Image via CBS.
Published Jun 15, 2026, 5:11 PM EDT
Jessica is a young writer from Brisbane, Australia. An avid consumer and lover of all things Film and TV, you will never tear her away from a screen. A tendency rooted from childhood, she once had dreams of becoming a member of the famed kids-band 'Hi-5'. Perhaps that's what pushed her to secure an education with a theater background. But now, as dreams evolved, her passions have turned to admiring performances from afar. Frankly, she's just grateful that she can put her binging skills to good use. Outside of work, Jessica recently completed her undergraduate double degree in Arts/Communications. Other than that, she spends most of her free time with family and friends, probably never forgetting to talk about the new movie or show she watched the day prior.
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Procedurals have long been television's comfort food. There's something undeniably satisfying about watching skilled professionals solve problems, crack cases, or win impossible battles week after week. But the very best procedurals offer more than just a reliable formula. They create characters audiences become invested in, weave compelling long-term storylines between banger standalone episodes, and somehow make it impossible to stop at just one episode.
The 2010s proved to be a particularly strong decade for the format. From legal dramas and detective mysteries to police comedies and psychological thrillers, there were a number of shows that redefined the classic procedural, while also retaining the addictive qualities that made them popular in the first place. So, just in case you're in need of a nostalgic binge or simply a casual background show, take a look at these procedurals.
8 'Blindspot' (2015–2020)
Image via NBCA woman covered head-to-toe in cryptic tattoos is discovered inside a duffel bag in Times Square with no memory of who she is. Dubbed Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander), it's quickly discovered that each tattoo points towards a future crime or conspiracy, drawing her closer to FBI Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) and his team as they investigate. But as the clues continue to unravel, it's clear Jane's forgotten past becomes just as important as the cases themselves.
What made Blindspot so addictive was its ability to constantly reinvent itself. Because just when viewers thought they understood Jane's history, the show would unveil another twist that would completely change the bigger picture. As such, while the procedural format gave each episode a clear objective, the larger mythology is what kept audiences hooked. Add in the chemistry between Alexander and Stapleton, the stellar ensemble cast, and enough cliffhangers to fuel a dozen binge-watching sessions, and it's easy to see why the show became such a network TV obsession—even if it is a severely underrated pick.
7 'Suits' (2011–2019)
Image via USAAfter impressing legendary closer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) with his photographic memory and razor-sharp intelligence, college dropout Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) lands a job at one of New York City's most prestigious law firms—despite never attending law school. Together, Harvey and Mike take on high-stakes legal battles while desperately trying to keep Mike's secret hidden from those who could destroy both of their careers.
While Suits garnered great entertainment from its revolving legal cases, its addictive quality comes from its rich ensemble of characters. Harvey and Mike's mentor-protege relationship provides the emotional core, while fan-favorites like Donna (Sarah Rafferty), Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), and Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) elevate every scene they're in. Frankly, the show mastered the balance of their long-running storylines, as they created a world where personal rivalries often felt just as important as courtroom victories. Sure, the final seasons may have dragged on a bit (along with that disppointing spin-off), but this show had the power that made people contemplate becoming a corporate lawyer.
6 'Elementary' (2012–2019)
Image via CBSThis modern reimagining of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous novels finds Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) living in New York as he consults for the NYPD. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), his assigned sober companion, gradually becomes both his investigative partner and closest confidant as the pair tackle murders, kidnappings, and complex criminal conspiracies throughout the city.
What separates Elementary from other Sherlock Holmes adaptations is its emphasis on true partnership. Rather than focusing solely on the detective's brilliance, the show allows Watson to become an equally vital part of the investigations, creating one of television's most rewarding platonic relationships. The procedural mysteries are consistently engaging, but it's the evolving dynamic between Miller and Liu that keeps viewers invested season after season. By the end, Elementary felt less like your classic crime show and more like a character study of identity, grief, and recovery.
5 'The Good Wife' (2009–2016)
After her politician husband is publicly disgraced by scandal, Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) returns to the legal profession after years away from the workforce. Joining a prestigious Chicago law firm, she must rebuild her career while navigating complicated office politics, high-profile court cases, and the fallout from her husband's actions.
Many legal dramas rely solely on courtroom theatrics, but The Good Wife distinguished itself by treating both its cases and characters with equal sophistication. Naturally, Alicia's professional and personal evolution formed the backbone of the show. And yet, it was its sharp writing on politics, media, technology, and public perception that elevated it all. Plus, who could forget the sizzling ensemble that filled out the storyworld—including the occasional Law and Order-like celebrity appearances.
4 'Person of Interest' (2011–2016)
Image via CBSWhen reclusive billionaire software genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) recruits former CIA operative John Reese (Jim Caviezel), he introduces him to a machine capable of predicting violent crimes before they happen. Each week, the system generates the social security number of someone connected to an impending crime, leaving Finch and Reese to determine whether that person is a victim, perpetrator, or something far more complicated.
There's no doubt that Person of Interest evolved into one of the most ambitious (and underrated) sci-fi dramas of the 2010s. Here, the show steadily expanded its mythology by exploring surveillance, artificial intelligence, and government power—themes that have become eerily relevant in today's media society. And yet, despite these meatier topics, the show never loses sight of the human stories at its center. This combination alone made it a highly compelling tale and one of the decade's most rewarding procedural watches.
3 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' (2013–2021)
Image via NBCSet in Brooklyn's fictional 99th Precinct, the talented but immature detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his fellow officers investigate crimes while navigating friendships, rivalries, and workplace chaos. Their days quickly change with the arrival of the disciplined—but new—Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), who forces Jake and the rest of the squad to grow both professionally and personally.
Unlike most procedurals, Brooklyn Nine-Nine hooks viewers in through comedy rather than suspense. And while its structure maintains traditions with the police work forming the foundation for its humor, the secret weapon lies in its ensemble—with each member bringing their own distinct flair to add to the shenanigans of their team dynamic. So, whether you came for the jokes, the mysteries, or the iconic deadpan one-liners from the late great Braugher—Nine-Nine was a show that easily had you clicking "next episode".
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
2 'Hawaii Five-0' (2010–2020)
Image via CBS.Tasked with leading an elite state police unit in Hawaii, former Navy SEAL Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) teams up with a group of highly skilled investigators to tackle major crime cases, from murders and kidnappings to organized crime and terrorism. Their cases take them across the islands, often placing the team in dangerous and unpredictable situations—some of which bleed into their own personal lives.
There's something undeniably comforting about a procedural that knows exactly what it is, and Hawaii Five-0 excelled at delivering dependable entertainment. The action sequences were bigger than most network crime dramas, the tropical setting gave its visuals a distinct identity, and the banter between McGarrett and Danny (Scott Caan) remains endlessly enjoyable. Viewers may come for the weekly cases, but they stay for the team's loveable dynamic. It was a true staple of television, just like the original 1960s show.
1 'Mindhunter' (2017–2019)
Image via NetflixSet in the late 1970s, FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) work with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) to develop criminal profiling techniques by interviewing imprisoned serial killers. Their research gradually helps law enforcement better understand violent offenders, but the process exposes the team to some of the darkest corners of human behavior.
Although Mindhunter is slower and more methodical than many procedurals, it possesses a different kind of addictiveness. Every interview feels like a psychological chess match, with the agents attempting to understand minds that seem fundamentally illogical. In this sense, the show transforms conversations into suspenseful set pieces, creating tension without relying on traditional action or cliffhangers. Combined with David Fincher's meticulous vision and an atmosphere of creeping dread, Mindhunter became one of the most captivating crime shows of all time—making its abrupt cancellation all the more shocking
Mindhunter
Release Date 2017 - 2019
Network Netflix
Showrunner Joe Penhall
English (US) ·