# The 10 Best Crime Shows With Less Than 20 Episodes, Ranked

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-10-best-crime-shows-with-less-than-20-episodes-ranked/
- Published: 2026-09-11T19:09:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-11T19:52:03+00:00
- Original publisher: Collider
- Original article: https://collider.com/perfect-crime-shows-shorter-than-20-episodes/
- Topics: Film

## Key points

- Collider ranks the 10 best crime shows under 20 episodes.
- Featured picks include Tokyo Vice, The Night Of and Ripley.
- List targets viewers wanting shorter, high-quality crime binges.

## Summary

Collider has put together a ranked list of the best crime television shows that run to fewer than 20 episodes, aimed at viewers who want a satisfying binge without the huge time commitment of long-running procedurals like The Sopranos. The selection spans true-crime dramas, stylised miniseries and prestige adaptations, highlighting shows that pack strong storytelling and performances into a compact run.

Among the entries featured are Tokyo Vice, HBO Max's lavishly produced true-crime drama starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe, which was cancelled after two seasons; Too Old to Die Young, Nicolas Winding Refn's ambitious and divisive Los Angeles crime miniseries; The Night Of, HBO's acclaimed murder-mystery series starring Riz Ahmed and John Turturro; and Ripley, the black-and-white Andrew Scott adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novels. The full list ranks ten shows in total, though only a handful are detailed in the excerpt provided.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.