10 CBS Detective Shows That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

Published Sep 27, 2026, 7:21 PM EDT

Christine is a freelance writer for Collider with two decades of experience covering all types of TV shows and movies spanning every genre. With a particular affinity for dramas, true crime, sitcoms, and thrillers, if it's a top TV show, Christine has likely watched it and is eager to share her thoughts. When she's not furiously writing away, you can find her enjoying the next binge obsession with a glass of wine in front of the TV.

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When it comes to detective shows, CBS is arguably one of the best networks. It currently airs some of the hottest shows in the genre, like NCIS, Elsbeth, Matlock, Tracker, and FBI. And through the decades, it aired some of the best procedurals on network television, dating all the way back to the 1980s.

Many of these shows are still available to stream for those who want to re-watch or check them out for the first time. And with so many seasons, they're the perfect procedurals to get into if you want to watch nightly for the foreseeable future. And I mean cozy up for months because some of these shows have hundreds of episodes. But short or long, they all have one thing in common: each one is downright perfect.

'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' (2000–2015)

Image via CBS

Back in the 2000s and early 2010s, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was that comforting procedural you knew would be on every evening to enjoy. The episodes are perfectly formulaic, the cases interesting, and watching the puzzle pieces being put together thanks to forensic evidence was fascinating. When CSI: Crime Scene Investigation came out, the angle of forensics wasn't really explored so commonly in TV shows as it is today. But this procedural drama made the seemingly boring lab side of the equation cool.

We got to see not only the usual police work, but also the intricate science used to deduce and determine facts. Dr. Gil Grissom (William Petersen) was so endearing, and fans loved seeing the dynamic between him and his second-in-command, single mom and former stripper Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger). While their departures from the show left a hole, it was filled nicely by Lawrence Fishburne and Ted Danson in the later seasons. There have been many spin-offs, but the original in this franchise remains the best.

'Elementary' (2012–2019)

Image via CBS

The story of Sherlock Holmes and Watson has been told many times in movies and TV shows, but none like Elementary. In this iteration, Sherlock is played by Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu is the gender-swapped Dr. Joan Watson. Holmes is a recovering drug addict who now assists the New York Police Department with cases with the help of his sober companion Watson, who eventually becomes his partner.

It's a unique take on a story that is so familiar, bringing a fresh, modern spin to the narrative. Elementary was massively successful, running for seven seasons and a total of 154 episodes. Everyone loves the story of a talented investigator who plays by his own rules, and the version of Holmes in this series is just that.

'Criminal Minds' (2005–Present)

Technically, Criminal Minds hasn't ended since it continues through the revival Criminal Minds: Evolution. But that series exclusively streams on Paramount+ while the original was on the linear network counterpart CBS. The show explores the angle of criminal profiling, centered around workers in the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI. This concept is common nowadays in shows, but back in 2005, it was groundbreaking to dive into the psychology of crime through a network procedural.

It's no surprise fans were, and continue to be, fascinated with Criminal Minds and how it takes a more cerebral look at crime, law, and order. It's action packed, too, but this police procedural crime drama has more depth than some others. With 364 total episodes to get through from the total of 19 seasons (the first 15 on CBS and the next four on Paramount+), you'll run out of time before you run out of episodes to watch.

'Cold Case' (2003–2010)

Image via CBS

I have fond memories of watching Cold Case back in the day. The police procedural aired for seven seasons and shifted focus from intense current cases to, as the name implies, cold cases. A special team at the Philadelphia Police Department investigates unsolved cases from years, often decades ago, that stumped police back then. Armed with new evidence and/or fresh eyes, they are determined to bring closure to the surviving family members and friends.

It's interesting to see these characters connect the dots, especially since so much time has gone by and the cases were seemingly unsolvable. All it takes is one new lead, and they'll follow it right to the end and usually get their perpetrator. You'll love the idea of people who thought they literally got away with murder being brought to justice.

Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh

Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.

🍷Lecter

🃏Joker

♟️Moriarty

🪙Chigurh

MEET YOUR NEMESIS →

01

What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.

AMy manners, and everything I am careful not to say. BThat I still believe people are basically decent. CThat I am clever, and quietly enjoy proving it. DThat I handle things myself, and always have.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.

AA polite letter. Beautiful handwriting. Quietly wrong. BSomething on fire, with a message left beside it. CA puzzle, left where only I would look. DNo contact. Just the aftermath, and a coin.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.

AThere are lines. Mine are private and absolute. BRules are the only thing keeping us from being animals. CMorality is a system, and systems can be solved. DThings happen. Most of it was never up to me.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.

ABeing seen clearly by somebody I cannot read. BWatching good people do something ugly. CLosing to someone who was simply better prepared. DHaving no move left that changes anything.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.

ACarefully, and never where they expect to be touched. BLoudly. I would rather lose than play their game. CWith a better plan. I can out-think this. DDirectly, once, with whatever is closest to hand.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.

AMy privacy. I have kept far too much to myself. BMy conscience. I will not cross the line they want. CMy ego. I cannot resist a worthy opponent. DMy certainty that I can handle it alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.

ATo understand me better than anyone ever has. BTo prove I am no better than they are. CTo finally be beaten by someone worth the trouble. DNothing at all. I stepped into the wrong path.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.

AA conversation I will be replaying for years. BA choice forced on me that has no clean answer. COne final move, and the better mind wins. DA coin in the air, and nothing I can say.

REVEAL MY NEMESIS →

The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…

Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours. Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from the encounter.

Hannibal Lecter

Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the conversation is.

• Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
• You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve is exactly the door he would knock on.
• The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence. It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
• He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.

The Joker

Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.

• The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
• He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool you would normally reach for.
• His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend the rest of your life proving him wrong.
• He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.

Moriarty

Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.

• Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from: a mind the equal of the hero's, pointed the wrong way.
• You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he has already built the room.
• This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs the game to be worth playing.
• It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.

Anton Chigurh

Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.

• Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
• You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no interest in how capable you are.
• No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
• Call it. He will wait.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'The Mentalist' (2008–2015)

Image via CBS

The newest police procedurals often have some type of hook with a detective at the center who has a special quirk. That's certainly the case with Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) in The Mentalist, though he isn't technically a detective. Another trend of late is to highlight consultants who work with the police department and have a particular skill. For Jane, it's talents he's acquired working as a psychic medium, getting into people's heads to con them. As it turns out, he can actually use this skill for good.

But Jane also has other motivations in this slow burn mystery show, mainly finding the serial killer who murdered his wife and daughter. The show is formulaic, as you'd expect, but gripping through its seven seasons and 151 episodes. It's fascinating to watch Jane do his thing — using cold reading, hypnosis, and a little bit of pickpocketing to tap into the human psyche and solve cases police can't on their own.

'Murder, She Wrote' (1984–1996)

Image via CBS

Lauded as one of the best police procedurals ever made, the protagonist in Murder, She Wrote isn't even an officer: Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is actually a mystery writer. But after writing so many novels about murder and killers who cover it up, she has developed a keen sense of how the murderous mind works. And these skills prove invaluable when Fletcher uses her creative writing mind to determine the how, why, and/or who of a mysterious case.

The crime drama is intriguing as you watch Fletcher immerse herself in the world of policing, picking up on things that they miss. Plus, it was groundbreaking at the time to have a female actor in such a role. It worked because Murder, She Wrote was a massive hit that is still referenced to this day.

'Magnum, P.I.' (1980–1988)

Image via CBS

Sure, there was a 2018 remake. But nothing is better than the original Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck. He was an icon of '80s TV through this show's eight seasons. A private investigator, he lives in the guesthouse of a wealthy man, even has access to his Ferrari, in exchange for working cases when he needs it. That's fine for Magnum, who is living it up in Hawaii.

There's a level of mystery with the ambitious crime show since you never really see Magnum's benefactor, Robin Masters. As for Magnum, you never tire of seeing him do his thing in sunglasses and loud shirts. The show was the precursor to so many other procedurals with the same bright and fun tone, from Miami Vice to R.J. Decker.

'Person of Interest' (2011–2016)

Image via CBS

One of the most underrated sci-fi crime dramas, Person of Interest started off with a traditional feel. But as its plot continued to develop, the show matured far beyond that. It felt like a streaming show that was on a linear network. It's no surprise that the show was created by Jonathan Nolan and executive produced by J. J. Abrams.

Heavily centered on AI, making the show a little ahead of its time, it follows the brilliant programmer Harold Finch (Michal Emerson) who goes into hiding with a powerful machine he created that can predict future crimes. Worried it could be used by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, but not wanting to waste its potential, Harold takes his machine and hires former special forces soldier and CIA operative John Reese (Jim Caviezel) to help him stop the crimes before they happen. As the show progresses through its five seasons, Person of Interest explores deep topics of privacy, the greater good, government control, and the dangers of the AI uprising.

'Without a Trace' (2002–2009)

Image via CBS

Forget murder cases, Without a Trace focuses on people who disappear suddenly, the FBI's Missing Persons Unit (MPU) on the case to help find them. The show popularized this concept long before shows like Tracker and Found. It aired for seven seasons with clever stories from one episode to the next. There were also crossovers with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which exists in the same universe (both produced by Jerry Bruckheimer).

The cast was impressive, led by Anthony LaPaglia, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Enrique Murciano. Most important about Without a Trace was that every episode ended by showing details about a real-life missing person. Reportedly, this small action led to the discovery of at least five people who were declared missing. It's a wonder why other shows of the same ilk today don't do the same thing.

'Blue Bloods' (2010–2024)

Image via CBS

What are the odds that Tom Selleck would not only have two shows that are considered the best detective shows on CBS, but that they would also have aired decades apart? In Blue Bloods, he returns to the small screen to play New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan. Blue is in his family's blood, as the Reagans have a long history with the force. That streak continues with Frank's eldest son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) and youngest son Jamie (Will Estes) working as officers.

Blue Bloods is as much a family drama as it is a procedural. It captures every aspect of the legal process, from the investigations to the arrests, prosecutions, and red tape. The series ran for an incredible 14 seasons of 293 episodes before its cancelation, which marked the end of an era. While Blue Bloods has come to an end, Danny's story continues in the spin-off Boston Blue, which also airs on CBS.

Blue Bloods

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  Frank Reagan

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  Danny Reagan