TV Shows Like The Bear
If you like The Bear, here are 11 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
Hulu · Drama · The Bear is ended
The Bear works because it understands pressure. Not just the pressure of a professional kitchen, but the pressure of returning to a family that has been fractured by grief, of inheriting something you didn't ask for, of caring about people who don't always make it easy to care about them. Carmy is a fine-dining chef dropped into a chaotic sandwich shop, and the tension between those two worlds, craft versus survival, perfection versus just getting through the day, is what keeps the show so tightly wound. It also helps that the ensemble is full of people who feel genuinely worn in, not written. The grief is real, the humor is real, and the two are often the same thing.
The best shows like The Bear
1. Shameless
Shameless is set in Chicago and built entirely around a chaotic family that loves each other badly. Like The Bear, it finds dark comedy in the gap between how people want to show up for their families and how they actually do, and the Gallagher kids have that same chosen-family energy as Carmy's crew: messy, loud, loyal in ways that aren't always obvious.
Stream on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Ended0%
2. The Chi
The Chi is rooted in the South Side of Chicago, and it shares The Bear's commitment to showing a city as a real, specific place, not just a backdrop. Brandon's dream of opening a restaurant and his pull between ambition and family obligation will feel immediately familiar to anyone who spent time with Carmy, and the show handles the weight of community responsibility with the same seriousness.
Stream on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Ended0%
3. Succession
Succession is about a family business destroying everyone inside it, which is not so different from what The Bear is doing, just with more money and sharper suits. The sibling dynamics are genuinely uncomfortable in ways that echo the Berzatto family, and the show is consistently funny in a way that never softens how much these people are hurting each other.
Stream on HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, HBO Max
Ended0%
4. Shrinking
Shrinking is the most direct match for The Bear's treatment of grief. Jimmy's decision to stop performing wellness and just be honest about how lost he is produces the same kind of uncomfortable, warm humor the show does so well. It also understands that healing rarely looks like progress, and that the people around you are often the reason you get through it.
Stream on Apple TV, Apple TV Amazon Channel
Likely Renewed97%
5. Six Feet Under
Also drama · shares the family business theme
Stream on HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, HBO Max
Ended0%
More on shows like The Bear
Fans of The Bear tend to want a few specific things from their next show: a sense of place that feels lived in, not decorated, characters who are difficult to love but impossible to stop watching, and storylines that take both comedy and pain seriously without letting either overwhelm the other. They like shows that don't over-explain, that trust the audience to sit with discomfort, and that find the family in whatever group of people happens to be stuck together.
The recommendations here cover a lot of that ground. Shameless and The Chi both plant their flags firmly in Chicago and build whole worlds around working families under strain. Succession shares The Bear's obsession with family businesses and the damage they do to the people inside them, even if the tax bracket is wildly different. Shrinking tackles grief directly, with the same mix of mess and warmth that The Bear handles so well. Goliath is the outlier in terms of setting, but the core idea, a person reassembling themselves while fighting something much bigger, hits a similar note.
None of these are perfect matches, but that's fine. The best recommendation isn't a copy of the thing you already loved; it's something that scratches a related itch in a slightly different way. Shameless and The Chi are the ones for viewers who want more Chicago grit. Succession and Goliath are for those drawn to the underdog-in-over-their-head quality of Carmy's situation. And Shrinking is the one to reach for when what you actually want is to feel something about grief without being destroyed by it.
More shows like The Bear
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like The Bear?
- Shameless is the most popular show similar to The Bear in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like The Bear still on the air?
- Of the 11 shows similar to The Bear listed here, 0 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like The Bear?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.