WATCH THESE IF YOU LIKE ‘WILD CARDS’
Curating lists that look at shows similar to titles that are insanely popular or getting some modest love is a fun thing to do. The show that gets this treatment today on RissiWrites.com is Wild Cards. This is a show that falls into the latter. The underrated gem seems to be getting some real, if quiet, love. We’re looking into the shows to watch if you like Wild Cards, a show that may technically be a crime drama, but is mostly just a good time.
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WATCH THESE IF YOU LIKE ‘WILD CARDS.’ A collection of shows to watch if you like #WildCards. #TVShows #CrimeDrama #Mystery #Castle #LeverageRedemption Share on XWild Cards, which is a CBC Canadian show makes its import US home on the CW. The show follows a detective who has lost his desk, and long story short, he gets partnered with Max, a sassy thief who gets caught. She ends up making a deal to work with the cops. Her conning is all in the genes thanks to being the daughter of a father who knows the con game well and is currently in prison because of his profession. The season two finale airs tonight and according to TV Guide is going to come to a head in regards to Ellis’ search for his brother’s murderer. The plot reads “Ellis discovers a shocking truth about the kingpin behind Daniel’s death; Max, George and Ricky struggle with cryptic clues left in Ashford’s office.”
The show sets out (the CBS has renewed it for two more seasons but we don’t know if the US will pick it up) to be a kind of banter-y show between two people who are not only very different investigators, but also they don’t trust each other which is likely a journey the writers will take these two on if the show lasts. Though it’s a crime drama, Wild Cards is lighthearted and insanely fun, so let’s see if we can find some shows to watch if you like this one!
WATCH THESE if you like WILD CARDS
AGATHA RAISIN
About: Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Agatha Raisin retires early to a quaint village in the Cotswolds and soon finds a second career as an amateur detective investigating mischief, mayhem, and murder in her deceptively devious town. – Acorn TV
Why Watch: This British dramedy is delightful. It’s got a sassy heroine and lots of fun characters and the cases are mostly lighthearted vs dark.
Stream, at publication, on Acorn TV or (series one) Prime Video; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
BLOOD and TREASURE
About: An antiquities expert teams up with an art thief to catch a terrorist who funds his attacks using stolen artifacts. – CW
Why Watch: this one is all about the banter and fun of the lead relationship. It’s also, for the most part, better at doing a contemporary relationship. It stumbles here and there, but the two season run gives us characters we are sure want to be together even through the challenges they face. That alone is something I admire.
Stream, at publication, on CW TV; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
THE CATCH
About: P.I. Alice Vaughan hunts down her con-man fiancé. – Prime Video
Why Watch: I watched one or two episodes of this back when it aired on ABC. It only had two seasons, but it does have the whole love-to-loathe concept and the show has good cast, too, starting with its lead stars Mireille Enos and Peter Krause.
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
CASTLE
This show is a really good time and is very much the type that would serve as a blueprint Wild Cards may use for inspiration. Nathan Fillon (now in The Rookie) plays a quirky and charming best-selling author who becomes a permanent shadow to talented NYPD detective Kate Beckett (played by Stana Katic). The show has conspiracies (which was a bit of a turn) that leads to lead star Stana Katic having reduced screentime and of course, an inevitable always kind of love story, too.
Stream, at publication, on Hulu or Prime Video; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP
About: A night of passion leads to love between a con man and an undercover CIA officer. – Prime Video
Why Watch: The show is entertaining. It has popular TV star Milo Ventimiglia as a con man who works with his family pulling jobs. This time though, things get complicated when he meets Emma, a CIA officer.
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
KING and MAXWELL
This one has Jon Tenney (post his long role in TNT’s The Closer) as a former secret service agent who partners with another agent in a new private detective agency. The show, like many of these, is a short one-season, 10-episode dramedy, but super entertaining. Rebecca Romijn is co-star.
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
LEVERAGE and LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION
This one is so much fun! It’s about a group of people, with different talents and skills (a grifter, insurance man, thief) who come together to pull cons on corporations and people doing bad things to the “little guy.” In short, they provide leverage. The original show ran for five seasons on TNT and then was revived later on Prime Video in Leverage: Redemption where most of the main cast did return.
Stream, at publication, both shows on Prime Video
PRIVATE EYES
Like Wild Cards, Jason Priestley also features in this really fun show that is very much a Castle-like concept. There’s a daughter and parents in Priestley’s Matt Shade house, a man who is a former hockey star and now is solving cases with the slightly cynical Angie, a private detective. It’s a fun time, and while this original show may have run its course (four seasons I think), it is getting revived with a new variation and returning main cast.
WATCH THESE IF YOU LIKE ‘WILD CARDS.’ A collection of shows to watch if you like #WildCards. #TVShows #CrimeDrama #Mystery #Castle #LeverageRedemption Share on XDigitally purchase on places like Prime Video
QUEENS of MYSTERY
About: This “wickedly offbeat” (Parade), contemporary murder-mystery series follows the adventures of a perennially single detective and her three crime-writing aunts as they solve murders in the picturesque English region of Wildemarsh. – Acorn TV
Why Watch: Like other titles on this list, this isn’t a “sexy” kind of dramedy that plays with the possibility of a will-they-or-won’t-they tease, but the story of three aunts and a police niece solving cases is a good time. And most days, that’s all any of us want from a TV show experience.
Stream, at publication, on Acorn TV; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
REPUBLIC of DOYLE
A Canadian show, this one is about a private detective family business and the by-the-book detective that their cases annoy. I never did finish the show, but it is a good time.
Stream, at publication, on Prime Video, Roku or Tubi
SHAKESPEARE and HATHAWAY
About: Corpses, comedy and cracking mysteries. The mismatched private detective duo investigate crime in Stratford-upon-Avon. Quirky, crime-fighting fun. – BBC
Why Watch: This British dramedy is tons (as is the usual rule for anything from production companies like BBC) of fun! It doesn’t lean much into chemistry (as Wild Cards does) between the leads, but there is still banter and humor, and the episodes are pure entertainment.
Stream, at publication, on BritBox or Hallmark+
SO HELP ME TODD
This is a really fun show that earned only two seasons with CBS. It’s about a mother (Marcia Gay Harden) who has a tumultuous (albiet for different reasons) relationship with all three of her adult children. Still, it ends up with her son Todd (Skyler Austin) who she works with when he’s hired on at her law firm as an investigator.
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
THE SPENCER SISTERS
About: After her life in the city blows up, former police officer Darby Spencer is forced to return home to her estranged mother, renowned mystery novelist Victoria Spencer, where the two embark on the unlikeliest of ventures – becoming partners in a private detective agency. – Hallmark Channel
Why Watch: This show is a one season import that didn’t earn a second season. But it’s good fun and features familiar Hallmark stars Lea Thompson and Stacey Farber.
Stream, at publication, on CWTV or Hallmark+
TAKE TWO
Co-created by Andrew W. Marlowe (known also for Castle and The Equalizer), this is very much a Castle-lite show. In this scenario, Rachel Bilson plays a fading actress and Eddie Cibrian is the Private Investigator she ends up pairing up with.
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
TRUE LIES
A remake of the 90s film, of the same name, this one tried to get a revive on CBS but sadly didn’t last. Its thirteen episodes are lots of fun though and follows Harry Tasker, a spy who’s loving wife, Helen, has no clue what he really does!
Digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
WHISKEY CAVALIER
About: The adventures of an FBI agent and his new partner, a badass CIA operative, who together lead a team of spies. – ABC
Why Watch: This one isn’t a total match because it’s about an FBI team, but it does have the hate-to-maybe-more story going on. Back when it aired, it also seemed to have a fanbase who were disappointed when a second season order was scrapped. It has Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan the one-off 13-episode season.
Stream, at publication, on Tubi
WHITE COLLAR
About: White Collar is about the unlikely partnership of a con artist and an FBI agent who have been playing cat and mouse for years. Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer), a charming criminal mastermind, is finally caught by his nemesis, FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay.) – Hulu
Why Watch: A thoroughly entertaining “con job” concept, this is a former USA Network show that is said to be getting a revival with most of the main cast returning, at least in some capacity. It’s also a good deal of fun as we watch charming con man Neal Caffrey try to still play his angles even under the watchful eye of by-the-book FBI agent Peter Burke.
Stream, at publication, on Disney+ or Hulu, Netflix; or digitally purchase on places like Prime Video
How many of these have you seen? Which ones do you think are a good fit in this show to watch if you like Wild Cards list? Which ones did we miss? Do you like the unlikely partner matchup trope in crime dramas? Share all of your thoughts down in the comment section! Let’s talk.
Photos: Alamy
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