Entertainment

The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made  

Ranker TV
881 votes 85 voters 1.1k views 52 items

List Rules Vote up the action television series that have historically kept you on the edge of your seat.

The best action TV shows ever aired are some of the most exciting TV shows to watch on television, but which is the best of them all? Determining which action TV series is the best isn't an easy task given the plethora of options available, but this list might make it just a bit easier. These days, with the use of digital streaming, more and more shows people have forgotten are being rewatched, checked out for the first time, or even remade into new classics for new generations to enjoy, but which of these stellar action shows is the best of them all?

Would something newer like HBO's Game of Thrones land higher on the list than an a classic good action series like the original Charlie's Angels? For a series to be truly exciting, it has to be an edge of the seat, adrenaline-pumping madness, so keep that in mind while looking through the most exciting action shows of all time. The only way to find out which is the best is to vote up your favorite action series below, but remember, this list is all about excitement! Which series is more exciting than the one below it?

Don't forget to add your favorite exciting action show to the list if it's missing and vote for your favorite below!

list ordered by
1
Supernatural is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Katie Cassidy
Supernatural (The CW, 2005) is an American fantasy horror television series created by Eric Kripke. Two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), follow their father's ...more
2
Arrow is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
3
The A-Team is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
4
Vikings is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
5
Star Trek: The Original Series is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
6
Game of Thrones is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke
Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011) is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on the series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. Nine noble ...more
7
Wonder Woman is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, Tom Kratochvil
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superheroine of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve ...more
8
Battlestar Galactica is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore and executive produced ...more
9
Dark Angel is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, Richard Gunn
Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee and starring Jessica Alba in her breakthrough role. The show premiered ...more
10
Magnum, P.I. is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
11
Hercules: The Legendary Journe... is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Kevin Smith
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an American/New Zealander television series filmed in New Zealand. It was produced from January 16, 1995 to November 22, 1999, and was very loosely based on ...more
12
The Six Million Dollar Man is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for a fictional government office known as OSI. The series is based on the ...more
13
The 100 is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Eliza Taylor, Paige Turco, Thomas McDonell
The 100 (The CW, 2014) is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction drama television series developed by Jason Rothenberg, loosely based on the book by Kass Morgan. 97 years after a nuclear ...more
14
Doom Patrol is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
April Bowlby, Diane Guerrero, Joivan Wade
Doom Patrol (DC Universe, 2019) is an American superhero drama web television series based on the DC Comics superhero team. Led by Dr. Niles Caulder (Timothy Dalton), the Doom Patrol – ...more
15
Gotham is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz
Gotham (Fox, 2014) is an American drama television series developed by Bruno Heller, based on the DC Comics characters from the Batman franchise. The story behind Detective James Gordon's (Ben ...more
16
The Punisher is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
17
The Flash is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
18
Alias is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Jennifer Garner, Ron Rifkin, Carl Lumbly
Alias is an American spy-action television series created by J. J. Abrams, which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001, to May 22, 2006. It stars Jennifer Garner as ...more
19
Bionic Woman is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price
Bionic Woman is an American science fiction television drama that aired in 2007, which was created by David Eick, under NBC Universal Television Group, GEP Productions, and David Eick ...more
20
Charlie's Angels is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith
Charlie's Angels is an American drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976 to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 110 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff ...more
21
Daredevil is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson
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
22
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
23
The Umbrella Academy is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman
The Umbrella Academy (Netflix, 2019) is an American television series developed by Steve Blackman, based on the comic book series by Gerard Way. A disbanded group of superheroes reunite after ...more
24
Firefly is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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
Chuck is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Most Exciting Action Series Ever Made
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