Various primetime television programming centered around the police procedural have always been popular within the American construct, going back to the earliest days of television that drew from the cop and crime shows of radio. For those of you with parents or grandparents who routinely watch these series of television shows, it has somehow stuck with you from childhood, later spilling into your own adult viewing preferences. It may have been hard to predict as a little kid, that the adult 'you' would be super excited by a new Law & Order episode airing later on in the evening.
Whether you (as a child) would be tremendously horrified or not by your sudden interest in learning about the law, witnessing gruesome crimes, and bringing criminals to justice (sometimes), these TV shows nonetheless shape who we are as functioning individuals. As we learn the obvious (committing crimes are wrong and forensic evidence can be found in the tiniest places), other things seep in: the black-and-white morality of most cop shows, its propaganda of the justice system, and its tacit support of the police state all subtly affect us; not to mention, don't attempt to do anything shady or Ice-T will definitely come for you.
It's evident that the takeaways we learn throughout these scripted shows influence how we navigate our own day-to-day lives, in addition to the people we surround ourselves with (because everyone is flat out weird these days, and no one wants a serial killer friend); these shows, in many ways, foster paranoia and suspicion. As many of you police procedural fanatics gather around your television screens to stream an endless amount of your favorite shows, here are some of the most well-respected TV series about cops to add to your exclusive list.
7 Hawaii Five-O
Running for a total of 12 seasons, the '68 original series Hawaii Five-O immerses viewers into the unpredictable environment where state police officials are faced with the challenge of bringing down organized crime groups on the island. Detective Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) heads the special Five-O division as his team works with local police officials on individual cases. The updated Hawaii Five-O reboot was pretty good, but the original and its sun-soaked atmosphere is a classic.
6 NCIS: Los Angeles
Highly skilled veteran agents Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) and G. Callen (Chris O'Donnell) lead their team into the world of the Office of Special Projects (OSP) based out of Los Angeles, California. Typically, the agents go undercover with the world's most advanced technologies, taking out criminal masterminds who threaten the nation's national security sectors. Arguably the best of the several NCIS series, this one benefits from some incredible cast chemistry, and has been renewed for season 13, with no apppearance of slowing down.
5 Monk
Taking the concept of police procedural shows personally (after the death and unsolved murder of his wife), Adrian Monk (an excellent, Emmy-winning Tony Shalhoub) continues to solve various crimes with the assistance of his former boss and personal assistant. Monk is a genius and a brilliant tragicomic character, who both utilizes his obsessive-compulsive disorder to help solve cases while also struggling from its difficulties in his life.
4 Blue Bloods
Surrounding the day-to-day lives of a multi-generational family of cops, Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck (as Frank Reagan) as he navigates being the head of the Reagan family, in addition to his official job title as the New York Police Commissioner. His sons Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and Jamie (Will Estes) and daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan) all continue the family's professional legacy by working in the area of law enforcement. Plus, the family routinely sits down together by the end of each episode to have family dinners, which can be both super sweet and super emotional. Not just your grandma's favorite show, Blue Bloods views the police procedural through the lens of family love in a remarkable way.
3 Miami Vice
The 1980s series Miami Vice is closely associated with the real life expansion of the cocaine drug ring and the excessive amounts of murders that also takes place in this time frame. Detectives Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), who are very stylish by the way, get their hands dirty in pursuing the complexi cases they are assigned to in conjunction with the Metro-Dade Police Department. The bold '80s fashion of the series was iconic and influential, and its hyper-stylization was a perfect fit for a reboot as one of the best Michael Mann movies.
2 FBI
This fresh take on conventional police television shows extensively dives into the inner working structure of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office, located in New York City. Predominantly following Special Agents Omar Adom 'OA' Zidan (Zeeko Zaki) and Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym), FBI revolves around the entire team, both outside in the field and inside the office's technical intelligence hubs, as they race against time to bring down the highest priority of active criminals.
1 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
When Olivia Benson teaches you everything about the law from the comfort of your television screen, you shut up and listen. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit differs from its numerous counterparts (like the original Law & Order show, which deals primarily with murder cases), due to its emphasis on investigating crimes closely tied to sexual situations. Bringing awareness to these cases, where the victims in many cases are able to tell their stories first-hand (which are often real and ripped from the headlines), the series brings a voice to these victims who courageously withstand terrible odds.