NBC's Best 10 Pm Shows Ever, Ranked

It's not official yet, but it's still stunning to hear that NBC is considering abandoning the 10 pm hour of primetime... because the network has been so successful in cranking out classic shows in that hour over the years.

Last month's report — which said NBC may hand the 10 pm hour over to local affiliates, leaving themselves just two hours of primetime programming per night — may be a stark indication of where things are heading in this ultra-competitive streaming TV era. But it's also made us nostalgic for all the great shows we've stayed up late to watch on NBC. (Remember when you had to stay up late to watch your favorite show live, or else wait for a rerun over the summer? Good times.)

The 10 pm hour is traditionally a place for drama, and some of NBC's greatest dramas ever have aired in that time slot, racking up decade-long runs and dozens of Emmys along the way. So we're looking back at the 25 best NBC shows that aired at 10 pm and ranking them, too — and honestly, this was not easy, with so many iconic series to choose from. (Note: We left out shows that aired only for a time at 10 pm, if their primary time slot was elsewhere, like Grimm, Chicago Fire and The Rockford Files. We also made the tough call not to include Southland, since it only aired on NBC for one season before moving to TNT for the bulk of its run.)

Read on to see the kind of exceptionally high-quality programming we'll be missing if NBC does decide to axe the 10 pm hour... and hey, maybe this list will get them to rethink the whole thing. Then hit the comments to let us know any of your favorites we may have missed.

This supernatural creature feature, with a magnetic lead performance by Matt Ryan as DC Comics demon hunter John Constantine, was one of those gone-too-soon shows we always wish we could've seen more of. And we weren't alone, apparently: Following the show's cancellation after just one season, Ryan reprised his role on The CW's Arrow and later joined the cast of Legends of Tomorrow. It's not a Season 2, but we'll take it.

This breezy crime drama played like a old-fashioned Hollywood caper each week, with Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist starring as a pair of globetrotting private eyes... who occasionally had eyes for each other. The sexual tension and sly humor helped make it a modest hit, running for five seasons — but it's probably best remembered for keeping rising star Brosnan from taking the role of James Bond. (You're welcome, Timothy Dalton.)

Smash is a show we prefer to remember with rose-colored glasses. And more importantly, rose-colored headphones. Because while this short-lived Broadway drama series was unquestionably infuriating ("I'm in tech!") and about as subtle as Debra Messing's endless collection of suffocating scarves, it was all worth it to discover timeless bops like "Let Me Be Your Star" and "Let's Be Bad." Plus, despite being a vehicle to "introduce" Katharine McPhee to the world, it actually introduced us to Megan Hilty. And that's a wonderful thing.

This moody, hard-boiled crime drama only lasted two seasons on NBC — probably because it was about two decades ahead of its time. The saga of 1960s Chicago police detective Mike Torello (played by the late, great Dennis Farina) and the mobsters he doggedly pursued all the way to Las Vegas broke the episodic mold, unfolding its story in ambitious season-long arcs. Set to the classic strains of Del Shannon's "Runaway," Crime Story was both a throwback and a pioneer, with a novelistic scope that TV dramas would only truly embrace many years later.

The supernatural procedural may have satisfied case-of-the-week TV fans with its unique investigations, but where the series really succeeded was in its grounded portrayal of a family with a psychic mother (and three daughters who also have the gift). Patricia Arquette's character could communicate with the dead, while her engineer husband (Jake Weber, making brainy sexy) was science-minded, creating for a fascinating opposites-attract, yet supportive, marital partnership. Some would argue that the show lost its way creatively — it moved to CBS for its final two seasons — but at its peak, Medium was a finely drawn character-driven procedural.

The supernatural drama had heart, humor and a gorgeous group of otherworldly creatures, not to mention some jump-worthy scares and some solid IP (aka Charlaine Harris' novel series of the same name). Alas, the tiny Texas town suffered from lackluster special effects and the imposing shadow of Harris' other TV adaptation, True Blood; therefore, Manfred & Co. only got two seasons before NBC axed 'em.

We could argue this workmanlike drama from John Wells (ER, The West Wing) about New York City cops, firefighters and paramedics established the blueprint later followed very successfully by Dick Wolf's #OneChicago universe. It put us on the ground with first responders during heart-pounding emergencies, giving great material to familiar faces like Bobby Cannavale, Michael Beach and Coby Bell and pulling off a very respectable six-season run.

In a time slot saturated with Very Serious Dramas, this time-tripping lark was just plain fun, with Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter and Malcolm Barrett playing a trio of heroes zipping through time to stop a shadowy villain from altering history. (It shared a lot of DNA with fellow 10 pm resident Quantum Leap, actually.) Each week was a vibrant history lesson, and it built up such a loyal fan base that it was brought back after being cancelled twice — the second time for a festive holiday wrap-up movie that still left us wanting more.

Dick Wolf's #OneChicago franchise is an inarguable success, with the formula of good-looking people fighting fires/crime/illness in high-pressure situations making it a rock-solid cornerstone for NBC. P.D. has ably held up the 10 pm hour since its debut with storylines that touch on police corruption, PTSD, opioid addiction and systemic racism. It's lost a number of key cast members over the years, but P.D. hasn't skipped a beat, filling the void with a deep ensemble cast and an old-school vibe that makes it a worthy successor to NBC cop shows like Hill Street Blues and Hunter.

Go ahead and laugh: Dateline may be viewed by some as trash TV, but it's been a reliable staple of NBC's primetime lineup for three decades now. (When it premiered, Stone Phillips and Jane Pauley were the hosts!) The original news-oriented format eventually gave way to a focus on unsolved murders, and for the record, it was doing true crime before true crime was even a thing. (Plus, velvet-voiced correspondent Keith Morrison is a living legend.) It may not qualify as prestige TV, but Dateline might just outlive us all.

If we're calling a spade a Spade(r), The Blacklist doesn't have the ratings or critical buzz that it did in its early years on NBC, and the show's penchant for never really giving us straight answers about Red's identity has admittedly been frustrating. That said, The Blacklist has been a thoroughly compelling crime drama in its nine seasons thus far, interweaving an intriguing mystery about Red and Liz's relationship with some delightfully weird and out-of-the-box cases of the week. And it's all been anchored by series star James Spader, who has brought a healthy balance of gravitas and chewed-up scenery to his turn as the enigmatic Raymond Reddington.

"Works for me." That casually cool catchphrase set the tone for this unfussy bruiser of a cop drama, starring Fred Dryer as a homicide cop exposing the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, one episode at a time. Alongside on-screen partner Stepfanie Kramer, Dryer dispensed justice to killers, mobsters and rapists, and the Dirty Harry-meets-Miami Vice vibes made Hunter a Saturday night mainstay, carrying it to a seven-season run. It even returned for a pair of TV movies and a short-lived 2003 revival.

Before Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman created Queer as Folk, they gave us this heartwarming, early '90s ensemble drama about the four Reed sisters in the wake of their father's death. There was so much to love, from the episode openers (which often took place as the ladies met up for a steam bath) to the stacked cast (including Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Ashley Judd, Paul Rudd and George Clooney) to the family relationships that proved sibling dynamics don't go away just because you grow up.

It may be best remembered these days for its mind-blowing series finale, which revealed the entire show was a figment of a young boy's imagination. But prior to that, Elsewhere was a truly groundbreaking medical drama, experimenting with form and racking up more than a dozen Emmys for its writing and acting. It also helped launch the careers of future stars like Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Howie Mandel and Ed Begley Jr., among many others. Simply put, there wouldn't be an ER without St. Elsewhere.

With pastel fashions, MTV-inspired quick cuts and a soundtrack that topped the charts, few shows were as cool as this sleek, sexy police drama. Aside from all the flash, though, it was also a damn good cop show, with Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas starring as undercover detectives Crockett and Tubbs. Sure, the writing ebbed and flowed across five seasons, but the mood and the vibe were what we tuned in for, and the show became a pop-culture phenomenon, influencing everything from music to menswear. It's just as well that it ended its NBC run in 1989 — this was an '80s show through and through.

A charming cocktail of sci-fi, historical fiction and screwball comedy, this cult favorite starred Scott Bakula as quantum physicist Sam Beckett, who gets stuck in a time-travel loop where he inhabits strangers' bodies long enough to fix something in their lives. It was a killer premise, with Sam inhabiting everyone from a Black chauffeur to a pregnant teen girl to Lee Harvey Oswald (!), and he and hologram companion Al comprised one of TV's great buddy duos. We'll have to see if NBC's new reboot can capture that same magic.

Though the series premiere aired at 9 pm, NBC moved SVU to the 10 pm time slot during its inaugural season — a move that made sense for a show that routinely deals with sex crimes. The drama's combination of no-nonsense cops who passionately advocated for rape victims, combined with the powerhouse pairing of Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni in the early seasons, made for an eminently watchable drama that endures to this day.

Set at a high-end Los Angeles law firm, this glossy drama was yuppie catnip, with glamorous lawyers arguing in power suits and designer shoes. But it wasn't all looks: TV greats Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley combined forces to make a quirky legal drama that tackled hard-hitting issues and boasted a cast brimming with talent and sex appeal, serving up a few unforgettable watercooler moments along the way. (Remember Rosalind Shays and the elevator shaft?) L.A. Law set the bar for '80s courtroom shows, winning four Emmys for best drama series and holding down the Thursday 10 pm time slot with style — until a certain medical drama took over, that is.

Across its six seasons, Parenthood was so much more than just The Show That Made Us Cry (though, yeah, it still fell into that category with nearly every episode). But Jason Katims' family drama moved us to tears so often because of its sensitive, authentic, deeply heartfelt approach to the challenges of growing up, no matter one's age. The show certainly leaned into major, thorny topics, like raising a child on the autism spectrum or cheating on a partner — but it was Parenthood's embrace of the small, day-to-day moments with family that made the Bravermans so beloved.

This elegantly crafted period drama took us back to the tumultuous 1960s, with Sam Waterston as a Southern district attorney and Regina Taylor as his Black housekeeper. The storylines brought vivid life to the fierce civil rights struggles of that era, and it won a slew of awards, including a pair of Emmys. It was so beloved, in fact, that after it was abruptly cancelled, fans protested enough that PBS brought it back for a wrap-up movie.

We still can't believe this gorgeously gory thriller ever aired on a broadcast network — but we're so glad it did. Bryan Fuller masterfully reimagined the bond between killer Hannibal Lecter and investigator Will Graham as a grandly operatic dance of death, locked in an intense mutual obsession... that was also kind of hot. Mads Mikkelsen made for a mesmerizingly sexy Hannibal, and Hugh Dancy bared his soul as Will grappled with the equally scary demons inside himself. With beautifully gruesome crime scenes and bold psychological depth, Hannibal was a deliciously intoxicating treat that we're still savoring years after its untimely demise.

TV cop dramas are a dime a dozen... but TV cop dramas this good are very rare indeed. Combining the prodigious talents of David Simon, Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, Homicide was an uncommonly gritty and authentic look at the day-to-day grind for Baltimore police detectives, from the streets to the interrogation room. With searing work from stars like Andre Braugher and Yaphet Kotto and a clear-eyed look at a highly flawed justice system, it collected numerous awards across seven seasons, paving the way for Simon's The Wire and countless other cop shows to follow. The fact that this seminal series isn't available on any streaming service for new generations to discover? Well, that's a crime.

If you've enjoyed any cop show over the past four decades, chances are it owes a huge debt to this trailblazing drama, which followed a squad room full of dedicated cops as they worked to keep the streets clean. What it lacked in glamour, it made up for in innovation, introducing storytelling devices — handheld cameras, a sprawling ensemble cast, multi-episode story arcs — that became standard in TV drama. Balancing gallows humor and hard-hitting storylines that refused to gloss over social issues, it became a critical darling, winning four straight Emmys for best drama series, and carved out a permanent spot in TV history as the original prestige drama.

Dun-DUN! That distinctive sound (the sound of justice!) signaled a new era for TV drama that we're still enjoying more than three decades later. Dick Wolf's long-running procedural has a deceptively simple format — first, cops investigate a crime, then attorneys prosecute the suspect — that has resulted in more than 450 hours of reliably compelling television. We all have our favorite cast members (we're partial to the late Jerry Orbach's Lennie Briscoe ourselves), but the show has rotated in and out dozens of fine actors without losing a step. Law & Order has also produced a number of very successful spinoffs that have combined to run even longer than the original... but the flagship edition is still in a class by itself.

Was there any doubt what would be our top pick? An instant juggernaut, ER "set the tone" for all medical dramas that followed. The 1994 premiere was paced unlike anything we'd ever seen, and set real stakes for both its first responders and the patients they treated — stakes the series managed to maintain for the entirety of its 15-season run. It survived several waves of cast turnover — when George Clooney scrubbed out, in came Goran Visnjic, and when Julianna Margulies walked away from a $27 million contract, Maura Tierney was waiting in the wings — and several shark-jumping moments that would have derailed any other show. (We're still convinced Rocket Romano's death-by-helicopter was a fever dream.) But thanks to an endless stream of well-drawn characters and an almost uncanny ability to evolve with the times, viewers kept coming back until 2009's all-time great series finale.