10 Best Shows Like Billions

Showtime has made a name for itself in creating powerful dramas that explore various important issues. That is certainly true of Billions which, as its title suggests, engages with the lengths to which people will go to attain wealth and power and the similar efforts of others to hold the powerful accountable to the law.

Fortunately for those who enjoy a premium cable drama’s ability to shine a harsh light on the wealthy and the powerful, there are several other series that have a similar dynamic and that explore similar issues.

The Morning Show

Watching powerful people behave badly is one of the key pleasures offered by Billions, and it also happens to be one that motivates much of the plot of The Morning Show. This series, starring Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon, examines the many backstabbings and other maneuverings that take place at a fictional morning show and the network that produces it.

Though its characters may not always be the most likable, it is a series that does nevertheless show how awful the powerful can behave, not just with the outside world but also with one another.

Succession

Succession is widely regarded as one of the best series on HBO, and with good reason. Throughout its three seasons, it demonstrates the ability of power to corrupt.

Like Billions, all of the characters that appear in the series are morally compromised in one way or another, and they all show just how ruthless they are as they pursue the leadership of Logan Roy’s company. But, of course, it’s Logan himself who is the series’ most terrifying and powerful character.

Damages

Even though Billions focuses a great deal on its characters’ pursuit of power and wealth, it also gives some attention to those who are part of the law and want to see hedge fund managers brought to justice.

Those who enjoy the legal aspects of the series will find much to enjoy on the series Damages, which focuses on a high powered lawyer (played by Glenn Close, in one of her best roles) as she takes on various cases and develops a fraught relationship with the young lawyer that she takes under her wing.

Suits

As with Damages, Suits is a good fit for those who enjoy the lawyer aspects of Billions. In this case, however, the series focuses on a young man who manages to bluff his way into becoming part of a very powerful and successful law firm.

Much of the series’ tension derives from the fact that the main character is essentially a fraud, even if he happens to be very adept at learning and manipulating the law. What’s more, the series even manages to endure despite having lost a couple members of its key cast.

Empire

The character of Bobby Axelrod in Billions is a man who is willing to do whatever he has to in order to get ahead in the world of finance, and as a result he is something of an egomaniac. There is, however, something pleasurable about watching such dynamic and powerful people, so it makes sense that those who enjoy Billions would also find much to enjoy about Empire.

Lucious Lyon is, like Axelrod, someone who is driven by his own sense of what should be done and how his music empire should be ruled.

Boardwalk Empire

Billions partakes of a long tradition in American culture of valorizing those who skirt, and sometimes violate, the law in the pursuit of power and wealth. For this reason, those who enjoyed that aspect of the series will also find much to enjoy about Boardwalk Empire, which deserves its place as a great period drama in its own right.

In particular, it focuses on the fraught period of Prohibition and on the character of Nucky Thompson, an Atlantic City politician whose life and career intersect with many famous historical figures. It remains one of Steve Buscemi’s best roles, and the series as a whole shines a light on a key period of American history.

Fargo

Fargo is one of the best dramas to emerge out of FX. Based on the Coen Brothers movie of the same name (one of their best), its four seasons explore the constant tension between criminality and the law. As with the movie, each season explores the depths to which people will go in their pursuit of power and money.

With its emphasis on the ruthlessness of people and the efforts of those who are part of the law to bring them to justice, it is an ideal fit for fans of Billions.

Ozark

Jason Bateman has had quite a successful career in Hollywood, with many movies and TV shows to his credit. With Ozark, however, he shows that he is skilled as both a director and an actor, and his character of Marty Byrde, like Axelrod of Billions, finds that he is very willing to do unseemly–and illegal–things as he strives to attain more power.

With its gritty aesthetic and its emphasis on moral gray areas, it is a very good fit for fans of Billions.

Breaking Bad

There are few AMC series more iconic than Breaking Bad, which focused on high school chemistry teacher Walter White’s journey into darkness as he becomes a meth cooker and dealer. Like Axelrod, Walter shows that he is something of an egomaniac, willing to do whatever he wants so long as it helps him to gain the power, wealth, and influence that he believes is his rightful due.

White, like Axelrod, is a narcissist of giant proportions, which is precisely what makes him so fascinating to watch.

Mad Men

Mad Men is widely regarded as one of the best series of the 2010s, focusing as it does on the high-powered world of ad executives during the heady era of the 1960s (and into the 1970s).

Though its main character is Don Draper–someone who, like Axelrod, is concerned with his own image–it also delves into the lives of its other characters. Just as importantly, it also shines a (not always flattering) light on this pivotal period of 20th-century history.

About The Author