Entertainment

The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time  

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24.7k votes 3.3k voters 168.9k views 105 items

List Rules Only TV shows (or miniseries) that heavily feature action sequences in every episode.

The very best action shows on television, ranked from best to worst. Popular action TV shows have been a staple of television for years, so what do you think is the most entertaining action show of all time is. Trust us, it's debated.  Don't let your favorite action television programs in history get to the bottom of the list- be sure to vote them up so they have the chance to reach the top spot. The list of action television shows below includes information like the program's cast, creator and premiere date when available. What are the best action shows? All of them? Probably. Certainly there have been a lot of great action shows in the past decade.

List shows include everything from 24 to Arrow, and many other shows that are nothing but full-throttle adrenaline forever!

Looking for some good action TV shows to watch? You're in the right spot, my friend. It's time for a serious bro-down.

This list answers the questions, "What is the best action show of all time?" and "What are the greatest action TV series?"

list ordered by
1
24 is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carlos Bernard
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each ...more
2
Prison Break is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Amaury Nolasco
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on Fox for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has ...more
3
The Punisher is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Jon Bernthal, Ben Barnes, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Marvel's The Punisher (Netflix, 2017) is an American web television series created for Netflix by Steve Lightfoot. Former Force Recon officer Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), known throughout New ...more
4
Arrow is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell
Arrow (The CW, 2012) is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on the DC Comics character. Five years after being ...more
5
Daredevil is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
MarioArley added Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson

If you like Daredevil, check out the other best action shows on Netflix.

Daredevil (Netflix, 2015) is an American web television series created for Netflix by Drew Goddard, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Blind lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) ...more
6
Vikings is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
95hvj added Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen
Vikings (History, 2013) is a historical drama television series created by Michael Hirst. A farmer (Travis Fimmel) rises to fame by successful raids into England, and eventually becomes a ...more
7
The Blacklist is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Mazen Nasser added James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff
The Blacklist is an American crime drama television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. Raymond "Red" Reddington, a former U.S Navy officer turned high-profile ...more
8
Band of Brothers is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston
Band of Brothers is a 2001 American WWII drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. The executive producers were Steven Spielberg and Tom ...more
9
Jack Ryan is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
John Krasinski, Abbie Cornish, Mena Massoud
Jack Ryan (Amazon Video, 2018) is an American television series created by Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland, based on the character created by Tom Clancy. When CIA analyst Jack Ryan (John ...more
10
Burn Notice is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
MarioArley added Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell
Burn Notice is an American television series created by Matt Nix which originally aired on the USA Network from June 28, 2007 to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle ...more
11
The Walking Dead is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Mazen Nasser added Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies
The Walking Dead (A&E, 2010) is an American post-apocalyptic horror television series developed by Frank Darabont, based on the comic book series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie ...more
12
The Flash is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
crazyvamp added Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker
The Flash (The CW, 2014) is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, based on the DC Comics character. CSI Barry Allen (Grant ...more
13
The A-Team is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
George Peppard, Mr. T, Dwight Schultz
The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series, running from 1983 to 1987, about a fictional group of ex–U.S. Army personnel who escape and, while still on the run from the army, ...more
14
Sons of Anarchy is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mark Boone Junior
Sons of Anarchy is an American drama television series created by Kurt Sutter, about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's ...more
15
Dexter is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas
Dexter is an American television drama series. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for Miami Metro Police Department who also leads a secret life ...more
16
Banshee is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
95hvj added Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic, Ulrich Thomsen
Banshee is an American action-drama television series created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler originally appearing on the Cinemax network beginning on January 11, 2013. Set in the small ...more
17
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or simply Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel ...more
18
Justified is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter
Justified is an American television drama series developed by Graham Yost. It is based on Elmore Leonard's short story. Timothy Olyphant portrays Raylan Givens, a tough U.S. Marshal enforcing ...more
19
Ranker Video
Mazen Nasser added Sullivan Stapleton, Philip Winchester, Michelle Lukes
Strike Back is a British/American action and military television series, based on a novel of the same name by novelist and former Special Air Service soldier Chris Ryan. The series follows the ...more
20
Magnum, P.I. is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Brian White added Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the ...more
21
Chuck is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez
Chuck (NBC, 2007) is an American action-comedy/spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. When a twenty-something computer geek (Zachary Levi) inadvertently downloads ...more
22
Hawaii Five-0 is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
MTahmisian added Leonard Freeman, Alex Kurtzman, Peter M. Lenkov
Hawaii Five-0 is an American police procedural drama television series and a remake of the original 1968–80 television series. The series is produced by K/O Paper Products and 101st Street ...more
23
Star Trek: The Original Series is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Moonpie66 added William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ...more
24
Firefly is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Moonpie66 added Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk
Firefly is an American space western science fiction drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive ...more
25
NCIS is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Action TV Shows Of All Time
Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette
NCIS is an American police procedural drama television series, revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts investigations ...more