Show premise: Will Gordan Ramsey clean up his language and attitude when a group of kids compete to be MasterChef?!
Try: Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games for the darker side of children competing against one another (it involves food too!). For a more realistic choice Kathyrn Williams's Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous follows a 16-year-old who competes in a reality show cooking contest for teens.
If you are watching The Blacklist …
Show premise: One of the men on the FBI's Most Wanted List strikes a deal to help them find other people on the list if he is given mercy.
Try: Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs, where a serial killer is used to track another serial killer.
Show premise: The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division attempts to fight nefarious organizations while finding and understanding people who develop superpowers.
Try: Jonathan Hickman's ambitious S.H.I.E.L.D. : Architects of Forever which imagines famous historical figures such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo as members of the cult organization.
Show premise: The odd couple trope gets yet another makeover as a laid-back detective and his strict captain work together to solve crimes in New York.
Try: Chris Grabenstein's Tilt A Whirl pairs together former military policeman John Ceepak with girl-crazy part-time cop Danny Boyle as they attempt to solve a high-profile murder during a Jersey Shore summer.
If you are watching The Michael J. Fox Show …
Show premise: After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Mike Henry had to give up his career as a news anchor and focus on his health and his family. Five years later, Mike decides to get back to work and struggles between family and career.
Try: Tough to find a book that hits upon the right sense of comedy and tone. Perhaps David Sedaris's Naked to try and match the dry humor, family situations, and comedic take on living with a disorder.
If you are watching Almost Human …
Show premise: In the not-so-distant future, human cops are paired together with incredibly realistic android partners to fight crime.
Try: Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel, his response to the suggestion that science fiction and mystery stories were mutually exclusive ideas. The story pairs together a human detective and android cop to try and solve a high-profile murder. Also Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the inspiration for the movie Blade Runner), where a bounty hunter tracks down rogue androids while musing about their ability to feel human empathy.
If you are watching The Crazy Ones …
Show premise: A zany father with good-intentions runs an ad agency in Chicago with his more straight-laced daughter.
Try: Joshua Ferris's Then We Came to the End about the employees and office dynamics of an ad agency in downtown Chicago. Also Matt Beaumont's E: A Novel about a British ad agency with tons of misadventures in a desperate attempt to win a contract with Coca Cola.
