Do yourself a favor: If you haven’t started watching High Potential on Hulu yet, get on that ASAP. The hit series — which follows single mom Morgan Gillory, who stumbles into a new career solving murders thanks to her “high potential” intellect — has quickly become must-see TV. It’s funny, heartfelt, and just the right amount of twisty to make you want to tune in every week.
The only problem? Season 2 won’t hit Hulu for a while.
So, while we all wait to see what’s in store for Morgan and partner Detective Adam Karadec, I rounded up the next best thing: shows with the same delicious mix of mystery, comedy, and emotional depth (many also led by complicated, brilliant women).
Funny Women Solving Crimes… Accidentally or Otherwise
Poker Face
Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale, a woman with an uncanny ability to tell when someone is lying — a skill that comes in handy when she ends up on the run, solving murders of the week à la Columbo. Where to watch: Peacock
Deadloch
In a small Tasmanian town, two mismatched female detectives must solve a string of bizarre murders. Originally called Funny Broadchurch (which should tell you something), it’s feminist noir comedy at its finest — and fully unhinged in the most lovable way. Where to watch: Prime Video
Elsbeth
If you watched The Good Wife and/or The Good Fight, you’ll instantly recognize Carrie Preston’s offbeat but brilliant attorney character. (For some of us, she’ll always be dancing-frog-table interior designer Madeline Dunn from SATC.) Here, she continues to help solve crimes in her own delightfully quirky way. Where to watch: Paramount+, Prime Video, FuboTV
The Flight Attendant
Kaley Cuoco plays messy flight attendant Cassandra Bowden, who wakes up hungover in a Bangkok hotel room next to a dead body… with no recollection of what happened. Cue a global murder mystery that cleverly turns personal reckoning into a comedic thriller. Where to watch: HBO Max
Based on a True Story
Sorry, not sorry — another Cuoco series for the list! In this one, she plays a true-crime obsessed realtor named Ava Bartlett, who starts a podcast with her tennis pro husband, Nathan (Chris Messina), when they suspect their plumber of being a serial killer. Where to watch: Peacock
Mystery-Comedies That Don’t Take Themselves Too Seriously
Wild Cards
Where my fellow Grey’s fans at? Giacomo Gianniotti, aka Grey’s Dr. Andrew DeLuca, plays a demoted, by-the-book detective given a chance at redemption. The catch? He must team up with a ~spirited~ and charismatic con woman (Vanessa Morgan). Where to watch: Prime Video, FuboTV
Only Murders in the Building
Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short are the oddball neighbor trio we didn’t know we needed but now obsess over. They, too, produce a true-crime podcast as they “investigate” a series of murders in their upscale Manhattan apartment building. Where to watch: Hulu
The Afterparty
Every episode of this millennial whodunnit is told through a different character’s perspective. It’s funny, it’s inventive, and it has a truly killer (pun intended) cast: Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Ilana Glazer, Elizabeth Perkins… the list goes on. Where to watch: Apple TV+
Search Party
When a bored Brooklynite (the always amazing Alia Shawkat) becomes obsessed with a missing-person case, she ropes her equally adrift friends into a mystery that spirals into a wild series of crimes and cover-ups. It’s a sharp, surreal, satirical hipster whodunnit. Where to watch: HBO Max
The Woman in the House…
Kristen Bell plays divorcée Anna, who, heartbroken after the loss of her daughter, has become a bit of an agoraphobe. She spends her days drinking wine, watching the world from her windows, until maybe she witnesses a murder? It gets even twistier from there. Where to watch: Netflix
“Classic” (and Quirky) Case-of-the-Week Shows
Ludwig
An unlikely detective, unconventional methods, a deadpan sense of humor, and surprising heart? The gang’s all here! David Mitchell is perfection doing double-duty as a reclusive puzzle designer and DCI in this crime comedy. Where to watch: BritBox
Monk
Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk never misses a beat — despite, or maybe because of, his obsessive-compulsive disorder. He solves murders no one else can, all while battling his own fears (and sanitizing everything in sight). And much like High Potential’s Morgan, his focus on crime comes with a tragic backstory involving his spouse. Where to watch: Peacock
Psych
One could argue that Shawn Spencer’s heightened observational skills and eidetic memory, which allow him to fake being a psychic to solve crimes, could be signs of a high potential intellect. Either way, this buddy-comedy procedural is a hilarious must-watch. Where to watch: Peacock
Bones
A brilliant, socially awkward forensic anthropolgist (Emily Deschanel) and cocky, sarcastic FBI agent (David Boreanaz) form another odd-couple team in this crime procedural. Brainy woman? Check. Workplace tension? You bet. Irresistible? Yep. Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Peacock
The Mentalist
Razor-sharp observational skills once again lead to an unconventional crime-solver: a charming con man who helps the FBI while quietly hunting the serial killer who destroyed his life. Think Sherlock Holmes… with trauma and perfect hair. Where to watch: Hulu
Dramedies with Crime, Chaos, and Complicated Women
Will Trent
Special Agent Will Trent has dyslexia, a tortured past, and a knack for solving Georgia’s toughest cases. Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson, and Sonja Sohn play the smart, fierce, and complex women who make him even better. Where to watch: Hulu
Good Girls
What happens when three suburban moms — played by Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman — start robbing grocery stores and get entangled in a criminal underworld way above their pay grade? It gets interesting. (See also: “Get in the car, Elizabeth.”) Where to watch: Netflix
Rizzoli & Isles
One’s a tough Boston homicide detective. The other’s an unexpectedly glamorous medical examiner. Together, Rizzoli and Isles solve crimes… and make you wish every murder investigation came with wine and witty banter. Where to watch: Pluto
The Closer
Prepare to develop another crime-lady crush: Kyra Sedgwick is absolutely fantastic as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, who delivers twangy one-liners and gets hardened suspects to confess with equal ease. Where to watch: Peacock, Pluto
Dead to Me
Has there ever been a pair so truly weird and endearing and wonderful onscreen as tightly wound widow Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) and mysterious free spirit Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini)? This darkly funny and bingeable mystery-dramedy keeps pulling the rug out from under you in the best way. Where to watch: Netflix
