What Binge-Worthy TV Most Makes You Want to "Binge-Read?"
by rubyfruit76 | created - 03 Apr 2017 | updated - 10 Aug 2017 | PublicBelow are the highest ranked (by Metacritic) TV series that are based on books. Instead of choosing your favorite series, which story, book, or series of books would you most like to read, or read again?
The shows are not in the order in which Metacritic ranked them.
After voting, see the inclusion criteria and/or discuss here
See the complete list by Metacritic here: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-tv-series-based-on-books
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1. Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014)
TV-MA | 55 min | Crime, Drama, History
An Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.
Stars: Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham
Votes: 172,565
Based on Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, by Nelson Johnson.
2. China Beach (1988–1991)
120 min | Drama, History, War
The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.
Stars: Dana Delany, Michael Boatman, Robert Picardo, Concetta Tomei
Votes: 2,601
Based on Home Before Morning, by former U.S. Army Nurse Lynda Van Devanter.
3. Dexter (2006–2021)
TV-MA | 53 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
By day, mild-mannered Dexter is a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police. But at night, he is a serial killer who only targets other murderers.
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, James Remar
Votes: 647,557
Based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first novel in a series about Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay.
4. Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
TV-MA | 57 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey
Votes: 1,775,194
Based on A Game of Thrones,the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin.
5. Hannibal (2013–2015)
TV-MA | 44 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter, and his patient, a young FBI criminal profiler, who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.
Stars: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne
Votes: 228,778
Based on Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, which, along with Silence of the Lambs, form a trilogy.
6. About a Boy (2014–2015)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Womanizing Will lives a carefree bachelor life on a Christmas song's royalties - until 11 y.o. Marcus and his cute mom Fiona move in next door. Will provides an escape for Marcus from his vegan, hippie, uncool, depressed mom.
Stars: David Walton, Benjamin Stockham, Al Madrigal, Minnie Driver
Votes: 8,106
Based on About a Boy, a novel by Nick Hornby.
7. Army Wives (2007–2013)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance, War
Four women and one man share the common bond of loving someone in the U.S. Army.
Stars: Brian McNamara, Wendy Davis, Catherine Bell, Sterling K. Brown
Votes: 6,783
Based on Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage, by Tanya Biank.
8. House of Cards (2013–2018)
TV-MA | 51 min | Drama
A Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Michel Gill, Robin Wright, Kate Mara
Votes: 467,629
Based on House of Cards, by Michael Dobbs.
9. Call the Midwife (2012– )
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, History
Chronicles the lives of a group of midwives living in East London in the late-1950s to mid-1960s.
Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Laura Main, Jenny Agutter, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 20,286
Based on a trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth, the first of which is Call the Midwife, later called Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s.
10. The Chronicle (2001–2002)
48 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A young, highly qualified reporter can't find work with a major paper and signs on with a tabloid. There he learns that all the tabloid stories including aliens, big foot, and reincarnation are true.
Stars: Chad Willett, Rena Sofer, Reno Wilson, Jon Polito
Votes: 319
Based on the News from the Edge, a series of science fiction novels by Mark Sumner.
11. The Dead Zone (2002–2007)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Johnny had the perfect life until he was in coma for six years. When he awoke, he found his fiancee married to another man. His son doesn't know him. Everything's changed, including Johnny. With one touch, he can see things.
Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams
Votes: 8,612
Based on the novel, The Dead Zone, by Stephen King.
12. Elementary (2012–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A modern take on the cases of Sherlock Holmes, with the detective now living in New York City.
Stars: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn, Jon Michael Hill
Votes: 101,400
Based on Arthur Conan Doyle's four novels and 56 short stories featuring the character of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous and most critically acclaimed of which is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
13. FlashForward (2009–2010)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A special task force in the FBI investigates after every person on Earth simultaneously blacks out and awakens with a short vision of their future.
Stars: Courtney B. Vance, Joseph Fiennes, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton
Votes: 59,050
Based on the novel, Flashforward, by science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer.
14. Friday Night Lights (2006–2011)
TV-14 | 44 min | Drama, Sport
A drama that follows the lives of the Dillon Panthers, one of the nation's best high school football teams, and their head coach Eric Taylor.
Stars: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford, Aimee Teegarden
Votes: 56,202
Based on the nonfiction book, Friday Night Lights, by H. G. Bissinger.
15. Gideon's Crossing (2000–2001)
60 min | Drama
Ben Gideon is a doctor of great skill, he also has a great bedside manner. He heads the experimental oncology ward at a fictional teaching hospital in New England. Based on the work of Dr. ... See full summary »
Stars: Andre Braugher, Rubén Blades, Rhona Mitra, Hamish Linklater
Votes: 155
Based on The Measure of Our Days, the nonfiction book by physician Jerome Groopman.
16. Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.
Stars: Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Kyle Secor
Votes: 11,570
Based on Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon, describing the year he spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit.
17. Huge (2010)
44 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Funny, heartbreaking and provocative, Huge follows the lives of seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp, as they look beneath the surface to discover their true selves and the truth about each other.
Stars: Nikki Blonsky, Zander Eckhouse, Raven Goodwin, Harvey Guillén
Votes: 1,065
Based on the young adult novel, Huge, by Sasha Paley.
18. Justified (2010–2015)
TV-MA | 44 min | Action, Crime, Drama
U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home in the poor, rural coal mining towns of eastern Kentucky.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts
Votes: 86,964
Based on the short story, "Fire in the Hole," by Elmore Leonard, whose other writings include work that inspired movies such as Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, and 3:10 to Yuma.
19. Karen Sisco (2003–2007)
60 min | Crime, Drama
The adventures of U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco in Miami.
Stars: Carla Gugino, Bill Duke, Robert Forster, Jeffrey De Serrano
Votes: 770
Based on a character of writer Elmore Leonard's. The character appears in short stories by Leonard, as well as the novel, Out of Sight, which was adapted for a movie.
20. The Leftovers (2014–2017)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Three years after the disappearance of two percent of the global population, a group of people in a small New York community try to continue their lives while coping with the tragedy of the unexplained nature of the event.
Stars: Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler
Votes: 80,328
Based on The Leftovers, the novel by Tom Perrotta.
21. Longmire (2012–2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.
Stars: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips, Cassidy Freeman
Votes: 29,363
Based on the Walt Longmire Mysteries, a series of novels written by Craig Johnson.
22. Masters of Sex (2013–2016)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Romance
Drama about the pioneers of the science of human sexuality whose research touched off the sexual revolution.
Stars: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Teddy Sears
Votes: 34,853
Based on Thomas Maier's Masters of Sex, a biography of Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson.
23. Maximum Bob (1998)
60 min | Comedy, Drama
A "Twin Peaks"-like series. "Maximum Bob" is an ultra right-wing conservative judge in Florida who has a psychic ex-marine show mermaid for a wife. The sheriff is a widower who ballroom ... See full summary »
Stars: Beau Bridges, Liz Vassey, Sam Robards, Kiersten Warren
Votes: 245
Based on the novel, Maximum Bob, by Elmore Leonard.
24. The Musketeers (2014–2016)
TV-14 | 55 min | Adventure, Drama
Set on the streets of 17th-century Paris, "The Musketeers" gives a contemporary take on the classic story about a group of highly trained soldiers and bodyguards assigned to protect King and country.
Stars: Luke Pasqualino, Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles
Votes: 20,714
Based on the characters from the novel, The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
25. The Nine Lives of Chloe King (2011)
441 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A girl with special cat-like powers is being hunted by an assassin.
Stars: Skyler Samuels, Gracie Gillam, Ki Hong Lee, Benjamin Stone
Votes: 9,774
Based on the series of books, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, by Liz Braswell.
26. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2008–2009)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A woman opens her own detective agency in Botswana.
Stars: Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Lucian Msamati, Desmond Dube
Votes: 3,174
Based on the series of novels, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith.
27. Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)
TV-MA | 59 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Convicted of a decade old crime of transporting drug money to an ex-girlfriend, normally law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to a year and a half behind bars to face the reality of how life-changing prison can really be.
Stars: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Emma Myles
Votes: 279,253
Based on Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, about her time spent at a minimum-security federal prison.
28. Outlander (2014– )
TV-MA | 64 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An English combat nurse from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.
Stars: Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Duncan Lacroix, Sophie Skelton
Votes: 125,259
Based on the Outlander series of novels about time travel by Diana Gabaldon.
29. Roswell (1999–2002)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
The lives of three young alien/human hybrids with extraordinary gifts in Roswell.
Stars: Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl, Majandra Delfino
Votes: 27,269
Based on the Roswell High young adult book series, by Melinda Metz.
30. Sherlock (2010–2017)
TV-14 | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves
Votes: 809,491
Based on Arthur Conan Doyle's four novels and 56 short stories featuring the character of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous and most critically acclaimed of which is The Hound of the Baskervilles.
31. The Starter Wife (2008)
60 min | Comedy, Drama
A television show centered around Molly Kagan, the ex-wife of a Hollywood entertainment mogul who transitions into a fabulous independent life after her divorce.
Stars: Debra Messing, Judy Davis, Chris Diamantopoulos, David Alan Basche
Votes: 1,110
Based on the novel, The Starter Wife, by Gigi Levangie Grazer.
32. The Strain (2014–2017)
TV-MA | 43 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism ravages the city of New York.
Stars: Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Jonathan Hyde
Votes: 75,355
Based on the trilogy of novels, The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
33. Surviving Jack (2014)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy
A boy becomes a man, and a man becomes a father, in a time before coming of age was something you could Google.
Stars: Christopher Meloni, Rachael Harris, Connor Buckley, Claudia Lee
Votes: 4,721
Based on Justin Halpern's autobiographical book, I Suck at Girls.
34. Wallander (2008–2016)
TV-PG | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A television show centered on a soul-searching Swedish cop.
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Richard McCabe, Jeany Spark, Sarah Smart
Votes: 12,827
Based on a series of mystery novels, featuring the character Kurt Wallander, written by Henning Mankell. The first novel of the series is Faceless Killers.
35. A Young Doctor's Notebook & Other Stories (2012–2013)
23 min | Comedy, Drama
In the early 20th century, a young doctor arrives in a small Russian village around the time of the Russian Revolution to work in the local hospital.
Stars: Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Rosie Cavaliero, Adam Godley
Votes: 14,728
Based on the short story collection, A Young Doctor's Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov, who also wrote the novel, The Master and Margarita, which is widely considered to be one of the literary masterpieces of the 20th century.
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