Ask any man of a certain age about their favorite TV show, and they’ll tell you there’s only one man for the job: Jack Reacher, the hulking, wandering tough guy played by Alan Ritchson on Reacher.
To be fair, there are plenty of people who watch Reacher who aren’t middle-aged men, but the series has gotten a reputation as a “dad show.” That rep has helped it become one of the most successful shows on Prime Video. But if you’re one of the many people who has already seen the show, there are others that scratch the same itch.
Banshee
Before he was Homelander
Antony Starr, who would go on to get a lot of attention for playing the sociopathic superhero Homelander on The Boys, headlines this Cinemax drama about an ex-con who assumes the identity of the dead sheriff in the town of Banshee, Pennsylvania. There, he tries to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend Ana (Ivana Miličević), who herself is living under an assumed identity; fight a variety of local crime lords; and administer his own unique brand of justice.
Banshee is firmly rooted in the tradition of anti-hero dramas like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. The action is brutal, the energy is pulpy, and the characters go back and forth across the line defining criminal from law-abiding citizen. It’s all executed at a very high level; the show starts strong and just gets better as it goes.
- Release Date
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2013 – 2016-00-00
- Showrunner
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Jonathan Tropper
- Directors
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Jonathan Tropper
Warrior
The most tragic early cancellation in history
Set in San Francisco in the 1870s, Warrior is an action drama that chronicles the Tong Wars, when Chinese gangs settled their differences in the streets. It’s a legitimate character drama that seriously engages with the issues of the day, but one of the biggest draws is the spectacular fight scenes, with actor Andrew Koji — who plays main character Ah Sahm — leading the way. Watching Warrior is like watching a lost martial arts masterpiece every episode.
The first two seasons of Warrior aired on Cinemax before the show jumped over to HBO Max for its third season. It had more gas in the tank, but was unfortunately canceled after the Season 3 finale, a blow I will never recover from. Andrew Koji, has bounced back with a film career; he plays Ryu in the upcoming Street Fighter movie.
- Release Date
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2019 – 2023-00-00
- Network
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HBO Max
- Showrunner
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Jonathan Tropper
Tracker
Another wandering hero
One of the newest dad shows on the block, Tracker is about Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley), a survivalist who wanders the country uses his skills to find missing people, helping law enforcement agencies as well as private individuals. It’s an old-school procedural where most episodes stand on their own, all of it anchored by a sturdy performance from Hartley.
Tracker does have serialized elements, but they’re parceled out sparingly. The fourth season premieres in October, so this show is potentially far from over.
- Release Date
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February 11, 2024
- Network
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CBS
- Showrunner
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Elwood Reid
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Justin Hartley
Colter Shaw
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-
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The Old Man
Meaning no offense to old men
This one’s a little on the nose, isn’t it? Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, True Grit) plays Dan Chase, a former CIA operative who goes into hiding after he kills an intruder who breaks into his home. John Lithgow (Dexter, The Crown) is FBI agent Harold Harper, who’s called in to apprehend him.
Sometimes, The Old Man feels like an excuse to put a couple of legendary actors on the screen and let them show off what they can do, and you’ll get no complaints about that here. Also, the action scenes are intense and put emphasis on how hard it is to fight when your body is past its prime.
- Release Date
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2024 – 2024-00-00
- Network
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FX
- Showrunner
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Greg Yaitanes
-
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John Lithgow
Harold Harper
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Bill Heck
Young Dan Chase
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Alia Shawkat
Angela Adams
Hap and Leonard
Dynamic duo, ’80s-style
Based on the novels by Joe R. Lansdale, Hap and Leonard is a buddy show set in the late 1980s. Hap Collins (James Purefoy) is a former ’60s activist who served time for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War. Leonard Pine (Michael Kenneth Williams) is a Vietnam vet with anger issues. Despite the differences, the two are close friends, and each season has them playing out a different adventure from the books. In the first, they team up with Hap’s ex-wife Trudy (Christina Hendricks) to look for underwater treasure.
Hap and Leonard is an East Texas noir with a lot of snappy dialogue and hard-boiled adventure. The two leads play off each other really well.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
An icon finally gets his own TV show
The first Jack Ryan book, The Hunt for Red October, came out in 1984, with a movie version coming along in 1990. Many books and movies later, the CIA-analyst-turned-field-agent finally got his own show, with John Krasinski taking over a role that had previously been played by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine.
The Jack Ryan show delivers meat-and-potatoes action and espionage for four solid seasons. There’s also a Jack Ryan movie that came out in 2026, although it’s a standalone story, so you’re not missing part of the plot if you only watch the show.
- Release Date
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2018 – 2023-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Carlton Cuse
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Wendell Pierce
James Greer
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Michael Kelly
Mike November
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Abbie Cornish
Cathy Mueller
Lioness
Hear Taylor Sheridan roar
Lioness Season 3 Final Trailer
Lioness is about female operatives who go undercover in dangerous situations as part of the Lioness program. Oscar-winner Zoe Saldaña plays the CIA officer in charge of the program, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman plays her boss, and Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman plays the U.S. Secretary of State.
Lioness was created by Taylor Sheridan, one of the most prolific TV producers working today; he’s a fan of getting big-name actors in his shows, and clearly Lioness is no exception. Of his many series, it’s one of the most action-packed.
- Release Date
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July 23, 2023
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Taylor Sheridan
- Directors
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John Hillcoat, Anthony Byrne, Paul Cameron, Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan
- Writers
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Taylor Sheridan, Jill Wagner
For dads and dads at heart
There are lots of other shows out there for dads young and old, and for anybody else who wants to watch no-nonsense lead characters defeat bad dudes with grit and determination. Consider The Terminal List on Prime Video, The Night Agent on Netflix, or Justified on FX.