Missing ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ 10 Years Later? 10 Similar TV Shows to Check Out
It feels like just yesterday that we were marking the 10-year anniversary of Rizzoli & Isles’ debut. But September 5 is the 10-year anniversary of the TNT procedural’s finale, if you can believe it.
Even after a decade off air, Rizzoli & Isles is still winning new fans, since Netflix and Peacock both added the show to their libraries this year. (And fans new and old are probably still debating whether the sapphic subtext was intentional.)
But if you’ve had your fill of Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander’s characters and want a show with similar vibes, premises, or talent, check out the TV shows below.
Cagney & Lacey
When it comes to female partners in crime-solving, Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless) and Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) are the standard-bearers. In this two-time Outstanding Drama Emmy winner — to which Rizzoli & Islesowes a great debt — the title characters are NYPD detectives battling crime on the streets and sexism in their precinct. Currently streaming on The Roku Channel.
Scott & Bailey
The British answers to Cagney and Lacey, perhaps, are Janet Scott (Lesley Sharp) and Rachel Bailey (Suranne Jones). They’re both detective constables in the Manchester Major Incident Team, and like Cagney and Lacey, one is a single woman, the other a married mother, one is assertive, the other more contemplative. Currently streaming on BritBox and Hoopla.
Women’s Murder Club
Fans of Harmon can see her in another police procedural based on a literary franchise, this one adapted from James Patterson’s long-running series of the same name. Here Harmon plays another detective working with a medical examiner, but the team also includes an assistant district attorney and a reporter. And former NFL star Jason Sehorn, Harmon’s husband at the time, guest stars. Currently available for purchase on DVD.
Law & Order
Alternatively, if you want to go farther back in Harmon’s filmography, you can see her star as A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael in the 9th, 10th, and 11th seasons of this long-running procedural. It’s a role she also played as a recurring star of SVU’s first season. And by the way, L&O fans are eager to see Abbie make a comeback. Currently streaming on Hulu.
NCIS
Alexander, meanwhile, became a household name thanks to her role in the first two seasons of this procedural. Her NCIS agent, Caitlin Todd, departs the show in watercooler-television fashion in the Season 2 finale — spoilers about that twist here — but that’s not the last you’ll see of her on the show. Currently streaming on Paramount+.
Presidio Med
A deep cut from Alexander’s career, on the other hand — and one hard to find nowadays — is this short-lived medical drama. Here, she plays another doctor — a plastic surgeon this time — who works at a San Francisco hospital along other MDs played by the likes of Anna Deveare Smith, Blythe Danner, and Dana Delany. Currently streaming, in part, on the Internet Archive.
Body of Proof
As Alexander was playing a medical examiner on Rizzoli & Isles, her old Presidio Med buddy Dana Delany was doing so on this show. The latter plays Dr. Megan Hunt, a doc who leaves her neurosurgery track after an accident and gets a job with lower stakes. “Can’t kill somebody if they’re already dead,” she quips. Currently streaming on Hulu.
Crossing Jordan
Considering they’re both Massachusetts medical examiners, you’d think there’d be some onscreen crossover involving Isles and the protagonist of this show. (Alas, only in fan fiction). Jill Hennessy stars as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a dogged and unconventional investigator, while costars include now-big names like Mahershala Ali and Kathryn Hahn. Currently streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, and The Roku Channel.
Bones
Let’s talk other TV procedurals with unlikely partners. In this hit, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz provide that dynamic, playing a brainy forensic anthropologist and a brawny FBI agent, respectively. Better yet: Janet Tamaro, who developed and show-ran Rizzoli & Isles, worked as a supervising producer and occasional writer for Bones. Currently streaming on Hulu and Prime Video.
Elementary
This series, one of our favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptations, also provides that odd-couple humor. Jonny Lee Miller plays a modern-day Sherlock, one who works as an NYPD consultant, as Lucy Liu plays Dr. Joan Watson, his live-in sober companion, in one of our favorite TV gender swaps. Currently streaming on Hulu, Prime Video, and The Roku Channel.
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S
I know I love it to I am sorry I sent "hey girls" it was already typed in and it randomly sent it my computer is weird
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S
hey girls
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J
Never seen any of the other shows, but I love Elementary.
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Elementary is quite possibly my favorite show of all time. SO good!
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