Best tv shows like McMillan & Wife
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
McMillan & Wife is a lighthearted American police procedural that aired on NBC from September 17, 1971 to April 24, 1977. Starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in the title roles, the series premiered in 90-minute episodes as part of the wheel series NBC Mystery Movie, in rotation with Columbo and McCloud. Initially airing on Wednesday night, the original line-up was shifted to Sundays in the second season, where it aired for the rest of its run. This was the first element to be created specially for the Mystery Movie strand.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like McMillan & Wife (1971):
Similar in 79%
Harry O (1973)
Plot Summary:
Harry O, sometimes spelled Harry-O, is an American crime drama series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen and was executive produced by Jerry Thorpe. Harry O followed the broadcast of two pilot films: Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On and then the second, Smile Jenny, You're Dead, both starring Janssen.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 874
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful, vintage
Similar in 88%
Thirteen (2016)
Plot Summary:
This Five-part BBC psychological drama follows Ivy Moxam, a 26-year-old woman who was abducted when she was 13 and held captive for the next 13 years. The story begins as she escapes the cellar she was being held in and goes to the police station to report her ordeal to D.S. Lisa Merchant and D.I. Elliott Carne. But as she narrates and relives her experiences with the police, cracks begin to appear in Ivy's version of events leading the officers and her family to question her story. Will she ever reveal the truth about what she experienced in her captor's house?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough, scary, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
Z Cars (1962)
Plot Summary:
Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 370
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Cagney & Lacey (1981)
Plot Summary:
Mary Beth Lacey and Chris Cagney are teamed up as NYPD police detectives. Their opposing personalities (one is tough and the other sensitive) mesh to make this one of the great crime-fighting duos of all time.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
The Streets of San Francisco (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television. It starred Karl Malden and Michael Douglas as two detectives in San Francisco. The show ran for five seasons, between September 16, 1972, and June 9, 1977, on ABC, amassing a total of 119 60-minute episodes. The series started with a pilot movie of the same title a week before the series debuted. Edward Hume, who wrote the teleplay for the pilot, was credited as having developed the series based on characters in Weston's novel. The pilot featured guest stars Robert Wagner, Tom Bosley and Kim Darby. Douglas left the series at the start of its final season and was replaced by Richard Hatch.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, realistic, retro, rough, serious, suspenseful, neo noir, vintage
Similar in 88%
McCloud (1970)
Plot Summary:
McCloud is an American television police drama that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1977. The title role is played by Dennis Weaver as Marshal Sam McCloud, a law officer from Taos, New Mexico, on semi-permanent "special assignment" with the New York City Police Department.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspenseful, realistic, detective, neo western, psychological, mind bending
Similar in 85%
Kojak (2005)
Plot Summary:
A bald police detective with a righteous attitude battles crime on his hometurf.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 457
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, stylized, detective, suspense, captivating, realistic
Similar in 78%
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye (2002)
Plot Summary:
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye is an American television series that premiered in 2002 on the PAX Network. The show ended in May 2005 due to PAX's decision to halt the production of original programming. It was one of the two highest rated shows on the network.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 86%
Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Plot Summary:
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, stylized, realistic, suspenseful, detective, serious, vintage, telenovela
Similar in 76%
In the Heat of the Night (1988)
Plot Summary:
In the Heat of the Night is an American television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name starring Carroll O'Connor as the white police chief William Gillespie, and Howard Rollins as the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995. Its executive producers were Fred Silverman, Juanita Bartlett and Carroll O'Connor. TGG Direct released the first season of the series to DVD on August 28, 2012.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, retro, tense, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Ellery Queen (1975)
Plot Summary:
Ellery Queen is an American television detective mystery series based on the fictional character Ellery Queen. It aired on NBC during the 1975-76 television season and stars Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen, and Tom Reese as Sgt. Velie. Created by the writing/producing team of Richard Levinson and William Link, the title character "breaks" the fourth wall to ask the audience to consider their solution.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Family, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: detective, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Banacek (1972)
Plot Summary:
Banacek is an American detective TV series starring George Peppard that aired on the NBC network from 1972 to 1974. The series was part of the rotating NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie anthology. It alternated in its time slot with several other shows but was the only one to last beyond its first season.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Death of an Expert Witness (1983)
Plot Summary:
When Dr. Edwin Lorrimer, a forensic scientist working at a private laboratory is found killed, Detective Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh is sent to investigate. Dalgliesh had been in the area a few months previously investigating the murder of a young woman found in an abandoned car. There are several suspects: Lorrimer's subordinate, Clifford Bradley, who despises him; the new head of the laboratory, Maxim Howarth, who is jealous of his sister's relationship with him; a colleague, Paul Middlemass, who had a fight with Lorrimer. There is also a gruff and likely unethical policeman who was on the grounds of the laboratory at the time of the killing and a local pathologist who is raising his two young children after his wife leaves him for another man. When one of the suspects is also murdered, Dalgliesh learns a key piece of information.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, crime drama, atmospheric, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
The Inside (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Inside is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Minear and Howard Gordon and produced by Imagine Television. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit, a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially aired on the Fox Network from June 8 to July 13, 2005. Although thirteen episodes were produced, Fox aired only seven episodes before canceling the series. All thirteen episodes were subsequently aired on Britain's ITV4 in 2006.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, serious, suspenseful, mind bending, detective
Similar in 90%
Silk Stalkings (1991)
Plot Summary:
Silk Stalkings is a crime drama television series. The series premiered on CBS on November 7, 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package. It originally aired on CBS for two seasons until June 1993 when CBS ended the Crimetime experiment. After this, the series ran exclusively on USA until its finale in April 1999. The show was creator Stephen J. Cannell's longest-running series. Its title is wordplay on silk stockings. The series portrays the daily lives of two detectives who solve sexually-based crimes of passion among the ultra-rich of Palm Beach, Florida. Most episodes were shot in San Diego, California, while others were filmed in Scottsdale, Arizona.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, serious, realistic, suspenseful, neo noir
Similar in 85%
Quincy M.E. (1976)
Plot Summary:
Quincy, M.E. is an American television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC. It stars Jack Klugman in the title role, a Los Angeles County medical examiner. Inspired by the book Where Death Delights by Marshall Houts, a former FBI agent, the show also resembled the earlier Canadian television series Wojeck, broadcast by CBC Television. John Vernon, who played the Wojeck title role, later guest starred in the third-season episode "Requiem For The Living". Quincy's character is loosely modelled on Los Angeles' "Coroner to the Stars" Thomas Noguchi. The first half of the first season of Quincy was broadcast as 90-minute telefilms as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie rotation in the fall of 1976 alongside Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan. The series proved popular enough that midway through the 1976–1977 season, Quincy was spun off into its own weekly one-hour series. The Mystery Movie format was discontinued in the spring of 1977. In 1978, writers Tony Lawrence and Lou Shaw received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the second-season episode "...The Thighbone's Connected to the Knee Bone...". Many of the episodes used the same actors for different roles in various episodes. For example, an actor who plays a crooked Navy captain also plays a ballistics expert in several of the later episodes. Using a small "pool" of actors was a common production trait of many Glen A. Larson TV programs. Before becoming a regular cast member as Quincy's girlfriend-wife Dr. Emily Hanover in the 1982-1983 season, Anita Gillette had portrayed Quincy's deceased first wife Helen Quincy in a flashback in a 1979 episode "Promises to Keep".
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, medical drama, retro, sincere, serious, realistic, suspenseful, vintage
Similar in 75%
Murder One (1995)
Plot Summary:
Theodore 'Teddy' Hoffman is a highly-regarded defense attorney in a prestigious Los Angeles law firm. Having successfully defended the wealthy but suspicious Richard Cross in a much-publicised murder trial, he is now involved in the defense of Neil Avedon, a famous young actor who has been suffering from severe drug and alcohol problems - and has been charged with the murder for which Cross was acquitted.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, detective, thrilling, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, vintage
Similar in 88%
Law & Order Los Angeles (2010)
Plot Summary:
Law & Order: LA, originally titled Law & Order: Los Angeles, is an American police procedural and legal drama television series set in Los Angeles, where it was produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and developed by Blake Masters, it premiered on NBC on September 29, 2010, as a spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama Law & Order. The show received a full season pickup on October 18, 2010. On January 18, 2011, however, NBC announced that it was putting the series on hold indefinitely. According to a representative of the show, the scheduling change was not caused entirely by the recent cast shake-up. The network later announced a return date for the series, April 11, 2011; and the final episode scheduled for July 11, 2011. Law & Order: LA was canceled by NBC on May 13, 2011.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, realistic, suspenseful, detective, crime drama, rough, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Ironside (1967)
Plot Summary:
Ironside is a Universal television series that ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as a paraplegic Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character debuted on March 28, 1967 in a TV movie. When broadcast in the United Kingdom the show was initially titled A Man Called Ironside. The show earned Burr six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. A new television series having the same name, Ironside is currently under development and is scheduled to debut on October 2, 2013.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, talky, vintage
Similar in 78%
Baretta (1975)
Plot Summary:
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, retro, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Ironside (2013)
Plot Summary:
Ironside is an upcoming American drama television series that is scheduled to premiere in the 2013–14 television season on NBC. It will air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central, after Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Ironside and is set to premiere on October 2, 2013.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, serious, tense, captivating, suspense, detective, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001)
Plot Summary:
The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult classic, telenovela
Similar in 89%
Brooklyn South (1997)
Plot Summary:
Brooklyn South is an American ensemble police drama series that aired on CBS for only one season during the 1997–98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, David Milch and William M. Finkelstein. Bochco is the creator of many well-known police dramas such as Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. Milch was Bochco's co-creator for NYPD Blue. Finkelstein and Clark both also worked on NYPD Blue. The series attempted to create a setting of a gritty, realistic police station similar to that of NYPD Blue, but differed by focusing on the uniformed police officers rather than the detectives. The pilot of Brooklyn South was noted as the first TV-MA rated episode on broadcast television.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Kojak (1973)
Plot Summary:
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier. Kojak's Greek American heritage, shared by actor Savalas, was prominently featured in the series. In 1999 TV Guide ranked Theo Kojak number 18 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty, urban fantasy
Similar in 77%
Vega$ (1978)
Plot Summary:
Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas. The show stars Robert Urich as private detective Dan Tanna, who drove around the streets of Las Vegas in a red 1957 Ford Thunderbird solving crimes and making Las Vegas a better place for residents and tourists alike.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: detective, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Adam-12 (1968)
Plot Summary:
Adam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by R. A. Cinader and Jack Webb, who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a typical day in the life of a police officer as realistically as possible. The show ran from September 21, 1968 through May 20, 1975, and helped introduce police procedures and jargon to the general public in the United States of America.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, serious, stylized, detective, captivating, vintage
Similar in 84%
L.A. Dragnet (2003)
Plot Summary:
Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith methodically investigate crimes in Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 80%
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
Plot Summary:
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de facto series finale. The series was originally based on David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Many of the characters and stories used throughout the show were based on events depicted in the book, which was also part of the basis for Simon's own series, The Wire on HBO. Although Homicide featured an ensemble cast, Andre Braugher emerged as the series' breakout star through his portrayal of Frank Pembleton. The show won Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also became the first drama ever to win three Peabody Awards for best drama in 1993, 1995, and 1997. In 1997, the episode "Prison Riot" was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, it was listed as one of Time magazine's "Best TV Shows of All-TIME." In 1996 TV Guide named the series 'The Best Show You're Not Watching'. The show placed #46 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, detective, rough, serious, talky, neo noir, crime drama, thrilling, psychological
Similar in 79%
NYPD Blue (1993)
Plot Summary:
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwined several plots involving an ensemble cast. The show was created by Steven Bochco and David Milch and was inspired by Milch's relationship with Bill Clark, a former member of the New York City Police Department who eventually became one of the show's producers. The series was broadcast on the ABC network from its debut on September 21, 1993‚ and aired its final episode on March 1, 2005. It remains ABC's longest-running primetime one-hour drama series. In 1997, "True Confessions", written by Art Monterastelli and directed by Charles Haid was ranked #36 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2009, TV Guide ranked Hearts and Souls, Jimmy Smits' final episode written by Steven Bochco, David Milch, Bill Clark, and Nicholas Wootton and directed by Paris Barclay, #30 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, suspenseful, rough, serious, detective, erotic, sexy, thrilling, sentimental
Similar in 90%
Unforgettable (2011)
Plot Summary:
Former Syracuse, New York, police detective Carrie Wells has hyperthymesia, a rare medical condition that gives her the ability to visually remember everything. She reluctantly joins the New York City Police Department's Queens homicide unit after her former boyfriend and partner asks for help with solving a case. The move allows her to try to find out the one thing she has been unable to remember, which is what happened the day her sister was murdered.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, detective, thrilling, tense, realistic, exciting