Taylor Sheridan’s 2023 television series Special Ops: Lioness revolves around a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program called Lioness, and following the season 1 finale and no word yet on a potential second season, fans can fill the time waiting for news by watching similar shows. The eight-episode Paramount+ spy thriller series contained action, drama, shocking developments, complex relationships, and everything in between. Thankfully, these elements are not unique to Special Ops: Lioness and are also featured in plenty of other television shows.
The Special Ops: Lioness cast included numerous big names, like Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, and Morgan Freeman. The following ten shows also all have famous stars attached to them, which undoubtedly elevates their quality and entices viewers to watch. So even if Paramount+ does not renew the latest Taylor Sheridan show for season 2, fans can look elsewhere to get the same level of entertainment.
10 Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan aired its series finale a week before Special Ops: Lioness premiered, and given that the two shows are similar in many regards, the Paramount+ series was the perfect replacement for Jack Ryan. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan aired for four seasons on Amazon Prime Video and was based on characters from Tom Clancy’s Ryanverse books. John Krasinski starred as the titular character, and he surprisingly filled the role of action hero quite nicely. Jack Ryan was a CIA analyst who got pulled from his desk job into the field, and the rest is history. Related: Special Ops: Lioness Season 1 Recap & Ending Explained
9 Mayor of Kingstown
One of Taylor Sheridan’s other Paramount+ series, Mayor of Kingstown, contains the same suspenseful elements as Special Ops: Lioness. The crime thriller television show stars Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky, the so-called “Mayor” of Kingstown, aka the unofficial man in charge in town and the mediator between the gangs, prisoners, guards, and police. Two seasons consisting of ten episodes each have aired, and the streaming service has renewed the show for a third season, which will premiere at an unknown date.
8 The Unit
The Unit aired for four seasons in the 2000s on CBS and centered around a fictionalized version of the real-life Delta Force, a United States Army special operations unit. The elite team featured the talents of Dennis Haysbert as Jonas Blane, Scott Foley as Bob Brown, Robert Patrick as Tom Ryan, and many others who worked together during top-secret missions overseas. So, The Unit and Special Ops: Lioness share similar premises — an elite military group focused on high-profile targets.
7 Tulsa King
Taylor Sheridan has been very busy in recent years, seeing as he also created and released Tulsa King on Paramount+ in 2022. The crime drama television show stars Sylvester Stallone (another prominent actor) as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a man who holds a high-ranking position in the Mafia. Following a 25-year prison sentence, Dwight’s boss sent him to Tulsa to set up another base of operations there and grow their brand. Whereas Special Ops: Lioness showcased characters on one side of the law, Tulsa King highlights the other side. Season 1 consisted of nine episodes, and a second season is on its way.
6 The Recruit
Netflix’s The Recruit and Paramount+’s Special Ops: Lioness share a handful of qualities. Both television series revolve around the operations of the CIA, and they feature recruits trying to find their footing in a very complicated world. Noah Centineo stars as Owen Hendricks, the character the show is named after, in The Recruit. Although Owen is only a lawyer in the CIA, he quickly finds himself in deep water when an asset threatens him with extortion, which sends him down a deep rabbit hole. Following favorable reviews, Netflix renewed the spy-adventure series for season 2. Related: The Recruit’s 7 Biggest Unanswered Questions Season 2 Needs To Answer
5 Yellowstone
Although Yellowstone isn’t a spy thriller, it comes from the same mind as the creator of Special Ops: Lioness, meaning that if viewers like one, they might be fans of the other. Taylor Sheridan’s contemporary Western drama series tells the story of the Dutton family, with Kevin Costner playing the patriarch, John Dutton III. The Duttons own the largest ranch in Montana, and the drama within the family and between the Yellowstone and the Broken Rock Indian Reservation has captured the attention of millions of viewers. Yellowstone, which is set to end with season 5, has produced a plethora of spinoffs, and it seems as if this universe will be never-ending.
4 S.W.A.T.
The CBS procedural drama series S.W.A.T. revolves around a Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, as the name suggests. If Special Ops: Lioness fans are looking for another high-stakes action show about an elite tactical group, they can look no further than S.W.A.T. Shemar Moore stars as Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, a former Marine (another characteristic shared with Special Ops: Lioness) who is asked to lead the S.W.A.T. team. The CBS television show has aired six seasons, and the network renewed it for a seventh and final season in 2023.
3 SEAL Team
SEAL Team is yet another drama series on this list that features the operations of an elite unit. The television show, which ran on CBS for its first four seasons before moving to Paramount+ for seasons 5 and 6, centers around the Bravo Team, a subunit of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group of the Navy SEALs. SEAL Team stars David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Jessica Paré, Neil Brown Jr., A. J. Buckley, and Toni Trucks as members of the Bravo Team, and the show is still ongoing as the streaming service renewed it for season 7 in 2023.
2 Homeland
Like Special Ops: Lioness, Homeland focused on an officer in the CIA — Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes. When the Showtime series began, Carrie investigated a Marine Corps Scout Sniper, Nicholas Brody, played by Damian Lewis, who had recently been rescued after spending years as a prisoner of war. The espionage thriller show contained the same twists and turns as Special Ops: Lioness, and it ran for eight seasons before ending in 2020. Related: Homeland: 5 Ways The Series Was Ruined (& 5 Ways It Could Have Been Better)
1 Alias
Television shows focused on the CIA seem to be a popular choice for numerous networks and streaming platforms, but one of the greatest spy thrillers will always be Alias. The ABC show was created by J.J. Abrams and starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a double agent working for the CIA to take down SD-6, a criminal organization. The series ran for five seasons from 2001 to 2006, and with 105 episodes total, Alias could be the perfect binge following the conclusion of Special Ops: Lioness season 1.
