Even after watching numerous police procedurals or mafia stories, viewers can't seem to get enough of crime dramas. Perhaps it's a result of our inherent curiosity about the things we're most afraid of, or the need to see justice done. Tucking into a good series about the seedy underbelly of America is incredibly rewarding.
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Whatever it is, there's no shortage of excellent crime dramas to watch on broadcast television and online video services.
FBI's Ten Most Wanted
In "FBI: Most Wanted," viewers watch the FBI's Fugitive Task Force hunt for some of the country's most wanted criminals. It stars Julian McMahon as FBI profiler Jessie "Jess" LaCroix and a team of seasoned analysts and investigators. The series is the first "FBI" spin-off and was launched via a backdoor pilot. Many viewers consider it superior to the original "FBI" series. IMDb reviewers agree, complimenting McMahon's portrayal and the authors' attention to character development throughout the course of the show's three seasons. The successor for McMahon, Dylan McDermott, is a good one. McMahon is leaving at the end of Season 4.
A Break in the Action
It's no exaggeration to call "Breaking Bad" one of the finest Golden Age of Television water cooler crime dramas. The show dealt with the age-old subject of what causes a seemingly normal person to turn to evil. To most fans, Bryan Cranston will always be the hilarious dad from "Malcolm in the Middle.” But, his performance as high school chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine maker Walter White was nothing short of spectacular. The neo-Western TV series, which has been expertly filmed, is a grim and realistic look at the deterioration of American society brought on by toxic masculinity and the collapse of the American ideal. Aaron Paul and Bob Odenkirk gave career-best performances over the course of the show's five seasons. "Breaking Bad" won 16 Primetime Emmys and receive 58 nominations.
The Sopranos, No. 3
The HBO mafia series "The Sopranos," is regarded as the show that began the Golden Age of Television. From 1999 through 2007, "The Sopranos" followed Tony Soprano as he became a postmodern mafioso inside the DiMeo crime family. Tony Soprano, portrayed by James Gandolfini, is a capo who has a hard time juggling the demands of his profession as a family man. When he starts having serious panic episodes, he does what a gangster would never do: he begins therapy. The show broke with tradition and won a number of accolades while it was on the air for breaking stereotypes.
The Fourth-Place Broadchurch
The quiet village of Broadchurch on the Dorset coast serves as the backdrop for the brooding British detective series, "Broadchurch." The show follows the inquiry into the murder of a young boy and features performances from David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, and Arthur Darvill. The crime drama takes place over the course of three seasons, and the score, by Icelandic electronic composer lafur Arnalds, is both beautiful and eerily evocative. In contrast to many procedurals, which are more focused in the mechanics of solving crimes, "Broadchurch" is concerned with the impact that crimes against children have on society as a whole.
