A very good heist story could make for charming TV, whether or not it is unfold throughout a number of seasons or packed right into a single, intense season. The excessive stakes and uncertainty have made it a popular style. I wished to write down this checklist and have fun a number of the greatest reveals that inform this type of story.
Whereas many nice reveals focus solely on the heist, not all of them are price watching. For this checklist, I included thrillers the place the heist was integral to the story. I additionally checked out how effectively every present delivers from its first episode to its final and the way it maintains its gripping narrative. My primary decide is the undisputed greatest within the style.
Why You Ought to Belief Me: I’ve written about crime and heist films and TV collection for over a decade, and I’ve a specific experience in long-form con artist reveals. I watched each collection on this checklist begin to end and ranked them by how tightly every one is constructed across the heist, not simply how a lot type it borrows from the style.
‘White Collar’ (2009-2014)
A Forger Turned Into the FBI’s Finest
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USA CommunityIMDb: 8.2/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
In White Collar, Matt Bomer performs Neal Caffrey, a con artist, artwork thief, and forger who makes a cope with FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) after his third jail escape: assist clear up white-collar crimes as a marketing consultant, or return behind bars. The association places one of many nation’s most expert criminals to work catching individuals who function the identical means he used to.
Each case offers Neal a brand new excuse to run a con from the best aspect of the regulation. Whereas the numerous circumstances stay thrilling, they do not at all times heart on heists. Most significantly, the collection would not inform one lengthy story just like the others on this checklist. Nonetheless, White Collar definitely deserves a spot right here and is very advisable for individuals who wish to sink a while into an attention-grabbing collection.
‘The Final Panthers’ (2015)
The Penalties of a Diamond Heist
IMDb: 7.2/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
The six-episode collection opens with a jewel heist impressed by the real-life Pink Panthers community. From there, it follows insurance coverage investigator Naomi Franckom (Samantha Morton) and Balkan gangster Khalil Rachedi (Tahar Rahim) as they attempt to hint the diamonds that enter the felony underworld. The collection incorporates a phenomenal efficiency by John Harm as Tom Kendle, an outdated affiliate pulled again into the underworld.
That is much less about watching a heist unfold than tracing what occurs when a heist is over. This makes The Final Panthers a singular entry on this checklist, but additionally one which many might have neglected. The collection has a extra nuanced tempo, and the portrayal of the felony world feels totally genuine. It reveals the results of a heist with chilling, charming element.
‘The Nice Prepare Theft’ (2013)
The Actual 1963 Heist, Instructed Twice
IMDb: 7.3/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
This two-part BBC drama dramatizes the 1963 Nice Prepare Theft from reverse sides. ”A Robber’s Story” follows Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) and his crew planning and pulling off the ambush of a Royal Mail prepare, and “A Copper’s Story” follows Detective Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) searching them down.
Splitting the story right into a robber’s half and a copper’s half works effectively, because the story has a contemporary perspective that is still participating as a substitute of turning into redundant. It is tense to observe Butler slowly piece collectively clues you already know. The Nice Prepare Theft has solely two episodes, which is the rationale why I did not rank it increased. Nonetheless, as a self-contained account of one in every of Britain’s most well-known actual robberies, it earns its spot and is a simple thriller to binge-watch over a weekend.
‘Thief’ (2006)
A Single Season is Sufficient to Enthrall Audiences
IMDb: 7.4/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Andre Braugher received an Emmy for taking part in Nick Atwater on this six-episode FX miniseries. Nick is an expert thief in New Orleans planning a $30 million heist focusing on a U.S. Treasury cargo. Apart from its central, thrilling heist, the story additionally follows Nick as he tries to carry his household collectively as he raises his stepdaughter alone after his spouse’s demise.
The cancellation of Thief after one season is definitely a downer, however what it left behind continues to be spectacular sufficient to earn crucial reward and a spot on this checklist. Notably, the tense heist plotting balanced with household drama and emotional stakes packs a memorable punch. Missed and underrated, this can be a collection that you must monitor down.
‘Berlin’ (2023)
Earlier than ‘The Professor’ and Earlier than ‘Cash Heist’
IMDb: 6.3/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Pedro Alonso reprises his position as Andrés de Fonollosa, generally known as Berlin, who leads his personal crew a number of years earlier than he meets The Professor. The job targets 44 million euros in jewels in Paris, and Berlin’s crew, Keila (Michelle Jenner), Damián (Tristán Ulloa), Cameron (Begoña Vargas), Bruce (Julio Peña Fernández), and Roi (Joel Sánchez), pull off the heist from each angle.
Berlin complicates his personal plan virtually instantly by falling for the goal’s spouse, which provides the present a lighter, extra romantic streak than its mum or dad collection. Seeing this model of the character years earlier than Cash Heist launched him offers each reckless, charming resolution new context. Berlin nonetheless tells the story of a pointy, well-executed jewel heist beneath all of the romantic distraction.
‘Hustle’ (2004-2012)
Lengthy Cons Performed Like Magic Methods
IMDb: 7.9/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Adrian Lester leads a crew of London grifters, together with Robert Vaughn, Robert Glenister, and a rotating solid, operating elaborate “lengthy cons” in opposition to rich, dishonest marks. The present continuously breaks the fourth wall to stroll you thru precisely how every scheme works.
Eight seasons is a long term for a present that’s about tricking individuals out of their cash. Hustle retains issues contemporary by treating each con like a magic trick, full with the reveal of how the sleight of hand truly works. It trades financial institution vaults for bar tables and marks for establishments, however the mechanics of the con are simply as satisfying to observe click on into place. It carries the power of probably the most enthralling entries on this checklist.
‘Animal Kingdom’ (2016-2022)
A Crime Household That Treats Theft as a Enterprise
IMDb: 8.1/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
In Animal Kingdom, Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin) runs a Southern California household of profession armed robbers, and her grandson J (Finn Cole) is pulled into the enterprise after his mom’s demise. Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, and Jake Weary play Smurf’s sons, who’re every drawn into jobs she plans and funds.
The heists right here perform extra just like the household’s day job than the present’s driving plot engine, which is why I did not rank it increased, though it is a phenomenal collection. The roles are tightly plotted and persistently well-executed throughout six seasons, and Smurf’s iron grip on her household brings intense household drama to the stand-out thriller collection.
‘Leverage’ (2008-2012)
A Robin Hood Crew Constructed for the Job of the Week
IMDb: 8.1/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Leverage tells the story of Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton), who walks away from his profession as an insurance coverage investigator after the corporate he labored for denies protection for his son’s most cancers remedy. He places collectively a crew of specialists, together with a hitter (Christian Kane), a hacker (Aldis Hodge), a grifter (Gina Bellman), and a thief (Beth Riesgraf), to run elaborate cons in opposition to corrupt companies and people on behalf of people that have nowhere else to show.
Each episode is a self-contained job, which makes this the purest heist-of-the-week format on this checklist and the simplest to suggest to somebody who would not wish to commit to 1 lengthy story. Leverage‘s recognition outlasted its unique cancellation completely, and Leverage: Redemption revived the crew practically a decade later. Whereas the spin-off can also be price watching, the unique is particular.
‘Lupin’ (2021-present)
A Gentleman Thief Turning Grief Into Revenge
IMDb: 7.5/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Lupin follows Assane Diop (Omar Sy), who grew up on the Arsène Lupin novels his father learn to him as a toddler. Years later, he turns the gentleman thief’s tips right into a revenge plan in opposition to the rich Pellegrini household chargeable for framing his father and driving him to take his life in jail.
Assane’s disguises and misdirection are half the enchantment of the collection, and the opposite half is a revenge plot with actual emotional dangers behind each job. The premise by no means turns into a gimmick, and the present has earned deserved broad crucial and viewer reward; I used to be very near giving it the highest spot. Assane is arguably probably the most memorable character within the style.
‘Cash Heist’ (2017-Current)
The Heist Present That Turned a International Phenomenon
IMDb: 8.2/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
A felony mastermind recognized solely as The Professor (Álvaro Morte) recruits a crew of robbers in Cash Heist who take code names from cities: Tokyo, Berlin, Nairobi, Rio, Denver, and extra. They begin by printing billions of euros contained in the Royal Mint of Spain, then break into the Financial institution of Spain itself.
No present on this checklist has come near matching Cash Heist‘s scale, because it drags out one rigorously deliberate heist throughout dozens of episodes that stay tense all through. It additionally turned a Spanish-language Antena 3 drama into one in every of Netflix’s greatest international hits ever, with the masks and pink jumpsuits getting into popular culture. Cash Heist earned that attain via each hostage negotiation and improvised Plan B, carrying the identical weight and depth because the central heist. It is totally addictive TV at its greatest. The collection additionally bought a shock replace in Could 2026, with extra Cash Heist coming after a five-year hole.