12 Best Shows Like The Equalizer For Fans To Enjoy Next

Television has seen its share of hard-boiled crime fiction over the decades, shows about intrepid investigators and determined soldiers-of-fortune who fight crooks and criminal kingpins week after week. When CBS wanted to return to an '80s classic and bring back an iconic street-fighting hero, they decided to do something different and put veteran star Queen Latifah into the title role in "The Equalizer."

Originating as a hit weekly spy thriller series in 1985 starring Edward Woodward, "The Equalizer" was adapted into a pair of films in the 2000s led by Denzel Washington. Brought back to the small screen in 2021, the franchise's hero Robert McCall became Robyn McCall, a former intelligence agent who sets out on her own to fight crime while balancing her life as a single parent. Highly skilled as an elite investigator, spy, and assassin, Latifah's McCall is uniquely qualified to go up against even the most ruthless of villains.

Praised for Latifah's towering performance as the grizzled vigilante, "The Equalizer" has refreshed the franchise for a new generation. If you're looking for something just like it, well, you're in luck, because there are plenty of shows out there that should satisfy your thirst for a steadfast street hero and unshakable investigator. Here are the best shows like "The Equalizer" that fans should check out.

In "The Equalizer" we meet Robyn McCall, a former CIA agent who has become an independent do-gooder. If you want to see a glimpse of what her career might have been like while she was an active intelligence agent, check out "The Blacklist: Redemption," a spin-off of the wildly popular and long-running James Spader series "The Blacklist." The series stars Famke Janssen ("X-Men"), whose lead character Susan "Scottie" Hargrave runs Halcyon Aegis, a clandestine spy agency.

Scottie works alongside her son Tom (Ryan Eggold), who was estranged from her for the longest time. Now reunited, the two agents use their extraordinary skills to help take down the worst of the worst and solve cases that even the biggest intelligence agencies won't take on. A globe-trotting spy adventure, the agents help thwart various plots including the abduction of a CIA agent and a gang of airborne cargo thieves. But the real mystery involves the secret of Tom's father (Terry O'Quinn) and whether Scottie is hiding something far more sinister than she's letting on.

A procedural with some ongoing mysteries, "The Blacklist: Redemption" is a riveting espionage thriller with a bigger scope than "The Equalizer," but they have a lot in common. Unfortunately, living in the shadow of its more acclaimed parent series, it only lasted a single season and eight episodes. Though, on the plus side, that makes it perfect for binging.

A series about a private investigator who helps those in need, and a remake of an '80s classic. We could be talking about Queen Latifah's "The Equalizer," but we could also be talking about 2018's "Magnum P.I.," a reboot of the iconic series starring Tom Selleck. Both the original "Magnum" and "Equalizer" shows were primetime hits in the '80s, and now both have seen modern revivals. Jay Hernandez took over the role of Thomas Magnum, a former Navy SEAL who becomes an independent hero for hire.

Developed by producer Peter M. Lenkov, who proved himself on the reboot of "Hawaii Five-0," the series once again follows Magnum as he takes on the worst crooks in Hawaii. This time, Magnum is joined by Juliet Higgins, a former British intelligence operative. Tracking down wanted fugitives and unraveling kidnapping plots, there's no job too big for Magnum, who's mettle is regularly tested by everyone from dastardly drug kingpins to foreign arms dealers.

The new "Magnum P.I." is every bit as exciting as "The Equalizer," and it has just as much light-hearted humor. Airing on CBS beginning in 2018, the show was briefly canceled after four seasons before rival network NBC ordered an additional two years worth of stories in 2022.

Being a former CIA operative, Robyn McCall from "The Equalizer" is an elite investigator with a wide-ranging skillset. If you're looking for a show that gives its investigator a special skill, check out "Unforgettable," a series about a woman with hyperthymesia, a rare ability that allows people to recall pretty much every experience they've ever had in great detail. Using her unique ability, she becomes a powerful asset to the NYPD's homicide unit in solving their most elusive cases.

Poppy Montgomery stars as Carrie Wells, an enigmatic detective with a dark past, much like McCall. She gets paired with intrepid commanding sleuth Lieutenant Al Burns (Dylan Walsh). Across four seasons, the dynamic duo hunt down serial killers and kidnappers, all while Wells tries to come to terms with a tragic family murder in her past that has long haunted her. Sometimes she even gets to help prove a suspect's innocence in the face of overwhelming evidence, but what continually motivates her is the hope that she can one day catch her sister's killer.

A well-made police procedural with weekly cases that will keep you on the edge of your seat, "Unforgettable" should scratch the itch if you're looking for a tough female investigator like Robyn McCall.

The works of noted crime fiction author Elmore Leonard have long been the subject of Hollywood films, and in 1998, director Steven Soderbergh brought his novel "Out of Sight" to cineplexes. The film stars Jennifer Lopez as a U.S. Marshal on the hunt for a charismatic crook played by George Clooney. In 2003, a TV spin-off arrived centered on and named after Lopez's character Karen Sisco. An old school law woman, Sisco is played by Carla Gugino.

Karen Sisco could well be seen as a precursor to tough women protagonists like "The Equalizer" lead Robyn McCall. In her short-lived series in 2003, Gugino proved she was every bit a match for the hardened crooks and federal fugitives that came her way in Miami. Assisted by her former marshal father (played by "Jackie Brown" star Robert Forster), Sisco tracked outlaws and criminal kingpins in the sunny beaches of Southern Florida, and she helped out those in need along the way.

While the show couldn't survive a competitive TV landscape in the early 2000s, lasting just one year, it became a cult favorite, mostly for Gugino's strong showing in the title role. So fondly remembered was the character that Sisco would return in an episode of the FX sister series "Justified," teaming up with the sarcastic, sharp-shooting Kentucky marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant).

There are far too many fantastic crime dramas with powerful female protagonists that don't get the recognition they deserve. Many of these shows were well-reviewed both by critics and audiences when they aired, and yet they have been forgotten as time has moved on. One such crime drama is "In Plain Sight," which featured a formidable federal agent in U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon, played by Mary McCormack ("The West Wing").

Operating out of the U.S. Marshal's office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Agent Shannon works as part of the Federal Witness Protection Program, giving new lives and identities to criminal informants. With a loyal partner — the awkwardly named U.S. Marshal Marshall Mann — they protect their assignments from criminals who are looking to snuff them out. Shannon must stave off deadly assassination plots while protecting reformed criminals who refuse to play by the rules, all while wrestling with problems in her personal life.

With a tough woman out to right wrongs in between struggles at home week after week, "In Plain Sight" shares its structure with "The Equalizer." Paving the way for female-led crime fighting dramas, the series received a strong on-air run, but was largely overshadowed by the male-driven "Burn Notice," which aired around the same time on the same network.

Yet another remake, the 2021 series "Kung Fu" reimagines the David Carradine classic, which began in the 1970s before getting new life in a 1990s revival. Centered on a Shaolin monk in search of his half-brother in the Wild West, Carradine went on an epic journey that saw him intervene in fights across the frontier to help the less fortunate and use his skills for the good of his fellow man, not unlike "The Equalizer." This 21st century reboot flips the script, with a young Chinese American woman returning to America from years abroad living in a monastery.

Back in San Francisco, this time in the present day, Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) uses her expertise in martial arts to become a vigilante of sorts on the streets of Northern California. But while defending the people from the viciousness of the Triads, Nicky must also learn to adapt to a new life back in America, all while confronting a destiny she has run from all her life. Epic action and adrenaline pumping thrills help accent the personal drama, while its use of a mostly Asian American cast has been a key mission statement of the series, which has garnered high praise from critics and cultural experts. If you want a no-nonsense street vigilante like Robyn McCall on "The Equalizer," look no further.