Crime dramas aren’t just cop procedurals. And they’re not just courtroom dramas with lawyers yelling over each other. In fact, there’s a whole genre of shows (cop dramas included) about crime, corruption, race, class, and just about all the other moral questions we ask ourselves about what’s right and what’s wrong.
And what separates a good crime show from a great one isn’t just the ingenious manner in which the writers reveal the crime, or how much it stretches the bounds of what makes a cop show a cop show. It’s the different ways the television medium can take something as broad as the catch-all terms mystery and intrigue and create suspenseful heist shows, and gripping procedurals, and biting comedies that do more than rehash the constant crime-of-the-week format network, cable, and even streaming shows can often fall into. And even if the show does end up doing a more weekly, standalone, repetitive format, it never gets old to a loving audience.
So despite all the crime shows out there, it’s not too hard to make a best crime drama list. Too many shows fall into the trap of predictable storytelling, a cast rotating so many times their characters lose their emotional connection to the audience, or shows go on for far too long (or are much too short). Still, we undoubtedly missed a few hidden gems, or seemingly obvious choices, so we should note: this list isn’t the be all end all, and it certainly isn’t a permanent, unfixed canon. But if you’re looking for some of the best modern storytelling on television, on cable, and on streaming, here are the 50 best crime dramas we’ve found.
Read More: Best Heist Movies, Best Detective Movies
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Ever wonder what would happen if suburban moms resorted to crime to make ends meet? That’s the premise of Good Girls, the popular NBC show starring Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman as three mothers who rob a grocery store and begin money laundering, only to realize they’ve encroached on the turf of a crime boss.
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Cillian Murphy stars in this gritty historical crime drama set in Birmingham, England post World War I. The show’s served as breakout roles for various cast members, and catapulted Cillian Murphy to even more fame. After the show’s final season, there’s also reportedly a movie in the works.
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A mainstay of primetime cable television for decades, Law and Order: SVU began as a spinoff of the popular (and equally notable) Law and Order, but quickly became a pillar of American crime television. Starring Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and a rotating cast of cops and attorneys, Law and Order: SVU is quintessential crime drama.
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Hidden in the depths of Netflix’s algorithm are some of the best international crime dramas out there, including Babylon Berlin. Based on a book series, the show is set in 1930s Berlin and follows Gereon Rath, a detective who transfers into the city for a case, but quickly finds himself wrapped up in the corruption and crime of Berlin.
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It wouldn’t be a crime drama list without one of the most popular crime shows of the 2000’s. Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston as a high school science teacher who learns he has cancer. To leave his family money after his death, he quits his job, recruits a former student (Aaron Paul), and slowly morphs into a villainous drug lord.
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A spin-off of Breaking Bad which became equally popular, Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk. In Breaking Bad, he’s a slimy lawyer who gets the worst of the worst out of the law. But Better Call Saul is a prequel of the character who is equal parts comic and tragic. And in fact, it’s so well done that some even love it more than Breaking Bad.
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The best crime shows don’t always have police on the right side of things. The Shield, loosely based on a real-life Los Angeles corruption scandal, follows the anti-gang unit in the Los Angeles Police Department and the various corrupt tactics they use to coerce witnesses, plant false evidence, and more.
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This Western crime series stars Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. Marshal in Kentucky, where he sets out to rid Harlan County of crime, whatever means necessary. Olyphant’s character is like a archetypal Western figure set in modern times, even quick-drawing his adversaries when needed.
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One of the most popular crime shows of all time (and arguably the best), The Wire focuses on the city of Baltimore and its law enforcement. With each new season, a different aspect of the local government and illegal acts are explored, including the school system, the illegal drug trade, and the newspapers. The show served as major breakout roles for Idris Elba and Michael K. Williams, and cemented David Simon as a strong television writer.
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It’s also not a crime drama list without The Sopranos. Easily one of HBO’s best shows of all time, The Sopranos ran for six seasons and detailed the life of Tony Soprano, an Italian-American mob boss who lives with his family in New Jersey. Throughout the series, we watch as Tony struggles to balance his job, his family, and his therapy sessions. James Gandolfini cemented himself as an incredible actor through his leading role on the show, and without a doubt the show left an indelible mark on prestige television for decades to come.
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One of Netflix’s hit shows, Ozark stars Jason Bateman as Marty, a financial advisor whose money laundering goes wrong, forcing him to relocate his family to the Ozarks in Missouri to make amends with a cartel he’s wronged. In addition to Bateman’s performance, actress Julia Garner (of recent Inventing Anna fame) is a notable breakout star of the show.
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Starting off our anthology section of the list is True Detective, which follows a new set of detectives each season who are pushed to their limits in their desperation to solve a case. The first season stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives race to solve a string of murders in the 90s.
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Starring Bill Pullman, The Sinner is an anthology series about a police detective who attempts to uncover the motivations of unlikely culprits. Pullman is the only recurring character in the series, and each season is a brand new case separate for the others. If you like a procedural drama with suspense lasting more than one episode, The Sinner could be for you.
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A short, yet critically acclaimed series, American Crime stars Regina King, Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, and others who play different characters each season in this anthology show. The three stories in American Crime are dark and poignant, touching on modern day crimes and the race, class, and gender politics involved in the three emotional trials.
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Next up in critically acclaimed crime anthologies is Fargo, a spin-off show in a similar vein to the original Coen brothers film starring Frances MacDormand. Each season is only loosely tied together, and covers various crimes throughout the (fictional) history of the midwest.
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Not to be confused with the popular horror anthology series American Horror Story, our final anthology series on the list is American Crime Story. The show reenacts the events of a famous crime. So far, the series has covered the OJ Simpson trial, the Gianni Versace assassination, and the Bill Clinton impeachment trial.
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A critically-acclaimed horror series with a major following, Hannibal stars Hugh Dancy as a FBI profiler and Mads Mikkelsen as forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who is secretly a cannibal and serial killer. It’s an incredible cat and mouse game, and one of the goriest shows on cable television in recent memory.
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And speaking of gore and secret serial killers, Dexter is next up on the list. Despite its universally hated original ending (later amended in its recent sequel miniseries Dexter: New Blood), Dexter in its original run was a cultural phenomenon, and part of the 2000’s slate of popular television (like Breaking Bad), where audiences watched morally grey characters trying to justify their increasingly questionable antics. Michael C. Hall stars as Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who works as a blood splatter analyst at the Miami Metro Police Department. To satisfy his urges and stay a decent person, Dexter swears to only kill people who deserve it. Of course, that gets difficult when people begin to notice criminals, or even seemingly innocent people mysteriously going missing. Even if you don’t make it to the controversial ending, it’s hard to deny the show’s impact.
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In this mystery-crime show, Kaley Cuoco plays Cassie Bowden, a flight attendant who wakes up after a night of heavy drinking and finds a dead body laying next to her. Unable to recall the events of the night before, she has to cover up her connection to the crime, while discovering who actually killed the man she woke up with.
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Originally planned as a mini-series, this HBO drama drew enough fanfare to call for a final second season. Based on Liane Moriarty’s book of the same name, Big Little Lies is about five women in the affluent Monterey, California who become involved in a murder investigation. The show features a stacked cast, including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz as the frazzled mothers who have to come to each other’s aid.
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HBO has taken many stabs at the small town murder mystery genre, and while most of them are pretty good, Mare of Easttown might just be the best. In this (for now) limited series, we head to the faraway, mystical land of “outside Philly,” where a detective played by Kate Winslet—the titular Mare—investigates a disturbing murder. Winslet plays her character with an air of disinterest that really works in this genre, and it helps that she and the show can be pretty dryly funny too. The cast is also fairly stacked: Jean Smart, Evan Peters, Guy Pearce, and Julianne Nicholson are among several other standout performers. You’ll want to binge every episode in short order—and then go grab a WaWa hoagie when you’re done.
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Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s book of the same name (the author is also known for Gone Girl), Sharp Objects stars Amy Adams as an emotionally damaged reporter named Camille Preaker who returns to her hometown to look into the murder of two young girls. While she looks into the killings, Camille finds her resolve tested as she lives with her overbearing mother, and has to face her dark and traumatizing past.
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Although this miniseries teetered off toward its end, with pacing and problems integrating the science-fiction element at the heart of the show, The Outsider has a strong start, particularly with help from Jason Bateman and Cynthia Ervo’s performances. Based on a Stephen King novel, the show concerns the murder of a young boy, the family’s emotional fallout, and the detectives who are determined to solve the case.
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Despite only having two seasons, Mindhunter deserves a spot in best crime dramas for its cast’s performances, plus David Fincher’s direction, as he had a hand in various aspects of the show’s production. Mindhunter stars Jonathan Groff, Anna Torv, and Holt McCallany as characters who work in the FBI’s Behavorial Science Unit to popularize criminal profiling in the agency. Fans of Criminal Minds (which primarily uses this method to catch its killers) will enjoy the show.
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For a procedural crime drama about catching just serial killers, Criminal Minds is it. Spanning 15 seasons and with a mostly regular cast, the show was a CBS mainstay for years until its cancellation in 2020. Much like other procedurals, the “killer of the week” format is often supplemented with season-long storylines of the main cast.
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Set in 1980’s Los Angeles, Snowfall covers the crack epidemic as it sweeps the city. The show follows several characters on either side of the law. It also served as the breakout role for Damson Idris, who plays young drug kingpin Franklin Saint.
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If you want a little humor (OK, kind of a lot) with your crime drama, HBO’s Barry—which just wrapped up its third season and has a fourth on the way—is the show for you. Bill Hader is never less than excellent, but he really flexes his muscles in just about every direction as the titular marine-turned-hitman-turned-actor-turned-still-kind-of-hitman.
The supporting cast, featuring Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root, and Henry Winkler are all exceptional, but the real star of the supporting cast might be Anthony Carrigan, who’s jovial gangster NoHo Hank should be kind of terrifying, but turns out to be one of the most entertaining characters on all of television.
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Starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman, Broadchurch is a dark limited series about a small fictional English town named Broadchurch, and the shocking crimes two detectives set out to solve. With only 24 episodes in the entire series, every episode packs a punch. And Tennant and Colman, both incredible actors, work well together as two cops consistently pushed to the edge.
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Coming from showrunner Terence Winter, Boardwalk Empire is the definition of an epic crime drama, and has just about everything you could want on a list like this. Huge scale recreated 1920s sets? Check. Extremely fun depictions of real-life characters like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and more? Check. An incredible cast, led by Steve Buscemi but also featuring Kelly MacDonald, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, and the late Michael K. Williams among others? Check. But most importantly, this is just a show that gets you on the hook and keeps you there. Stick around for villains played by Bobby Cannavale and Jeffrey Wright—you won’t regret it.
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The Killing (Danish Version)
Sure, you can watch the AMC version in English, which is good, but the Danish original is just in another league. Part murder investigation, part political thriller, The Killing is to Nordic crime TV what The Wire was to American dramas: the benchmark.
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Resurrected by Netflix after running for two seasons in the UK—where it was inexplicably canceled—Top Boy follows several clusters of Londoners in and around Summer House, a semi-fictional housing project. Unlike most crime dramas, Top Boy stays on the streets; the perspective of police are replaced entirely by the lived experience of those caught up in the game.
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Idris Elba stars as Luther, a detective who can never seem to break away from a case, and ultimately becomes attached to one of the serial killers he’s meant to hunt. The popular crime drama has received eleven Emmy nominations, including four for Elba’s performance. While the show officially ended its original run in 2019, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that there was a film adaptation in the works, with Elba reprising his role as Detective John Luther, joined by Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis.
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Easily one of Benedict Cumberbatch’s breakout roles, Sherlock stars Cumberbatch as the famous detective, paired with Martin Freeman as his Dr. Watson. It’s a modern retelling of some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most well-known stories, and along with Robert Downey Jr.’s movie adaptation, the show is one of the most fun spins on the character in recent years.
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How to Get Away With Murder
Viola Davis stars in this popular drama about a law professor who suddenly becomes implicated in her husband’s murder, along with five of her best students. The show lasted for six seasons, and is one of Shonda Rhimes most lauded shows, including Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. The show is perfect for viewers who want more drama than procedural in their crime shows.
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Fans of The Wire will be excited to hear: David Simon is back. Based on the nonfiction book by Justin Fenton, We Own This City reenacts the rampant corruption in the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force in 2015. Starring Jon Bernthal, the HBO series is one of the year’s most exciting crime dramas.
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Starring Kristen Bell in her breakout role, Veronica Mars follows a young woman who moonlights as a private detective while going through high school and college. The show had a dedicated following during its run, and has since been revived as a film, and had a fourth season in 2019, 15 years after its original premiere.
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Riz Ahmed and John Turturro star in this crime miniseries about a Pakistani-American college student who’s accused of murdering a woman in New York City. With only 8 episodes, the show managed to keep viewers hooked with a stellar cast and more subtle behind the scenes work (lighting, cinematography, etc) that won critics over too. At the Emmys, The Night Of was nominated for thirteen awards, and won five, including an Outstanding Lead Actor award for Riz Ahmed.
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Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant star in the dramatic miniseries The Undoing. A well-off family’s lives are thrown in jeopardy when a woman they’re acquainted with dies and the woman’s connection to the family is revealed. It was a hit for HBO, with each episode rising in drama and complexity as the plot unraveled and finally revealed whodunit.
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One of most famous television detectives of all time, Columbo is a must-watch for any fan of procedural crime dramas. Starring Peter Falk as the lovable detective, Columbo takes on a different format than most procedurals by showing who the culprit is beforehand. The real joy is watching how Columbo solves the crime. The show aired from 1968 to 1978, then was revived 10 years later for three more seasons and a number of specials.
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For anyone who finds the famous motorcycle club Hell’s Angels interesting, Sons of Anarchy is the crime drama for you. Starring Charlie Hunnam, the show focuses on the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, who are known outlaws. Throughout the popular show’s seven seasons, the gang has to deal with internal conflict and the authorities, plus grapple with their own personal lives. The show received favorable reviews during its run, and gained viewers with each season, all the way up to its seventh. It even spawned a spin-off, Mayans M.C.
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Want some surrealism with your crime drama? Look no further than Twin Peaks. Despite its abrupt cancellation during its original run back in 1990, the show has a cult following that’s kept it alive long after. In 1992, Twin Peaks had a feature film, which served as both a prequel and sequel. And in 2017, fans got a long awaited third season, with Kyle MacLachlan reprising his lead role along with others. Twin Peaks is easily one of the strangest crime shows to ever grace television, and the medium owes much of its current experimentation and weird plots (looking at you, Riverdale) to Twin Peaks.
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Before The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion co-wrote and co-directed a New Zealand mystery series called Top of the Lake. Elisabeth Moss (of The Handmaid’s Tale and Mad Men fame) stars as Detective Robin Griffith, who has to solve the disappearance of a young girl. The show also stars Nicole Kidman, Gwendoline Christie, and Holly Hunter, among others.
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This critically acclaimed British crime drama follows a detective struggling with the death of her daughter, and has to find the man who attacked her. With a nearly 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for both critic and audience scores, any fan of crime shows will love this one.
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Based on a real-life murder from 1998, Academy Award-winner Olivia Colman stars as Susan Edwards, who killed her parents alongside her husband Christopher Edwards, but the two weren’t caught until 2012. It’s only four episodes, but is packed with high-stakes drama on how the pair murdered Susan’s parents, buried the bodies, and were eventually caught.
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Gillian Anderson stars in this Irish detective drama. As senior investigating officer, Superintendent Stella Gibson is tasked with aiding a murder investigation that’s gone on for longer than 28 days. Soon, they realize a serial killer is on the loose, and time is running out.
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Fans of The Killing will love The Bridge. This Nordic noir has Swedish and Danish productions combining forces for a gripping drama about a body found on the Danish and Swedish border. The popularity of the show spawned not one, but five international adaptations.
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Based on the infamous crimes and capture of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, Narcos is one of Netflix’s most successful shows. In fact, it was so popular, it spawned a spin-off called Narcos: Mexico.
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This Nordic miniseries is set in Iceland, and follows a police detective who’s paired with a foreign investigator to uncover the killer in the mysterious death of a man. For true crime fans, it’s also loosely based on a real-life Icelandic crime.
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This Finnish crime drama spans three seasons (although there’s only two as of now on US Netflix) and concerns a police detective who investigates a woman’s murder, and uncovers secrets about the woman’s personal and work life.
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One of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time, Money Heist is well, a heist, focused on a select team of thieves who meticulously plan to rob the Bank of Spain. When things go really really wrong though, the thieves have to think quick on their feet to outwit the authorities, weed out any liabilities on the team, and of course get away with the money.
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