Television series
Backstrom
Backstrom is a comedy-crime drama built around Rainn Wilson's deeply flawed detective—brilliant but brutal, offensive but often right about the worst in people. It's a character study dressed as a procedural, where the cases matter less than the cranky misanthropy at the centre. For viewers who liked Wilson's darker turns and don't mind their protagonists genuinely unpleasant.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy a prickly, morally tangled lead whose cynicism is funny precisely because he is usually correct, and you like crime stories where the detective's personality does as much work as the case.
Skip it if you want a warm, likeable protagonist or a tidy procedural; Backstrom is abrasive on purpose, and his rudeness can wear thin across a whole hour.
What it asks of you: Sixty-minute episodes, thirteen of them, so a single season you can finish quickly. You need patience with an unpleasant central figure and an appetite for dark jokes.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Brooklyn Nine-Nine2013
A precinct comedy with real heart and problem-solving smarts. The ensemble clicks, the cases are fun, and it proves you can build a crime show around likeable people who still mess up.
But It's fundamentally optimistic about human nature and institutional change—the opposite of Backstrom's worldview. If you're after pure cynicism, this will feel saccharine.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia2005
Follows terrible people doing terrible things across seasons with zero redemption or growth. The dark comedy is sharper, the characters more consistently loathsome, and the structure lets them stay awful.
But No crime procedural structure; it's mostly chaos in a bar. Also aggressively crude in ways that go beyond mere rudeness.
Justified2010
Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens is charming where Backstrom is repellent, but both are damaged men solving crimes in their own flawed ways. Sharp writing, genuine stakes, and a lawman you can't quite trust.
But Takes itself more seriously. You're watching tragedy unfolding, not comedy with dark edges.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Backstrom
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Sopranos1999
Both follow men who understand people's worst impulses because they share them. The difference is tone—one is tragedy, one is comedy—but the character engine is identical.
The prototype for the flawed protagonist who sees the world accurately but through a distorted lens. Tony Soprano and Backstrom share the same basic DNA—intelligent, offensive, right about human weakness, impossible to like.
But It's a sprawling psychological drama about therapy and family. No crime-solving structure; it's entirely about internal collapse and moral consequence.
More like this (7)
Psych2006
A detective show that's fundamentally about two guys who like each other despite their dysfunction. Light, clever, endlessly watchable, with genuine emotional depth underneath the jokes.
But It's warm and optimistic about friendship and human connection. If Backstrom's misanthropy is the appeal, this friendliness will feel sappy.
MINDHUNTER2017
Crime procedural with a genuinely difficult protagonist—intelligent but socially inept, brilliant but destructive to relationships. Gritty, methodical, and built around character as much as cases.
But Heavier and more serious; the tone is dread rather than dark comedy. Also slow-burn in ways that test patience.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker1972
An old-school crime procedural reboot where the detectives are seasoned and cynical, and the cases are genuinely weird. It has Backstrom's DNA—experienced cops who don't believe in second chances.
But Cancelled after one season. Also leans horror, which shifts the whole mood away from character comedy.
Person of Interest2011
A surveillance thriller where the protagonist is prickly, brilliant, and shaped by trauma. The crime-solving element wraps around deeper questions about trust and morality.
But Heavy mythology and serialized plotting. If you want standalone cases with character chaos, this demands commitment and payoff patience.
Homicide: Life on the Street1993
The template for cop shows where cases matter but character matters more. Cynical without being cruel, funny without being flippant, and built by a writer who loved his detectives despite everything.
But Serious in tone and often grim in subject matter. Backstrom's comedy edge isn't here—this is dark for different reasons.
Life2007
Follows an ex-con detective returned to the force. Damaged, self-destructive, brilliant at solving crimes, and fundamentally at war with the world around him. Underrated and deeply weird.
But Ended after two seasons when it found its footing. Also more melancholic than comedic, despite dark moments.
Memories of Murder2003
Both use the detective's fundamental character—his abrasiveness, his instinct, his refusal to play nice—as the actual subject. The difference is that Backstrom gets laughs from his awfulness; Memories gets grief.
A serial killer investigation in 1980s South Korea where the detective is brutal, instinctive, and wrong as often as he's right. Bong Joon-ho builds a crime story around a man who sees the world through violence and assumption.
But Bleak, methodical, and heartbreaking. It's not a comedy—it's a tragedy about policing and certainty. Long and demanding.
People
Cast
Writing
- Hart HansonCreator
Production
- Karyn UsherCo-Executive Producer
- Steve BeersCo-Executive Producer
- Joe HortuaCo-Producer
- Kurt MoritzCo-Producer
- Vladimir StefoffCo-Producer
- Eli AttieConsulting Producer
- Karine RosenthalConsulting Producer
- Hart HansonExecutive Producer
- Kevin HooksExecutive Producer
- Leif GW PerssonExecutive Producer
- Mark MylodExecutive Producer