237 articles
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street: Fox police drama (1987–1991, 103 episodes) by Hasburgh and Cannell about undercover young-looking cops in schools, starring Johnny Depp; basis for the 2012 and 2014 Lord-Miller comedy films with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip: American ABC private-detective series, 1958–1964, six seasons, created by Roy Huggins, starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes as Kookie; spawned Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, and Bourbon Street Beat.
9-1-1 (franchise)
9-1-1 franchise: American first-responder drama universe by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Tim Minear; original 9-1-1 (Fox 2018, ABC since 2024), spinoffs 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020-2025) and 9-1-1: Nashville (2025).
9-1-1 (TV series)
9-1-1: American procedural drama by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear following LA first responders, police, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers. Premiered on Fox January 2, 2018; moved to ABC for season 7; ten seasons, 146 episodes, with Lone Star and Nashville spinoffs.
A Murder at the End of the World
A Murder at the End of the World is a 2023 seven-episode FX/Hulu mystery limited series by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, starring Emma Corrin as hacker-sleuth Darby Hart investigating a murder at tech billionaire Andy Ronson's (Clive Owen) Icelandic retreat.
Accused (2023 TV series)
Accused (2023 TV series): American Fox crime anthology developed by Howard Gordon from Jimmy McGovern's 2010 BBC series; 15-episode season 1 premiered January 22, 2023; each episode opens in a courtroom on a defendant, told from the defendant's point of view; renewed for an eight-episode season 2 in 2024.
Adam-12
Adam-12 is an NBC police procedural (1968-1975, 174 episodes) created by Jack Webb and Robert A. Cinader, starring Martin Milner and Kent McCord as LAPD patrol officers in unit 1-Adam-12, praised by real officers for realism.
Alaska Daily
Alaska Daily (ABC, 2022-2023) is an American crime drama created by Tom McCarthy, starring Hilary Swank as disgraced journalist Eileen Fitzgerald investigating missing and murdered Indigenous women in Anchorage; canceled after one 11-episode season in May 2023.
Alcatraz (TV series)
Alcatraz (2012) was a Fox science fiction drama executive produced by J.J. Abrams, created by Sarnoff, Lilien and Wynbrandt, in which 302 prisoners and guards who vanished from Alcatraz in 1963 reappear unaged in San Francisco; 13 episodes, canceled May 2012.
Almost Paradise (TV series)
Almost Paradise is an American crime drama by Dean Devlin and Gary Rosen starring Christian Kane as ex-DEA agent Alex Walker in Cebu; the first US series filmed entirely in the Philippines, two seasons (WGN America 2020, Freevee 2023), cancelled April 2025.
American Crime (TV series)
American Crime is ABC's anthology crime drama (2015–2017) created by John Ridley, with Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, and Regina King; three independent seasons, two Emmy wins for King, canceled over low ratings. Not FX's American Crime Story.
American Hostage (TV series)
American Hostage is a 2026 MGM+ psychological true-crime anthology thriller created by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers, based on a 2022 scripted podcast, dramatizing the real 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis in which Tony Kiritsis abducted Dick Hall; Jon Hamm plays radio reporter Fred Heckman.
Animal Kingdom (TV series)
Animal Kingdom is an American TNT crime drama (2016–2022), adapted from David Michôd's 2010 Australian film, about 17-year-old J Cody joining his criminal grandmother Smurf (Ellen Barkin) and her sons in Oceanside, California; six seasons, 75 episodes, renewed final season 2021.
APB (TV series)
APB is a 2017 Fox crime drama, created by Matt Nix and David Slack, in which billionaire engineer Gideon Reeves (Justin Kirk) privatizes Chicago's 13th police district with drones and a crime-reporting app; cancelled after one 12-episode season.
Awake (TV series)
Awake (NBC, 2012) is a crime drama created by Kyle Killen starring Jason Isaacs as detective Michael Britten, who alternates between two realities after a car crash, one with his wife alive and one with his son alive; 13 episodes, canceled in May 2012.
Banacek
Banacek is an American crime-drama television series that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974, starring George Peppard as a Polish-American insurance investigator in Boston who recovers seemingly impossible thefts.
Banshee (TV series)
Banshee (Cinemax, 2013–2016) is an American action crime drama created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, starring Antony Starr as ex-con thief Lucas Hood posing as a Pennsylvania sheriff; four seasons, 90% Rotten Tomatoes.
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones (神威勇探), CBS private-eye series 1973–1980 starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether; a Quinn Martin 'old Columbo' with a milk-drinking elderly detective, 178 episodes, Cannon crossovers.
Baywatch Nights
Baywatch Nights: 1995-1997 syndicated spin-off of Baywatch starring David Hasselhoff as lifeguard-turned-private-investigator Mitch Buchannon; 44 episodes over two seasons, pivoting from detective stories to X-Files-style supernatural cases in season 2.
Berlin Station (TV series)
Berlin Station is an American EPIX espionage drama (2016-2019) created by Olen Steinhauer, starring Richard Armitage, Rhys Ifans, and Richard Jenkins as CIA officers in Berlin hunting a whistleblower, Thomas Shaw, across three seasons and 29 episodes.
Big Sky (American TV series)
Big Sky, ABC crime drama (2020–2023) created by David E. Kelley from C.J. Box's The Highway and The Bitterroots; 47 episodes, three seasons, starring Kylie Bunbury and Katheryn Winnick, canceled after season 3, streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
Black Bird (miniseries)
Black Bird is a 2022 six-episode Apple TV+ true-crime limited series created by Dennis Lehane from James Keene's memoir In With the Devil, starring Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ray Liotta; Hauser won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
Blindspot (TV series)
Blindspot is an American crime drama created by Martin Gero that aired on NBC from 2015 to 2020, following an amnesiac, tattooed woman known as Jane Doe.
BMF (TV series)
BMF (Black Mafia Family) is a Starz crime drama created by Randy Huggins and executive produced by 50 Cent, airing 2021–2025 over four seasons and 38 episodes about Detroit's Flenory brothers; cancelled October 2025.
Boardwalk Empire
Boardwalk Empire: HBO crime drama (2010–2014, five seasons, 56 episodes) created by Terence Winter, starring Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, based on Nelson Johnson's Atlantic City book, with a Martin Scorsese-directed pilot and 20 Emmys.
Bones (TV series)
Bones, Fox crime drama created by Hart Hanson (2005–2017, 12 seasons, 246 episodes), stars Emily Deschanel as forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and David Boreanaz as FBI agent Seeley Booth; inspired by Kathy Reichs, originally titled Brennan.
Bosch (TV series)
Bosch is an Amazon Prime Video police procedural (2014-2021, seven seasons) adapted from Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels, starring Titus Welliver, developed by Eric Overmyer, continued in Bosch: Legacy and Ballard.
Bosch: Legacy
Bosch: Legacy is the American crime drama sequel to Bosch, starring Titus Welliver as retired detective Harry Bosch turned PI alongside Mimi Rogers and Madison Lintz; three seasons, 30 episodes, streamed on IMDb TV, Freevee, and Prime Video from May 2022 to April 2025.
Boston Blue
Boston Blue is a CBS police procedural spinoff of Blue Bloods (2025–), starring Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan, now a Boston PD detective partnered with Sonequa Martin-Green's Detective Lena Silver of the law-enforcement Silver family; created by the Brandons, renewed for a second season premiering October 9, 2026.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad, AMC crime drama created by Vince Gilligan (2008–2013, 5 seasons, 62 episodes), follows chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) turned meth kingpin; 16 Emmys, two Peabody Awards, prequel Better Call Saul and film El Camino.