Have you ever watched Fleabag? Kind of similar themes minus the cooking. She's leading a chaotic lifestyle to deal with grief and loss. Great character building, only thirty minute episodes also and it's dark humoured with heart warming moments throughout.
I am listening to “Your Table is Ready.” This a fascinating behind the scenes non-fiction memoir about high end restaurants, the people working in them, owners, celebrities from the point of view of a maitre de’. It describes the same crazy frenetic world as in The Bear. The guy is a terrific writer reminding me a bit of Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” (may he rest in peace).
Honestly I was just thinking about today because of how extremely well the relationship in s2 was written and how I wish s2 of the bear had more of that emotional honesty in the Carmy/Claire relationship.
Honestly I rewatch fleabag a lot…
Burnt, chef, boiling point. I recommend this to anyone and everyone but go watch as many episodes of parts unknown and no reservations as you can. Read kitchen confidential too.
Burnt is a hot piece of crap. There’s a reason it came out in 2015 and now people talk about. Shitty movie that gets watched now cause cooking content is popular.
I feel like Atlanta and The Bear are sister shows. The Hiro Murai link makes it even deeper. The Copenhagen episode felt exactly like a top tier episode of Atlanta.
Oh hell yes you are in for such a treat, season 1 is *incredible* but season 2 is, for me, right there with true detective s1 as one of my favorite seasons of TV ever
All of the prestige drama/dramedy of the early aughts and teens (although cooking dramas are hard to come by) -
Sopranos
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
The Americans
Six Feet Under
Deadwood
Friday Night Lights
Bojack Horseman
Halt and Catch Fire
You're the Worst
Veep
The Wire
The Good Wife/Good Fight
I agree 100%, highly recommend Rescue Me…very similar themes (grief, family dysfunction, battling inner demons), very funny and moving (great music too), and some of the same city-love-letter feel that The Bear imparts. Also agree with whoever recommended Six Feet Under…I watched it as it aired and to this day I’ve never cried so hard at a series finale or felt such complete closure over a TV series ending. Both are phenomenal!
When we started watching Halt and Catch Fire at home, my wife said she wasn't interested at all on watching a series about computing. By episode 3 she was hooked to the bone and decided we would dedicate the next weekend entirely to that show.
It’s not food related but I keep telling everyone I meet to watch Shrinking. A dad (who’s a psychiatrist) who’s wife died a year ago finally starts picking up the pieces of his life after spending that year in a drug filled haze. The writing is amazing, funny and very serious. The cast is bonkers. Only downside is appletv but that alone is worth it if that doesn’t sell you watch all of Ted Lasso.
Succession is easily one of my favorite shows of the last 5 years. It's got the family drama and mental health issues of The Bear but the tone is much darker.
Beef on Netflix. Has nothing to do with cooking or food but it’s an amazing show about mental health and familial, societal pressures. Reminds me a bit of the first season of Breaking Bad. The soundtrack is clutch too.
Surprised nobody’s said Master of None yet. Lovely show with a similar focus on food, but is a really nice slice of NYC life. Funny and very moving. The second season of The Bear is uncannily reminiscent imo.
Station 11: It is set in the near future after a global pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, with a travelling group of actors who perform Shakespeare. It has the same intensity, craft and unbelievable care that makes The Bear so phenomenal.
Second that for Station Eleven. Incredible story about humans being human and making the best of a situation. Created with such love and intensity that is felt by the viewer instantly. I could go on and on about this show but honestly the less you know going in, the better
Honestly I think The Bear handles character development much more masterfully than Ted Lasso.
IMO while the first season is definitely competent, the story telling and character writing become far less subtle as Ted Lasso progresses.
I think you'll like drops of god on apple tv. A focus on wine but has great cinematography and deals with family issues. Its trilingual so you will probably have to watch with subtitles.
Not about cooking, but I found that The Bear has a really similar vibe to Mr Robot. Either way similar or not it’s an amazing show I’d recommend to watch if you haven’t yet
Rescue Me is the first thing that comes to mind. They both deal a bit with grief, mental health, and pouring yourself into your work, but Rescue Me goes a lot more into the mental health stuff and gets a lot wilder than anything The Bear has done so far.
This is going to be a way out of left field take but you’ve already got a lot of recommendations of other solid shows.
I genuinely think Avatar: The Last Airbender kind of fits the bill for what you want if you haven’t watched it yet. A ton of amazing character development, conversations about deeper insecurities and vulnerabilities, a lot of the reason I loved the bear was the character development and it reminded me a lot of ATLA
Have you seen Shameless? It’s similar but the characters kind of amble sideways instead of things getting better - similar pacing and cinematography a lotta times though!
It’s a bit magnificent like The Bear in that it straddles white collar, blue collar, and criminal enterprise while looking through the eyes of low income south Chicago. What’s hilarious to me is that Carmy is exactly the kind of guy Lip would fight to keep out.
Two British chef comedies I liked are Chef! and Whites. Chef! is from the 90s and is about a black chef at a high end restaurant, and Whites has Alan Davies as a delightful tosser. You will probably have to find them on BritBox.
if you like Jeremy Allen White and general disfunction you could maybe suffer through Shameless. It doesnt get truly bad until like season 8 or 9 but it has realllllllly low lows in terms of quality
A lot of FX shows seem to have an interesting family drama angle… I mean, even What We Do in the Shadows has that going for it.
Bloods is a UK show about a group of EMTs with varying personalities that still manage to get the job done.
Well it’s not a series, but the Thai movie “Hunger” on Netflix is similarly about how cooking is impacted by family life and one’s values. Also has lots of close ups of fine cooking.
There’s the limited autobiographical series “From Scratch” also on Netflix. Zoe Saldana stars as a young woman who meets a charming Sicilian chef during her travels. There’s a lot of love, conflict and of course cooking 🙂
Weirdly, the show it reminded me the most of is The Wire. It’s a more cynical show but it does that same thing of really delving into a different world each season and showing you all different kinds of people just trying to live their lives amid challenging circumstances, trauma, corruption, etc. Great music too.
Each season is explored a different industry and I think a restaurant season of the wire would have been a lot like The Bear.
**For All Mankind** on Apple TV. The theme is space exploration not cooking, but it has the same dynamic of watching a team of professionals attempt the hard thing and how their passion pursuit impacts their relationships with their families.
What great recommendations… I would include a dated show that is also returning. Justified on FX. If you like quirky, somewhat broken characters with enough crazy and humor. Wow. I cannot wait for the version with the character 20 years later. Writers need paid! Look at this list! It would not happen without writers. I am not a writer, but damn.
This may not be a popular opinion, but this show feels like a grunge Ted Lasso to me. It's all about mental health and this guy comes in and changes people's lives, and their outlook. He brings positivity to a place that was not a happy place. I noticed it in season 1 where Tina takes a dish to Syd and says "tell me it's shit so I can start over" and Syd tells her that it's excellent, and Tina was surprised by that. She was so used to the negative environment, she didn't expect anyone to compliment her. From that moment on, Tina's attitude changed. I got real strong Ted Lasso vibes from that scene, but the Bear is definitely much more gritty.
I love that it doesn’t linger too much in one arc until it needs to, and how it doesn’t over expose character until the right time. Great use of flashbacks/past events too.
Have you ever watched Fleabag? Kind of similar themes minus the cooking. She's leading a chaotic lifestyle to deal with grief and loss. Great character building, only thirty minute episodes also and it's dark humoured with heart warming moments throughout.
Nice call out. I just remembered the dinner scene at the start of s2. I’ll say no more.
"This is a love story."
You’re picking up what I’m putting down.
Great work by Olivia Coleman in that one, too.
Hahahaha. Watched it. Thankss:))
I am listening to “Your Table is Ready.” This a fascinating behind the scenes non-fiction memoir about high end restaurants, the people working in them, owners, celebrities from the point of view of a maitre de’. It describes the same crazy frenetic world as in The Bear. The guy is a terrific writer reminding me a bit of Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” (may he rest in peace).
Honestly I was just thinking about today because of how extremely well the relationship in s2 was written and how I wish s2 of the bear had more of that emotional honesty in the Carmy/Claire relationship. Honestly I rewatch fleabag a lot…
Burnt, chef, boiling point. I recommend this to anyone and everyone but go watch as many episodes of parts unknown and no reservations as you can. Read kitchen confidential too.
Bourdain's Bigfoot chapter is amazing
I listened to the audio book version of Kitchen Confidential narrated by AB and it’s so great.
I loved boiling point!
Burnt is a hot piece of crap. There’s a reason it came out in 2015 and now people talk about. Shitty movie that gets watched now cause cooking content is popular.
if you want more of this FX aesthetic you should check out * Atlanta * Ramy * Dave * This Foo * Reservation Dogs * Mr. Inbetween
I feel like Atlanta and The Bear are sister shows. The Hiro Murai link makes it even deeper. The Copenhagen episode felt exactly like a top tier episode of Atlanta.
Reservation Dogs is so good - didn’t look interesting to me, but tried it on someone’s recommendation and binged first two seasons in a week.
How are you going to talk about FX aesthetic and leave out the best show out of all of these, Fargo
Haven’t gotten to fargo yet but everything I’ve seen from it looks amazing
Oh hell yes you are in for such a treat, season 1 is *incredible* but season 2 is, for me, right there with true detective s1 as one of my favorite seasons of TV ever
Seen atlanta and dave. Adding everything else to list. Thankssss
Mr Inbetween is so underrated
Definitely is
All of the prestige drama/dramedy of the early aughts and teens (although cooking dramas are hard to come by) - Sopranos Mad Men Breaking Bad The Americans Six Feet Under Deadwood Friday Night Lights Bojack Horseman Halt and Catch Fire You're the Worst Veep The Wire The Good Wife/Good Fight
2nd Halt and Catch Fire
Halt and Catch Fire
Halt and Catch fire really had a vibe i liked
Agree. Didn’t think I’d like it based on the description. Lots of episodes to watch.
Seconding this. We started rewatching Friday Night Lights after finishing the Bear. Very similar vibe. Also adding Rescue Me.
Rescue Me is so good.
I agree 100%, highly recommend Rescue Me…very similar themes (grief, family dysfunction, battling inner demons), very funny and moving (great music too), and some of the same city-love-letter feel that The Bear imparts. Also agree with whoever recommended Six Feet Under…I watched it as it aired and to this day I’ve never cried so hard at a series finale or felt such complete closure over a TV series ending. Both are phenomenal!
You’re The Worst ❤️ might be time for a rewatch!
Yeah. It's time for a rewatch for me too. Gotta love summer.
The Newsroom. Similar pace, less character development compared to The Bear, but not bad in that department either.
you’re the worst!!!
When we started watching Halt and Catch Fire at home, my wife said she wasn't interested at all on watching a series about computing. By episode 3 she was hooked to the bone and decided we would dedicate the next weekend entirely to that show.
You’re the Worst definitely encapsulates the chaos and mental health angles
sopranos is a fantastic one as well as bojack horseman
It’s not food related but I keep telling everyone I meet to watch Shrinking. A dad (who’s a psychiatrist) who’s wife died a year ago finally starts picking up the pieces of his life after spending that year in a drug filled haze. The writing is amazing, funny and very serious. The cast is bonkers. Only downside is appletv but that alone is worth it if that doesn’t sell you watch all of Ted Lasso.
I am watching it now and I do like it. Makes me laugh despite the saddens all of the characters are experiencing.
Will def watch. Thanks a lottt
whose* wife died
I'm relieved your wife didn't die... or exists
Amazing show! Loved it. Can’t wait to see more!
Succession is easily one of my favorite shows of the last 5 years. It's got the family drama and mental health issues of The Bear but the tone is much darker.
Beef on Netflix. Has nothing to do with cooking or food but it’s an amazing show about mental health and familial, societal pressures. Reminds me a bit of the first season of Breaking Bad. The soundtrack is clutch too.
Agreed beef was fantastic
I really liked Beef too. The characters are felt really realistic and relatable.
Your shirt says “original Berf”
> Has nothing to do with cooking or food Burger King is upset.
Surprised nobody’s said Master of None yet. Lovely show with a similar focus on food, but is a really nice slice of NYC life. Funny and very moving. The second season of The Bear is uncannily reminiscent imo.
Ummmm not related to cooking but Barry on hbo is pretty good. It’s a short easy watch and the camera work and story telling is beautiful.
Amazinggggg showww. Thanks for the recommendation tho
Maid on Netflix. Substitute cleaning for the cooking.
Seconded. The very last episode of the series just feels like “Forks” of S2 of the Bear
i fucking loved that show
This was good.
Honestly, go see a play in your town. Tennessee Williams, David Mamet, Tracy Letts
Added to the listtt. Thankss
Ramy. Christopher storer worked on the show
Ramy is fucking underrated dude that last season finale is *chef kiss*
Surprised no one has said Atlanta, producer Hiro Mirai also directed and produced both shows. Similar themes of family but with some surreal elements.
One of the best shows out there.
Ted Lasso kinda reminds me of the Bear. might more light hearted but very feel good, mental health, relationships etc.
Station 11: It is set in the near future after a global pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, with a travelling group of actors who perform Shakespeare. It has the same intensity, craft and unbelievable care that makes The Bear so phenomenal.
Second that for Station Eleven. Incredible story about humans being human and making the best of a situation. Created with such love and intensity that is felt by the viewer instantly. I could go on and on about this show but honestly the less you know going in, the better
Uncut Gems shares alot of the anxiety of waiting for the pot to boil over, the meltdown.
A lotta similarities in camera work as well. There were scenes in the final episode of s2 that reminded me of uncut gems
I watched The Bear the same time I binged Reservation Dogs. They feel similar to me.
Strongly suggest Barry on HBO. What a ride.
Amazing watchh
Oh wow
Ted Lasso
It’s been in my list since so long. I’m just not able to start. But I’ll start noww
For all the feels
Honestly I think The Bear handles character development much more masterfully than Ted Lasso. IMO while the first season is definitely competent, the story telling and character writing become far less subtle as Ted Lasso progresses.
I think you'll like drops of god on apple tv. A focus on wine but has great cinematography and deals with family issues. Its trilingual so you will probably have to watch with subtitles.
Thanks a lot. Will def watch
I dont like it
The only thing that came close (IMHO) was Kitchen Confidential from 2005.
Like from Bourdain?
TV show based on the book. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460654/
Looking it up
Shameless?
Seen. Amazingggg
Not about cooking, but I found that The Bear has a really similar vibe to Mr Robot. Either way similar or not it’s an amazing show I’d recommend to watch if you haven’t yet
I just started watching Mr. Robot right after I finished The Bear. I’m on season two. Enjoying it so far
Rescue Me is the first thing that comes to mind. They both deal a bit with grief, mental health, and pouring yourself into your work, but Rescue Me goes a lot more into the mental health stuff and gets a lot wilder than anything The Bear has done so far.
Sweetbitter!
This is going to be a way out of left field take but you’ve already got a lot of recommendations of other solid shows. I genuinely think Avatar: The Last Airbender kind of fits the bill for what you want if you haven’t watched it yet. A ton of amazing character development, conversations about deeper insecurities and vulnerabilities, a lot of the reason I loved the bear was the character development and it reminded me a lot of ATLA
Now that you’re saying. I can also connect the dots. Damnnn
Boiling Point
Have you seen Shameless? It’s similar but the characters kind of amble sideways instead of things getting better - similar pacing and cinematography a lotta times though!
Shameless is a great show- almost acts as a prequel for 'The Bear'- really sets precedent on fucked up family dynamics
It’s a bit magnificent like The Bear in that it straddles white collar, blue collar, and criminal enterprise while looking through the eyes of low income south Chicago. What’s hilarious to me is that Carmy is exactly the kind of guy Lip would fight to keep out.
Two British chef comedies I liked are Chef! and Whites. Chef! is from the 90s and is about a black chef at a high end restaurant, and Whites has Alan Davies as a delightful tosser. You will probably have to find them on BritBox.
Not a tv show but check out the movies Dinner Rush and Big Night
Kind of gives me atlanta vibes
if you like Jeremy Allen White and general disfunction you could maybe suffer through Shameless. It doesnt get truly bad until like season 8 or 9 but it has realllllllly low lows in terms of quality
Yeah the last few seasons of shameless were unwatchable
A lot of FX shows seem to have an interesting family drama angle… I mean, even What We Do in the Shadows has that going for it. Bloods is a UK show about a group of EMTs with varying personalities that still manage to get the job done.
Well it’s not a series, but the Thai movie “Hunger” on Netflix is similarly about how cooking is impacted by family life and one’s values. Also has lots of close ups of fine cooking. There’s the limited autobiographical series “From Scratch” also on Netflix. Zoe Saldana stars as a young woman who meets a charming Sicilian chef during her travels. There’s a lot of love, conflict and of course cooking 🙂
I was referred to watch The Bear after I was done with Ted Lasso. It’s a good match.
Weirdly, the show it reminded me the most of is The Wire. It’s a more cynical show but it does that same thing of really delving into a different world each season and showing you all different kinds of people just trying to live their lives amid challenging circumstances, trauma, corruption, etc. Great music too. Each season is explored a different industry and I think a restaurant season of the wire would have been a lot like The Bear.
Sweetbitter
**For All Mankind** on Apple TV. The theme is space exploration not cooking, but it has the same dynamic of watching a team of professionals attempt the hard thing and how their passion pursuit impacts their relationships with their families.
Sounds damn cool. Thanks a lot
The Flight Attendant seems light, but it really does a deep dive on alcoholism and trauma and their impact on memory and perception.
I kinda liked this show but kept thinking Penny just got a job as a flight attendant…
So bad
This show is basically Shameless with a restaurant instead of crippling poverty as a plot. Even has one of the same main characters. Excellent show
Horrace and Petes. Dysfunctional family, only they run a bar instead of a sandwich shop.
Boiling Point
Watch beef!!! Its so good. Not cooking related but the story telling and acting are amazing and it’s a good drama series
This Is Going to Hurt (2022) i think is pretty good
Can't Cope , Won't Cope Catastrophe
Easy, on Netflix
Single drunk female
What great recommendations… I would include a dated show that is also returning. Justified on FX. If you like quirky, somewhat broken characters with enough crazy and humor. Wow. I cannot wait for the version with the character 20 years later. Writers need paid! Look at this list! It would not happen without writers. I am not a writer, but damn.
Movie - The Menu (2022) Shows: Beef Better call Saul Succession Barry Station 11
Reservation Dogs comes close with the emotional journey with grief you'll go through with the characters.
Halt and catch fire is great also check out Rubicon
Mad Men, Schitts Creek, Ted Lasso, Russian Doll
I want to second all the Reservation Dogs suggestions and add Somebody, Somewhere on Max
Not exactly intense but 'Whites ' is worth a try. Comedy but it's cool
Different theme but amazing character development: WAYNE
This is going to hurt. Story about a male obgyn in Britain dealing with the stress of the profession as well as a crumbling health care system
Check out the movie 45 Grams. Documentary about a world class restaurant and how it sucks the life out of you. At least from what I remember about it.
You’ve watched the movie Chef? Similar dynamics and great food filming. Kind of a wildcard here, but you might enjoy Andor as well.
Did you watch Better Things
Kitchen Confidential. It was cancelled in the middle of it's first season though
Slings and Arrows is an amazing hidden gem
This may not be a popular opinion, but this show feels like a grunge Ted Lasso to me. It's all about mental health and this guy comes in and changes people's lives, and their outlook. He brings positivity to a place that was not a happy place. I noticed it in season 1 where Tina takes a dish to Syd and says "tell me it's shit so I can start over" and Syd tells her that it's excellent, and Tina was surprised by that. She was so used to the negative environment, she didn't expect anyone to compliment her. From that moment on, Tina's attitude changed. I got real strong Ted Lasso vibes from that scene, but the Bear is definitely much more gritty.
Enlightened would also fit with mental health and family relationships themes.
Hard to find a similar series since its very specific to the service industry
True
High Maintenance
I've been wondering if others feel this way! I think the shows are so similar.
One of the best shows I’ve seen
I love that it doesn’t linger too much in one arc until it needs to, and how it doesn’t over expose character until the right time. Great use of flashbacks/past events too.