Ranker TVList RulesOnly dramatic series that have premiered Season 1 on cable channels on or after January 1, 2017.
Many people claim we're in a Golden Age of television, and the best cable dramas since 2017 may prove as much. The best cable TV dramas to premiere in 2017 and beyond come in many forms. Some excellent cable dramas are about personal relationships while other good dramatic cable series feature supernatural elements. Many current cable TV shows have been honored with awards.
What shows will you find on this top modern cable drama series list? Big Litle Lies adapts the novel of the same name into a fascinating miniseries about a group of women embroiled in a murder investigation. Killing Eve is another great cable TV show to have premiered since 2017. Suits aired its finale in 2019, but Pearson gave fans a pretty good spinoff when it premiered on USA Network in 2019. Other good cable dramas featured on this list include American Gods, Watchmen, and Succession.
How will we ever determine which cable series deserves the top spot on this list? Help us decide by giving your favorites a thumbs up.
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582Sanditon
Rose Williams, Crystal ClarkePremiered: August 25, 2020
Sanditon (ITV, 2020) is a British historical period drama television series adapted by Andrew Davies from an unfinished manuscript by Jane Austen. Set in the Regency era, the story follows Charlotte... more2
54Your Honor
Bryan Cranston, Hunter DoohanPremiered: December 6, 2020
Your Honor (Showtime, 2020) is an American 10-episode limited series adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach. A Chicago judge tries to protect his son after he... more- 342
FBI: Most Wanted
Julian McMahon, Kellan LutzPremiered: January 7, 2020
FBI: Most Wanted (CBS, 2020) is an American crime drama television series created by Dick Wolf and a spin-off of the series FBI. The show is centered on the Fugitive Task Force of the FBI that tracks... more - 477
Nancy Drew
Kennedy McMann, Tunji KasimPremiered: October 9, 2019
Nancy Drew (The CW, 2019) is an American mystery drama television series based on the titular character of a mystery book series. After 18-year-old Nancy Drew's (Kennedy McMann) college plans are put... more - 544
Perry Mason
Matthew Rhys, Tatiana MaslanyPremiered: June 21, 2020
Perry Mason (HBO, 2020) is an American drama television series, based on the Perry Mason series of short stories and novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner. In booming 1932 Los Angeles, a... more - 644
The Most Dangerous Animal of All
Kyle DeCamp, Katelyn KapocsiPremiered: March 6, 2020
The Most Dangerous Animal of All (FX, 2020) is a television mini-series created by Kief Davidson and Ross M. Dinerstein. It is based on the book of the same name by Gary L. Stewart. Soon after his... more - 7170249
Big Little Lies
Reese Witherspoon, Nicole KidmanPremiered: February 19, 2017
Big Little Lies (HBO, 2017) is an American dramatic miniseries created by David E. Kelley, based on the novel by Liane Moriarty. While Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and Celeste (Nicole Kidman) take... more - 845
Lovecraft Country
Jonathan Majors, Courtney B. VancePremiered: August 16, 2020
Lovecraft Country (HBO, 2020) is a drama horror television series based on the novel by Matt Ruff. Set in 1950s Jim Crow America, Atticus Black (Jonathan Majors), his friend Letitia (Jurnee... more - 924
We Hunt Together
Hermione Corfield, Dipo OlaPremiered: May 27, 2020
We Hunt Together (Showtime, 2020) is a British crime drama television series. When former child soldier and refugee Baba Lenga (Dipo Ola) saves sex worker Freddy Lane (Hermione Corfield) from sexual... more
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The Undoing
Nicole Kidman, Hugh GrantPremiered: October 25, 2020
The Undoing (HBO, 2020) is an American drama miniseries created by David E. Kelley, based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Weeks before her book is published, successful... more - 1125
Les Misérables
Dominic West, David OyelowoPremiered: 2018
Les Misérables (BBC, 2018) is a British television miniseries based on the French historical novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th-century France, the series follows the lives and... more - 1225
Katy Keene
Lucy Hale, Ashleigh MurrayPremiered: February 6, 2020
Katy Keene (The CW, 2020) is an American musical comedy-drama television series developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Michael Grassi, based on the Archie Comics character, and a spinoff of... more - 1325
Prodigal Son
Tom Payne, Michael SheenPremiered: September 23, 2019
Prodigal Son (Fox, 2019) is an American drama television series created by Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver. Using his ability to view crimes from the perspective of the killer, a disgraced former FBI... more - 1425
Motherland: Fort Salem
Taylor Hickson, Jessica SuttonPremiered: March 18, 2020
Motherland: Fort Salem (Freeform, 2020) is an American supernatural drama series created by Eliot Laurence. The series follows three young women (Taylor Hickson, Jessica Sutton, and Ashley Nicole... more - 1525
I'll Be Gone in the Dark
Amy RyanPremiered: March 5, 2018
I'll Be Gone in the Dark (HBO, 2020) is a true crime docudrama television series directed by Liz Garbus based on the book by the same name by Michelle McNamara. Gripping examination of the unsolved... more - 1625
Resident Alien
Alan Tudyk, Sara TomkoPremiered: January 27, 2021
Resident Alien (Syfy, 2021) is an American comedy drama television series adapted by Chris Sheridan and based on the comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series follows a... more - 1725
Mare of Easttown
Kate Winslet, Julianne NicholsonPremiered: April 18, 2021
Mare of Easttown (HBO, 2021) is an American drama series created by Brad Ingelsby. The limited series follows a detective in a small Pennsylvania town as she investigates a local murder while trying... more - 1825
The Nevers
Laura Donnelly, Olivia WilliamsPremiered: April 11, 2021
The Nevers (HBO, 2021) is an American historical science fiction drama created by Joss Whedon. The series is about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless... more - 1925
Blindspotting
April Absynth, Andrew ChappellePremiered: 2021
Blindspotting (Starz, 2021) is an American comedy-drama series adapted from the 2018 film of the same name. Six months after the events in the film of the same name, Ashley and her son are forced to... more - 2048
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
Nathan Lane, Natalie DormerPremiered: April 26, 2020
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Showtime, 2020) is a British-American horror drama television series created by John Logan, and a spinoff of the 2014 series. In 1930s Los Angeles, LAPD's first... more - 2148
Snowpiercer
Jennifer Connelly, Daveed DiggsPremiered: May 17, 2020
Snowpiercer (TNT, 2020) is an American television series based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige created by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. Set seven years after... more - 2227
In the Dark
Perry Mattfeld, Brooke MarkhamPremiered: April 4, 2019
In the Dark (The CW, 2019) is an American television drama series created by Corinne Kingsbury. When the police dismiss her "witness" account, a blind woman (Perry Mattfeld) sets out to find the... more - 2327
9-1-1: Lone Star
Rob Lowe, Gina TorresPremiered: January 19, 2020
9-1-1: Lone Star (Fox, 2020) is an American procedural drama television series and a spinoff of 9-1-1. The show follows a sophisticated New York cop (Lowe) who, along with his son, re-locates to... more - 24410
Britannia
David Morrissey, Kelly ReillyPremiered: August 2, 2020
Britannia (Amazon Video, 2018) is a British-American historical fantasy series written by Jez Butterworth. In AD 43 during the Roman conquest of Britain, Celtic rivals Kerra (Kelly Reilly) and... more - 2528
Hightown
Monica Raymund, James Badge DalePremiered: September 23, 2020
Hightown (Starz, 2020) is an American drama television series. A federal Fishery Service Agent finds herself at the center of Cape Cod's gruesome heroin epidemic after discovering a body in the bay.... more
