Television series

Goliath

Name: Goliath
Genre: Drama, Crime, Legal
Released: 2016
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Nina Arianda, Tania Raymonde, Diana Hopper, Julie Brister

Billy Bob Thornton plays Billy McBride, a once-brilliant lawyer now drinking his way through a Santa Monica motel bar, dragged back into a wrongful death case against the firm he helped build. Each season resets with a new conspiracy, but the constant is Thornton's rumpled, magnetic performance and the show's patience for a slow-burn courtroom takedown. Prestige TV for people who want an actual verdict at the end.

TVMaze rating

8.0

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Damages2007

Glenn Close's ruthless corporate litigator, a green associate dragged into the fight, and a nonlinear structure that makes every episode a knife twist. The sharpest cousin to Goliath's small-team-versus-giant-corporation formula.

But The time-jumping timeline can feel like a puzzle box; frustrating if you want a straightforward courtroom drama.

The Practice1997

David E. Kelley's own scrappier, grittier legal drama, built from the same DNA as Goliath — underdog lawyers, moral compromise, courtroom fireworks — decades before he wrote Billy McBride.

But Late-90s pacing and fashion show their age, and the case-of-the-week format is less serialized than Goliath's slow burn.

Erin Brockovich2000

A real wrongful-harm case against a corporate giant, carried by an unlikely, unpolished hero who refuses to back down. The same righteous fury that drives Goliath's best seasons.

But A tidier, more triumphant true story, with less moral murk and fewer grey areas than Goliath indulges in.

The wildcard

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Anatomy of a Murder1959

Billy McBride's whole persona — burned-out, boozy, suddenly brilliant when it matters — descends directly from this film's defense attorney archetype.

James Stewart plays a fishing, drinking, small-town lawyer who takes an unwinnable case and turns the courtroom into a battlefield of wit and instinct — decades before Billy McBride ever wandered into a bar.

But Black and white, nearly three hours, and paced for an audience that didn't need constant plot momentum.

The Lincoln Lawyer2011no page yet

A rumpled, morally flexible defense attorney working out of the back of a car in a case that spirals further than expected — prime Billy McBride energy in a tight two hours.

But Wraps its conspiracy up far more neatly and quickly than Goliath ever bothers to.

A Civil Action1998

John Travolta as a lawyer who bets everything on an unwinnable case against a corporate polluter — the exact shape of Billy's fight, without three seasons to stretch it over.

But Based on a true case that doesn't resolve as satisfyingly as fiction allows; the ending is bleaker.

Bosch2015

Amazon's other great LA-noir property — a stubborn investigator working the same sun-bleached, morally compromised city Billy does, chasing cases the system would rather bury.

But Police procedural rather than courtroom drama, so the legal chess games Goliath thrives on are mostly absent.

Better Call Saul2015

Watch a talented lawyer curdle instead of redeem himself — the inverse arc to Billy's, told with the same patience and attention to the actual grind of legal work.

But A slower burn than Goliath, and it rewards patience over the pulpier conspiracy thrills you might be craving.

Boston Legal2004

Another David E. Kelley firm drama, but broader and funnier — courtroom theatrics, oddball colleagues, and a boozy, brilliant lawyer at its center years before Billy McBride existed.

But Much campier and more comedic than Goliath's grounded conspiracy plotting; a tonal whiplash if you want it serious.

The Good Wife2009

A vast, brilliantly plotted legal drama mixing case-of-the-week satisfaction with long-game firm politics and corruption — comfort food that still has real bite.

But Glossier and more polished than Goliath's whiskey-stained aesthetic, and less interested in moral rot.

The Staircase2022

Same genre engine as Goliath — the long legal grind, the doubt about guilt, a family fracturing under scrutiny — but with nothing scripted.

A real murder trial filmed over years, unfolding with the same slow-build tension and shifting sympathies as a Goliath season — except every twist actually happened.

But No trailer-friendly resolution and no score telling you who to trust; it demands documentary patience.

Justified2010

Runs on the same wearied-hero-versus-entrenched-corruption engine as Goliath, just trading law books for a Stetson.

Swap courtrooms for Kentucky hollows: a morally weary lawman, razor-sharp dialogue, and slow-building conspiracies against entrenched local power. Same rot, different badge.

But It's crime and western, not legal drama — no trials or depositions, just guns and Elmore Leonard patter.