Detective work has been a small-screen draw for more than seven decades now — just ask anyone who turned on their television set and heard that four-note Dragnet intro back in 1951. TV viewers love watching steadfast sleuths putting together the pieces, whether the guilty party is shown at the start of the episode or only revealed at the end.
And over the years, some titles in the genre have produced truly arresting television. Below are our picks for the best detective TV shows — if not the best written (or, for that matter, the most responsible), then at least the most impactful.
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▷ Where to Stream Monk
2002–2009
Tony Shalhoub’s ex-San Francisco detective has been making hand sanitizer cool since 2002. Even as he deals with hundreds of phobias — and other Monk-ey business — this police consultant always proves himself to be a formidable crime-solver.
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19
▷ Where to Stream Miami Vice
1984–1989
Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas are detectives taking down baddies in the Florida heat. Pretty normal fare, right? But what really elevates Miami Vice is its style: its Art Deco color scheme, its New Wave soundtrack, and its designer fashion.
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18
▷ Where to Stream CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000–2015
What happens in Vegas… gets investigated by the city’s graveyard-shift forensic team in this ratings mega-hit. Though it’s the seediest and most sensationalized entry on this list, CSI’s mass popularity and pop culture impact can’t be denied.
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17
▷ Where to Stream Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2013–2021
Unlike in many other workplace comedies, the characters of this NYPD-set comedy are actually good at their jobs, solving cases in uproarious fashion. Plus, B99 is a rare cop comedy to delve into serious policing issues.
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16
▷ Where to Stream Hawaii Five-O
1968–1980
Book ’em, Danno! This Hawaii-set series (the original) surfed on the airwaves for 12 seasons — then a record for the genre — and traded the backlot cityscapes of typical police procedurals for colorful, sun-drenched Aloha State exteriors.
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15
▷ Where to Stream Veronica Mars
2004–2019
After going from popular girl to pariah, Veronica (Kristen Bell) follows in her father’s footsteps, becoming a private eye armed with a taser, a telephoto lens, a wry wit, and a dog named Backup. Criminals of Neptune, California, don’t stand a chance.
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14
▷ Where to Stream Pushing Daisies
2007–2009
A noir, a musical, a comedy, a fantasy, and a romance all in one, this show follows a pie maker (Lee Pace) with a death-reversing touch, who brings murder victims back to life just long enough to learn about their demises. Dark and delightful!
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13
▷ Where to Stream Murder, She Wrote
1984–1996
We’ve seen umpteen fictional crime writers become fictional crime solvers. But for us (and for award show voters), none did it better than Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, who often outsmarts the constabulary in the cozy town of Cabot Cove, Maine.
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12
▷ Where to Stream Columbo
1971–1978
“Just one more thing,” this rumpled detective says, almost as an afterthought, before asking a question that blows his investigation wide open. The popularity of Peter Falk’s character — and the inverted “howcatchem” format — kept viewers hooked for 35 years.
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11
1990–
For all its flaws, Dick Wolf’s Big Apple franchise is a TV institution, one in which countless New York-based actors have turned up on one side of the law or the other. The first half of each episode has detectives nabbing out the baddies. These are their stories.
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10
1999–
At 26 seasons and counting, the first L&O spinoff is now the longest-running entry in the franchise, and that’s a testament to Mariska Hargitay’s appeal — and Emmy-endorsed performance — as one of the cop show genre’s far-too-few female leads.
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9
▷ Where to Stream Hill Street Blues
1981–1987
Even though its setting was never mentioned, this detective show lent realism to the genre — and innovation. Check out the handheld camera work, the intercut and serialized storylines, and the interplay between its characters’ lives on and off the clock.
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8
▷ Where to Stream Mare of Easttown
2021
Whenever Kate Winslet comes to TV, we take notice. But this series, in which she plays a Pennsylvania detective working a murder case while struggling with her own trauma, was a defining showcase of her acting (and her aptitude for accents).
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7
▷ Where to Stream The X-Files
1993–2018
Never mind the alien invasions, government conspiracies, and monsters of the week — this shadowy sci-fi thriller is a detective show at heart. The truth is out there, and FBI Agents Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) will find it.
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6
▷ Where to Stream True Detective
2014–
Time is a flat circle, says Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) — does that mean we’ll eventually get to be first-time True Detective viewers again? If you haven’t already seen it, come for the action-packed first season, stay for the chilling fourth.
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5
▷ Where to Stream Only Murders in the Building
2021–
A former TV detective, a has-been Broadway director, and a sardonic Millennial team up to investigate murders in their Upper West Side building. Cross-generational hilarity ensues, thanks to the talent of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez.
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4
▷ Where to Stream Fargo
2014–2024
In this anthology set all around the Great Plains and Midwest, Fargo is less a place than a feeling — specifically, one of everyday people desperate enough to do bad things and the detectives close on their heels. And it’s binge-worthy TV, donchaknow?
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3
▷ Where to Stream Homicide: Life on the Street
1993–1999
There’s a reason fans were waiting for years for this show to stream. A precursor to The Wire (more on that below), Homicide and its stellar cast, led by Andre Braugher, shed the noble detective trope and dared to show the job’s rough edges.
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2
▷ Where to Stream Twin Peaks
1990–1991
With the unsettling vibes only David Lynch could provide, this seminal series follows an FBI agent (Kyle MacLachlan) as he investigates a murder in a town full of eccentric characters. A cult classic was born, one that inspired countless other creators.
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▷ Where to Stream The Wire
2002–2008
Created by a former police reporter and produced by a former homicide detective, this crime show delves deep into the urban life of Baltimore, Maryland. And both cop and criminal are portrayed with humanity, as we’re all just products of the society and the systems that surround us. The Wireis less entertainment and more exposé, and it’s our top detective show.