Television series

Lucifer

Name: Lucifer
Genre: Drama, Crime, Supernatural
Released: 2016
Cast: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris

Other titles called Lucifer: the 2019 film.

Urban fantasy

Lucifer takes the devil literally and dresses him in a Savile Row suit as the bored owner of an LA nightclub who can't resist tagging along on murder investigations. Part police procedural, part supernatural soap opera, it runs almost entirely on Tom Ellis's grin and comic timing. Breezy, flirty and self-aware, it gets steadily more sincere about redemption — a comfort watch with wings, horns and heart.

TVMaze rating

4.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a crime-of-the-week structure wrapped around a smug, wounded charmer whose banter does most of the heavy lifting, and you don't mind romance slowly taking over the plot.

Skip it if you tire of a glib, wisecracking hero or want a grounded crime drama, since the jokes come thick and the case-of-the-week logic stretches thin.

What it asks of you: Six seasons and 93 episodes of roughly an hour each is a long commitment, but the tone stays light and breezy, so episodes slide by without much effort.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Castle2009

Same charming-rogue-helps-cop-solve-crimes engine, minus the horns: a roguish partner, a skeptical detective, breezy hour-long mysteries with real flirtatious chemistry underneath.

But No supernatural stakes at all — it's pure earthbound mystery, so you lose the mythology and moral weight entirely.

Bones2005

An odd-couple partnership solving grisly murders with slow-burn tension, sharp banter, and just enough emotional depth to make you care between the forensics.

But The devil is replaced by lab equipment — grounded science instead of angels, and a more clinical, less playful tone overall.

The Mentalist2008

A charismatic outsider consultant flirts, provokes, and solves the case of the week alongside a no-nonsense detective — Lucifer's exact rhythm without the wings.

But Strips out the supernatural entirely, so if the demons and mythology were half the appeal, this will feel thin.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Lucifer

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Heaven Can Wait1943

Lucifer's charming-devil-judges-humanity setup is essentially this film's joke, told seventy years earlier with more restraint and just as much mischief.

A witty, urbane devil holds court in his antechamber, listening to a dead man recount his sins to decide where he belongs — Lubitsch's sly screwball comedy did Lucifer's whole premise first.

But Black-and-white 1940s pacing, no crime plot, and a stagebound structure that asks patience rather than binge-speed.

Supernatural2005

Angels, demons, Heaven's bureaucracy and Hell's politics, played across fifteen seasons of increasingly mythic stakes — Lucifer's cosmology taken dead seriously.

But Much darker and grislier in tone, with far less romance and comic lightness, plus an enormous time commitment.

iZombie2015

A supernatural procedural where visions from eaten brains solve the crime of the week, delivered with the same witty, self-mocking charm Lucifer trades in.

But Zombie mythology instead of angels and demons, and a goofier, more colourful visual style throughout.

Angel1999

A demon-adjacent hero runs a detective agency in LA, chasing redemption case by case in moody supernatural noir that clearly shares DNA with Lucifer.

But Early-2000s effects and pacing show their age, and it leans on Buffy continuity you may not have watched.

Charmed1998

Witch sisters battling demons week to week, blending family drama with supernatural mythology in a way that scratches a similar case-of-the-week itch.

But Considerably campier and more soap-operatic, with less crime-procedural structure and more witch-specific lore.

Constantine2014

An occult detective trades barbs with demons in a tight, atmospheric single season that's darker and moodier than Lucifer but built from the same bones.

But Cancelled after one season, so you get a taste rather than a full meal, and romance takes a back seat.

Reaper2007

A slacker discovers his soul was sold to the devil and now works as Hell's bounty hunter, with a genuinely charming, mischievous Satan running the show.

But Lower budget and shorter-lived, with a scrappier comic tone that never quite matches Lucifer's polish.

Devilman Crybaby2018

Same premise — demons walking among humans, testing what humanity even means — played as full tragedy instead of romantic comedy.

Demons possess humans and force brutal reckonings about identity, love and violence, rendered in unforgettable, explosive animation that never looks away.

But Extremely graphic violence and sexuality, a relentlessly bleak tone, and nothing resembling Lucifer's warmth or humour.

In Treatment2008

Lucifer spends huge stretches in Linda's office; this is what that half of the show would look like if it dropped everything else and meant it.

An intimate, unflinching drama built entirely from therapy sessions, excavating grief and self-deception with nowhere to hide — exactly what Lucifer's own couch scenes gesture toward.

But No crime, no jokes, no devil — just people talking about their pain in a room, week after week, with total sincerity.