Crime TV Shows

Crime is the genre television was practically built for. The case-of-the-week structure is a perfect engine: a mystery opened and closed in forty-two minutes, anchored by a team you come to know like coworkers. The greats layer something more underneath — long-running character arcs, moral gray zones, and the slow accumulation of trust that makes a tenth season feel like home.

The pillars of the form are all here. NCIS and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are two of the longest-running scripted dramas in American TV history for a reason, while Criminal Minds made behavioral profiling a household concept. Rankings follow our quality score, which rewards series that hold up across hundreds of episodes, and the recently premiered section flags new investigations as they open.

With this much procedural to get through, let Eris keep the case file: subscribe for new-episode alerts, episode-level progress tracking, and a calendar of upcoming air dates.

Top Rated Crime Shows

NCIS poster
External Rating100%

NCIS

2003

Bones poster
External Rating100%

Bones

2005

Criminal Minds poster
External Rating100%

Criminal Minds

2005

Monk poster
External Rating98%

Monk

2002

CSI: Miami poster
External Rating98%

CSI: Miami

2002

Breaking Bad poster
External Rating100%

Breaking Bad

2008

Murdoch Mysteries poster
External Rating100%

Murdoch Mysteries

2008

Deadwood poster
External Rating98%

Deadwood

2004

The First 48 poster
External Rating98%

The First 48

2004

Dexter poster
External Rating99%

Dexter

2006

The Mentalist poster
External Rating100%

The Mentalist

2008

The Shield poster
External Rating97%

The Shield

2002

CSI: NY poster
External Rating98%

CSI: NY

2004

Crossing Jordan poster
External Rating97%

Crossing Jordan

2001

The Wire poster
External Rating97%

The Wire

2002

Burn Notice poster
External Rating99%

Burn Notice

2007

The Closer poster
External Rating98%

The Closer

2005

Weeds poster
External Rating98%

Weeds

2005

Psych poster
External Rating98%

Psych

2006

Flashpoint poster
External Rating99%

Flashpoint

2008

Snapped poster
External Rating97%

Snapped

2004

Recently Premiered