Shows Like Cops
If you loved Cops's Reality storytelling, these series deliver a similar experience — chosen for tone, narrative quality, and viewer satisfaction. Each includes where to stream it now.
★ Top Picks
Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory
A crew of people come up with new things to do every week. One day, they may work on a business franchise. Another day, they might go and make someone ride a bull, or shoot burritos at people.
Beat Bobby Flay
Two talented chefs go head-to-head for the chance to Beat Bobby Flay. To get to Bobby the chefs must first face off against each other, creating a spectacular dish with a secret ingredient of Bobby's choice. Judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Jeff Mauro know Bobby's strengths and his weaknesses. Their goal: Pick the chef who has the skills to take down Bobby Flay in his own arena. The winning chef gets to challenge Bobby with his or her surprise signature dish. If Bobby goes down, the winner can tell the world, "I beat Bobby Flay!"
House Hunters International
This spin-off of the wildly popular House Hunters goes around the globe. Home hunters and their realtors check out all sorts of architectural styles and work through the quirks of buying real estate in other countries.
LA Ink
LA Ink is an American reality show on TLC that followed the events of the High Voltage Tattoo tattoo studios in Los Angeles, California. The spin-off of TLC's Miami Ink, it premiered on August 7, 2007. In August 2011, TLC announced that the show will end production, with Season 4 being its last and that the series is cancelled.
The Incredible Dr. Pol
Set in Central Michigan's farm country, this reality series follows the work done at Pol Veterinary Services. Specializing in large farm animals, Dr. Pol treats horses, pigs, cows, sheep, alpacas, goats, chickens and even an occasional reindeer. The program also features Dr. Brenda Grettenberger, who has worked with Dr. Pol since 1992.
Fear Factor
This refresh of the breakthrough series is hosted by Ludacris and custom-created for a new generation. Filled with new stunts inspired by urban legends, popular scary movies and viral videos from today’s cultural zeitgeist, contestants will confront their fears, be pushed beyond their comfort zones and take action against some of their biggest stressors.
The Ultimate Fighter
The next generation of UFC stars are produced in an intense elimination tournament that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
The Titan Games
Dwayne Johnson redefines the athletic competition, giving exceptional men and women from all walks of life the chance to test their physical strength and mental fortitude for the chance to battle on Mount Olympus in hopes of becoming a Titan.
More Shows Like Cops
Counting Cars
Danny “The Count” Koker and his team restore, customize and sell cars in a hurry, scrambling to keep their Las Vegas shop in the black. From classics to exotics, from hotrods to choppers, Danny and the crew of Count’s Kustoms will stop at nothing to find and flip the greatest rides of all time.
Wheel of Fortune
This game show sees contestants solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant carnival wheel.
The Challenge
Each Challenge pits numerous cast members from past seasons of reality shows against each other, dividing them into two separate teams according to different criteria, such as gender, which show they first appeared on, whether or not they're veterans or rookies on the show, etc. The two teams compete in numerous missions in order to win prizes and advance in the overall game.
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
The superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment's "SmackDown" brand collide each and every Friday on WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
Paranormal Caught on Camera
Some of the most amazing, eye-opening and downright scary paranormal videos from around the world are featured as a panel of experts break down the footage and analyze what exactly the eyewitnesses captured.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Host Guy Fieri takes a cross-country road trip to visit some of America's classic "greasy spoon" restaurants — diners, drive-ins and dives — that have been doing it right for decades.
Science of Stupid
This show combines cold hard science with some of the craziest, most spectacular and painful user generated clips ever recorded. Richard Hammond introduces all manner of mishaps featuring brave, if misguided individuals from around the world and then explains the science behind their failure and humiliation with the use of bespoke animations and super slo-mo cinematography. Every episode features between 50 and 60 clips of misadventure – ordinary folk making extraordinary mistakes. Each week watch stunts involving weightlifting, shooting guns or jumping over cars, that have gone wrong, paused, re-wound, and re-played and analysed to determine exactly what went wrong and why. Richard explains the physics, chemistry and biology at play, then presents forensic details to explain the stupidity that resulted in failure. He’ll look at everything including weight, volume, momentum, combustion and even how the brain operates. This is misadventure explained. This is the Science of Stupid.
Expedition Unknown
The adventures of Josh Gates as he investigates unsolved iconic stories across the globe.
Family Feud
Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people.
Mountain Men
Profiles of some of the men who choose to live off the grid in the unspoiled wilderness, where dangers like mudslides, falling trees and bears are all part of everyday life.
Sister Wives
Husband Kody Brown, along with his four wives (only one of which is legally married to Kody) and their combined 18 children, attempts to navigate life as a "normal" family in a society that shuns their lifestyle.
Moonshiners
Think the days of bootleggers, backwoods stills and "white lightning" are over? Not a chance! It's a multi-million dollar industry. But perhaps more importantly to the moonshiners, it's a tradition dating back hundreds of years, passed down to them from their forefathers. It's part of their history and culture. While this practice is surprisingly alive and well, it's not always legal. Moonshiners tells the story of those who brew their shine - often in the woods near their homes using camouflaged equipment - and the local authorities who try to keep them honest. Viewers will witness practices rarely, if ever, seen on television including the sacred rite of passage for a moonshiner - firing up the still for the first time. They will also meet legends, including notorious moonshiner Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton.
Why These Shows Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with Cops (1989): Reality themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of Cops.
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