The Most Popular Crime Shows Right Now, According to IMDb

The series that coined the phrase “The truth is out there” starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI agents investigating unexplained phenomena. The show built a strong fan following and ran for 11 seasons on Fox and over that time hauled in 15 Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes.

The police procedural and legal drama “Law & Order” premiered in 1990, launching an entire franchise of crime dramas. It was canceled in 2010, but revived this year. Set in New York City, it typically divides each episode into the police investigation of a crime, followed by an arrest and the courtroom prosecution of the accused by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“Fargo” is a dark anthology series in the same vein as the Coen Brothers film of the same name. It follows Midwestern crooks, cops, and the civilians who get caught in the middle of their schemes.

One of the few comedies on this list, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” follows the daily lives of the NYPD’s 99th Precinct. Andy Samberg stars as the precinct’s lovable but goofy detective.

In this supernatural drama, a forensic psychologist who doesn’t believe in the supernatural partners up with a Catholic seminarian and a technology contractor as they investigate purported supernatural events, including people being possessed by demons.

The teen drama, based on characters from Archie Comics, centers on a group of friends who navigate love, school, and the pursuit of their dreams as they get entangled in the recent death of a boy from town.

“Reacher” is the story of Jack Reacher, a former military police investigator who travels light around the country. In the first season, he is falsely accused of murder, but as the show progresses, the police find themselves in need of his help in finiding the real culprit.

The comedy/drama crime show “Bones” on Fox paired cocky FBI agent Seeley Booth and forensic expert Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan, a pair who investigate murders together. Their professional relationship becomes a romantic one and they eventually get married.

“Midsomer Murders” is a British crime drama in which a senior police detective and his young sergeant investigate crimes in the seemingly quiet fictional English county of Midsomer. There have been two leads since the start of the show in 1997 — John Nettles as DetectiveChief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby (Tom’s cousin in the series).

Based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling novels, “The Lincoln Lawyer” is a legal crime drama about a defense lawyer in L.A. who works out of his Lincoln car instead of an office. The Netflix show was renewed for a second season after receiving positive reviews from both critics and fans.

“True Detective” is an anthology series that follows different heinous crimes and the police departments that investigate them. Over its run, it has featured A-list stars like Mahershala Ali, Matthew McConaughey, Rachel McAdams, and more.

“The Blacklist” follows a former Navy officer turned master criminal who surrenders to the FBI and begins helping them catch dangerous spies, mafia bosses, and terrorists.

“Barry” is a dark comedy from SNL alum Bill Hader. The show centers on a trained hitman with PTSD who tries to leave his violent past behind by becoming an actor. In its first two seasons, the show scored six Emmy wins, including two for Hader as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and one for Henry Winkler as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

“Dark Winds” is a psychological thriller that follows two Navajo cops in the early 1970s Navajo reservation. They investigate seemingly unrelated crimes that force them to challenge their own beliefs.

“Lucifer” is based on a DC comics character. It’s the story of Lucifer Morningstar — the Devil — who abandons hell for Los Angeles. It originally aired on Fox but was canceled after three seasons. Netflix picked it up for a fourth season and got it high ratings.

With an IMDb user rating of 9.3/10, “The Wire” ranks as the best detective show in TV history. The HBO drama follows Baltimore detectives as well as the drug dealers they pursue.

Cinemax’s “Banshee” is another gripping series that received increasingly positive reviews over its four-season run. The series tells the story of a criminal, who pretends to be the murdered sheriff of the small town of Banshee, Pennsylvania.

Though this may not be a traditional detective show, “Daredevil” does feature people doggedly pursuing criminals. Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day and a superhero vigilante by night.

In this police procedural drama, a group of FBI agents who work as profilers investigate heinous crimes using behavioral analysis.

Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni play specially trained detectives Benson and Stabler, who investigate sexually related crimes in New York City and have each other’s backs in their private lives. Theirs is a complicated relationship that remained platonic during the course of the long-running NBC show, which has won six Emmys.

The only animated series on this list, “Harley Quinn” is a black comedy superhero show based on the DC characters. The series follows Quinn after leaving the Joker, her boyfriend, and on her way to make it as a criminal queenpin.

“NCIS” (an acronym for Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is a military crime procedural that follows the major case response team of special agents who investigate crimes, including murder and terrorism, in the D.C. metro area.

“Ozark” is about a financial planner from Chicago who takes his family to the Missouri Ozarks to launder money for a Mexican cartel. He buys various businesses to launder the cash and in the process pulls members of his family into the scheme.

The show revolved around a family in Southern California that makes a living by carrying out armed robberies and other crimes.

For six seasons between 1999 and 2007, audiences were riveted by one of the most highly praised and groundbreaking TV dramas, “The Sopranos.” Each week they tuned in as Tony Soprano dealt with both his dysfunctional New Jersey crime family and his real family, which sometimes intersected.

“Peaky Blinders” is a crime drama about a powerful gangster family based in Birmingham, England. The series shows how the Peaky Blinders make their way from a street gang to an international criminal organization.

“Breaking Bad” is about a high school chemistry teacher who produces and sells methamphetamine to help his family financially after learning he has cancer, while keeping his side job secret from his family, and evading law enforcement and drug gangs. The series is one of the most critically acclaimed television series of all time. It won 16 Emmys over its five seasons.

“Only Murders in the Building” is a combination of crime, mystery, and comedy. The show’s first season followed three strangers who get caught up in a murder that was committed in their apartemnt building and that they are trying to solve.

Based on a comic book of the same name, the show follows a group of vigilantes trying to catch rogue superheroes who abuse their powers.

Before he was Saul Goodman, counselor to Walter White, he was James McGill, known as Slippin’ Jimmy for his love of con games. This prequel to “Breaking Bad” traces Jimmy’s trajectory from fun-loving, unconventional lawyer seeking justice for the underdog, to hard boiled legal representative for drug lords and brutal gangs.