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Over but not forgotten, Succession spent four seasons as one of HBO’s centerpiece shows. It’s the darkly comic story of the Roy family, owners of media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and the chaos and backbiting that ensue when patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) suffers a stroke, prompting the clan to begin fighting over what will remain after his inevitable demise.
Why should we care about what happens to these rich people and their evil company? Narratives about the ultra-wealthy being shitty or generally indifferent to the plight of us regular folk are common enough, but not inherently entertaining; we get enough of that in real life. Rich people being shitty to other rich people, though? That’s entertainment, and that is very much the appeal of Succession—and these 10 streamalike shows.
Veep (2012 — 2019)
What if the very worst people imaginable had control of all the levers of power in America? What would that be like? In this highly satirical and in no way politically relevant HBO series, Julia Louis-Dreyfus brilliantly plays Vice President (and later President) Selina Meyer: part woman icon, part worst-case-scenario for the feminist dream. The cast of characters consists almost entirely of entitled rich people climbing over each other for infinitesimal extra bits of power while trying to appear as folk heroes to the rubes (aka us voters). It’s one of the funniest shows with the nastiest put-downs…if you can handle the fact that it also sometimes feels uncomfortably close to a documentary. Stream Veep on HBO Max.
Empire (2015 – 2020)
Terrence Howard leads a truly great cast (Taraji P. Henson, Gabourey Sidibe, and Vivica A. Fox) in this juicy, glossy, hip-hop-infused soap opera. The set-up is similar to Succession, so much that it’s hard not to imagine that Empire’s success provided some of the impetus for the similarly buzzworthy HBO series. Howard plays Lucious Jackson (neé drug dealer Dwight Walker), who changed his own fortunes by building Empire Entertainment from the ground up. As the series begins, the music mogul is diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of only a few more years. Refusing to watch his empire die, he sets his three sons at odds to determine who’ll be the one to control things when he’s gone. His schemes are complicated by the release from prison of Cookie Lyon (Henson), the co-founder of the company, and Jackson’s ex-wife. As the kids say: drama! Stream Empire on Disney+ and Hulu.
The Thick of It (2005 – 2012)
The creators of Succession and Veep, Jesse Armstrong and Armando Iannucci respectively, collaborated on this political satire starring a pre-Doctor Who Peter Capaldi. The focus is on the government’s relationship with the media, with Capaldi’s foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker working to maintain a stranglehold on coverage of the British prime minister, to whom he’s loyal, and on any cabinet ministers who might get out of line. The characters aren’t rich to the degree that Succession’s Roy family is, but their jockeying for power in an uncertain world feels quite similar (and though it’s British, American viewers won’t find the politics all that foreign). Stream The Thick of It on Peacock and Britbox.
Industry (2020 – )
Industry isn’t concerned with a power struggle among people at the top of the ladder; instead, its focus is on the fight to climb said ladder. The young wannabe investment bankers it follows would all love to be the terrible rich people from that other show. It’s what they dream of. The main characters come from a variety of backgrounds, but they’re all competing for a limited number of permanent positions at the fictional Pierpoint & Co., a London bank, and they’ll each do anything it takes to earn their shot at the big prize. Stream Industry on HBO Max.
Bloodline (2015 – 2017)
Maybe you need a break from the worlds of big business and high finance. How about a seaside inn in the Florida Keys? It’s all relative (pun intended), and big family drama can crop up anywhere. Starring Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini, and Sissy Spacek, this show finds Mendelsohn’s black sheep Danny returning home for the 45th anniversary of the family business, only to stir up a whole bunch of buried trauma that leads to his dad dying due to a series of strokes. That’s before we learn of the drug-trafficking, cover-ups, and murders past and present. Stream Bloodline on Netflix.
Arrested Development (2003 – 2019)
The set-up of this heavily memed sitcom is eerily similar to Succession, even if the vibe is more overtly comedic. George Bluth Sr., a corrupt real estate developer, goes to prison at the outset of the series, which is mostly just an inconvenience to his family members, who have no interest in giving up their lavish lifestyles. Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) is the only one competent enough to take over the family business, and also the only one with any moral center (though not much of one, tbh), but his efforts are undermined by his siblings and mother, who have no interest in or awareness of austerity. By keeping the family afloat, Michael is only enabling all of their worst impulses. During its original three-season run (if not its unfortunate Netflix revival), it was one of the funniest, most biting shows on TV. Stream Arrested Development on Netflix.
What do you think so far?
Mine (2021)
South Korean TV and movie creators have no problem criticizing the ultra-wealthy (Parasite and Squid Game are hardly outliers), particularly the plutocratic chaebol families who control huge portions of the country’s economy. Mine targets the women who are jockeying for control of the massive, fictional Hyowon Group from within their family’s outrageously opulent (and extremely photogenic) residential compound. The plans of the two increasingly powerful women who married into the family, Hi-soo and Seo-hyun, are thrown into disarray when the new housemaid begins a romantic relationship with one of the family’s male heirs, while a new tutor seems ready to expose old family secrets. It’s very much a Dynasty-style soap opera, with various family members crawling over each other seeking a sense of identity and control. Stream Mine on Netflix.
Billions (2016 – 2023)
Billions doesn’t have quite the bite of Succession, but it’s a bit more fun, with Paul Giamatti playing attorney Chuck Rhoades (based, a bit, on the real-life Preet Bharara), who is working to bring down shady hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis). The tone, at least at the outset, is a bit lighter, and it plays like a darkly comic soap opera—but it also manages to stay fresh by mixing things up now and again. The show also boasts the great Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, one of the very first non-binary characters in a major American TV series. Stream Billions on Paramount+.
The White Lotus (2021 – )
There’s not much beating around the bush here, with the show’s de rigueur opening flash forwards making it very clear that things are not going to go well for at least some of the vacationers at any given White Lotus property (thus far: Maui, Taormina, Sicily, and Thailand). In the opening episode of the first season, Murray Bartlett’s harried manager Armond, makes clear to the staff that the ultra-wealthy guests are little more than overgrown children and need to be coddled as such. At these very fancy resorts, at which people have paid absurd amounts of money to be pampered, competitiveness and general toxicity ensure that everyone’s going to have a miserable time, no matter how much it costs them. Over three seasons and counting, terrible rich people abound. Stream The White Lotus on HBO Max.
Queen Sugar (2016 – 2022 )
This one is not really a show about rich people behaving badly (for the most part). It does, however, involve a succession crisis: three largely estranged siblings in distant cities are brought together by the death of their father, who has left them each an equal share in an 800-acre sugarcane farm in rural Louisiana. The Ava DuVernay-produced series has plenty of scandal and soapy drama, but ultimately, it’s about a family that comes back together to preserve their legacy. So what’s it doing here? Consider it a corrective to all the other shows and movies about wealthy people breaking bad—this one’s about less-rich people in a Succession-esque scenario who are at least trying not to be terrible. Imagine. Stream Queen Sugar on Disney+ and Hulu.
