Greatest cop shows

[TheSportsPredictor]

Paste has ranked the 40 best cop shows. No surprise to see The Wire #1 and The Shield #2. They are probably my second- and third-favorite shows of all-time, behind The X-Files. I was a bit surprised to see NYPD Blue barely crack the Top 10. Southland should be higher as well.

What say you?

The 40 Greatest Cop Shows of All Time

 

[micropolitan guy]

Loved Hill Street Blues, especially the early seasons. NBC had a great 1-2 punch with St. Elsewhere on Wednesdays and HSB on Thursdays. Interesting to me that St. Elsewhere was packed with future superstars but that the only person from HSB who went on to a major, major career was Dennis Franz and he was just a sometimes recurring character.

 

[93Devil]

Luther is where it should be.

Law and Order should be above SVU.

Sherlock on BBC should be very high on the list if it qualifies.

True Detective is where it should be.

Oh, wait... Broadchurch. Whoa, did they miss on Broadchurch (BBC)

 

[DanOregon]

That's a good list. A real good list. You can quibble with some of the rankings (Law and Order too low), but Boomtown, Southland, Justified, The Shield, The Wire all belong on any list of that sort. Also glad to see Monk and The Border made it.

 

[albert77]

Pretty good list. I was glad to see Cracker on there. Very underrated show.

 

[93Devil]

That's a good list. A real good list. You can quibble with some of the rankings (Law and Order too low), but Boomtown, Southland, Justified, The Shield, The Wire all belong on any list of that sort. Also glad to see Monk and The Border made it.

I would never place SVU over the original. That sticks out to me.

 

[murphyc]

Pleasantly surprised to see shows like Monk and Sledge Hammer on the list, but Third Watch is sorely missing.

 

[Ace]

Detective shows would kick cop shows butt!

 

[DanOregon]

Yeah, SVU is overrated as is NYPD Blue, which was shot in LA. And the original Hawaii-5O should have been on there.

 

[Batman]

Ummmm ... Where in the hell is "Dragnet?"

 

[SpeedTchr]

Where are:

The Bill
The Sweeney
Dixon of Dock Green
Van der Valk
The FBI

 

[I Should Coco]

Hawaii 5-0 (the original, with Jack Lord) should be somewhere on that list.

 

[bigpern23]

I would put NYPD Blue at the top of the list. It was pretty groundbreaking television and compelling every week.

Though I suppose it technically is, I don't think of X-Files as a cop show. I'd classify it as Sci-Fi.

 

[WriteThinking]

Am I the only one who can't believe they would consider "The Andy Griffith Show" a cop show?

I loved "The Shield" when it was on, as much as you could love a tough show like that, anyway.

I like "Blue Bloods" a lot nowadays, and think it got stiffed in its absence, especially considering that "The Andy Griffith Show" made the list.

I'd also have made a pitch for "Cagney & Lacey".

 

[Ace]

At least we didn't see Andy sitting down to dinner as often as that Bluebloods bunch.

 

[HC]

I understand that they narrowed it to English language shows but they could have at least acknowledged that "The Bridge" was based on the infinitely superior Danish/Swedish original.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Where are:

The Bill
The Sweeney
Dixon of Dock Green
Van der Valk
The FBI

If we're going to include FBI shows, Wiseguy should be on there.

 

[Buck]

original L&O is great; SVU is a disgrace

police squad is number one; all others are numbert two or lower

Where was Barney Miller?

 

[BDC99]

original L&O is great; SVU is a disgrace

police squad is number one; all others are numbert two or lower

Where was Barney Miller?

Barney is at 15? And is it true Police Squad was only SIX episodes? I had no idea.

 

[Bradley Guire]

Bull**** list without TJ Hooker.