8 Most Influential Detective Shows of All Time, Ranked

Published Sep 17, 2026, 3:52 PM EDT

Remus is a writer, editor, journalist, and author with an eye for detail and an extremely active imagination. He is an enthusiast of everything to do with the graphic medium, whether it's Western comics and their adaptations or manga and anime. Remus is also the author of the sci-fantasy novel Once Upon a Time in Hyperspace and several works of short fiction in the mystery, comedy, and horror genres.

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The greatest detectives are not born; they are written. From classic literature to modern television marvels, detective fiction is arguably the most enduring genre of all and continues to thrill, confuse, shock, and awe fans to this day. Since the days of Telecrime, detective shows have proven to be one of the most successful on television, turning their heroic sleuths into household names. Shows like Columbo broke new ground, while Magnum P.I. became definitive of their eras, and shows like Poirot became evergreen landmarks of detective television.

As the mystery genre continues to thrive and expand with newer kinds of sleuths and inventive ways of sleuthing, we look back at the shows that pushed the genre one step further in each era. Featuring detectives who became cultural icons of their time, each of these detective series is a television landmark that redefined the genre and became a major influence on future productions. So fire up the little grey cells, Mon Ami! Here’s our ranked selection of some of the most influential detective shows of all time.

8 ‘Dexter’ (2006–2013)

Image via Showtime

A 2000s crime TV classic created by James Manos Jr. that’s based on Jeff Lindsay’s 2004 novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter centers on the titular forensic expert, played by Michael C. Hall, who specializes in bloodstain pattern analysis and works with the Miami Metro Police Department on murder cases. But Dexter also lives a secret double life as a vigilante serial killer who hunts down and kills criminals whom he believes are not adequately punished due to legal loopholes and corruption. The series also features Jennifer Carpenter, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, and James Remar in key roles.

Dexter had a varied critical reception across different seasons but was consistently popular among fans and continues to enjoy a huge fanbase following its streaming resurgence and the subsequent expansion of the franchise. The show’s concept was novel for its time, though considered dark and gory by many, with Hall’s complex protagonist ranking among all-time favorite television anti-heroes. Running during the peak of crime television’s golden age, Dexter became a massive cultural phenomenon and remains a highly recognizable pop culture icon.

7 ‘Magnum P.I.’ (1980–1988)

Starring Tom Selleck as the titular investigator and created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, Magnum P.I. is a hit '80s detective series that follows Thomas Magnum, an ex-soldier-turned-private investigator who lives on the luxurious beachfront estate of a wealthy author in Oahu, Hawaii, and solves local crimes. While his easygoing lifestyle causes frequent clashes with the strict estate manager, former British Army major Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, he often helps Magnum with his cases, as do Magnum’s friends and fellow war vets, Orville "Rick" Wright and Theodore “T.C.” Calvin. John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley, and Larry Manetti round out the main cast.

Thomas Magnum reinvented the '80s hypermasculine sense of cool with his aloha shirts, thick, chevron-style mustache, and iconic red Ferrari 308 GTS, turning Selleck into a global pop culture icon. Though fun and flashy on the outside, the show features some serious themes as well, with surprising emotional depth and clever writing. During its run, Magnum P.I. consistently topped the ratings and swept accolades, and it continues to be a beloved classic with a lasting legacy.

6 ‘Matlock’ (1988–1995)

Image via NBC

Andy Griffith’s famous mystery legal drama, created by Dean Hargrove, Matlock centers on the titular character, a widowed and respectable lawyer known for his hefty fees and active investigation of his cases. Equipped with a folksy attitude, sharp intellect, and cantankerous personality, Ben Matlock routinely proves his clients’ innocence by unmasking the real criminals in tense courtroom confrontations. Besides Griffith, the show also stars Nancy Stafford, Kene Holliday, Julie Sommars, and Clarence Gilyard Jr. in notable roles.

Though Matlock does not technically classify as detective fiction, every episode of the show functions as a classic whodunit investigation, where the lawyer himself investigates the case. The legal procedural cemented Andy Griffith’s late-career fame and became a massive ratings hit and a comfort TV staple of the time. Even though it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, Matlock is a definitive crime show of the '80s and has remained an integral part of NBC’s history.

Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt

Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.

🎖️Rambo

🍸James Bond

🏺Indiana Jones

🔧John McClane

🎭Ethan Hunt

FIND YOUR PARTNER →

01

You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.

ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.

AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.

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03

You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.

ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.

AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.

APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.

AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.

ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.

ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.

NEXT QUESTION →

09

Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.

AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.

NEXT QUESTION →

10

It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.

AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.

REVEAL MY PARTNER →

Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…

Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.

Rambo

Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.

James Bond

Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.

Indiana Jones

Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.

John McClane

Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.

Ethan Hunt

Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

5 ‘Monk’ (2002–2009)

Image via USA Network

Andy Breckman’s multi-Emmy-winning show starring Tony Shalhoub, Monk is a charming detective mystery comedy about the titular eccentric detective, who is afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder and several other phobias, made worse by his wife’s sudden death. But with his keen insights and strange crime-solving techniques, Adrian Monk solves various crimes for the San Francisco police department as a consultant, though his cases often force him to face his most difficult fears. Other main characters are played by Ted Levine, Bitty Schram, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Traylor Howard.

Monk helped redefine the “quirky genius” in detective procedurals, completely inverting the traditional, hyper-confident detective hero and pioneering the flawed sleuth, whose astute observations work as a perfect contrast to his debilitating issues. Anchored by Shalhoub’s terrific central performance season after season, the show balances heart and humor with a simple narrative and interesting, character-driven mysteries. During its run, Monk carved out a special niche with its unique hero and storytelling style, winning eight Emmy Awards, and it still ranks among the best crime series of this century.

4 ‘Columbo’ (1968–1978, 1989–2003)

Image via NBC

An American television classic created by Peter Levinson and William Link, Columbo centers on the titular homicide detective, Lt. Frank Columbo, LAPD’s shrewdest and sharpest, who solves the most complex murders through his exceptional observation skills. The howcatchem procedural follows a new case every week, where the criminal does their best to cover up the crime until Columbo debunks it with “just one more question.” Peter Falk leads the cast with his career-defining role as Frank Columbo, with Shera Danese, William Shatner, Leslie Nielsen, Dick Van Dyke, and more appearing as guest stars.

Columbo was an essential crime series of its era, with the detective’s trademark battered car and crumpled raincoat becoming style statements of the era. The clever writing, whip-smart dialogue, and satisfying resolutions to the mysteries made it a massively popular and well-acclaimed show of the '70s that still finds its fans in the 21st century. Falk’s multi-Emmy-winning performance of the titular investigator established a blueprint for folksy, bona fide truth-seekers that inspired many modern detectives, including Poker Face’s Charlie Kale.

3 ‘Murder, She Wrote’ (1984–1996)

Image via CBS

Created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link, Murder, She Wrote is Angela Lansbury’s most globally iconic and recognizable role. The show stars Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer and amateur detective living in Cabot Cove, Maine, who gets involved in various murder investigations both at home and abroad. The series also features a massive rotating cast across all seasons, with Tom Bosley, Louis Herthum, William Windom, and Ron Masak appearing in recurring roles.

During its 12-season run, Murder, She Wrote became the next favorite of mystery TV following Columbo, though it was appreciated arguably more than its predecessor for its quirkier and cozier tone. Lansbury became a household name with her fiercely intelligent and deeply warm sleuth, a role that earned her four Golden Globes and set a record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series. A landmark of broadcast television, Murder, She Wrote is easily one of the highest-rated, most successful, and longest-running television shows of its time, developing a global fanbase that’s still strong today.

2 ‘Sherlock’ (2010–2017)

Colin Hutton / © BBC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

A modern reimagining of Sherlock Holmes created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, BBC’s Sherlock puts Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic literary hero in 21st-century London, where he and his new roommate-turned-aide Dr. John Watson solve complex, baffling crimes. Sherlock reinvents stories from the original canon with a contemporary flair, with the lead character combining his unmatched deduction techniques with the latest tech and Watson blogging about all their cases and findings. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman lead the cast as the legendary duo of Holmes and Watson, while Andrew Scott delivers a remarkable performance as their arch-nemesis, James Moriarty.

Sherlock brilliantly translates the Victorian detective classics into a fast-paced, high-tech setting and modern sensibilities, without losing the essence and charm of the original. The show has earned acclaim for its cinematic mastery and the fantastic performances by the lead cast, which put a brilliant spin on the legacy characters. Slick, sharp, and stylish, Sherlock is an influential and landmark detective show of the 21st century that has inspired several subsequent adaptations.

1 ‘Agatha Christie's Poirot’ (1989–1996, 2000–2010, 2013)

Image via ITV

A serialized television adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic crime novels featuring the famous Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's Poirot, or simply Poirot, follows the various cases of the Belgian detective. With his close friends, Captain Arthur Hastings, Inspector James Japp of Scotland Yard, and his secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, by his side, and relying on nothing but his little grey cells, Poirot solves the most complicated, seemingly unsolvable crimes wherever justice beckons him. Led by David Suchet as the star detective, the show's cast includes Hugh Fraser, Phillip Jackson, Pauline Moran, and Zoë Wanamaker as recurring characters across all seasons.

Though not the first TV show featuring Hercule Poirot, ITV’s Poirot is the first major series dedicated to the character and the only screen adaptation to eventually adapt nearly every Poirot novel and short story written by Agatha Christie. Suchet’s perfect embodiment of the Belgian sleuth, in every aspect of the character's persona, has since remained a definitive portrayal of the character that still ranks higher than most other interpretations. A cozy, intelligent whodunit, Poirot remains highly faithful to the original canon while still expanding on Christie’s detective classics.