☰
Genres
DramaComedyAnimationActionCrimeAdventureRomanceReality-TV More genres →
Decades
2020s2010s2000s1990s1980s1970s1960s1950s1940s1930s1920s1900s
Tags Search Sign in

Best Crime TV Series of the 1950s

98 Crime series that started in the 1950s, ranked by popularity

All Crime series All series from the 1950s
Filter & sort
Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

Specific year
Tags

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
98 series

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

★ 8.5
21K 268 1955–1962
Anthology · Episodic

Perry Mason

★ 8.3
14K 271 1957–1966
Legal · Procedural · Episodic

Adventures of Superman

★ 7.7
5K 104 1952–1958
Family-safe · Episodic

The Untouchables

★ 8.0
3K 119 1959–1963
Criminal underworld · Period piece

Dragnet

★ 7.5
3K 276 1951–1959
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Peter Gunn

★ 8.0
2K 114 1958–1961
Action · Crime · Drama

77 Sunset Strip

★ 7.7
2K 206 1958–1964
Action · Crime · Drama

Highway Patrol

★ 7.7
2K 156 1955–1959
Action · Crime · Drama

Naked City

★ 8.2
2K 138 1958–1963
Crime · Drama · Thriller

Sherlock Holmes

★ 7.5
1K 39 1954–1955
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Hawaiian Eye

★ 7.6
785 134 1959–1963
Action · Adventure · Crime

Suspicion

★ 8.1
584 42 1957–1958
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Edge of Night

★ 7.7
532 7318 1956–1984
Crime · Drama · Mystery

M Squad

★ 8.1
490 117 1957–1960
Crime · Drama · Thriller

Playhouse 90

★ 8.3
482 134 1956–1961
Comedy · Crime · Drama

Decoy

★ 7.7
397 39 1957–1958
Crime · Drama

Dixon of Dock Green

★ 6.9
394 432 1955–1976
Crime · Drama

Colonel March of Scotland Yard

★ 7.1
377 26 1954–1956
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Mike Hammer

★ 8.0
367 78 1958–1959
Action · Crime · Drama

Man with a Camera

★ 7.3
365 29 1958–1960
Crime · Drama

Richard Diamond, Private Detective

★ 7.6
326 78 1956–1960
Action · Crime · Drama

Johnny Staccato

★ 7.9
307 27 1959–1960
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Four Star Playhouse

★ 7.5
294 130 1952–1956
Comedy · Crime · Drama

The Detectives

★ 7.5
265 97 1959–1962
Action · Crime · Drama
Browse by decade
1900s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Browse by year
1959195819571956195519541953195219511950
Browse by genre
Action Adult Adventure Animation Biography Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Family Fantasy Game-Show History Horror Music Musical Mystery News Reality-TV Romance Sci-Fi Short Sport Talk-Show Thriller War Western