52 articles
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Burn Notice
Burn Notice is a Matt Nix-created American spy dramedy (2007-2013, USA Network, 7 seasons) starring Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a burned spy working as a Miami private investigator; 89% Tomatometer, four Emmy nominations.
Castle (TV series)
Castle (2009-2016) is an ABC crime comedy-drama created by Andrew W. Marlowe, starring Nathan Fillion as novelist Richard Castle and Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett; eight seasons, 173 episodes, canceled May 2016.
Columbo
Columbo is an American crime drama series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, an LAPD homicide detective created by Richard Levinson and William Link, known for its inverted mystery format.
Columbo (character)
Lieutenant Columbo, fictional LAPD homicide detective created by William Link and Richard Levinson in 1960, played by Peter Falk 1968-2003; inverted "howcatchem" mysteries, "Just one more thing" catchphrase, first name never revealed.
Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan is an NBC crime drama (2001-2007) created by Tim Kring, starring Jill Hennessy as Boston medical examiner Jordan Cavanaugh; six seasons, 117 episodes, canceled in 2007.
Deception (2018 TV series)
Deception (2018) is an American ABC crime drama, also called the Cameron Black series, in which magician Jack Cutmore-Scott's character consults for the FBI; 13 episodes, canceled after one season.
Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder (1993–2001) was a CBS mystery/medical crime drama starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a crime-solving physician aided by his detective son Steve, played by real-life son Barry Van Dyke; a Jake and the Fatman spin-off spanning 178 episodes, eight seasons, and five TV movies.
Einstein (American TV series)
Einstein is an upcoming CBS comedic crime procedural adapted from a German series, starring Matthew Gray Gubler as Lewis Einstein, Albert Einstein's directionless great-grandson turned police consultant.
Elementary (TV series)
Elementary (CBS, 2012-2019) is an American crime drama reimagining Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) as a recovering-addict NYPD consultant with Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu); seven seasons, 154 episodes, finale "Their Last Bow."
Elsbeth (TV series)
Elsbeth is a CBS comedy-drama procedural (premiered February 29, 2024) starring Carrie Preston as attorney Elsbeth Tascioni, spun off from The Good Wife and The Good Fight; created by Robert and Michelle King, it uses a Columbo-style inverted detective format with the NYPD's 11th Precinct.
Found (TV series)
Found (2023–2025) is an NBC crime drama created by Nkechi Okoro Carroll, starring Shanola Hampton as crisis manager Gabi Mosely, who finds overlooked missing people while secretly imprisoning her kidnapper Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar). Canceled after 35 episodes; now on Netflix.
Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick, ABC crime drama 1983–1986 by Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh; Brian Keith's retired judge and ex-con Daniel Hugh Kelly reinvestigate cases dismissed on technicalities; 66 episodes, declining ratings, 19% Tomatometer.
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart, American ABC mystery series (1979–1984) created by Sidney Sheldon, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as millionaire amateur detectives Jonathan and Jennifer Hart; five seasons, 110 episodes, eight 1993–1996 reunion movies.
High Potential
High Potential is an American crime drama on ABC starring Kaitlin Olson as a high-IQ single mother consulting for the Los Angeles police, adapted from the French series HPI.
Instinct (ИCT) (American TV series)
Instinct (CBS, 2018-2019), also known as ИCT, an American police procedural adapted from James Patterson's Murder Games, starring Alan Cumming as ex-CIA professor Dylan Reinhart; first hour-long US broadcast drama with a gay lead, canceled after two seasons.
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a Fox crime drama (2009-2011, 48 episodes, 3 seasons) starring Tim Roth as deception expert Cal Lightman, loosely based on psychologist Paul Ekman, who served as scientific advisor; its microexpression-based lie-detection premise drew later empirical criticism.
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector is a 2020 NBC crime drama based on Jeffery Deaver's novel The Bone Collector, starring Russell Hornsby and Arielle Kebbel.
Magnum P.I. (2018 TV series)
Magnum P.I. (2018) is a CBS action crime drama reboot developed by Peter M. Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim, starring Jay Hernandez as Navy SEAL-turned-Hawaii PI Thomas Magnum with Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins; four CBS seasons, then a final NBC season.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.: American crime drama created by Donald P. Bellisario, starring Tom Selleck as private investigator Thomas Magnum on Oahu, CBS 1980–1988, 162 episodes; rebooted 2018 with Jay Hernandez on CBS, later NBC.
Mannix
Mannix, CBS detective series 1967–1975 starring Mike Connors as Armenian-American PI Joe Mannix; created by Levinson and Link, 8 seasons, 194 episodes, Intertect season 1 then solo with Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher).
McCloud (TV series)
McCloud is an American police drama television series broadcast on NBC from 1970 to 1977, starring Dennis Weaver as a New Mexico marshal in New York City.
McMillan & Wife
McMillan & Wife is an NBC police procedural (1971–1977), also known as McMillan in its final season, starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James as a crime-solving San Francisco police commissioner and his wife on the NBC Mystery Movie wheel.
Monk (TV series)
Monk (2002–2009) is an American comedy-drama mystery series starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, an OCD-afflicted former SFPD detective consulting for police. 125 episodes, eight Emmys, USA Network premiere, Peacock and Hallmark Mystery availability.
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American comedy-drama detective series created by Glenn Gordon Caron, airing on ABC 1985–1989, starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis as Blue Moon Detective Agency partners, known for fourth-wall breaks and Emmy-winning dramedy.