The Best TV Shows Based on Books

Updated February 18, 2021 64.9k votes 8.8k voters 205.4k views160 items

List RulesVote up the best TV series based on novels or short stories. No comic book adaptations.

Fun fact: Game of Thrones isn't the only good TV show based on a book streaming on the airwaves! Though more and more people are complaining about sequels and reboots and re-imaginings at the movies, it's the golden age of television, with awesome shows inspired by books everywhere you look. The small screen has the benefit of being much more long form, and therefore a great place to showcase something based on a book or series of books. With television adaptations of books you have the ability to learn love and live with characters for the long haul, just as with a novel or series of novels.

Naturally as TV has been around for quite some time, there have been great book adaptations throughout the years. There have also been plenty of books adapted for TV in the form of the miniseries or TV movie, but that's another list and you won't find them here (otherwise Band of Brothers would most certainly have made the cut). Instead we are just focusing on traditional TV programs that are based on or inspired by books from genre like fantasy and sci-fi to mysteries, historical classics and more.

Be it current and recent shows like Nancy Drew or The Magicians, critically acclaimed shows that have ended such as Boardwalk Empire and Orange Is the New Black, a show that started out amazing while it was based on it's book series... then derailed (Dexter), or a classic TV show you might not have realized was based on a book at all (M*A*S*H*), this list has them all. What it doesn't have are comic book adaptations and superhero TV shows. This list is all about novels, book series and short stories. Even teen and YA book series - like the two times the Melinda Metz Roswell High book series has been adapted - count, as do shows that are based on books and movies, or that continue telling a book's story past the movie adaptation.

These are the best shows based on books to ever air on television! Vote up the best of these shows below - whether because they nailed the adaptation or because they were top-notch, quality programming in their own right. Maybe the best overall shows rise to the top.

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Outlander
Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan
Premiered: 2014
Genres (Tv): Historical drama, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy
Based on Diana Gabaldon's novel of the same name and eight published sequels (since 1991).
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Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey
Premiered: 2011-04-17
Genres (Tv): Medieval fantasy, Drama, Adventure film, Epic, Action
Based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series (five published since 1996).
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Sherlock
Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman
Premiered: 2010
Genres (Tv): Crime drama, Mystery
Based on the series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including four novels and 56 short stories (1887-1927).
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Good Omens
David Tennant, Michael Sheen
Premiered: 2019
Genres (Tv): Comedy, Fantasy
Based on the 1990 Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman novel of the same name.

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The 100
Eliza Taylor, Paige Turco
Premiered: 2013
Genres (Tv): Drama, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Action
Based on Kass Morgan's series of four novels (2013-2016).
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The Vampire Diaries
Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley
Premiered: 2009
Genres (Tv): Supernatural, Drama, Horror, Fantasy
Based on the L. J. Smith book series of the same name.

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The Handmaid's Tale
Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes
Premiered: 2017
Genres (Tv): Drama, Dystopian fiction
Based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel.
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A Series of Unfortunate Events
Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton
Premiered: 2017
Genres (Tv): Comedy, Drama
Based on the series of 13 novels by Lemony Snicket, AKA Daniel Handler (1999-2006).
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Pride and Prejudice
Colin Firth, Lucy Davis
Premiered: 1995
Genres (Tv): Miniseries, Drama, Costume drama
Based on Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name.

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The Witcher
Henry Cavill, Freya Allan
Premiered: 2019
Genres (Tv): Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Drama
Based on the series of short stories and novels by Andrzej Sapkowski.

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Anne with an E
Amybeth McNulty, Geraldine James
Premiered: 2017
Genres (Tv): Drama, Coming of age
Based on the 1908 Lucy Maud Montgomery novel Anne of Green Gables.

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The Haunting of Hill House
Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino
Premiered: 2018
Genres (Tv): Supernatural horror
Based on the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel of the same name.

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Big Little Lies
Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman
Premiered: 2017
Genres (Tv): Comedy
Based on the 2014 Liane Moriarty novel of the same name.

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Bones
Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz
Premiered: 2005
Genres (Tv): Crime drama, Comedy-drama, Police procedural
Based on the Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan book series (20 novels, since 1997).
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M*A*S*H
Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers
Premiered: 1972
Genres (Tv): Black comedy, Medical drama, Sitcom, Satire, Military
Based on the 1968 Richard Hooker & W. C. Heinz novel of the same name.

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Pretty Little Liars
Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson
Premiered: 2010
Genres (Tv): Teen drama, Mystery, Crime thriller
Based on the Sara Shepard book series of the same name.

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Poldark
Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson
Premiered: 2015
Genres (Tv): Historical drama
Based on the novels of the same title written by Winston Graham.

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A Discovery of Witches
Teresa Palmer, Matthew Goode
Premiered: 2018
Genres (Tv): Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Based on the Deborah Harkness All Souls trilogy series.

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Dexter
Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter
Premiered: 2006
Genres (Tv): Crime drama, Psychological thriller, Mystery, Dark comedy, Police procedural
Based on Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter and seven sequels (2004-2015).
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The Magicians
Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve
Premiered: 2015
Genres (Tv): Fantasy
Based on the Lev Grossman book series of the same name.

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True Blood
Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer
Premiered: 2008
Genres (Tv): Fantasy, Horror, Drama
Based on the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse book series.

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Hannibal
Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen
Premiered: 2013
Genres (Tv): Psychological horror, Psychological thriller, Crime drama, Crime thriller
Based on the 1999 Thomas Harris novel of the same name.

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The Alienist
Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans
Premiered: 2018
Genres (Tv): Crime, Drama
Based on the 1994 Caleb Carr novel of the same name.

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Elementary
Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu
Premiered: 2012
Genres (Tv): Crime Fiction, Drama, Mystery
Based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes book series.

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Little House on the Prairie
Cameron Bancroft, Erin Cottrell
Premiered: 2005
Genres (Tv): Miniseries, Children's television series
Based on the Little House in the Big Woods (1932) and Little House on the Prairie (1935) by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

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