Actually, quite a lot of T.J. Hooker is precisely that, with the star going full Shatner when not grinning in bewilderment on the healthful shenanigans of Zmed’s Vincent Romano and Locklear’s Stacy Sheridan. All the things else within the present is a gritty crime drama within the vein of Soiled Harry—the second episode even rips off the varsity bus scene from that film. The present presents Southern California as a spot of fixed hazard, with murderers and rapists at each flip. Moreover, most of Hooker’s melodramatic speeches are about how attorneys, psychologists, and reporters present an excessive amount of sympathy for criminals, and hold cops from stopping the dangerous guys by any means needed. It’s a bizarre juxtaposition, one which leads to a present that isn’t good, actually, however is fascinating to look at.
19. Murder: Life on the Avenue (1993–1999)
The cop present panorama of the Nineteen Nineties was dominated by two collection: the gritty, boundary-pushing NYPD Blue and the dependable Legislation & Order. Murder: Life on the Avenue got here in distant third place, because it does on this record, a undeniable fact that irritates its followers. It’s straightforward to see why individuals love Murder a lot. It has an unimaginable pedigree, created by two-time Oscar nominee Paul Attanasio and based mostly on the e book Murder: A 12 months on the Killing Streets by David Simon. Its ensemble forged included Andre Braugher, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, and Richard Belzer, who debuted his character John Munch on the present. Movie legends corresponding to Barry Levinson, Whit Stillman, Barbara Koppell, and Kathryn Bigelow directed episodes.
So why is Murder nonetheless falling up to now down the record, even in 2026? As a result of the present by no means found out what it needed to be. Regardless of drawing inspiration from Simon’s true crime reporting, Murder borrowed closely from impartial cinema to spotlight its artifice. Arduous cuts would present a number of takes of a single line studying, and interactions in “the Field,” the precinct’s interrogation room, grew to become alternatives for theatrical scenery-chewing. Worse, NBC started toying with the present after season 3, culminating with a disastrous and unrecognizable seventh season. In the long run, Murder had nothing greater than potential, potential that may be realized by the second collection based mostly on Simon’s e book.
18. Dragnet (1951–1959)
It’s unimaginable to overstate the significance of Dragnet, the collection created by and starring Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday. Initially a preferred radio present that grew to become a sensation when it went to TV, Dragnet realized the ambitions of reformers who sought to vary the general public’s notion of police. The place most People considered police as inconveniences, if not the very kind of standing military warned towards within the Declaration of Independence, Dragnet offered its officers as skilled, dispassionate, and efficient. And, due to Webb’s cooperation with the LAPD, Dragnet bought to current its episodes as lifelike, a technique numerous different exhibits would emulate.
That mentioned, affect isn’t the identical as high quality, and Dragnet‘s a troublesome watch in 2026. Every episode follows the identical primary method, by which Friday and his associate (most frequently Frank Smith, performed by Ben Alexander) arrive to analyze a criminal offense, discuss to some witnesses and suspects, and remedy the case. Whereas the instances do have their flamboyant moments, as demonstrated by the stunts in premiere episode “The Human Bomb,” the present performed it protected, one thing the general public craved on the time, however has aged poorly.
17. The Rookie (2018–Current)
In quite a lot of methods, The Rookie seems like an replace on T.J. Hooker. As soon as once more, we now have a charismatic actor recognized for enjoying an area traveller, now taking part in a person who turns into a beat cop later in life. And, as with T. J. Hooker, the star’s appreciable allure helps to clean over among the extra unsavory components of the collection.
