Image credit: FX

If you're like us, you've just binged season two of The Bear and you're already hungry for more. The hit series has undoubtedly become not just a globally beloved show, but also seems to have instigated a bit of a cultural zeitgeist—the defining mood being a widespread desire for stress-inducing, anxiety-raising, simultaneously intense and intimate TV drama.

Whilst it's probably fair to say that none of us would actually want to trade places with Jeremy Allen White's Carmen Berzatto as he battles professional and personal traumas and gradually seems to spin out of control, it's clear that we derive an odd sense of deeply uncomfortable pleasure from watching chaos, drama and toxic familial dysfunction on our screens. We all sat on a knife's edge during the Berzatto family dinner and gritted our teeth through that fatefully disastrous restaurant opening, and as intense and awful as it was, we all inexplicably found ourselves desperately wanting more. You know what they say about a train wreck, after all.

So now that we've officially watched and re-watched The Bear to death, we must find other TV series to fill the void. Ahead, find 10 shows that are thematically, or quite literally, similar to The Bear that we can now binge in its absence. From real-life chefs to Carmen Berzatto-coded characters and plenty of complete and utter chaos to boot, here's to many more tension-filled TV nights.

Image credit: FX

Ramy

It stands to reason that if you liked The Bear you would also enjoy Ramy, as both shows were co-created by director and producer Christoper Storer and, as such, both have that certain Storer-esque formula to story telling. Ramy follows an Egyptian-American twenty-something, played by the show's other co-creator Ramy Youseff, who is struggling to find balance between his religious upbringing and his life in New Jersey. While not as frenzied as The Bear, the internal struggles of Ramy Youseff's protagonist are definitely reminiscent of our favourite fictional chef, Carmy Berzatto. And, if you liked the Copenhagen episode of The Bear’s second season, you’ll probably like this considering it was directed by Youseff himself. 

Image credit: HBO

Succession

If there was a TV family chaotic and toxic enough to rival the Berzattos' of The Bear, it would have to be the infamous Roy family of Succession. If you’ve been living under a rock, Succession follows the Roys, a family of billionaires whose siblings are vying for control of the media conglomerate their father owns. While the corporate settings of Succession are a far cry from the restaurant world of Chicago, both these series will have you on the edge of your seat and positively recoiling from all the delightfully stressful familial tension. 

Image credit: HBO

The White Lotus

Tension, toxicity and murder on vacation? Both seasons of The White Lotus deliver on that front, and have blessed us with some of the best toe-curling and heart-racing TV we've seen. Both seasons respectively follow two different groups of vacationers all staying at the same luxury resort, and the chaos that all their dysfunctions bring to their holiday in a slowly less than idyllic paradise. Fans of The Bear will almost certainly appreciate White Lotus for all the enthralling drama and explosive on-screen personal blowups.

Image credit: Showtime

Shameless

If you've become a Jeremy Allen White stan after watching The Bear, you should put Shameless at the top of your to-watch list. Not only does White play a leading character-who is as temperamental and complex as Carmy from The Bear-but the series is also set in the south side of Chicago and centres on an exceptionally dysfunctional family. Following the Gallagher family, led by their single father Fred Gallagher who is battling addiction and constantly causing chaos, Shameless follows the six Gallagher kids (White's character included) as they try to make their way in the world.

Image credit: Netflix

Beef

This Netflix drama-comedy miniseries starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun is as anxiety-inducing and enthralling as they come. Beef follows two strangers who get into a road rage incident that brings complete and utter chaos into their lives as their vengeful relationship gradually intensifies. If you thrived off all the personal drama and rage-fuelled screaming matches that The Bear championed, you'll be sure to love every stressful, heart-racing minute of Beef.

Image credit: BBC One

This Is Going To Hurt

The only place that could rival the stress and tension of a commercial kitchen is a hospital—and no fictional TV hospital drama encapsulates that chaos as well as This Is Going To Hurt. Moving at a break-neck pace and constantly dealing with one drama or tragedy after the next, This Is Going To Hurt follows junior doctor Adam as he navigates the trials of working in a public hospital. For those who enjoyed watching the everyday, professional chaos in The Bear and are ready to trade their steaks in for surgeries, This Is Going To Hurt will be sure to please.

Image credit: Fox

Kitchen Nightmares

For a taste of the drama of a real restaurant, and footage of a particularly rage-fuelled chef, Kitchen Nightmares would do the trick. Hosted by infamous celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, Kitchen Nightmares follows Ramsay as he visits failing restaurants and commercial kitchens across the US to try and revive their business. If you loved watching the chaotic evolution of The Original Beef of Chicagoland to Michelin-star-worthy The Bear, you'll be sure to delight (and simultaneously recoil) at Gordon Ramsay at his most brutal in Kitchen Nightmares.

Image credit: FX

Atlanta

Whilst Atlanta doesn't follow a culinary theme, the premise follows the series' lead character played by the show's creator Donald Glover-as he returns to his hometown and tries to make it big in Atlanta's hip-hop scene as a manager. As Glover's character navigates familial pressures, professional turbulence and his own personal growth, you can start to see something reminiscent of Carmen Berzatto shining through. Along with this character arc, the series itself is shot and formatted in a very The Bear sort of way, and it has us similarly gripping onto our seats in anticipation time and time again.

Image credit: Starz

Sweet Bitter

Sweet Bitter follows a young woman, Tess, who moves to New York City and takes a job in a prestigious restaurant—and it's a no-brainer for anyone who enjoyed observing the rush of a commercial kitchen and the dysfunctional yet intimate relationships that form between the people there. As you watch Tess learn the art of working in a fancy culinary establishment and grow as a person, all the while dealing with her contentious colleagues, you'll find that Sweet Bitter has become a worthy stand-in for The Bear.

Image credit: CNN

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Anthony Bourdain is one of the world's most beloved chefs, and if watching The Bear piqued your interest for food and culinary stories, you'll be sure to love one of Bourdain's most famous TV shows Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. In this series, Bourdain travels the world to explore lesser-known places and their unique cuisines, as well as their culture and politics. For a show that's just as much about food as it is about real life and real people, you can't go past this iconic series.

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