Shows Like Freebie and the Bean
Loved Freebie and the Bean, you will appreciate how these films questions the purpose and weight of our choices while delivering targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a deeper look into what makes these stories stick.
Standard feature-length experiences.
Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.
★ Top Picks
Nash Bridges
Fun-loving San Francisco Police Department investigator Nash Bridges is part of the elite Special Investigations Unit. He tackles crime using his keen sense of humor and charm. Joe Dominguez comes out of retirement to become Bridges' wisecracking yet more rule-abiding partner.
Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.
Lethal Weapon
A slightly unhinged former Navy SEAL lands a job as a police officer in Los Angeles where he's partnered with a veteran detective trying to keep maintain a low stress level in his life.
Kojak
A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.
Starsky & Hutch
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors. Mannix was the last series produced by Desilu Productions.
Angie Tribeca
Lone-wolf detective Angie Tribeca and a squad of committed LAPD detectives investigate the most serious cases, from the murder of a ventriloquist to a rash of baker suicides.
The New Avengers
The New Avengers is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series broadcast during 1976 and 1977. It is a sequel to the 1960s series The Avengers and was developed by Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. A joint United Kingdom-France-Canada production, the show picks up the adventures of John Steed and his team of Avengers fighting evil plots and world domination. Whereas in the original series Steed had almost always been partnered with a woman, in the new series he had two partners: Mike Gambit, a top agent, crack marksman and trained martial artist, and Purdey, a former trainee with The Royal Ballet who was an amalgam of many of the best talents from Steed's previous female partners.
More Shows Like Freebie and the Bean
Police Woman
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.
El final del paraíso
In this new era, Catalina, now head of the DEA in Colombia, has a new challenge: to track down a criminal organization that is trafficking a new synthetic drug. What she ignores is that her daughter is part of the Cartel that traffics them and that Yésica, her worst enemy, is infiltrated in the DEA.
The Mod Squad
The Mod Squad was the enormously successful groundbreaking "hippie" undercover cop show that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Pete Cochren, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as Linc Hayes, and Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. The iconic counter-culture police series earned six Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe nominations plus one win for Peggy Lipton, one Directors Guild of America award, and four Logies. In 1997 the episode "Mother of Sorrow" was ranked #95 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
Fastlane
Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from September 18, 2002 to April 25, 2003.
Hunter
Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.
NTSF:SD:SUV::
NTSF:SD:SUV:: – meaning National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle:: – is a quarter-hour format American television comedy that parodies the police procedural and action film genres.
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance, after encountering one another in a train station.
The Sweeney
Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.
Knight Rider
Michael Long, an undercover police officer, is shot while investigating a case and left for dead by his assailants. He is rescued by Wilton Knight, a wealthy, dying millionaire and inventor who arranges life-saving surgery, including a new face and a new identity--that of Michael Knight. Michael is then given a special computerized and indestructible car called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (nicknamed KITT), and a mission: apprehend criminals who are beyond the reach of the law. The series depicts Michael's exploits as he and KITT battle the forces of evil on behalf of the Foundation for Law and Government.
Leverage
A five-person team comprised of a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is a television series which aired for three seasons on ABC. The series starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as amateur sleuth brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, and Pamela Sue Martin as girl detective Nancy Drew. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was unusual in that it often dealt with the characters individually, in an almost anthological style. That is, some episodes featured only the Hardy Boys and others only Nancy Drew.
Why These Shows Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with Freebie and the Bean (1980): Comedy and Action & Adventure 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 Freebie and the Bean.
See full details for Freebie and the Bean (1980)
