We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Benjamin Cavell’s CBS and Paramount+ military action drama “SEAL Team” had a very respectable seven-season run (2017-2024), a charming lead in David Boreanaz, a good supporting cast, and plenty of interesting plot developments. As such, it was a perfectly serviceable Navy SEAL-themed take on the action procedural formula of the “NCIS” variety. But is it the best military show out there?
The answer to that question is, honestly, a fairly solid no. Military shows have been a thing for quite a few decades now, and several series have been able to deliver far more than “SEAL Team” can bring to the table, despite — or perhaps because of — their often dramatically different take on the subject matter. To get you started in the world of quality military shows, Looper has put together a list of five shows with Metacritic Metascore ratings that prove they’re all way better than “SEAL Team.”
Generation Kill
There’s something to be said about the miniseries format when it comes to military shows. It allows for a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, which corresponds well with the fates of people whose stories are caught in armed conflicts — as well as people in general, of course.
Based on Evan Wright’s 2004 book of the same name, HBO’s “Generation Kill” sees “Oz” veteran Lee Tergesen play Wright, a journalist who accompanies a Marine battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. With Alexander Skarsgård leading the cast’s military leg as Sgt. “Iceman” Colbert, “Generation Kill” sees the First Recon Marines navigate the foreign turf and experience the many sides of the war. Relentless and captivating, the series doesn’t sugarcoat its experiences, with mundane absurdities playing just as big a role as blazing guns, if not bigger.
With a Metacritic Metascore of 57 out of 100, “SEAL Team” isn’t what you’d call a critical darling. But the same can’t be said for “Generation Kill.” Dripping with detail, the 2008 series has earned rave reviews for its layered and realistic storytelling, and its 80 out of 100 Metascore proves its quality.
M*A*S*H
“M*A*S*H” is nothing like “SEAL Team,” but since our criteria is military shows that are objectively better than “SEAL Team,” its presence on the list is a given. Larry Gelbart’s CBS comedy-drama about a mobile surgical hospital during the Korean War is ostensibly a sitcom, but honestly, that’s not a very good classification given the amount of drama and overall bleakness that the show often focuses on.
The real strength of “M*A*S*H,” which ran for 11 seasons between 1972 and 1983, is its ability to juggle the light and the darkness, so the humor often comes across as the kind of coping mechanism that medical professionals at wartime might very well rely on in real life, too.
As the only “M*A*S*H” character to appear in every episode, Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) is a prime example of such antics; While he’s a main character in a comedic show, in many ways he delivers a more realistic image of a military person dealing with an unfathomable situation than any “SEAL Team” character could ever hope to. As the 72 out of 100 Metacritic Metascore of “M*A*S*H” attests, the sheer quality of this long-running TV milestone has endured with generations of critics.
Masters of the Air
Another miniseries, John Shiban and John Orloff’s 2024 Apple TV bomber plane drama “Masters of the Air” offers an uncommon look into the horrors of World War II. Here, the U.S. Air Force 100th Bomb Group undertakes difficult missions deep into Germany, risking life and limb with every mile that they pilot their Flying Fortresses into enemy territory.
A companion piece to fellow military miniseries “Band of Brothers” (more on that one later) and “The Pacific,” the aviation-themed war show has a very decent Metascore of 72 out of 100, indicating a very entertaining watch. As with the aforementioned shows, “Masters of the Air” goes hard on both intensity and personal relationships. Since the show is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Donald L. Miller, many of the characters are based on real-life people, played by an all-star cast that features the likes of Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan, Callum Turner, and Ncuti Gatwa.
Strike Back
Out of all the shows on this list, “Strike Back” is the one that resembles “SEAL Team” the most, in that it’s an action drama that focuses on a small special unit that performs clandestine tasks on a global scale. Based on the book by former SAS operative Chris Ryan, the show’s centerpiece is a British military intelligence unit known as Section 20. Not unlike the “SEAL Team” characters, Section 20 is tasked with assorted dangerous and secretive missions in crisis points all around the world, with all the drama and action that accompanies such situations.
With eight seasons to watch spanning 2010 to 2020, “Strike Back” is also the closest comparison point to “SEAL Team” here in terms of sheer tenure. Granted, with just 10 episodes in an average season, the length of the seasons is quite a bit shorter, but there’s still plenty for a fan of the genre to enjoy — and a 71 out of 100 Metacritic score confirms that the show is worth your time.
Band of Brothers
When masterful military series are discussed, it would be a borderline crime to not include the best war TV show ever made: “Band of Brothers.” Co-created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the 2001 HBO miniseries about the missions, victories, and tragedies of Easy Company during World War II is notable for its meticulous portrayal of the company’s path from training to deployment — and ultimately, playing a part in winning the conflict.
Based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s book of the same name, the “Band of Brothers” timeline is rife with detail, and many of its characters are based on real historical figures who fought in Easy Company or otherwise interacted with it. This touch of realism helps the viewer grow to care about these characters as they march toward their fate — or intensely dislike them, as “Friends” star David Schwimmer’s skilled turn as the profoundly unlikable Captain Herbert Sobel shows.
With a score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic, “Band of Brothers” is a stellar example of what a military show can do when it has a huge story to tell and lots of space to do so. Being a miniseries, it never wears out its welcome. It does, however, constantly bring the viewer as close to the horrors and camaraderie of war as a TV show possibly can. Every military show fan owes it to themselves to watch “Band of Brothers” at least once.
