Led by Jax Teller (the role that established Charlie Hunnam's career) and Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), SAMCRO delivered the subculture of a motorcycle club into our homes in lush detail. Fascinating, intimate, and badass at the same time, the FX series grabbed hold of the zeitgeist of the late 2000s and early 2010s with firm hands.
5. Empire on the Boardwalk
Created by famed and accomplished "The Sopranos" writer Terence Winter, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" tackled the Prohibition era with rich period detail, a prestigious cast, and remarkable writing. The plot follows Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), an intelligent and dangerous politician in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as he navigates the city's underworld alongside its powerful political elite while he leads a sumptuous and glamorized lifestyle. Winter's series, which featured numerous well-known historical figures such as Stephen Graham's Al Capone, Vincent Piazza's Lucky Luciano, and Michael Stuhlbarg's Arnold Rothstein, among others, recreated a period with all of its intricate political and organized crime machinations with crucial authenticity and a realistic setting.
4. Gomorrah
This series is the best fictional TV drama ever made about the Camorra and modern organized crime in Italy. Created by the aforementioned "ZeroZeroZero" author Robert Saviano — and loosely based on his non-fiction bestseller of the same name — "Gomorrah" portrays the inner workings of the Savastano clan in Naples, delivering a raw, merciless, and chillingly realistic depiction of how mafiosos operate in modern-day Italy. Throughout the series, we follow Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D'Amore), a loyal and savvy soldier of the Camorra, and the Savastano family, who rule the Secondigliano suburb and half of Naples until their reign is threatened by rival gangs and one of their own people.
3. The Wire
It's hard to say anything new about creator, author, and former police reporter David Simon's masterpiece that hasn't been said already. "The Wire" is a slow-burning, in-depth look at politics, the drug scene, and law enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland. Simon's series set out to deliver the best and most accurate depictions of the local police and the drug kingpins who run the city's underworld; undoubtedly, the series fulfills that goal completely, with not much left to be desired. Along the way, it introduced the world to characters like Omar Little (Michael Kenneth Williams), Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), and Detective McNulty (Dominic West), all of whom have become iconic TV figures since the show's run between 2002 and 2008.
2. Narcos
Indisputably, Pablo Escobar was one of the most infamous gangsters and drug cartel leaders that has ever lived. But to truthfully capture and portray why he was such a feared and diabolical yet respected figure in Colombia is a task that movies and TV shows failed to accomplish until Netflix's "Narcos" came around in 2015. Led by a mesmerizingly charismatic Wagner Moura as the Hispanic kingpin, the series managed to deliver an epic and thrilling telling of the rise and fall of Escobar, including how DEA agents Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal) chased him from the late 1970s to his eventual death in 1993.
**1. The Sopranos **
Tony Soprano is the pinnacle of American pop culture when it comes to mafiosos. There simply isn't another crime figure in television history that can be considered synonymous with his name, and David Chase's singular creation is still the most talked about crime show today. Though "The Sopranos" aired its final episode nearly two decades ago, its influence and greatness remain as relevant as ever. Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini's defining role) and his family (both work and personal) in the suburbs of New Jersey gave us complex and nuanced characters that we were immediately drawn to from the first time we saw them on screen.