Crime drama on American television doesn't get any better than The Closer. Starring the beautiful Kyra Sedgwick (Mrs. Kevin Bacon) she leads as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson of the Georgia PD that has found herself transplanted to Los Angeles, California to take over as lead officer on their Priority Murder Squad (now called the Major Crimes Division). Starring an ensemble cast that includes J.K. Simmons (Law & Order, OZ) as Will Pope the Assistant Chief of Operations with the LAPD, Corey Reynolds (Private Practice, CSI: Miami) as David Gabriel Sergeant of Detectives at LAPD, and Robert Gossett (ER, Bones) who plays Commander Russell Taylor of Robbery and Homicide for the LAPD. Kyra Sedgwick herself has top rated credentials herself with roles in Secondhand Lions, Lover Boy, and Phenomenon. Each episode revolves around a different story line and includes murder and other serious crimes that occur in the Los Angeles area. Deputy Chief Johnson's role is to solve crimes and not let them become "cold cases". Her track record is excellent and she and her team get the job done in an hour each episode.

Think of "The Mentalist" as USA Network's "Psych" with prettier people, more money, slightly more upscale locations, and shorter sentences. Working as a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation, Patrick Jane"”expertly played with appropriate style and savoir faire by Simon Baker"”uses his exceptionally well-honed powers of observation to solve big-time homicides. As the "The Mentalist" series unfolds, we learn more about Jane's con-man past: he once made a spectacular living as a television psychic, who used his command of "tells" or nuances of expression, body language, and intonation to put willing patsies in touch with dead relatives and future lovers. Of course, a life-changing tragedy inspired him to use his (almost) super-powers for good. Summing-up his new-found crime-fighter philosophy, Jane flatly declares, "There's no such thing as real psychics. Anyone who claims to have a sixth sense is either deluded or dishonest." Like all of television's elite criminalists, "The Mentalist" shows that refined powers of observation are at least as rare and valuable as ESP. Best of all, "The Mentalist" always looks wonderfully fashionable as he nabs the bad guy.

Gloria Sheppard (Ally Walker from Profiler, Sons of Anarchy) is a detective with the LAPD who has recently become a single mother to two young boys. As with several other female cop type roles currently running on television, Gloria is overloaded between her job and home life, and the men in her life are basically incompetent. She stays up late sewing costumes for her sons then is up bright and early doing her detective thing. Detective Sheppard currently lives with her younger brother, Davey (played by Chris Payne Gilbert from Dexter, Burn Notice) but he's not much help due to being a recovering drug addict and she doesn't trust him with anything more than minor tasks. Sheppard solves some spectacular cases with the assistance of her partner, detective Michelle Dulcett (Tisha Campbell-Martin from Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us). Reminiscent of (although not nearly as tough and outspoken) other TV characters like Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) on The Closer, Body of Proof's Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delaney), and In Plain Sight's Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack) we see Detective Gloria Sheppard as a woman determined to do it all, with or without male companionship. And she does it well.

Gotham is a television series that aired from 2014 to 2019. The show is based on the DC Comics character Batman and tells the story of the city before Batman's arrival. The main character is James Gordon, a detective who is trying to clean up the corruption in the police department and the city.

When billionaire software guru known simply as Mr. Finch develops a software program for computers that helps identify someone who potentially will become involved with violent crime he intended the program to help locate terrorists in our midst and prevent another disaster such as happened on September 11, 2001. As they work with the software it is soon learned there are other uses for it. The program can be set to detect those who run the risk of being involved in some sort of violent crime but cannot tell if those involved will become victims or perpetrator or simply witnesses to the crime. While crimes cannot be stopped before happening they do find it helpful in solving and making arrests. Helping Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson from Lost, The Practice) solve these crimes is John Reese (Jim Caviezel of Outlander, The Prisoner), formerly with the CIA and now presumed to be dead. Mr. Finch is also thought to be deceased and the two have worked out a plan to locate those singled out by the software program by use of their social security numbers.

Prison Break is a popular TV show that first aired in 2005. The series follows Michael Scofield, a structural engineer who gets himself sent to prison so he can break out his brother Lincoln Burrows, who is on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Along the way, Michael and Lincoln must navigate dangerous inmates, corrupt officials, and unexpected allies as they plan and execute their escape.