Best Drama TV Shows
Best drama TV shows of all time
About the author
This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.
Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.
Kendra Syrdal is a writer, editor, partner, and senior publisher for The Thought & Expression Company. Over the last few years she has been personally responsible for writing, editing, and producing over 30+ million pageviews on Thought Catalog.
While running from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a brilliant young college-dropout, slips into a job interview with one of New York City's best legal closers, Harvey Specter. Tired of cookie-cutter law school grads, Harvey takes a gamble by hiring Mike
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 8 |
Created By: | Aaron Korsh |
Network: | USA Network |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7.5 / 10 (859) |
Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle’s Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 15 |
Network: | ABC |
Created By: | Shonda Rhimes |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.2 / 10 (837) |
When Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live, he becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Network: | AMC |
Created By: | Vince Gilligan |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 8.3 / 10 (3003) |
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It originally aired on NBC and, in syndication, on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 20 |
Network: | NBC |
Created By: | Dick Wolf |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7.4 / 10 (167) |
Stef Foster, a dedicated police officer, and her partner Lena Adams, a school vice principal, have built a close-knit, loving family with Stef's biological son from a previous marriage, Brandon, and their adopted twins, Mariana and Jesus. Their lives are
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Networks: | ABC Family, Freeform |
Created By: | Brad Bredeweg, Peter Paige |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.2 / 10 (89) |
Rayna Jaymes and Juliette Barnes face personal and professional challenges as they navigate their paths as artists and individuals. Surrounding them, and often complicating their lives, are their family, friends and, in some cases, lovers, as well as the
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 6 |
Networks: | ABC, CMT |
Created By: | Callie Khouri, Max Axall |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6 / 10 (122) |
Spartacus is an American television series inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BCE led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic departing from Capua.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Networks: | Starz, Netflix |
Created By: | Steven S. DeKnight |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7.8 / 10 (437) |
The harrowing true story of the 1993 standoff between the FBI, ATF and the Branch Davidians, a spiritual sect led by David Koresh in Waco, TX that resulted in a deadly shootout and fire.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | Paramount Network |
Created By: | John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (33) |
An edge-of-your-seat view into the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America's noblest professions. For the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, no occupation is more stressful or dangerous, yet so rewarding and ex
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 7 |
Network: | NBC |
Created By: | Derek Haas, Michael Brandt |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.2 / 10 (197) |
Subversive, darkly comedic drama Big Little Lies tells the tale of three mothers of first graders whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | HBO |
Created By: | David E. Kelley |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.9 / 10 (293) |
A dance musical that explores the juxtaposition of several segments of 1980s life and society in New York: the ball culture world, the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe and the downtown social and literary scene.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FX |
Created By: | Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Steven Canals |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.9 / 10 (11) |
Set in the early 1980s, and about a fictional visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations confronts the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | AMC |
Created By: | Christopher Cantwell, Christopher C. Rogers |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7.9 / 10 (171) |
Cam Calloway is about to find out the price he'll pay for stardom, love and loyalty. A basketball star in his early 20s, Calloway's life changes after he signs a multimillion-dollar contract with a team in Atlanta. He arrives in Georgia bright-eyed and ea
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | Starz |
Created By: | Mike O'Malley |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (14) |
A morally corrupt judge suffers a breakdown and believes that God is speaking directly to him, compelling him onto a path of vigilante justice.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Amazon |
Created By: | Ben Watkins |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.9 / 10 (53) |
From F. Scott Fitzgerald's last work, The Last Tycoon follows Monroe Stahr, Hollywood's Golden Boy as he battles father figure and boss Pat Brady for the soul of their studio. In a world darkened by the Depression and the growing influence of Hitler's Ger
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | Amazon |
Created By: | Billy Ray |
Status: | Canceled |
User Score (votes): | 7.6 / 10 (14) |
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birt
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 5 |
Network: | ABC |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.8 / 10 (7) |
Low Winter Sun is an American television drama series developed by Chris Mundy, starring Mark Strong and Lennie James. The series premiered on August 11, 2013, on AMC, with the first season consisting of ten episodes. It is based upon the 2006 British two
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | AMC |
Created By: | Chris Mundy |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.8 / 10 (17) |
A group of six friends on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia come to the aid of a broken-down asylum seekers' boat, leading to a tragic series of events that return to haunt them four years later.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | SBS |
Created By: | Belinda Chayko, Phil Enchelmaier, Simon Kennedy |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (1) |
Follows a fair parole officer and his parolee who wants to go straight but his former business associates are after him.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Network: | Showtime |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 2.5 / 10 (1) |
The adventures of Mma Ramotswe, a Motswana woman who starts Botswana's first female-owned detective agency.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Networks: | BBC One, HBO |
Created By: | Richard Curtis, Anthony Minghella |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.4 / 10 (8) |
The Heights is an American musical drama series that aired on the Fox network from August to November 1992.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FOX |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 0 / 10 (0) |
Jonny Zero is an action-crime drama television series that aired on the Fox network in 2005. It starred Franky G, GQ, and Brennan Hesser. It was cancelled after eight episodes. It began airing on Monday nights on ABC TV in Australia in early 2007.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FOX |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 0 / 10 (0) |
Set in New York City, the series brings the viewer into the jury room to watch the deliberators try to answer the many questions posed during a trial. As facts are exposed through flashbacks of testimony and crime footage, viewers will form their own opin
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FOX |
Created By: | James Yoshimura, Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (1) |
Beverly Hills, 90210 followed the lives of a group of teenagers living in the upscale, star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School and, subsequently, the fictitious California University
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 10 |
Network: | FOX |
Created By: | Aaron Spelling, Darren Star |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6 / 10 (108) |
413 Hope St. is an American drama series which aired on the Fox network in the fall of 1997. The series was co-created by actor/comedian Damon Wayans, who made a stark departure from his usual comedic work. The ensemble cast—headed by film actor Richard
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FOX |
Created By: | Damon Wayans |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 0 / 10 (0) |
The American Embassy is an American drama series that aired on Fox from March to April 2002. The series was created by James D. Parriott, and executive produced by Danny DeVito.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | FOX |
Created By: | James D. Parriott |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 0 / 10 (0) |
The life of a group of adolescents going through the trials and tribulations of teendom at Degrassi Community School.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 14 |
Networks: | CTV, Much |
Created By: | Yan Moore, Linda Schuyler |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.3 / 10 (21) |
Explore the relationships between exclusive escorts and their clients, for whom they provide far more than just sex. Known as GFEs, they are women who provide “The Girlfriend Experience”—emotional and sexual relationships at a very high price.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 2 |
Created By: | Steven Soderbergh |
Network: | Starz |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 5.6 / 10 (60) |
A grieving teen finds an unexpected connection with two classmates at her new high school after they all land in the same Shoplifters Anonymous group.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Created By: | Amy Andelson, Emily Meyer, Kirsten Smith |
Network: | Netflix |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7.7 / 10 (3) |
Picking up one year after the events of the final broadcast episode of "The Good Wife", an enormous financial scam has destroyed the reputation of a young lawyer, Maia Rindell, while simultaneously wiping out her mentor and godmother Diane Lockhart's savi
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 3 |
Created By: | Phil Alden Robinson, Michelle King, Robert King |
Network: | CBS All Access |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7.2 / 10 (77) |
Skeptical female clinical psychologist Kristen Benoist joins a priest-in-training and a blue-collar contractor as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to see if there’s a scientific explanation or if
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Created By: | Robert King, Michelle King |
Network: | CBS |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7 / 10 (6) |
The intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. Explore the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that f
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Network: | Hulu |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 7.8 / 10 (10) |
Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Created By: | Chris Van Dusen |
Network: | Netflix |
Status: | Returning Series |
Origin Country: | US |
User Score (votes): | 8.2 / 10 (24) |
Set in the fictional small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, this teen-driven drama tells the story of two half brothers, who share a last name and nothing else. Brooding, blue-collar Lucas is a talented street-side basketball player, but his skills are
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 9 |
Networks: | The WB, The CW |
Created By: | Mark Schwahn |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (84) |
Lenny Belardo, the youngest and first American Pope in the history of the Church, must establish his new papacy and navigate the power struggles of the closed, secretive Vatican.
Publisher: | Canal, Mediapro, Haut et Court, Wildside, Sky Italia |
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 1 |
Networks: | HBO, Canal+, Sky Atlantic |
Created By: | Paolo Sorrentino, Jude Law, Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.4 / 10 (103) |
Set in present day Washington, D.C., House of Cards is the story of Frank Underwood, a ruthless and cunning politician, and his wife Claire who will stop at nothing to conquer everything. This wicked political drama penetrates the shadowy world of greed,
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 6 |
Network: | Netflix |
Created By: | Beau Willimon |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 8.2 / 10 (1034) |
Silent Witness is a British crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes.
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 21 |
Network: | BBC One |
Created By: | Nigel McCrery |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.4 / 10 (22) |
An emotional thrill ride through the day-to-day chaos of the city's most explosive hospital and the courageous team of doctors who hold it together. They will tackle unique new cases inspired by topical events, forging fiery relationships in the pulse-pou
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 4 |
Network: | NBC |
Created By: | Dick Wolf, Matt Olmstead |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (107) |
Life is hard on the Flemings' ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused or neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family. Debts abound and the bank is about to foreclose. Can they keep the ranch running?
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 12 |
Network: | CBC Television |
Created By: | Heather Conkie, Хезер Конки |
Status: | Returning Series |
User Score (votes): | 7.6 / 10 (88) |
Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their cli
Genre: | Drama |
Number Of Seasons: | 7 |
Network: | ABC |
Created By: | Shonda Rhimes |
Status: | Ended |
User Score (votes): | 6.7 / 10 (222) |