(Unfinished) My "Guilty Pleasure" list of very good tv shows that I'm addicted to watching
by robin-salant | created - 21 Aug 2013 | updated - 21 Aug 2013 | Public(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
IMHO, all these shows range from silly, but fun, to good and, in some instances, very good TV... Maybe not the highest echelon of the art form, but all shows that I love to watch. Great guilty pleasures, perfect television distractions from my hectic life.
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1. The Mentalist (2008–2015)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A famous "psychic" outs himself as a fake, and starts working as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation so he can find "Red John", the madman who killed his wife and daughter.
Stars: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman
Votes: 199,672
2. True Blood (2008–2014)
TV-MA | 55 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse encounters a strange new supernatural world when she meets the mysterious Bill Compton, a southern Louisiana gentleman and vampire.
Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten
Votes: 259,464
3. Longmire (2012–2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.
Stars: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips, Cassidy Freeman
Votes: 39,807
4. The Good Wife (2009–2016)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Alicia Florrick has been a good wife to her husband, a former state's attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm.
Stars: Julianna Margulies, Chris Noth, Josh Charles, Matt Czuchry
Votes: 82,373
5. Falling Skies (2011–2015)
TV-14 | 42 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Survivors of an alien attack on earth gather together to fight for their lives and fight back.
Stars: Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, Maxim Knight, Will Patton
Votes: 92,866
6. Bones (2005–2017)
TV-14 | 40 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth teams up with the Jeffersonian's top anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to investigate cases where all that's left of the victims are their bones.
Stars: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne
Votes: 175,444
7. Castle (2009–2016)
TV-14 | 43 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When a psychopath commits murders based on novelist Castle's books, Detective Beckett seeks his help to solve the case. He decides to work with her and uses his experiences as research for his novels.
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan, Jon Huertas
Votes: 173,850
8. Dexter (2006–2013)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
He's smart. He's lovable. He's Dexter Morgan, America's favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them.
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, James Remar
Votes: 761,632
9. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 223,916
10. Broadchurch (2013–2017)
TV-MA | 1,143 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.
Stars: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan
Votes: 126,595
11. Elementary (2012–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London, eccentric Sherlock escapes to New York where his father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.
Stars: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn, Jon Michael Hill
Votes: 118,644
12. Sherlock (2010–2017)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The quirky spin on Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth pitches him as a "high-functioning sociopath" in modern-day London. Assisting him in his investigations: Afghanistan War vet John Watson, who's introduced to Holmes by a mutual acquaintance.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves
Votes: 993,173
13. Grey's Anatomy (2005– )
TV-14 | 41 min | Drama, Romance
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
Stars: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Justin Chambers
Votes: 339,842
14. Desperate Housewives (2004–2012)
TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Secrets and truths unfold through the lives of female friends in one suburban neighborhood after the mysterious suicide of a neighbor.
Stars: Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria
Votes: 139,192
15. Ally McBeal (1997–2002)
TV-PG | 45 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Follows the personal and professional life of lawyer Ally.
Stars: Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann, Jane Krakowski, Vonda Shepard
Votes: 36,289
16. Parenthood (1989)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama
Four Buckman siblings attempt to raise their children - each in their own different style - and deal with the joys and sorrows that the process brings.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Jason Robards
Votes: 54,599 | Gross: $100.05M
17. New Amsterdam (2008)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A New York homicide detective is cursed with immortality.
Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Alexie Gilmore, Stephen McKinley Henderson
Votes: 7,424
18. Awake (2007)
R | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A wealthy young man undergoing heart transplant surgery discovers that the surgical team intend to murder him.
Director: Joby Harold | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin
Votes: 80,387 | Gross: $14.38M
19. Scrubs (2001–2010)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Drama
In the unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital, intern John "J.D." Dorian learns the ways of medicine, friendship and life.
Stars: Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley
Votes: 270,022
20. Lost (2004–2010)
TV-14 | 5,445 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
Stars: Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly
Votes: 592,636
21. Royal Pains (2009–2016)
TV-PG | 42 min | Comedy, Drama
An unfairly discredited but brilliant ER doctor winds up working with his younger brother in the Hamptons as a concierge doctor to the uber-rich and ultra-elite.
Stars: Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty, Brooke D'Orsay
Votes: 23,099
22. ER (1994–2009)
TV-14 | 44 min | Drama, Romance
The lives, loves and losses of the doctors and nurses of Chicago's County General Hospital.
Stars: Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Eriq La Salle
Votes: 67,405
23. NYPD Blue (1993–2005)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Detectives from NYPD's 15th Precinct investigate homicides within their precinct.
Stars: Dennis Franz, Jimmy Smits, Gordon Clapp, James McDaniel
Votes: 16,240
24. Torchwood (2006–2011)
TV-MA | 50 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.
Stars: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, Gareth David-Lloyd
Votes: 43,358
25. Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)
TV-14 | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
Stars: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, James Callis
Votes: 175,068
26. House M.D. (2004–2012)
TV-14 | 45 min | Drama, Mystery
Using a crack team of doctors and his wits, an antisocial maverick doctor specializing in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way.
Stars: Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jesse Spencer
Votes: 509,597
27. Numb3rs (2005–2010)
TV-PG | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Working for the F.B.I., a mathematician uses equations to help solve various crimes.
Stars: Rob Morrow, David Krumholtz, Judd Hirsch, Alimi Ballard
Votes: 45,590
28. Doctor Who (2005–2022)
TV-PG | 45 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
The further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer known as the Doctor and his companions from planet Earth.
Stars: Jodie Whittaker, Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Smith
Votes: 245,678
29. Medium (2005–2011)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Suburban mom Allison DuBois attempts to balance family life with solving mysteries using her special gift. The dead send her visions of their deaths or other crimes while she sleeps.
Stars: Patricia Arquette, Miguel Sandoval, Jake Weber, Sofia Vassilieva
Votes: 30,992
30. Person of Interest (2011–2016)
TV-14 | 43 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ex-CIA agent and a wealthy programmer save lives via a surveillance AI that sends them the identities of civilians involved in impending crimes. However, the details of the crimes, including the civilians' roles, are left a mystery.
Stars: Jim Caviezel, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, Michael Emerson
Votes: 188,257
31. Awake (2012)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette
Votes: 21,466
32. Scandal (2012–2018)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Thriller
A former White House Communications Director starts her own crisis management firm only to realize her clients are not the only ones with secrets.
Stars: Kerry Washington, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Guillermo Diaz
Votes: 79,494
33. Mad Men (2007–2015)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama
A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
Stars: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones
Votes: 259,557
34. The Shield (2002–2008)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Drama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the corrupt LAPD unit under his command.
Stars: Michael Chiklis, Catherine Dent, Walton Goggins, Michael Jace
Votes: 87,684
35. The Closer (2005–2012)
TV-14 | 46 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson runs the Priority Homicide Division of the LAPD with an unorthodox style. Her innate ability to read people and obtain confessions helps her and her team solve the city's toughest, most sensitive cases.
Stars: Kyra Sedgwick, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett
Votes: 28,804
36. The West Wing (1999–2006)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama
Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
Stars: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, John Spencer
Votes: 85,129
37. Extras (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama
Andy Millman is an actor with ambition and a script. Reduced to working as an extra with a useless agent, Andy's attempts to boost his career invariably end in failure and embarrassment.
Stars: Ricky Gervais, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant, Shaun Williamson
Votes: 60,229
38. Entourage (2004–2011)
TV-MA | 28 min | Comedy, Drama
Film star, Vince Chase, navigates the vapid terrain of Los Angeles with a close circle of friends and his trusty agent.
Stars: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara
Votes: 176,538
39. Nurse Jackie (2009–2015)
TV-MA | 27 min | Comedy, Drama
A drug-addicted nurse struggles to find a balance between the demands of her frenetic job at a New York City hospital and an array of personal dramas.
Stars: Edie Falco, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Dominic Fumusa
Votes: 29,222
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