237 articles
Kaleidoscope (American TV series)
Kaleidoscope, formerly titled Jigsaw, is a 2023 Netflix crime anthology series created by Eric Garcia, starring Giancarlo Esposito as thief Leo Pap; its eight color-named episodes stream in randomized order, ending with the White heist finale.
Knight Rider (1982 TV series)
Knight Rider (1982–1986) is a Glen A. Larson NBC action series starring David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight and William Daniels as the voice of KITT, an AI black Pontiac Trans Am; four seasons, 90 episodes, multiple spin-offs.
Kojak
Kojak: CBS police drama (1973–1978) starring Telly Savalas as lollipop-sucking NYPD Lt. Theo Kojak, created by Abby Mann from the pilot movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders; Emmy and Golden Globe winner.
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (KFTLC), 1993–1997 syndicated Canadian-American action-crime drama, sequel to Kung Fu, starring David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine and Chris Potter as son Peter; 88 episodes, filmed in Toronto, cancelled with PTEN, rerun on TNT.
Law & Order
Law & Order is Dick Wolf's American crime-drama franchise, premiering on NBC September 13, 1990: bifurcated NYPD-investigation and Manhattan-prosecution episodes, spin-offs including SVU (1999), Criminal Intent, and Trial by Jury, a 2010 cancellation, and a 2022 revival.
Law & Order (franchise)
Law & Order is Dick Wolf's American TV crime-legal drama franchise, premiered 1990 on NBC, split-format police/prosecution episodes, spin-offs SVU, Criminal Intent, Organized Crime, and international adaptations in the UK, France, Russia, and Canada.
Law & Order True Crime
Law & Order True Crime is an NBC true-crime anthology series; its only season, The Menendez Murders (2017, 8 episodes, created by Rene Balcer, starring Edie Falco as Leslie Abramson), dramatized the 1989 Menendez killings and trials.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural, the second Law & Order spin-off, following NYPD Major Case Squad detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames; it ran ten seasons from 2001 to 2011 on NBC then USA Network, and spawned French, Russian, and Canadian adaptations.
Law & Order: LA
Law & Order: LA (LOLA) was a one-season NBC police procedural and legal drama spin-off of Law & Order created by Dick Wolf, set in Los Angeles; premiered September 29, 2010, creatively overhauled mid-season, and canceled May 13, 2011.
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Law & Order: Organized Crime is a serialized NBC/Peacock crime drama spin-off (2021–2025, five seasons) starring Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler of the NYPD Organized Crime Control Bureau, canceled in April 2026.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) is Dick Wolf's NBC police procedural, premiered September 1999, following NYPD detectives investigating sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence; the longest-running primetime live-action series, led by Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson, now in season 28.
Legends (TV series)
Legends (TV series) covers two unrelated crime dramas: Neil Forsyth's 2026 Netflix British series about 1990s undercover customs officers fighting heroin gangs, starring Steve Coogan and Tom Burke, and the 2014–2015 TNT spy thriller starring Sean Bean as FBI agent Martin Odum, based on Robert Littell's novel.
Leverage (American TV series)
Leverage is an American TNT crime drama (2008–2012, five seasons, 77 episodes) created by John Rogers and Chris Downey with Dean Devlin, starring Timothy Hutton as Nathan Ford leading a Robin Hood team of thieves, later revived as Leverage: Redemption (2021–2025).
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.
Line of Fire (2026 TV series)
Line of Fire (formerly Protection) is a 2026 NBC crime drama created by Joshua Safran, starring Peter Krause and Hope Davis as parents in a family of federal agents across the FBI, Marshals, Secret Service, and DOJ, airing Mondays and streaming on Peacock.
Love & Death (miniseries)
Love & Death is a 2023 HBO Max true-crime limited series by David E. Kelley starring Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery, who killed Betty Gore with an axe in 1980 Texas and was acquitted; based on Evidence of Love and Texas Monthly reporting.
Lucky (miniseries)
Lucky is a 2026 Apple TV seven-episode crime thriller limited series created by Jonathan Tropper and Cassie Pappas, adapted from Marissa Stapley's Reese's Book Club novel, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as con artist Luciana Armstrong on the run from the FBI and a crime boss.
M.I.A. (TV series)
M.I.A. is a 2026 Peacock crime drama created by Ozark's Bill Dubuque, starring Shannon Gisela as Etta Tiger Jonze, who seeks revenge after a cartel murders her drug-running family; nine episodes, canceled after one season.
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.
Major Crimes (TV series)
Major Crimes is a TNT police procedural (2012–2018), a spin-off of The Closer created by James Duff, starring Mary McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor leading the LAPD Major Crimes Division; six seasons, 105 episodes, plea-deal-driven cases.
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).
Mare of Easttown
Mare of Easttown is a 2021 HBO seven-episode limited crime drama created by Brad Ingelsby, directed by Craig Zobel, starring Kate Winslet as Delaware County detective Mare Sheehan investigating Erin McMenamin's murder; Emmy-winning, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Martial Law (TV series)
Martial Law is an American action-comedy police procedural starring Sammo Hung as a Shanghai detective in the LAPD, airing on CBS from 1998 to 2000.
Mayans M.C.
Mayans M.C. is an FX crime drama (2018–2023, five seasons, 50 episodes), a spinoff of Sons of Anarchy co-created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, following EZ Reyes (JD Pardo) of the Santo Padre charter on the California–Mexico border, distinct from the parent series through its Latino club perspective.
Mayor of Kingstown
Mayor of Kingstown is a Paramount+ crime drama co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, starring Jeremy Renner as power broker Mike McLusky in a Michigan prison town; it ran from November 14, 2021 and ends with an eight-episode fifth season premiering January 15, 2027.
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.
Memory of a Killer (TV series)
Memory of a Killer is a 2026 FOX crime thriller starring Patrick Dempsey as hitman Angelo with early-onset Alzheimer's, adapted from the Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer; renewed for a second season.