If you’ve just wrapped Season 4 of “The Bear” and feel like you’ve been through an emotional, chaotic, and culinary rollercoaster, you’re not alone. FX’s award-winning series has captivated audiences with its high-octane kitchen drama, deeply layered characters, and Chicago grit. But now that the season’s over, you’re probably hungry for more shows that deliver a similar blend of tension, heart, and artistry. Whether you’re craving more stories about pressure-cooker workplaces, messy families, or creative obsessions, there’s a feast of TV out there that channels the same energy.
These eight shows aren’t carbon copies, but they echo the best ingredients of “The Bear”—from character-driven storytelling to emotional gut punches and kinetic pacing. Some take place in kitchens, others on stage, behind bars, or in high-end hotels, but all of them know how to bring the heat. Here are the shows you should queue up next.
1) Ramy
Created by and starring Ramy Youssef, “Ramy” is a raw, funny, and deeply introspective portrait of a first-generation Egyptian-American navigating faith, culture, and identity in New Jersey. Much like Carmy in “The Bear”, Ramy is a young man caught between his past and the future he’s struggling to define, often making deeply human (and flawed) choices along the way. The series deftly balances sharp comedy with moments of gut-wrenching honesty. Its stylistic ambition and nonlinear storytelling mirror The Bear’s own experimental flourishes.
The show doesn’t shy away from showing spiritual crisis, familial pressure, or the impact of generational trauma. Each episode feels like a short film—some painful, some hilarious, all intensely personal. And “The Bear” fans will appreciate the overlapping DNA: Youssef is also a producer on “The Bear”, and Ramy’s cousin in the show, played by Laith Nakli, pops up in “The Bear” as well. If you’re drawn to stories about ambition, disillusionment, and searching for purpose, “Ramy” should be your next stop.
2) “Six Feet Under”
Before “The Bear” made dysfunctional family drama feel operatic, “Six Feet Under” was doing it with funerals. Created by Alan Ball, this early-2000s gem follows the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles while barely keeping themselves emotionally intact. Like “The Bear”, it’s a story about grief, legacy, and finding purpose amid dysfunction and trauma. The characters are complicated, sometimes infuriating, but always deeply human.
Each episode opens with a death, setting a tone that is at once dark, introspective, and absurdly funny. It’s a show that sits with you—quietly devastating one moment, beautifully cathartic the next. If you’re drawn to the way “The Bear” explores the weight of family history and the messiness of personal growth, “Six Feet Under” is a must-watch. Plus, its series finale is still widely considered one of the best in TV history.
3) “Hacks”
“Hacks” might not be about kitchens, but it shares “The Bear’s” obsession with legacy, reinvention, and complicated mentorship. Jean Smart stars as Deborah Vance, a legendary stand-up comic whose relevance is fading, while Hannah Einbinder plays Ava, a young comedy writer trying to recover from a PR disaster. Their uneasy partnership becomes the engine for two seasons of sharp, emotionally layered storytelling.
Like Carmy and Richie, Deborah and Ava clash constantly, yet slowly carve out mutual respect and understanding. The show is witty and glamorous on the surface, but it’s the quiet moments of vulnerability—those conversations about fear, failure, and identity—that resonate most. You’ll find the same bittersweet undercurrents and character-driven tension that “The Bear” thrives on. And while the laughs land hard, so do the gut punches.
4) “The Leftovers”
Looking for something more existential and emotionally raw? “The Leftovers”, created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, is a haunting, surreal drama about a world reeling after 2% of the population mysteriously vanishes. While the premise is sci-fi adjacent, the show is really about grief, meaning, and the strange, often painful ways people try to keep living.
Like “The Bear”, it plunges into emotional chaos and pulls beauty out of breakdowns. The characters here are fractured, searching, and sometimes self-destructive—yet they’re always striving for connection or clarity. It’s not about food or family businesses, but it captures the same sense of yearning and spiritual exhaustion. If you loved the rawness of “The Bear’s” emotional arcs, “The Leftovers” will break you and rebuild you. Fair warning: it’s intense, but deeply rewarding.
5) “Somebody Somewhere”
This under-the-radar gem starring Bridget Everett is one of TV’s most quietly profound shows about grief, small-town life, and rediscovering joy. It centers on Sam, a woman stuck in a Kansas town she thought she left behind, grappling with the death of her sister and her own sense of purpose. Like “The Bear”, it’s steeped in unspoken pain and familial tension, but it’s also unexpectedly life-affirming and funny.
The show treats its characters with gentle empathy, never forcing big revelations but letting them emerge organically. It’s about the connections that save us—sometimes through karaoke, sometimes through awkward conversations over bad coffee. The show’s pacing is calm, but its emotional impact is powerful. If you appreciated the quieter, more tender moments in “The Bear”, especially those surrounding Claire or Sydney, this series will strike a similar chord.
6) “Industry”
If the high-stakes energy of The Bear’s kitchen scenes is what hooked you, “Industry” is your next obsession. Set in the cutthroat world of international finance, this drama follows a group of young bankers trying to survive at a prestigious London investment firm. The tension is relentless, the dialogue razor-sharp, and the emotional stakes just as high as anything in Carmy’s kitchen.
Like “The Bear”, it’s about ambition, burnout, and trying to find your place in a system designed to chew you up. The characters are complex, morally ambiguous, and often teetering on the edge. There’s also a focus on mentorships, rivalries, and what happens when talent collides with ego. If you love workplace dramas where the pressure never lets up, Industry delivers in spades.
7) “Reservation Dogs”
Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, “Reservation Dogs” is a quietly revolutionary show about four Indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma navigating loss, dreams, and the absurdities of daily life. Like “The Bear”, it’s a dramedy that blends grounded storytelling with unexpected emotional punches. The show never relies on clichés, instead offering rich character development, cultural specificity, and poetic touches that feel wholly original.
It’s about finding family in the people around you, even when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Grief, hope, and humor walk hand-in-hand here, just as they do in “The Bear”. And like Carmy and his crew, these characters are trying to escape their past while still honoring where they come from. You’ll laugh, cry, and fall in love with this found family.
8) “Mo”
Created by comedian Mo Amer and Ramy co-creator Ramy Youssef, “Mo” is a semi-autobiographical dramedy that blends humor, hustle, and heartache into a beautifully human story. Mo Najjar is a Palestinian refugee living in Houston, trying to secure asylum while juggling work, family, and survival in America. Like “The Bear”, the show is fast-paced but deeply character-focused, with bursts of surrealism and moments of emotional vulnerability that hit hard. Mo’s hustle—selling knockoff goods out of his car, navigating legal limbo, and balancing a complicated relationship—mirrors Carmy’s own struggle for identity and control.
There’s a specificity in Mo’s cultural perspective, but its themes of displacement, pressure, and resilience are universal. It’s also a love letter to immigrant families, their sacrifices, and the gray areas of morality that come with simply trying to make it. Equal parts raw and hilarious, “Mo” is a hidden gem that deserves way more attention—especially from fans of shows that tell honest, grounded stories with flair and feeling.
“The Bear” isn’t just about food—it’s about family, trauma, pressure, love, and what it means to create something meaningful. These eight shows might differ in setting and tone, but they all echo the show’s emotional depth, kinetic energy, and obsession with purpose. Whether you want to watch something that simmers or sizzles, this list should satisfy your post-Bear cravings. So while you wait (impatiently) for news of what’s next for Carmy and “The Bear” crew, dig into these rich, rewarding stories that will leave you just as full—and just as emotionally wrecked. “The Bear” is streaming on Hulu.
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