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Best Mystery TV Series of the 1970s

146 Mystery series that started in the 1970s, ranked by popularity

All Mystery series All series from the 1970s
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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.

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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
146 series

Columbo

★ 8.3
48K 67 1971–1998
Detective mystery · Episodic

CHiPs

★ 6.5
13K 139 1977–1983
Procedural · Episodic

The Rockford Files

★ 8.2
13K 119 1974–1980
Detective mystery · Episodic

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

★ 8.4
11K 7 1979–1979
Espionage · Slow burn · British TV

Quincy, M.E.

★ 7.3
8K 148 1976–1983
Procedural · Medical

World on a Wire

★ 7.7
7K 2 1973–1973
Existential dread · Philosophical

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

★ 8.4
7K 20 1974–1975
Episodic · Monster horror

Twelve Chairs

★ 8.2
6K 4 1977–1977
Heists & cons · Satirical

All My Children

★ 6.8
4K 9705 1970–2011
Soap & telenovela · Long-runner

Barnaby Jones

★ 7.0
4K 178 1973–1980
Procedural · Episodic

McMillan & Wife

★ 7.2
3K 40 1971–1977
Detective mystery · Procedural

Baretta

★ 6.8
3K 82 1975–1978
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The New Avengers

★ 7.2
3K 26 1976–1977
Action · Mystery · Thriller

Banacek

★ 7.6
3K 17 1972–1974
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Vega$

★ 6.9
3K 69 1978–1981
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

★ 7.3
2K 46 1977–1979
Crime · Family · Mystery

Sapphire & Steel

★ 7.8
2K 34 1979–1982
Mystery · Sci-Fi · Thriller

Rumpole of the Bailey

★ 8.4
2K 43 1978–1992
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

★ 7.0
2K 2 1978–1978
Drama · Horror · Mystery

Petrocelli

★ 7.2
1K 44 1974–1976
Crime · Drama · Mystery

QB VII

★ 7.7
939 2 1974–1974
Drama · Mystery

The Magician

★ 7.5
746 22 1973–1974
Adventure · Crime · Mystery

Circle of Fear

★ 7.6
653 23 1972–1973
Drama · Horror · Mystery

Police Call 110

★ 6.5
651 427 1971–present
Crime · Drama · Mystery
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