5 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Jack Ryan
By Pauli PoisuoJuly 11, 2026 2:18 pm EST
Amazon Prime Video‘s “Jack Ryan” is full of intense scenes that were hard to film, but the end result is a thrilling spy series. Starring John Krasinski as the titular CIA analyst, “Jack Ryan” is based on Tom Clancy’s best-selling works featuring the character, and holds the top spot in Looper’s ranking of all of Clancy’s movies and TV shows
“Jack Ryan” gave viewers four seasons’ worth of thrilling and action-packed tales of national security, but all good things must come to an end. The show’s story ended with the 2026 Prime Video film “Jack Ryan: Ghost War.” Because of this, fans of the series will no doubt be interested in other works that capture the same spy atmosphere and feature similarly compelling all-American protagonists
This may seem like a difficult type of show to find. Fortunately, Jack Ryan has plenty of spiritual siblings out there, each of them starring in their own, fantastic series that are more than comparable to the Prime Video great. Here’s a closer look at five shows that fans of “Jack Ryan” will no doubt want to see
Condor
Audience/Epix
If we’re talking about TV shows that were adapted from classic CIA-themed thrillers, look no further than “Condor.” Based on James Grady’s classic novel “Three Days of the Condor,” the show stars Max Irons as CIA analyst Joe Turner. Joe’s personal and professional life turns upside down rather dramatically when every single member of his office is killed by assassins, save for him. As the sole survivor, Joe now has to figure out just what’s going on — and after he does, he has to find a way to stop the plot behind the threat of a deadly plague on U.S. soil.
Of course, veteran viewers of espionage shows already know that there is far more to the plot than the basic setup. “Condor” is the kind of series that will keep the viewer on their toes from the very beginning, and its two-season run provides some excellent developments that will constantly challenge both Joe and the viewer. Apart from the fact that Joe Turner works in a similar line of CIA analytics as Jack Ryan, their adventures begin with a very similar “one outmatched hero with little field experience against a vast conspiracy” vibe. This will no doubt turn “Condor” into a delicious snack for “Jack Ryan” fans.
Courtesy of Fox
Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran’s political action thriller “24” is made from some very similar building blocks as “Jack Ryan” — it merely puts it all together in a slightly different way. A winner of no fewer than 20 Primetime Emmys Awards for its broadcaster, Fox, “24” is a fast-paced series about the counter-terrorist agency CTU and its perennial star agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)
The show bases each season around a very simple concept: A dangerous terror plot or other major crisis is taking place, and it’s up to Bauer and the CTU to stop it within the timeframe of 24 hours. The gimmick is that every season of “24” unfolds its plot with 24 episodes. Each one covers the events of a single hour, which allows the show to tell its story in “real time” for an additional sense of urgency. Like “The Pitt,” but with spies
Beyond this basic premise, there is little in the way of knowing just how the plot will unfold. Expect terrible betrayals, shocking twists, and an incredible amount of grimacing from Sutherland. His character is a complex figure who will readily use torture and other gray area tactics to fulfill his mission, making for some tense fiction. All In all, “24” has plenty of similarities with “Jack Ryan,” but it adds its own distinct flavor to the experience
The Night Agent
Netflix
We’re back on the subject of thriller shows based on novels with “The Night Agent,” which draws from Matthew Quirk’s book of the same name. This time our central agent is from the FBI and tasked with manning the White House “Night Action” phone, which in turn is used to communicate with the highly classified program of the same name
While the phone almost never rings and the job seems like a comparatively cozy gig for our hero, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso, who credits the show’s success to its escapism), it soon transpires that the Night Agent program has been compromised — which implies that the White House has a mole. Just like that, Sutherland finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy of epic proportions. Meanwhile, the true extent of the Night Agent program’s shady world is slowly unveiled
Created by Shawn Ryan of “The Shield” and “S.W.A.T.” fame, “The Night Agent” provides a thrilling peek under several layers of top level conspiracy. Terror plots, personal tragedies, and high octane action combine to make “The Night Agent” an inherently watchable and entertaining representative of its genre. As such, any fan of “Jack Ryan” can add it to their watch list without a worry in the world
The Terminal List
Justin Lubin/Prime Video
When it comes to heroes who are trying to do their best against insurmountable odds, Jack Ryan and Chris Pratt’s James Reece would no doubt get along like a house on fire. Pratt stars in Amazon Prime’s “The Terminal List,” an action-packed thriller about a Navy SEAL who’s haunted by a mission that went terribly wrong. As it turns out, Reece’s experiences and memories soon tie together into a conspiracy that has massive stakes — and potentially deadly repercussions for people who know too much.
Based on the book by Jack Carr, “The Terminal List” combines conspiracy thriller action with the unreliability of memories and one man’s struggle against powers much greater than him. The CIA and the FBI both play roles in the narrative, and there are plenty of political elements in play — all of which only adds to the show’s similarity with “Jack Ryan.” With one eight episode season in the can, a second season is slated to begin streaming in October 2026
Reacher
Brooke Palmer/Prime Video
Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is no CIA agent, nor is he an analyst. However, his unique investigative methods and penchant for solving all sorts of major conspiracies with a combination of wits and explosive action makes Amazon Prime Video’s “Reacher” a surprisingly fitting thematic match for “Jack Ryan.”
“Reacher” is a show that’s incredibly easy to recommend to just about any fan of action-oriented mystery thrillers, especially ones based on well-known novels like “Jack Ryan.” Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” book series tends to deal in mysteries and crimes that start as small town shenanigans, but soon expand to a scale that’s more or less comparable to Jack Ryan’s globetrotting adventures
Despite Reacher’s history as a military police operative instead of a spy, and his tendency to ramble around the world, he has an almost supernatural ability to run into massive criminal operations that could have international ramifications — that is, unless Reacher decides to enter the mix and put a stop to the criminals’ plans. Which he inevitably does. The results, like the rest of the Ryanesque-shows here, are a delight to watch
