23 Cop and Detective Shows That Still Outshine the Rest
The American police officer or detective has been a source of entertainment since television began in the mid 1950’s. Here are the best cop shows ever.
"The Rookies" was a groundbreaking police procedural that aimed to bring a more humanized and realistic portrayal of law enforcement to television. Inspired by the success of "The New Centurions" and "Adam-12," the show depicted young officers—all coming from different backgrounds including the military, college and social work—navigating both the dangers of the job and their personal struggles.
Adam-12 was a police procedural series that followed the daily lives of two patrol officers, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they navigated the streets of Los Angeles. The show was known for its realistic portrayal of police work, with a focus on the challenges and routines officers face on duty. Martin Milner played Officer Malloy, while Kent McCord portrayed Officer Reed.
Blue Bloods is a police procedural drama that aired on CBS from 2010 to 2024, following the Reagan family—a multi-generational Irish Catholic family deeply involved in law enforcement in New York City. The show centered on Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), the Police Commissioner, and his children, each in different areas of law enforcement or prosecution, navigating both professional and personal challenges. Despite being initially considered a "dark horse," the series became a long-running success, praised for its character-driven storytelling, especially the weekly family dinners, and ended in 2024 after 14 seasons and 293 episodes.
At times too over the top and melodramatic, NYPD Blue was a staple of the cop show during the 1990’s with some standout episodes. It was the first network show to allow cursing outside the normal allowed words permitted at the time and also showed nudity.
The gritty cop show based in Los Angeles ran from 2009 to 2013. Southland earned two Emmy Awards for a look inside the LAPD and the officers and detectives in charge of stopping crime.
Vic Mackey is a play by his own rules cop assigned to lead a squad against some of the worst gang bangers and drug dealers in Los Angeles. For seven seasons we see how Mackey moves within his gray world until it all closes in on him.
Cops meets urban 90’s culture, two undercover detectives in New York City’s Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases. The show was a hit for Fox but after season 2 the show hit a lot of stumbles, due to the show’s popularity the main actors wanted a huge pay increase, the end result was one of the leads was killed off after season 3 and the show wrapped after season 4.
The 80’s in all of its glory. Miami Vice was the style, view, and law enforcement of the 1980’s. Still one of the most watched shows on syndication. The clothes, the music, it’s all there.
Monk was a unique show about an obsessive- compulsive detective who had a strange way of solving cases. The show won eight Emmy awards and ran for 8 seasons.
The show follows FBI profilers as they help solve complex cases and get in the minds of some of the worst criminals and killers out on the run.
David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson (David Soul) were an adult version of Batman and Robin from 1975 to 1979. It was a pure 70’s take on an odd couple of detectives with funny adventures and a good supporting cast.
An older cop has to run the gauntlet of being the old rookie in a LAPD police unit. With a good cast and fast pace story telling The Rookie was a good take on the cop genre.
Not cops but FBI, the X-Files was able to explore the supernatural and UFO’s by taking us into the mundane lives of two FBI agents, one obsessed with the occult and UFO’s and the other a straight forward agent. The X-Files would eventually have story lines and plot devices that were truly gripping.
One of the corniest cop shows of all time and outlandish and unbelievable case solving, CSI: Miami was what it was a stylized filler show that became very popular. After playing the layered John Kelly, David Caruso becomes a one-line pony on CSI: Miami.
Following the success of Chicago Fire, a spin off dubbed Chicago P.D., the show follows a Chicago police unit that doesn’t always follow the rules.
The Wire transcends the typical cop show, offering a stark portrayal of urban decay and the complexities of American society. It blurs the lines between good and bad, showing that even the "villains" are often shaped by circumstance. Set across various settings—from the gritty streets to the mayor’s office—it weaves a story of interconnected lives, often driven by corruption and systemic failure.
A sequel TV series for the movie of the same name, In The Heat Of The Night ran for 8 seasons and tackled issues about racism, police brutality, interracial relationships, hate crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, alcoholism, AIDS, misogyny, child abuse, sexual harassment, euthanasia, anti-Semitism, political corruption, prostitution, domestic violence, mental disorders, dysfunctional families, suicide, capital punishment, poverty, and drunk driving.
More influential for being the first true cop show that broke away from the typical television detective, Hill Street Blues had a style all of its own, from handheld cameras, and a cinematic style. The show got 98 Emmy nominations and is considered one of the best cop shows of all time.
A show that is almost too procedural, half the cops half the lawyers. The cast changed over the seasons, but it was as simple as it could be, cops catch the bad guys, lawyers lock them up. The show would spawn numerous spin offs.
Peter Falk’s Columbo was a one-man crusade to stop criminals off all kinds, from 1971 until 2003, Columbo was the view of an American detective, a trench coat, and constant observer.
Before there was The Wire, there was Homicide: Life on the Street, based on the book by David Simon, Homicide: A Year on The Killing Streets, HLOTS brought us many of the aspects that would be expanded on The Wire, from an urban drug problem, down and out detectives, and the political bickering that makes policing a city of over 300 murders near impossible.
The spinoff of Law and Order followed the same procedure of cops and lawyers, only the cases were around sexually motivated crimes. Richard Belzer reprised his role as John Munch in the series following his run on Homicide: Life on The Streets.
The gritty anthology crime drama, goes through various cast members and changes of scenery but keeps its intense and character driven nature. Some seasons are up and down but True Detective is a remarkable show.