Top 50 Crime TV Shows, Ranked
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Hannibal.Since the first US TV crime show — “Man Against Crime” — was broadcast in 1949, viewers can’t seem to get enough of watching shows about crime, criminals and law enforcement.
Popular culture site Vulture posited that Americans love crime because it “blows up our regular lives” and allows us to secretly wonder “What if?” There’s an element of escapism in a good crime show.
Some of the most popular, award-winning TV series in recent years have revolved around crime or criminals, such as “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad” or “Dexter,” and each show has its own legion of loyal fans. Much-watched TV crime series range from fantasy and sci-fi themes, such as “Fringe”, “Death Note,” “Marvel’s Daredevil” or “Lucifer,” to gritty police and law procedurals, such as “The Shield,” “The Wire” or “Law & Order.”
There are also true crime shows, including “American Crime Story”. On occasion, American TV reaches overseas to borrow popular crime shows from other countries, most notably England’s “Sherlock” or “Luther.”
Here's our list of 50 of the top popular TV crime shows. We based the list on popularity ratings from IMDB, the most popular online database of film and television.
50. The Blacklist
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Network: NBC
Years Running: 2013 - present
IMDb Score: 8.0/10
“The Blacklist” focuses on an ex-government agent named Raymond “Red” Reddington who has been one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives for decades.
He surrenders to the FBI and works with the agency to bring down criminals and terrorists whose existence isn’t even officially known.
“The Blacklist” has won two awards, one of them an Emmy.
49: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
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Network: NBC
Years Running: 1999 - present
IMDb Score: 8.0/10
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU)” is one of the longest-running police and legal procedural shows on television. The show focuses on a Special Victims Unit that investigates and prosecutes sexually-based crimes. The series has won 54 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
48. Bates Motel
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Network: A&E
Years Running: 2013 - 2017
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Bates Motel” tells the story of Norman Bates during his teenage years and focuses on his dysfunctional relationship with his mother. Bates is the serial killer in Alfred Hitchcock’s famous movie, “Psycho.” The series won six awards, including Leo and People’s Choice.
47. Criminal Minds
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Network: CBS
Years Running: 2005 - 2020
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Criminal Minds” focuses on a team of FBI criminal profilers who investigate serial killers.
The series won 23 awards, including People’s Choice and BMI Film & TV.
46. Dirty Money
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2018 - present
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Dirty Money” is an investigative documentary series that examines greed, corruption and crime in the business world. The director, Alex Gibney, also made the documentary, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.”
45. How To Get Away With Murder
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Network: ABC
Years Running: 2014 - 2020
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“How To Get Away With Murder” focuses on a group of law students and their criminal defense professor who are caught up in a murder plot. The series won 16 awards, including Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
44. Manhunt
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Network: Discovery
Years Running: 2017 - present
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Manhunt” is a true crime anthology series that follows how an FBI profiler tracked down the infamous Unabomber. The series is a dramatized retelling of the story, using actors.
43. Orange Is the New Black
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2013 - 2019
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Orange is the New Black” is a comedic drama series set in a female prison. New York socialite Piper Chapman is convicted of an old crime of transporting drugs and sentenced to 18 months in jail. The series won 51 awards, including Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
42. Ripper Street
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Network: BBC
Years Running: 2012 - 2016
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
“Ripper Street” is set in London’s Whitechapel district in 1889, shortly after Jack the Ripper terrorized the city with a series of horrific killings. The show follows Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team of policemen as they investigate crimes. The show won 10 awards, including multiple BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television Awards) awards.
41. American Vandal
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - 2018
IMDb Score: 8.2/10
“American Vandal” is a true-crime satire that explores a high school prank that damaged 27 cars. Students in the school investigate the crime to determine the real culprit. The series won a Peabody and two other awards.
40. Get Shorty
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Network: EPIX
Years Running: 2017 - present
IMDb Score: 8.2/10
“Get Shorty” is based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name. The comedic series follows a mobster who moves to Hollywood to become a movie producer and launder money through films.
39. Lucifer
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Network: Fox (Seasons 1-3) /Netflix (Seasons 4-5)
Years Running: 2016 - present
IMDb Score: 8.2/10
“Lucifer” is a fantasy crime show about the Devil (Lucifer) deciding to retire and live in Los Angeles. He partners with an LAPD detective to solve crimes, while running a popular nightclub. The series has been nominated for ten awards, including sci-fi’s Dragon Awards.
38. Wild Wild Country
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2018
IMDb Score: 8.2/10
“Wild Wild Country” is a documentary mini series about the controversial cult leader, Osho, and the commune he and his followers built in rural Oregon. As tension mounted between local people and commune inhabitants, a number of Osha’s followers were charged with illegal weapon possession and attempted murder. The series won an Emmy award and was nominated for 13 other awards.
37. Homeland
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Network: Showtime
Years Running: 2011 - 2020
IMDb Score: 8.3/10
“Homeland” is about a CIA officer with bipolar disorder who struggles to balance her dangerous job tracking terrorists with her mental condition and a chaotic personal life. “Homeland” won 60 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
36. American Crime Story
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Network: FX
Years Running: 2016 - present
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“American Crime Story” is a real-life anthology series based on some of America’s most notorious crimes and criminals. The series has won 93 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
35. Broadchurch
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Network: BBC America
Years Running: 2013 - 2017
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Broadchurch” is an English series about the investigation into the death of a young boy in a small seaside resort town. An unpopular detective from outside the town is brought in to solve the crime. The series won 24 awards, including several BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television Award) awards.
34. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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Network: Fox/NBC
Years Running: 2013 - present
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is a sitcom about a group of detectives in New York City’s 99th precinct. The show focuses on Detective Jake Peralta who has to lift his game and his slack habits when the station gets a new boss. The series has won 12 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
33. Fringe
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Network: Fox
Years Running: 2008 - 2013
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Fringe” focuses on an FBI agent, Olivia Dunham, and her partnership with a brilliant but mentally unstable scientist, Dr. Walter Bishop, and his estranged son, Peter. Together, the trio investigate strange crimes and bizarre phenomena. The series won 18 awards, including Emmys.
32. Money Heist
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - present
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Money Heist” is a Spanish series (dubbed in English) that tells the story of a mysterious man called The Professor who assembles a team of eight desperate criminals to steal billions of Euros from the Royal Spanish MInt. “Money Heist” has won 28 European television awards.
31. Ozark
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - present
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Ozark” is about a financial advisor who moves with his family from Chicago to a resort community in the Missouri Ozark Mountains. He must launder money to protect his family from a drug boss. “Ozark” has won 12 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
30. Person of Interest
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Network: CBS
Years Running: 2011 - 2016
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
“Person of Interest” is about a reclusive software billionaire who has developed a program that can predict when someone is about to become the target of a crime. He recruits an ex-CIA agent to help him stop these crimes from happening. The series won nine awards, including People’s Choice.
29. Unbelievable
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2019
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
In the mini-series “Unbelievable”, when a teenage girl makes an accusation of rape and then recants, she is charged with lying. Two female detectives are assigned to the case to determine if the girl is lying or telling the truth. The show won five awards, including an Emmy and Golden Globe.
28. Big Little Lies
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Network: HBO
Years Running: 2017 - 2019
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
“Big Little Lies” is a mini-series about the lives and connections of three women with seemingly perfect lives who become caught up in a murder investigation. The series won 54 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
27. Boardwalk Empire
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Network: HBO
Years Running: 2010 - 2014
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
“Boardwalk Empire” is set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition Era and follows Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the political boss and gangster who ran the town. The series is based on the non-fiction book “Boardwalk Empire” by Nelson Johnson. “Boardwalk Empire” won 62 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
26. Hannibal
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Network: NBC
Years Running: 2013 - 2015
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
"Hannibal” is about an FBI agent and criminal profiler, Will Graham, who teams up with respected psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (before “Silence of the Lambs”) to solve serial murders. The series is based on characters in the novels about Lecter by Thomas Harris. “Hannibal” won 23 awards, including an Emmy.
25. Luther
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Network: BBC One
Years Running: 2010 - 2019
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
“Luther” follows a brilliant English detective, John Luther, who investigates high-profile murders in London. His methods are unorthodox and he has a troubled personal life, which together often bring him into conflict with his superiors. The series has won 14 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
24. Marvel’s The Punisher
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - 2019
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
“Marvel’s The Punisher,” based on the comic book character, is a former Marine who becomes a vigilante called “The Punisher” after his family is murdered. The show won an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film award and was nominated for an Emmy.
23. Sons of Anarchy
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Network: FX
Years Running: 2008 - 2014
IMDb Score: 8.5/10
“Sons of Anarchy” is about an outlaw motorcycle gang in California that earns money from gun running and tries to protect their town from rival gangs. The series won 11 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
22. Dexter
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Network: Showtime
Years Running: 2006 - 2013
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Dexter” is a series about a forensic blood-splatter expert who turns vigilante to track down serial killers who have escaped justice. “Dexter” won 53 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
21. Justified
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Network: FX
Years Running: 2010 - 2015
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Justified” follows the exploits of US Marshal Raylan Givens as he enforces the law in rural Kentucky. The series is based on a short story by crime writer Elmore Leonard called “Fire in the Hole.” “Justified” won 10 awards, including several Emmys.
20. Making a Murderer
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2015 - 2018
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Making a Murderer” is a true crime series that was filmed over 10 years. The story follows a man who is cleared of one crime through DNA analysis, exposing police corruption in the process, only to find himself accused of a second murder. The show won 13 awards, including multiple Emmys.
19. Marvel’s Daredevil
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2015 - 2018
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Marvel’s Daredevil” is based on the comic character Daredevil. By day, he is a blind lawyer and by night he is a crime-fighting superhero with heightened senses. The series won 10 awards, including Emmys and Screen Actor Guild.
18. Mindhunter
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - present
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Mindhunter” is set in the 1970s and follows two FBI agents who work in the Serial Crime Unit. The agents interview serial killers in an attempt to close unsolved homicides and establish a new science of psychological profiling. “Mindhunter” has won four awards, including two Emmys.
17. Mr. Robot
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Network: USA
Years Running: 2015 - 2019
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
“Mr. Robot” is about a young programmer, named Elliot Alderson, who has an anxiety disorder that renders him anti-social. He connects with people by hacking them. Elliot works for a large cybersecurity firm. He is recruited by a shadowy group of hackers (‘fsociety’) and their head, Mr. Robot, to take down Elliot’s employers, who are corrupt. “Mr. Robot” won 21 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
16. Wentworth
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Network: Channel 5
Years Running: 2013 - present
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
"Wentworth” is an Australian drama set in a female prison. Bea Smith is in jail, awaiting trial for the attempted murder of her husband and must learn to cope with prison life. The series has won 18 awards, including Logie Awards.
15. Better Call Saul
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Network: AMC
Years Running: 2015 - present
IMDb Score: 8.7/10
“Better Call Saul” is a spin-off series from the hit crime show, “Breaking Bad.” The series is set six years before Saul Goodman, the hero, became Walter White’s criminal lawyer. Saul is still known by his former name, Jimmy McGill, in the series. “Better Call Saul” won 29 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
14. The Boys
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Network: Amazon
Years Running: 2019 - present
IMDb Score: 8.7/10
“The Boys” follows a gang of vigilantes who fight back against corrupt superheros who commit crimes. The group consists of ordinary humans, not superheroes, who fight dirty to stop the more-than-human villains.
13. House of Cards
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2013 - 2018
IMDb Score: 8.7/10
“House of Cards” is a political crime series about a ruthless and ambitious politician and his wife who set out to revenge themselves on people who betrayed them and to use any means necessary, including criminal activity, to reach the White House. The series won 34 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
12. The Shield
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Network: FX
Years Running: 2002 - 2008
IMDb Score: 8.7/10
“The Shield” focuses on a corrupt and ruthless cop who runs an elite unit inside the Los Angeles Police Department. The series won 15 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
11. Dark
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2017 - 2020
IMDb Score: 8.8/10
“Dark” is a crime drama with a supernatural theme from Germany. When two children go missing in a small town, the investigation reveals numerous secrets and double lives in the families involved. The show won several German television awards.
10. Forensic Files
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Network: TLC
Years Running: 1996 - 2011
IMDb Score: 8.8/10
“Forensic Files” is a true-crime drama series. The show highlights not just crimes, but also accidents and disease outbreaks around the world and how forensic science was used to solve these real-life cases. The series was the longest-running true crime show on TV.
9. Narcos
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2015 - 2017
IMDb Score: 8.8/10
“Narcos” is a docu-drama about the efforts of Colombian law enforcement to bring down drug cartels in the 1980s and convict kingpins like Pablo Escabar. The show is based on real crime stories. “Narcos” won eight awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
8. Peaky Blinders
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Network: Netflix
Years Running: 2013 - present
IMDb Score: 8.8/10
“Peaky Blinders” is an English series set in 1919 in the city of Birmingham, and features a criminal gang that sews razor blades into the rims of their caps, hence the title. Crime boss Tommy Shelby runs the gang and seeks to rise into high society. The series is based on a real gang that operated in England in the 1920s. The show has won 17 awards, including BAFTAs (British Academy of Film & Television Arts).
7. Fargo
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Network: FX
Years Running: 2014 - present
IMDb Score: 8.9/10
“Fargo” is inspired by and loosely based on the 1996 film of the same name by the Cohen brothers about police in the small town of Fargo, North Dakota, solving a series of murders. Each season of “Fargo” is a self-contained anthology set in a different era, involving crime or murder, in and around Minnesota. The show has received 59 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
6. Death Note
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Network: Cartoon Network
Years Running: 2006 - 2007
IMDb Score: 9.0/10
“Death Note” is an animated series about a high school student, Light Yagami, who discovers a strange notebook that causes the death of anyone whose name is written inside. He begins to use it to wipe out criminals, and a detective begins to investigate the deaths. The series won several anime awards.
5. True Detective
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Network: HBO
Years Running: 2014 - present
IMDb Score: 9.0/10
“True Detective” is an anthology crime drama that jumps across timelines to focus on a different era each season. The series has won 30 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
4. Sherlock
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Network: BBC One
Years Running: 2010 - 2017
IMDb Score: 9.1/10
“Sherlock” is a modern remake of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle mystery stories about the consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. This English series puts Sherlock in the present day, with Dr. Watson being an Afghan war veteran and Inspector Lastrade working for New Scotland Yard. Sherlock and Watson solve mysteries in modern-day London. The series won 89 awards, including Golden Globes and Emmys.
3. The Sopranos
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Network: HBO
Years Running: 1999 - 2007
IMDb Score: 9.2/10
“The Sopranos” is a series about an Italian-American mob boss, Tony Soprano, and his dual life as a crime boss and family man. The series is famous for depicting Tony’s on-going therapy with a psychiatrist. “The Sopranos” won 120 awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.
2. The Wire
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Network: HBO
Years Running: 2002 - 2008
IMDb Score: 9.3/10
“The Wire” is a gritty crime drama that focuses on a narcotics unit in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The action of the show moves back and forth from the police and detectives to the criminals. “The Wire” won 16 awards, including multiple Emmys.
1. Breaking Bad
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Network: AMC
Years Running: 2008 - 2013
IMDb Score: 9.5/10
In “Breaking Bad”, mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, discovers he has terminal cancer and is given two years to live. Worried for his family’s financial future, he uses his chemistry knowledge to begin manufacturing(and selling) the drug meth (methamphetamine). White teams up with one of his former students and becomes a successful player in the illegal drug world. The series won 153 awards, including Golden Globes and Emmys.