Thanks for stopping by, I’m Matt, I am a television writer, and I watch a lot of TV. Today I am going to run down the best, most rewatchable procedural dramas on network television.
Remember — when we’re talking about the broadcast networks, we’re talking about CBS, Fox, ABC, NBC, and the CW. If you’d like to check out where cable and streaming dramas land, check out The 10 Most Rewatchable 1-Hour Cable or Streaming Series Ever.
When we’re talking about procedural dramas, we’re talking about series with self-contained episodes like so many doctor-lawyer-cop dramas out there.
Some of these shows will have serialized elements, but if the majority of episodes of a series are more or less self-contained, then it can be considered a procedural. However, not all doctor-lawyer-cop dramas are procedurals, and not all procedurals are doctor-lawyer-cop dramas.
For example…
#10 Firefly (Fox)
Joss Whedon’s Firefly on Fox. This is an awesome space western with a mission-of-the-week formula to the series. I binged it a few years ago, right before The Mandalorian premiered. And after I watched The Mandelorian I was like, “Oh! It’s Firefly.” But then I thought about it a little more and realized there is a great history of these types of mission-of-the-week procedural dramas going back to Buck Rogers, The A-Team, Knight Rider, and number nine on this list —
#9 Star Trek (CBS)
Star Trek, and I am including all of the series in this mention. There are about 950 hours of television in the entire Star Trek franchise. There could be a cable network that just ran episodes on a loop 24/7 and it would draw a huge audience. Star Trek originally aired on CBS and much of the 950 hours of content now streams on Paramount+.
#8 Bones (Fox)
Bones went 12 seasons on Fox and there were 246 episodes produced. Fun fact, Emily Deschanel is the sister of Zooey Deschanel who starred in New Girl and they are the daughters of Mary Jo Deschanel who was in Twin Peaks.
#7 House MD (Fox)
Gregory House was one of the more complex characters in a format that didn’t really allow for complexity. High Laurie was nominated for six Emmys but never won.
#6 The X-Files (Fox)
The number 6 most rewatchable procedural drama on network television goes to The X-Files. The original run lasted nine seasons and then it got a reboot in 2016. While The X-Files did provide a case-of-the-week or mystery-of-the-week structure, most audiences returned week after week because of Scully and Mulder, who just had awesome chemistry.
#5 Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC) & NYPD Blue (ABC)
At Number 5 — this is a tie between two gritty, more realistic portrayals of police dramas — or at least as gritty and realistic as network procedurals can be — Homicide: Life on the Street on NBC and NYPD Blue on ABC. These two cop dramas got to dive into the emotional toll that police work took on characters and often got to explore themes outside of solving crimes. Homicide was based on David Simon’s book, and David Simon later went on to create and showrun The Wire. And NYPD Blue was created by Steven Bochco and David Milch — look these guys up because they probably also had a hand in some of your other favorite shows.
#4 CSI (CBS)
At number 4, CSI on CBS — and all of the CSI spinoffs. Very rewatchable with a huge fanbase. There’s probably a rerun of CSI airing on cable right now.
#3 Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is one of the longest-running network television series ever, and younger generations have discovered the show and are just as hooked as we were twenty years ago.
#2 ER (NBC)
ER and Grey’s could also have been on the list of serialized network dramas because they include ongoing storylines, but since most episodes are self-contained, they are listed here, and not many did it better than ER. An amazing cast through all 15 seasons with a number of incredible guest stars, this is the number one network medical drama. But the number 1 most rewatchable broadcast network procedural drama ever has to go to…
#1 Law & Order (NBC)
…and the entire franchise. Complain all you want about how formulaic episodes of Law and Order are, but there is a reason the original Law and Order ran for 21 seasons.
But without compelling characters and interesting cases or missions or mysteries of the week, none of the most rewatchable procedural dramas listed here would have lasted as long as they did.
Honorable mentions go to Northern Exposure, Hawaii 5-0, Baywatch, Criminal Minds, The Black List, CHiPs, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Magnum PI, Wonder Woman, Chicago Fire, LA Law, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, The Good Wife, NCIS — I’m going to have to do an entire video dedicated to just legal dramas because there were not enough on this list.
Are there any other most rewatchable broadcast network procedural dramas that I haven’t mentioned that should be on this list?
Let me know, and keep watching!
