Banacek photo gallery...
Screen star George Peppard starred as Thomas Banacek, a Polish-American insurance investigator. Banacek lived the high life in style on Boston's Beacon Hill. How did he get to be a millionaire? He was so adept at solving crimes and swindles that he charged double the going fee for his services!

Baretta photo gallery...
Before he became the chief suspect in a real life murder case, actor Robert Blake starred as Baretta in the mid-70's. Created by Stephan J. Cannell, the show's hero was a street-wise undercover cop who never played by the rules. When he wasn't bashing heads or strong-arming suspects, Baretta walked the streets with his cockatoo, Fred, perched upon his shoulder.

Barnaby Jones
A spinoff of Cannon, Barnaby Jones starred an elderly Buddy Ebson and pretty, vivacious Lee Meriweather. The show's premise began when retired policeman Jones and his grieving daughter-in-law worked together to solve the tragic murder of Jones' son. The duo went on for the next 7 years on CBS running their own detective agency.

Blacke's Magic
When a retired magician transforms himself into a private eye, you know there may be magic and murder in the same performance. Hal Linden (of Barney Miller fame) starred in this show which ran for just one season ably assisted by veteran character actor, Harry Morgan, as his wise-cracking con man father.

Cagney & Lacey
Sharon Gless and Tyne Daley starred as female cops in this series which debuted in 1982. Remarkable for its portrayal not just of two women in uniform, the show broke down barriers by showcasing the character flaws that both of these detectives struggled with in their personal lives.

Cannon photo gallery...
Forcibly retired from the police department for being too fat, Frank Cannon lived life large. Opening his own detective agency, he charged high fees in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle and love of good food and fine wine. Cannon starred William Conrad in the title role.

Charlie's Angels
This sexy and sappy crime fighting trio took America by storm in 1976. The original gal-pal private eyes included Kate Jackson (Sabrina), Farah Facett-Majors (Jill) and Jaclyn Smith (Kelly) who all took orders from the disembodied voice of mysterious millionaire Charlie Townsend.

CHiPs
Comic-book cops, ‘Ponch' Poncherello (a Cheshire-grinning Erik Estrada) and his partner, Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) spent six seasons on TV zooming around Los Angeles on their motorcycles. This lighthearted look at cops was especially appealing to the small fry.

Cold Case Files
When it comes to uncovering the forensic facts surrounding real-life murders, there's no TV show that does it with more drama and suspense than Cold Case Files. Hosted by Bill Kurtis, each documentary episode is as fascinating as it is thrilling to watch.
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Columbo photo gallery...
A murder is committed. Viewers know ‘whodunit'. Can Columbo catch the villain? The plot twist in this popular TV series kept viewers tuning in from 1971 to 1978 to see if the sloppy sleuth, played to perfection by Peter Falk, could put the murderer behind bars.
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Crazy Like a Fox
Although this series received critical raves, it never quite garnered the TV audience to keep it on the air. Veteran actor, Jack Warden, starred as Harry Fox who worked alongside his son, Harrison (John Rubenstein) who reluctantly agreed to help his father solve cases in San Francisco.

Crime Story
An innovative story line that juxtaposed a gangster against Chicago cops hot on his trail. Crime Story was produced by Michael Mann (Miami Vice) and starred Dennis Farina as Lt. Torello with Anthony Denison as mobster Ray Luca. While the first season of the show was set in the Windy City, the second season found the characters battling each other in Las Vegas.

Crossing Jordan photo gallery...
For six years, mystery fans enjoyed taut drama as they tuned in to view Angie Harmon as Jordan Cavanaugh, of Boston's Medical Examiner office. While Dr. Cavanaugh's personal life was twisted with tortuous guilt and pent-up anger, her ability to solve crimes was as razor sharp as a scalpel.
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation photo gallery...
CSI (aka CSI: Las Vegas) started the successful CSI franchise of crime dramas that all focus on forensics. While the lab work borders on science fiction and the special effects are often gimmicky, CSI has grabbed impressive fan loyalty and the result is an avante garde mystery show that is one of TV's biggest hits.
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CSI: New York
Another spin-off from the original CSI, this New York edition stars Gary Sinise as Det. Mac Taylor and Melina Kanakaredes as Det. Stella Bonasera. Shot in both New York and Los Angeles, the show focuses on forensics and police procedures with stronger character development than found in its sister shows.

CSI: Miami photo gallery...
David Caruso as Horatio Caine heads up a team of forensic specialists who solve grisly murders on the dark side of Florida's Gold Coast. This Miami-based show differs from it's Las Vegas cousin in that the investigators spend nearly as much time on the streets investigating as they do in the crime lab.
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Diagnosis: Murder photo gallery...
Calling all doctors! Murder is on the loose at Community General Hospital in Los Angeles! Comedic actor Dick Van Dyke played Dr. Mark Sloan, an eccentric physician who teamed up with his detective son to solve crimes. Diagnosis Murder ran for eight years and continues in re-runs to this day.

Ellery Queen
Lanky actor Jim Hutton starred as the brainy amateur detective Ellery Queen for one season in 1975. Ellery was always ready to assist his dad Inspector Queen (David Wayne) with cases that had numerous red herrings and hidden clues. While this show wasn't a huge success, it spawned the series' writers to create a remarkably similar TV show when they penned Murder, She Wrote.

Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson starred as Joe and Frank Hardy in the 1980's revival of the classic mystery stories for boys. Each week, the series alternated between an episode of The Hardy Boys and a Nancy Drew Mystery. Nancy Drew was played by Louise Johnson.

Harry O
David Janssen (who starred in both The Fugitive and Richard Diamond, Private Detective) was reincarnated as P.I., Harry Orwell in this creative mid-70's series. Partially disabled by a bullet taken in the line of duty, Harry retired from the police force to become a gumshoe. Well-written scripts about a P.I. who rides a bus and takes on oddball cases, made this show uniquely appealing.

Hart to Hart photo gallery...
The glamorous Harts (Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers) have it all ... glitz and the money to take them to faraway places with their jet-set VIP friends. However, Jennifer and Jonathan Hart would rather be solving crimes as amateur private detectives. This romantic comedy mystery was produced by Aaron Spelling and ran from 1979 to 1984 on ABC.

Hawaii Five-O photo gallery...
From 1968 to 1980, gruff Lt. Steve McGarrett would end each episode of Hawaii Five-O with, ‘Book ‘em, Danno!' However, it was the tropical beauty of Hawaii that kept viewers tuning in each week to see if the Five-O squad could solve mysteries of international intrigue and murderous intent.

Hill Street Blues photo gallery...
Capt. Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) heads up a rag-tag crew of streetwise cops in this inventive series which revolutionized television in the 1980's. Fast-paced action and multiple story-lines collided with a gritty realism and a touch of cinema verite courtesy of creator, Steven Bochco.

Homicide: Life on the Streets
An award-winning drama running from 1993-1999, this show chronicled the gritty and tough life of a squad of Baltimore homicide detectives. Sharp writing and a top notch cast that included Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Yaphet Kotto and Daniel Baldwin.

Ironside photo gallery...
Stoic Lee Ironside (Raymond Burr) was the Chief of Detectives in San Francisco until a crazed woman shot him and left him in a wheelchair. Now, Ironside serves as a ‘Special Consultant' to the force. He live in an apartment at police headquarters and is ably assisted by two young officers, Eve Whitfield and Ed Brown, as well as a former street thug turned good guy, Mark Sanger.

Kojak
Lollypop devotee, Lt. Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) doggedly worked the mean streets of New York catching criminals and bringing them to justice. In this popular 70's era cop show, the catch phrase was , “Who loves ya, baby?”

Law & Order
The longest running crime/drama show in the history of television, Dick Wolf's Law & Order weaves together the personal and professional lives of cops who catch killers and the prosecutors who put them behind bars. Filmed on location in NYC, the show has created a loyal audience and spun off successful franchise shows and has gone through numerous cast changes since its debut in 1990.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent photo gallery...
Criminal Intent follows Dick Wolf's proven recipe for a smash murder/crime series. Stark realism, tough cases and a real-life approach to solving cases assigned to the ‘Major Case Squad'. Show regulars are Vincent D'Onofrio (Robert Goren), Kathryn Erbe (Alexandra Eames) Chris Noth (Mike Logan), Eric Bogosian (Capt. Ross) and Alicia Witt (Nola Folacci).

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
A spinoff from Dick Wolf's L&O brand, SVU features an ensemble cast that includes Mariska Hargitay (Olvia), Christopher Meloni (Elliot), Richard Belzer (John), Tamara Tunie (Melinda), Dann Florek (Capt. Cragen), Diane Neal (Casey), B.D. Wong (George) and rapper Ice-T (Fin Tutola).

Longstreet
For one season, blonde hunk James Franciscus played blind detective, Mike Longstreet, who sought justice in New Orleans. Accompanied by his seeing eye dog, Pax, the private detective solved crimes with the occasional help of a local antique dealer and martial arts expert Li Tsung played by Bruce Lee.

Magnum, P.I.
Murder in Paradise was never more fun than when Tom Selleck starred as Thomas Magnum. In between monitoring security for the enigmatic and never-seen novelist, Robin Masters, Magnum would verbally do battle with Master's estate manager, Higgins, and solve crimes with his buddies, T.C. and Rick.

Mannix photo gallery...
Armenian American actor Mike Connors starred as P.I., Joe Mannix from 1967 to 1975. Mannix was not shy about letting his fists fly and the show was filled with action and considerable violence for the era. Gail Fisher co-starred as Peggy Fair, Joe's faithful secretary.

McCloud
You can take a man out of the country but you can't take the country out of the man. At least not when the guy in question is Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver). McCloud was a cowboy cop on temporary assignment in the Big Apple. When he wasn't riding his horse through the streets of New York City, McCloud was solving crimes that stymied his big city counterparts.

McMillan and Wife photo gallery...
A murder is committed. Viewers know ‘whodunit'. Can Columbo catch the villain? The plot twist in this popular TV series kept viewers tuning in from 1971 to 1978 to see if the sloppy sleuth, played to perfection by Peter Falk, could put the murderer behind bars.

Miami Vice photo gallery...
As hot as the Florida sun and as cool and spicy as salsa, Miami Vice gave TV viewers a pair of pop culture cops, Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, who worked undercover on the Gold Coast. Solving murders and busting drug smugglers, the two cops cruised Dade County driving a Ferrari Daytona Spyder. Hip and hot!

The Mod Squad
A psychedelic 60's era series where three hippies go underground and work with the police to solve murders in Los Angeles. Created by Aaron Spelling, the show starred Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer, Michael Cole as Pete, Clarence Williams, ll as Linc, and Peggy Lipton as Julie.