10 Crime Dramas That Feel Like They Were Built for Streaming

However, that isn’t to say that all shows ran the same way before streaming became the norm. Crime television in particular has always shown a certain daring and artistic integrity with regard to its storytelling. Ranging from some of HBO’s most defining masterpieces to innovative and daring departures from the norm from networks like FX, these crime shows predated the immense popularity of streaming by some years, and yet their layout, progression, and dramatic style feel like they belong in today’s world of television entertainment.

10 'The Wire' (2002–2008)

It will be no surprise to anyone that many of HBO’s most stunning and defining achievements feature on this list. Released well over a decade before streaming services became a mainstream source of television entertainment, The Wire flaunts a sense of scale that even production houses like Netflix and Prime video have never come close to replicating, while also boasting an ambition, realism, and intensity that elevates it to being one of the best crime dramas of all time, if not the outright greatest.

Created by Baltimore crime reporter David Simon and police veteran Ed Burns, it delivers a piercing examination of the city’s drug trade, the institutional rot of the police force, and the systemic failings of pivotal social institutions like public schooling and city hall. Across its astonishing five-season run, The Wire delivers the ultimate crime epic, one that excels not only as a gripping tale of high-stakes suspense but as a holistic and harrowing analysis of how Baltimore is failing its most vulnerable citizens, and the many reasons why its institutions are incapable of implementing meaningful change.

9 'Hannibal' (2013–2015)

Not only does Hannibal feel like a series that belongs on a streaming platform, but it is also a miracle that it was ever produced and aired on network television. Broadcast on NBC, the crime series flaunts a certain deadly decadence, a captivating marriage of gruesome gore and artistic intricacy. Based on characters created by Thomas Harris, it follows the complex professional relationship between disturbed FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), the psychologist assigned to work alongside him as a supervisor and aid.

The intense nature of its violence and the elaborate display of the murders investigated hold a sadistic splendor that feels too daring and dangerous for network television. It is a credit to NBC that they aired such a confronting series, even if they did cancel it after just three seasons. A feat of slow-burning storytelling as well as a stunning achievement in art design makes Hannibal one of network TV’s most audacious series of any genre, a meticulous and mighty crime drama that exudes the stylistic intensity and narrative prowess of the greatest streaming series.

8 'The Fall' (2013–2016)

Macabre, murderous, and manic, The Fall engrosses viewers in a dark tale of obsession and death as it follows police officer Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) as she investigates the crimes of Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan), an active serial killer targeting professional young women in Belfast. Far from the ordinary police procedural, The Fall’s three seasons stay fixated on one case, delving into Gibson’s psyche as she strives to solve it while also finding tension in showing Spector’s side of the story as well.

Such a daring and unconventional narrative approach made The Fall an underrated hit for the BBC, but it also highlights interests and plot progression that are far more often seen in streaming original shows than network programs. Also featuring high-end production value and a distinctly grittier tone than many other BBC crime shows have exhibited, The Fall is an underappreciated gem of crime television that offers a winding, twisting story right up until its final episode.

7 'Oz' (1997–2003)

A defining and hugely influential new dawn for television at the very end of the 20th century, Oz is a groundbreaking series in the context of small-screen drama, standing as HBO’s first-ever scripted hour-long show. Renowned for its confronting and unflinching exploration of life behind bars, it tracks multiple factions in an experimental ward in Oswald State Correctional Facility, depicting everything from gangland violence to racist attacks and sexual assaults with harrowing realism.

As the first series to truly adopt the prestige television model of serialized storytelling underlined by grueling and gruesome authenticity, Oz is pivotal to the evolution of the medium in recent decades and the establishment of television’s golden era throughout the early 21st century. Impressively, it has also proven itself to be incredibly timeless, with its hard-edged brutality and unique narrative eccentricities ensuring it would look just as natural as a hit streaming series as it did as an HBO release.

6 'Sherlock' (2010–2017)

A brilliant modernization of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic stories, Sherlock delivers an absorbing mystery series laced with wonderful eccentricities, highly entertaining comedic punch, and some of the best characters to have graced the small screen in many years. It follows consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he sets his mind to solving London’s most baffling and brutal cases with help from his accomplice, friend, and flatmate, Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman).

With its distinct offbeat tone, A-list Hollywood stars, and even its somewhat unconventional structure of containing three episodes per season, Sherlock seems an impractical financial commitment for a network broadcaster to take. However, the BBC has produced all four of its seasons and its special episodes, making it not only a flagship title of the network’s television triumphs in recent years, but a defining pillar of British television at large in the 21st century.

5 'Fargo' (2014–2024)

The liberties granted to streaming platforms have allowed for a wave of genre-blending, experimental series to grace the small screen. Many of these shows have injected life into their stories by adding a dose of absurd dark humor to the fold. Few have done it as delightfully as Fargo, with the FX series based on the 1996 Coen Brothers movie of the same name, as each season follows a different tale of crime, chaos, and ambition in and around the town of Fargo.

Each season stands as its own contained story, an approach imbued with a dare that feels distinct to streaming yet made for an enduring hit on the cable network. The fact that the series has been realized with such cinematic decadence and has consistently been able to amass an ensemble cast only adds to the sense that Fargo resembles a streaming original series far more than it does a title of network television.

4 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010–2014)

Standing as something of an underrated gem in the pantheon of outstanding crime TV shows that were released throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Boardwalk Empire is an enrapturing period piece as well as a pulsating gangster series. Following Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the prominent yet corrupt treasurer of Atlantic City in the 1920s, the series thrives as an immersion into one of the most fascinating and frightful eras of American history, one full of bootlegging and brutality as it features such notorious real-life figures as Al Capone (Stephen Graham) and Charles “Lucky” Luciano (Vincent Piazza).

Running with a serialized story that is prone to outbursts of graphic and intense violence, Boardwalk Empire delivers a slow and often disturbing spectacle of feverish volatility. Its earlier seasons are especially methodical and controlled in their pacing, giving the series an air of dramatic bravado that few other network shows would even strive for, let alone achieve. Further bolstered by its brilliant realization of 1920s New Jersey, its ensemble cast, and its emphasis on Thompson makes for a tremendous character study, Boardwalk Empire would be even more at home airing today on a streaming platform than it was on HBO in the early 2010s.

3 'The Shield' (2002–2008)

The 2000s were a golden era for crime television, so much so that The Shield is often underrated as some of its contemporaries soak up much of the attention. However, the FX series is essential viewing, with its exploration of police corruption proving to be even more resonant today than it was at the time it initially aired. Headed by Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), the Strike Team employs illegal methods and profits from street crime as it enforces the law in one of L.A.’s shadiest precincts.

Like many other cop shows on this list, The Shield is a departure from typical police drama television on account of its diversion away from case-of-the-week storytelling. Instead, its serialized format allows for a compelling descent into complex notions of morality, duty, and corruption that hold a dramatic gravitas and narrative conviction that is rarely seen on network television. Its thematic might, realistic approach, and complicated characters make it a highlight of crime television that could easily be a product of streaming entertainment.

2 'True Detective' — Season 1 (2014)

The first season of True Detective stands as one of the greatest triumphs in the history of television, one that feels like it was a product of streaming because it set the framework for many crime series on such platforms with its meticulous pacing, rich atmospheric allure, and its emphasis on character-fueled drama as the intricacies of the central investigations. Told over eight episodes, the series follows the eerie case of an occult serial killer in Louisiana starting in 1995, while jumping forward to 2002, all while being framed as a reflective interview being conducted in 2013.

Bolstered by outstanding production value, gorgeous and moody cinematography, two of the best lead performances television has ever seen, and the auteur-driven style of Nic Pizzolatto’s writing and Cary Joji Fukunaga’s direction, True Detective’s first season exudes a cinematic brilliance. Even the seasons that have succeeded it, while not nearly as good, still flaunt a compelling tonal gravitas and a powerful storytelling vision that sees the series elevated beyond what most cable and network titles are capable of producing.

1 'The Sopranos' (1999–2007)

Marking what is considered by many to be the defining triumph of the medium, The Sopranos thrives as both an enrapturing tale of gangster operations in the modern day and a rich and nuanced character study of the greatest figure to have ever graced the small screen. It follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey mob boss in the early 2000s, as he begins seeing a psychiatrist in secret to help him manage his complicated work-life balance after suffering a series of panic attacks.

Loaded with outstanding writing, absorbing narrative and thematic intricacy, and a powerhouse lead performance from Gandolfini, The Sopranos more than earns its place as one of the finest series in television history, a stunning pioneer of small-screen drama, and the spearhead of HBO’s air of greatness and grandiosity in the medium. Every element of its storytelling and production is a work of perfection, making for a truly faultless series that feels like it was backed by the sort of financing that supports modern streaming hits. In actuality, The Sopranos paved the way for streaming services — in fact, all prestige television — to have such monetary freedom in the first place.