The medium of television has exploded in such drastic ways since its invention. Not only is the quality of content higher than ever before, but there are now more eclectic series and places to watch them than ever before. It seems like there's literally a TV show about everything now. However, amidst all of this change there are still genres of the medium whose popularity has never waned.

Police shows have been around forever and seem like they'll never disappear, but this has led to a wide discrepancy in the types of cop shows that are out there. Whether comedy or drama, it's always interesting to see how much police shows take their professions seriously and which use them more of a source of comedy or drama. Authenticity isn’t a must with these kind of programs, but it can add a fun extra dimension to the kind of storytelling that’s done.

15 Police Squad! Is Absurdist Comedy That’s Not Meant To Be Taken Seriously

Before Leslie Nielsen's hilarious antics made it to cinemas with the Naked Gun franchise, they started on television with Police Squad! The series is absolutely relentless with its comedy and fast-paced approach to laughs. Police Squad! may revolve around police officers, but it's just the conduit for the show's humor. This is a program about sight gags and puns, not an accurate look at the criminal justice system.

14 Reno 911! Is An Exaggerated Spoof Of COPS That Goes To Wild Places

Reno 911!! is designed to be a parody of the "reality show," COPS, which itself already often feels like a parody. For these reasons, Reno 911! is extremely removed from reality and seems to pride itself in how ridiculous its stories can get. The characters, crimes, and situations are all absurd, but deeply entertaining.

13 Cop Rock Takes A Police Procedural And Turns It Into A Musical

Cop Rock is one of the more unusual cop procedurals to come around considering it's a musical police drama. As accurate as any operations may be in the series, all of that credibility is instantly lost when cops start spontaneously sing to express their feelings. It's an interesting pairing of genres, but it's hardly a realistic show.

12 Fargo Pairs Precise Plotting & Police Work With Surreal Storytelling Elements

Fargo jumps all over the place with its storytelling and even though it technically qualifies as a cop show, it often feels so much bigger and more surreal. Fargo respects how the law operates with its police officers and it gets to depict this from many different time periods. Fargo is concerned with intricate plotting where there are brilliant twists, and even though this often leads to larger than life scenarios, some of them could still happen.

11 Dexter Has A Strong Premise, But It Eventually Suspends Too Much Disbelief

Dexter may have a very addicting premise that drives it forward, but it's for that exact reason that the show becomes increasingly implausible the longer that it runs on. There's a wicked irony in that a serial killer could work for the police force, but the show tries to be flashy more than it attempts to be realistic. It may be fun to watch, but it gets very far away from reality.

10 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is A Funny Comedy, But It Also Takes Itself Seriously

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a comedy, so it obviously caters towards humorous situations over realism. That being said, the show does make a concerted effort to display realistic power dynamics and office politics in the police force. The reality behind procedures and protocol also tries to get shown as much as possible.

9 Blue Bloods Pairs Family Dynamics With Grueling Police Work

Blue Bloods has become an unexpected success and it's given Tom Selleck a new chapter to his impressive career in television. Blue Bloods is almost like the comfort food of cop shows and is more interested in family dynamics and personal drama. It doesn't go out of its way to be grounded with its stories, but it also largely doesn't rock the boat with what it does, too.

Related: 15 Best Police And Detective TV Shows (And Where To Watch Them)

8 Criminal Minds Looks At The Darkest Criminals Out There, Often Going Too Far

Criminal Minds often feels like an even more adult and aggressive version of Law & Order, but one that's only interested in the most corrupt of humans. Criminal Minds is so over the top with its villains that it feels more like fantasy than reality, but it does still pull stories from the real world and attempts to operate like a grounded cop show, even if the cases make that nearly impossible.

7 CSI Takes A Realistic Approach To Forensics, But Stories Eventually Get Too Broad

Before CSI: Crime Scene Investigation had been spun off into a web of supporting series, the original show prided itself in how it helped popularize forensic science for the masses. Obviously concessions had to be made, but when it came to the evidence and the way in which crimes were solved, CSI attempted to fall back on authenticity, at least in its earlier years.

6 Law & Order Rips Stories From The Headlines, But They Often Get Lost In The Show’s Formula

Part of what has helped Law & Order stay on the air for so long and build such a legacy is that it rips so many of its storylines right from the headlines. In this regard, Law & Order comes from a place of reality, but they skew the stories in such a way that they're hardly authentic in the end. The series has such a formula to it that it's more about hitting its marks than accurately depicting police work. However, it's still wildly entertaining.

Related: 15 Interesting Facts From Behind The Scenes Of Law & Order

5 True Detective Expertly Explores The Pain And Grief That Accompanies Police Work

True Detective is very different in scope and tone for its three seasons, but something that each year taps into remarkably well is the frustration of getting lost in an old case and not being able to see the truth through all the facts. True Detective elegantly depicts how cops can get a case wrong and how it can deeply haunt them for years to come. The subject matter may get out there, but the internal drama resonates.

4 NYPD Blue Brought Conventional Police Dramas To Network TV And Did Them Justice

NYPD Blue helped put Dennis Franz on the map and helped change procedural cop shows in the early '90s. NYPD Blue may seem tame by today's standards, but it helped bring realistic crime cases to television and show that police series could be a genuine hit for the medium. Now they're just seen as the norm.

Related: 15 Times Law & Order: SVU's Olivia Benson Was Actually The Worst Detective Ever

3 Broadchurch Is A Gutting Exploration Of Grief With Some Of The Harder Work That Police Face

Broadchurch is a gutting look into a missing child case that doesn't shy away from the inherent darkness of such territory. Broadchurch examines the immense pain and frustration over when justice can't be served and victims are still in need of justice. The scariest thing about Broadchurch is that all of this could really happen.

2 The Shield Doesn’t Flinch At Its Look At Corrupt Police Work And A Broken System

Much like with The Wire, The Shield was from an earlier era of prestige cable dramas and for a while The Shield as gritty as it got. Vic Mackey's dangerous and increasingly corrupt journey through the police force is gutting. The show gets big sometimes, but Mackey's pain comes from a very realistic place.

1 The Wire Makes Baltimore The Main Character And Values Realism Above All Else

For the longest time The Wire was applauded over how much effort it took to realistically depict the war against drugs in Baltimore. The Wire practically loses itself in how authentic it is and the lengths taken to properly reflect the struggle that the cops face in Baltimore & how much work is involved to make a conviction.

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