Shows Like · The Sopranos (176)
Best Shows Like The Sopranos, Ranked by IQ Score
The Sopranos taught modern prestige TV how to render an interior life. These are the shows that learned the lesson most successfully. Ranked by IQ Score.
The Sopranos (IQ 176, Masterclass) is the show that defined what modern prestige drama would be. David Chase's structural innovation, making a mob boss in therapy the subject of legitimate dramatic inquiry, opened the door every show below walked through.
Closest matches: Breaking Bad (163) and Better Call Saul (171) are the direct lineage. Mad Men (174) is the Matthew Weiner (ex-Sopranos writer) parallel-track masterwork. Boardwalk Empire is the Terence Winter (ex-Sopranos writer) period extension. The Wire (183) is the parallel HBO experiment, different subject, same period, complementary architecture.
12 titles · ranked by IQ Score
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
Save this list. Get the next one.
New ranked lists and the editorials behind them, by email. Every list scored on the same published rubric. No spam, no studio money.
Founding Circle
Lifetime membership, one payment.
Founders get the monthly founders newsletter, quarterly deep dives with a 30-day founder-first window, two title requests a year, and a place on the founders wall. 100 lifetime spots at $99.
Claim your spot →Browse every ranked list on TV Intelligentsia
202 ranked-by-IQ lists, filmographies, decade hubs, year hubs, character rankings, streaming-platform lists, and editorial curations. All scored on the same published rubric.
See all ranked lists → Open the full database