5 Crime Dramas That Never Let Viewers Down (6 photos)

One earned 53 Emmy nominations without a single win. Another holds a Guinness World Record as the most critically acclaimed TV show of all time. Collider, the popular entertainment outlet, compiled a list of crime dramas that maintained top-tier quality from start to finish. The lineup features five acclaimed series spanning 23 years, 29 seasons, and 359 episodes of television. Here is a look at why each earned its spot on the list and why fans keep coming back to them decades later.





"Breaking Bad": From High School Teacher to Drug Kingpin

AMC's

Breaking Bad

aired from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013. Over five seasons and 62 episodes, Walter White—a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal lung cancer—transforms into one of the country's most dangerous methamphetamine kingpins. Creator Vince Gilligan, a former writer on

The X-Files

, brought the same painstaking attention to detail and gradual character development to his new project.



In 2013, Guinness World Records named

Breaking Bad

the most critically acclaimed TV show in history.

The series won 16 Primetime Emmy Awards out of 58 nominations. Its series finale drew 10.3 million live viewers—a record-breaking audience for a show that started with modest ratings. Each of the five seasons continuously raised the stakes, keeping viewers hooked right through to the end.

"The Sopranos": A Mob Boss in Therapy

The Sopranos

premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, and wrapped up on June 10, 2007. Across six seasons and 86 episodes, creator David Chase offered an inside look at a New Jersey mob boss attending therapy sessions to deal with panic attacks. It was a revolutionary move at the time: for the first time, a crime drama dug deep into a mobster's inner psyche rather than just focusing on gunfights.





James Gandolfini won a Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Tony Soprano. The actor passed away from a heart attack in 2013.

Edie Falco, who played Tony's wife Carmela, picked up three Emmy wins of her own. In 2021, HBO released the feature-length prequel

The Many Saints of Newark

, starring Gandolfini's son, Michael, as a young Tony.

The Sopranos

is widely regarded as the cornerstone of modern television drama—without it, shows like

The Wire

and

Breaking Bad

might never have existed.

"The Wire": The Masterpiece That Awards Shows Snubbed

Aired from 2002 to 2008,

The Wire

was crafted by two creators who knew Baltimore's underbelly firsthand: former

Baltimore Sun

crime reporter David Simon and veteran Baltimore homicide detective Ed Burns. Across five seasons and 60 episodes, the show unfolds like an insider sociological study of the city, examining Baltimore through a new lens each season—from the drug trade and seaport operations to city politics, the school system, and print journalism.



The series is set in Baltimore, Maryland—the hometown of series creator David Simon.

Despite overwhelming critical acclaim,

The Wire

was notoriously overlooked by the Emmys, securing just two writing nominations over six years and zero wins. David Simon publicly stated he held no bitterness, framing the show's lack of major hardware as a badge of honor. In 2004, the series was awarded a Peabody Award, one of the few major accolades it received during its broadcast run.

"The Shield": Rogue Cops on the Streets of Los Angeles

FX aired

The Shield

from 2002 to 2008, running for seven seasons and 88 episodes. The gritty drama centers on Vic Mackey, the leader of a corrupt strike team in the fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles. Mackey beats suspects, sets up fellow officers, and robs the Armenian mob—all while remaining a devoted father to his three children. Creator Shawn Ryan built the series around a central moral dilemma: do the ends justify the means when fighting crime?



Michael Chiklis won an Emmy Award for his role as Vic Mackey following the show's debut season in 2002.

That same year, the show took home two Golden Globes—for Best Drama Series and Best Actor. Overall,

The Shield

scored five Emmy nominations and won a Peabody Award in 2006. Its final season aired in 2008 and was honored by the American Film Institute—a rare feat where a show's conclusion was acclaimed even more than its debut.

"Better Call Saul": The Unluckiest Show in Emmy History

Created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould,

Better Call Saul

serves as both a prequel and sequel to

Breaking Bad

. The show aired on AMC from February 8, 2015, to August 15, 2022, spanning six seasons and 63 episodes. Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, years prior to

Breaking Bad

, the series follows struggling attorney Jimmy McGill (played by Bob Odenkirk) as he gradually transforms into the morally compromised criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.



Critics often praise

Better Call Saul

as a rare spin-off that managed to equal—or even surpass—the storytelling depth of the original series.

Across its six-season run, the series accumulated 53 Emmy nominations—and went home empty-handed every single time. It holds the ultimate record for Emmy snubs: no other show has earned as many consecutive nominations without a single win. In 2022,

Better Call Saul

lost out in top categories to

Succession

and

Squid Game

, though audience adoration had long eclipsed any need for trophies.

Five Shows Without a Single Weak Season

Spanning 23 years of television, 29 seasons, and 359 episodes, these series never suffered a slump in quality. It is a rare phenomenon where critics, award panels, and everyday viewers stand in total agreement: each of these five shows remains infinitely rewatchable long after the final credits rolled.

Now over to you: which of these five shows deserves the top spot on your list?