Rian Johnson's latest entry into his repertoire of subversive comedy-mystery stories sees him stepping away from the world of film and into the world of television with Peacock's procedural series Poker Face. Led by Natasha Lyonne, the show follows Charlie Cale, a former casino worker turned unintentional-private eye who has a knack for knowing when someone is lying. She travels across the US, fleeing from her ex-boss, and helping solve homicides along the way.
Considering Johnson is at the helm (both as writer and director of several episodes, as well as the series' official creator) Poker Face adheres surprisingly close to the conventions of the procedural crime drama. It bucks the genre's trends occasionally, but not often enough to ward off fans of its more traditional format. As such, viewers who enjoyed Poker Face should find a lot to like in these other procedural dramas.
10 Criminal Minds
- Available on Disney+ and Paramount+
Criminal Minds has gotten a bad rap as its run has extended into 16 (!) seasons of procedural television. Despite the public conversation, the show takes a fascinating approach to investigative television, with its team of FBI behavioral profilers using psychological tactics to get into the minds of their suspects.
The show's first few seasons with Mandy Patinkin as the lead are still its best, but even after he was swapped out for Joe Mantegna, it has maintained consistent quality. The actors continue to give their all with some stellar performances, even in the later seasons when the show occasionally runs out of ideas.
9 Lie To Me
- Available on Disney+
This is another series where the characters have a knack for picking out liars, only in this case, they use real scientific analysis to do so. Led by Tim Roth, Lie To Me ran for three seasons at Fox before its cancelation.
The show was at its best when delving into the scientific study of how people lie. From the micro expressions that can give away a person's true meaning to the ways in which people craft false statements on the fly, viewers will begin to think like a human lie detector by the time they're through watching. Tim Roth's performance alone is worth the time investment.
8 The Mentalist
- Available on Prime Video and AppleTV
Essentially a spin on the Sherlock Holmes formula, The Mentalist differentiates itself by twisting its narrative around the concept of a kind of "reverse magician" - in this case Patrick Jane - who applies the tools he uses to trick audiences on stage as a "Mentalist" to help the police spot details in their investigations.
While not the most inventive of the procedural dramas on this list, The Mentalist thrives on the strength of its cast and writing. Jane is an engaging character with more turmoil under the surface than he shows upfront. The way the show applies his unique knowledge to the mystery formula remains consistently engaging through its 7-season run.
7 Person Of Interest
- Available on AppleTV
Led by Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson, Person of Interest is a more grounded twist on the Minority Report concept. It follows Harold Finch, who has created an AI that can identify violent crimes before they happen by scanning CCTV cameras, social media, phone calls, and the like, before spitting out a suspect who is on the verge of committing a violent crime.
Finch hires John Reese (Caviezel), a former government agent, to be his "man in the field," going out and discovering exactly what it is the AI is identifying and trying to stop the predicted crime before it happens. The show has some great action moments and explores the ethics of investigative procedure in a way that few other procedurals do.
6 Sherlock
- Available on Prime Video and AppleTV
BBC's Sherlock was a fascinating experiment. Each season is only 3 episodes long, but each episode is 90 minutes, making them more like a series of movies than a TV show. Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and Watson respectively, and moves the characters into a modern-day setting as opposed to their traditional Victorian time period.
While it peters off towards the end of its 4-season run, the first bunch of episodes are some of the best in the genre. Sherlock easily ranks among the best live-action interpretations of Sherlock Holmes, both in the characterization of Sherlock himself and the manner in which he applies his unique psychology to solving heinous and complex crimes.
5 The Wire
- Available on HBOMax
While it's unfair to call The Wire a "procedural drama," it cements a spot on this list by being one of the best fictional representations of police work of all time. Creator David Simon worked as a police reporter in Baltimore, where the show is set, and used that experience to tell a gripping story about the constant tug-of-war between the police and the drug trade.
It's hard to undersell just how good The Wire is. The writing and characters are some of the best to ever appear on TV, and despite being set in the early 2000s, it feels more relevant than ever because of its refusal to shy away from the ugliness of both the police force and the gangs they hunt, as well as how mundane (and often futile) the investigative process really is.
4 Perry Mason
- Available on HBOMax
For shows about investigators who aren't police, there are few better on TV right now than Perry Mason. A reboot of the classic legal show from the 1950s, the new series stars Matthew Rhys (of The Americans fame) as the titular character, who works to make a name for himself as a lawyer in post-Depression Los Angeles in the 1930s.
While the original series followed a traditional procedural formula, HBO's reboot takes a more serialized approach, with Mason getting embroiled in the case of a kidnapped baby and a mysterious religious group that may or may not be a cult. The show's second season is set to premiere in March 2023.
3 The Shield
- Available on Prime Video and AppleTV
A cross between Breaking Bad and The Wire, The Shield follows an experimental gang task force set up to deal with rampant violence in a fictional district of Los Angeles called Farmington. The task force quickly begins resorting to criminal activity themselves in order to deal with the gangs, and often to set themselves up comfortably as well.
The show's 7 seasons are led by Michael Chiklis as the task-force lead Vic Mackey, and his performance alone carries the show. While the investigative elements are interesting, it's the characters that truly make The Shield shine. There are very few series that paint the police in such an ugly light.
2 Castle
- Available on Disney+ and Hulu
Starring the legendary Nathan Fillion, fresh off his classic role in Firefly, as author Richard Castle, Castle is a procedural drama with lots of comedy mixed in. Castle manages to swing a deal with the NYPD to shadow them on investigations in order to gain inspiration for his new book, but soon finds himself becoming a valuable investigative asset for Detective Kate Beckett.
While the show's concept may not be the most realistic, the chemistry between Fillion and Stana Katic (who plays Beckett) does a lot of the heavy lifting. Between that and the overarching mystery of a copycat killer who uses Castle's books for inspiration, there's a lot of casual fun to be had throughout the show's 8 seasons.
1 Luther
- Available on Prime Video and Hulu
Another classic out of the BBC, Luther stars Idris Elba as John Luther, an on-again-off-again police detective in London with an uncanny knack for investigation and criminal profiling, coupled with methods that most certainly aren't standard police procedure.
While Luther adheres to the standard procedural format for the most part, it's the shockingly grisly crimes Luther investigates, as well as the unpredictability of the show's plot and Luther's actions, that make for riveting television. It also has one of the best intro themes of any show on this list, right up alongside The Wire (which Idris Elba was also a part of, coincidentally).