1980s American police procedural television series

In the Heat of the Night is an American police procedural crime drama television series loosely based on the 1967 film and 1965 novel of the same title that starred Carroll O'Connor as police chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as police detective Virgil Tibbs. The series was broadcast on NBC from March 6, 1988 to May 19, 1992 before moving to CBS, where it aired from October 28, 1992 to May 16, 1995. Its executive producers were O'Connor, Fred Silverman and Juanita Bartlett. This series marked O'Connor's return to a series for the first time since the All in the Family spinoff Archie Bunker's Place ended in 1983.

Miami Vice is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. The series ran for five seasons on NBC from September 16, 1984 to January 25, 1990. The USA Network began airing reruns in 1988, and broadcast an originally unaired episode during its syndication run of the series on January 25, 1990.

Hawaii Five-O (with a capital letter "O" as the last character in the title) is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and created by Leonard Freeman (not to be confused with Hawaii 5-0, with a numeral zero as the last character in the title). Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons on CBS from September 20, 1968, to April 8, 1980, and continues in reruns. At the airing of its last episode, it was the longest-running police drama in American television history and the last scripted primetime show that debuted in the 1960s to leave the air.

Charlie's Angels is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976 to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aaron Spelling. It follows the crime-fighting adventures of three women working in a private detective agency in Los Angeles, California, and originally starred Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett (billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors), and Jaclyn Smith in the leading roles and John Forsythe providing the voice of their boss, the unseen Charlie Townsend, who directed the crime-fighting operations of the "Angels" over a speakerphone. There were a few casting changes: after the departure of Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd joined; after Jackson departed, Shelley Hack joined, who was subsequently replaced by Tanya Roberts.

Columbo () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired less frequently on ABC from 1989 to 2003.

T. J. Hooker is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network until May 4, 1985. The show was then picked up for a further single season by CBS.

Hill Street Blues is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station located on Hill Street in an unnamed large city. The "blues" are the police officers in their blue uniforms. The show received critical acclaim, and its production innovations influenced many subsequent dramatic television series produced in the United States and Canada. In its debut season, the series won eight Emmy Awards, a debut season record later surpassed only by The West Wing. The show won a total of 26 Emmy Awards (out of 98 Emmy Award nominations) during its run, including four consecutive wins for Outstanding Drama Series.

21 Jump Street is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools, colleges, and other teenage venues. It was originally going to be titled Jump Street Chapel, after the deconsecrated church building in which the unit has its headquarters, but was changed at Fox's request so as not to mislead viewers into thinking it was a religious program.

Wiseguy is an American crime drama television series that aired on CBS from September 16, 1987, to December 8, 1990, for a total of 75 episodes over four seasons. The series was produced by Stephen J. Cannell and was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, to avoid the higher studio costs associated with filming in Los Angeles.

Cagney & Lacey is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very different lives: Christine Cagney (Gless) is a career-minded single woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Daly) is a married working mother. The series is set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan's 14th Precinct (known as "Midtown South"). The pilot movie had Loretta Swit in the role of Cagney, while the first six episodes had Meg Foster in the role. When the show was revived for a full season run, Gless portrayed the role for six consecutive years. During those same six years, one of the two lead actresses won the Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Drama (four wins for Daly, two for Gless), a winning streak matched only once since in any major category by a show.