The 40 most popular 1990s crime TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999 · US
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.


C.I.D.
1998 · IN
A team of dedicated men and women in the Crime Investigation Department will risk everything to solve Mumbai's toughest, most complicated crimes.


Law & Order
1990 · US
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.


Midsomer Murders
1997 · UK
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.


Detective Conan
1996 · JP
The son of a world famous mystery writer, Jimmy Kudo, has achieved his own notoriety by assisting the local police as a student detective. He has always been able to solve the most difficult of criminal cases using his wits and power of reason.


The X-Files
1993 · US
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.


The Sopranos
1999 · US
The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.


JAG
1995 · US
Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. is a former pilot turned lawyer working for the military's JAG (Judge Advocate General) division, the elite legal wing of officers that prosecutes and defends those accused of military-related crimes. He works closely with Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie, and together they do what needs to be done to find the truth.


Silent Witness
1996 · UK
A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.


Diagnosis: Murder
1993 · US
Dr. Mark Sloan is a good-natured, offbeat physician who is called upon to solve murders.


Third Watch
1999 · US
The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.


Profiler
1996 · US
Rachel Burke is a criminal profiler, one of the best, actually. She, along with a sophisticated team of specialists on the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force in Atlanta, investigates crimes throughout the country. Together, they solve the toughest of cases while trying to live their lives as best they can.


KochiKame
1996 · JP
Ryotsu Kankichi, or Ryo-san for short, is an unconventional cop working at the local police station who loves money. Together with famous celebrities like Nakagawa and Reiko, his strict boss Police Chief Ohara, and other wildly unique characters, he gets everyone caught up in all sorts of hijinks!


Heartbeat
1992 · UK
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.


Homicide: Life on the Street
1993 · US
An American police procedural chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.


Küstenwache
1997 · DE
Küstenwache is a German television series that tells the fictionalized adventures of a unit of Federal Coast Guard officers off the German coast of the Baltic Sea.


Dateline
1992 · US
Dateline NBC, or simply Dateline, is a weekly American television newsmagazine series. It was previously the network's flagship newsmagazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasional editions that focus on other topics.


V.I.P.
1998 · US
While attending a Hollywood premiere with a famous action star, a crazed fan pulls a gun—but her movie hunk turns into a coward, and it's Vallery who becomes the hero. Suddenly, she's thrown into a world of action and danger as owner of a Hollywood protection agency, Vallery Irons Protection (V.I.P.), taking risks to protect others at a price few are willing to pay.


Renegade
1992 · US
Framed for murder, Detective Reno Raines becomes a fugitive bounty hunter who fights crime while trying to clear his name. His troubles began after he testified about police corruption, leading Lt. Donald Dixon to set him up.


Oz
1997 · US
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.


Walker, Texas Ranger
1993 · US
Modern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.
Die Wache
Die Wache
1994 · DE
No overview available


Mula Sa Puso
1997 · PH
Mula sa Puso is a Filipino television series originally aired by ABS-CBN from March 10, 1997 to April 9, 1999. Claudine Barretto, Rico Yan, and Diether Ocampo played the roles of the main protagonists in the series. It was re-aired in 2008 through Studio 23 and Kapamilya Channel, which are both ABS-CBN subsidiaries. A 2011 remake, starring Lauren Young, JM De Guzman and Enrique Gil, aired on ABS-CBN from March 28, 2011 to August 12, 2011. The show also gave critical acclaim to director Wenn V. Deramas as his first prime time soap project and as a director and gave character actress Princess Punzalan critical acclaim for her character and antagonist as the phenomenal Selina Perriera-Matias which was also reincarnated again for the television remake by award-winning soap actress Eula Valdez. It was also known for being the most competitive soap, tied with Esperanza, which also ran from 1997 to 1999 and also spanned a film and a soundtrack entitled "Mula Sa Puso ni Esperanza" the TV series had various crossovers with prime time dramas such as Esperanza and the short-lived Mini series Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako.


Inspector Rex
1994 · AT
After his handler is killed, police dog Rex teams up with recently-divorced inspector Richard Moser to investigate crimes and solve mysteries on the streets of Vienna. And they sometimes get help from their two-legged friend, Inspector Stockinger.


The Next Victim
1995 · BR
A young law student starts to work as a detective, decided to uncover the identity behind a series of murders, as well as who is next.


A Touch of Frost
1992 · UK
Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.


Due South
1994 · CA
Constable Benton Fraser, an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is attached to the Canadian consulate but works with Chicago Police Department to solve crimes.


Detective Investigation Files
1995 · HK
"Detective Investigation Files" revolves around the professional and meticulous investigations carried out by a group of dedicated police officers. As they delve into mysterious deaths with unclear causes, they tirelessly work towards maintaining peace and security for the people. However, their demanding job often comes at the expense of personal happiness. Cheung Dai Yong, a brilliant and astute police officer, has a track record of solving crucial cases. His trusted colleague, Lee Chung Yee, stands by his side, and together they tackle challenging and complex cases. Amidst their work, Dai Yong encounters Ko Jit, a tenacious journalist. Despite their initial conflicts, a deepening connection blossoms between them. However, Ko Jit already has a romantic partner.


Silk Stalkings
1991 · US
Silk Stalkings is a crime drama television series. The series portrays the daily lives of two detectives who solve sexually-based crimes of passion among the ultra-rich of Palm Beach, Florida.


Pacific Blue
1996 · US
Filmed on location at Santa Monica and Venice Beach, this series focuses on an elite bike cop unit of the LAPD.


Water Rats
1996 · AU
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001.


Millennium
1996 · CA
A retired FBI serial-profiler joins the mysterious Millennium Group, a team of underground ex-law enforcement experts dedicated to fighting against the ever-growing forces of evil and darkness in the world.


The Sentinel
1996 · US
The Sentinel is a Canadian-produced television series. In the jungles of peru, the fight for survival heightened his senses. Now, Detective Jim Ellison is a sentinel in the fight for justice. Anthropologist Blair Sandburg works side by side with Jim, helping him develop these senses.


Judge Judy
1996 · US
Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by retired Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show features Sheindlin adjudicating real-life small claims disputes within a simulated courtroom set. All parties involved must sign contracts, agreeing to arbitration under Sheindlin. The series is in first-run syndication and distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Judge Judy, which premiered on September 16, 1996, reportedly revitalized the court show genre. Only two other arbitration-based reality court shows preceded it, The People's Court and Jones and Jury. Sheindlin has been credited with introducing the "tough" adjudicating approach into the judicial genre, which has led to several imitators. The two court shows that outnumber Judge Judy's seasons, The People's Court and Divorce Court, have both lasted via multiple lives of production and shifting arbiters, making Sheindlin's span as a television arbiter the longest.


Dalziel and Pascoe
1996 · UK
In the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton, the unlikely duo of politically incorrect elephant-in-a-China-shop-copper DS Andrew Dalziel (pronounced Dee-ell) and his more sensitive and university educated sidekick DS, later DI, Peter Pascoe is always on hand to solve the classic murder mystery, while maintaining down-to-Earth wit and humour.
Im Namen des Gesetzes
Im Namen des Gesetzes
1994 · DE
No overview available


New York Undercover
1994 · US
New York Undercover is an American police drama The series stars Detective J.C. Williams and Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases.


Armed Reaction
1998 · HK
Armed Reaction is a 1998 Hong Kong modern cop drama produced by TVB. The drama stars Bobby Au-yeung and Esther Kwan as the main leads with Joyce Tang, Marco Ngai, Mimi Chu and Joe Ma in main supporting roles. The drama takes place before 1997 Handover of Hong Kong and Royal Hong Kong Police revolves around the lives of two police woman, one who works leisurely behind desk duty but has to take her job more seriously once her husband leaves her and a new rookie cop who is deemed too ambitious and rash by her superior.


Bad Girls
1999 · UK
Bad Girls is a British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1 June 1999 to 20 December 2006 and starred Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones, Debra Stephenson, Linda Henry, Jack Ellis and many more throughout the eight-year run. The series was broadcast in 17 countries and was produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road. It is set in the fictional women's prison of Larkhall, and features a mixture of serious and light storylines focusing on the prisoners and staff of G Wing. From 2010, the UK broadcast rights were bought by CBS Drama, and is repeated regularly – as of September 2012, the channel is re-running the series again in a late-night time slot.


Martial Law
1998 · US
Sammo Law spins, kicks, and chops his way through crime as a one-man police force in Los Angeles. He's a tough law enforcer who comes to the U.S. in search of a former friend and protegée — and gets drafted as part of the LAPD.
1990s television was the last era of true mass audiences, when a network sitcom or a season finale could be a shared national event.
Crime is arguably television's defining genre, spanning the weekly procedural, the single-case anthology, and the sprawling organized-crime epic. The serialized form suits investigation better than film ever has.