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Best Crime TV Series of the 1940s

7 Crime series that started in the 1940s, ranked by popularity

All Crime series All series from the 1940s
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Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
Viewing-culture clusters
Intensity & content character
7 series

Man Against Crime

★ 7.2
122 130 1949–1954
Action · Crime · Drama

Martin Kane, Private Eye

★ 6.7
90 247 1949–1954
Crime · Drama

Public Prosecutor

★ 5.4
39 18 1947–1951
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Plainclothesman

★ 5.5
25 241 1949–1954
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Armchair Detective

★ 4.3
20 2 1949–1949
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Green Hornet Strikes Again!

★ 5.7
11 15 1940–2024
Action · Adventure · Crime

Dr. Death

★ 5.4
10 1945–1945
Crime · Drama · Thriller
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