# Greatest non-violent TV dramas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625 "2013-08-07T20:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/21 "2013-08-08T00:56:54Z")
I’ve never watched it, but there seems to be an awful buzz about _Downton Abbey._ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/22 "2013-08-08T01:14:28Z")
Yes, _The West Wing_ is one essential answer. > [@Fluke54](#): > > L.A. Law was great, I loved that show. So did I. :: checks :: Oh, so it’s available on DVD now? Why wasn’t I informed?? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/23 "2013-08-08T02:43:28Z")
Going a bit farther back – thirtysomething Picket Fences Family ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/24 "2013-08-08T03:43:12Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Having given the matter more thought, I’ll nominate _E.R._, as long as we pretend it went off the airwhen Mark Green died. > > I’ll also nominate _Law & Order_–the original. It started off excellent turned great during the McCoy years, and never descended to less than excellent. Someone may contest that it should count as violent, but it wasn’t really; shoot-outs and car chases were never more than incidental. The original pilot ended with a murder. Actually, someone getting killed off was not an uncommon resolution in the last minute or so. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/25 "2013-08-08T04:14:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Just thought of another: _I’ll Fly Away_, a period piece from the early 90s about the civil rights movement. Made me love Sam Waterston. And also, now that I think on it, the Sorkin years of _The West Wing_. Agree on both of those. Loved Sam Waterston in that series. Double ditto on _The West Wing._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/26 "2013-08-08T05:21:38Z")
Going back to the seventies, _[Lou Grant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Grant_(TV_series))_ and _[The Paper Chase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paper_Chase_(TV_series))_ were good non-violent drama series. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/27 "2013-08-08T05:25:44Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Twin Peaks had something violent, grim and bloody happen preceding. Twin Peaks had plenty of violent, grim and bloody scenes onscreen during the series. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/28 "2013-08-08T08:51:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Homicide: Life on the Street** had very little violence in it, despite its subject. Most of the time, the police were dealing with the aftermath of violence. There were a couple of times during the run when guns were fired, but that was unusual (and it always had long-term repercussions). Yeah, this is what I would have posted. One early episode is set almost entirely in the interrogation room as the cops try to break a suspect. I think another was the squad stuck in the hot sweaty station on a summer night with no murder calls. Episodes driven by just by dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/29 "2013-08-08T10:45:41Z")
I’m pretty astonished that no one has mentioned “Friday Night Lights,” one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the last 10 years (and, no, the big sorta-violent thing that happened in the second season didn’t really happen – stop it). “Parenthood,” which is run by the same dude (Jason Katims), is also very good, if you can get past its tendency to be a little sappy. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/30 "2013-08-08T17:06:07Z")
One of my favourites is a somewhat older (mid-90’s, I think?) British show with James Nesbitt called _Cold Feet_. ---
**Author:** ![Fluke54](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@Fluke54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluke54)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/31 "2013-08-09T16:09:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yes, _The West Wing_ is one essential answer. > So did I. :: checks :: Oh, so it’s available on DVD now? Why wasn’t I informed?? It’s on DVD? and no one told me? Wonder if it will be on Netflix? oh please oh please oh please! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/32 "2013-08-11T04:03:21Z")
I’ve recently discovered yet another BBC series on Netflix, [Skins.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840196/) It is _fascinating_, and I don’t know why. The series is just about a bunch of teenagers in Bristol who mess around doing stupid things, and I can’t stop watching it. I think it qualifies as a drama; there are a few moments that make me laugh out loud, but it’s mostly serious. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/33 "2013-08-11T04:50:50Z")
The West Wing? Didn’t they have like a war or two? And that SS guy got shot. And the daughter kidnapped and her SS woman killed. OK it happens off screen but still. Gilmore Girls was an excellent show and was very rarely even a little violent. Yes, funny but I’d call it a drama. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/34 "2013-08-11T04:52:28Z")
I’m currently watching a \*Monk \*marathon, the first time I’ve watched them since their initial showing. I’m constantly reminded of how much I love that show . . . and there’s really not as much gore as there could have been. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/35 "2013-08-11T09:06:33Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > it all depends on what is non-violent, grim and bloody. > > Hill Street Blues is an example of you know something violent, grim and bloody might happen but it wasn’t on screen. > > Some would consider Perry Mason (1957 to May 1966) a good drama often with something violent, grim and bloody preceding. > > Twin Peaks had something violent, grim and bloody happen preceding. I’m in the middle of a Twin Peaks marathon right now (for the third time). It’s not violent like a show on the air today is, but it must have pushed the envelope for the early nineties. If the OP is looking for something without violence or gore, this isn’t it. Dead bodies, beatings, shootings, rape etc…mostly on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/36 "2013-08-11T09:10:36Z")
NYPD Blue certainly dealt with the aftermath of violence but it rarely had any shootings. In fact, I’m not sure if Dennis Franz, in 12 seasons even shot a suspect once. ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/37 "2013-08-11T15:03:04Z")
_Upstairs, Downstairs_ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625/38 "2013-08-11T15:56:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Going back to the seventies, _[Lou Grant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Grant_(TV_series))_ and _[The Paper Chase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paper_Chase_(TV_series))_ were good non-violent drama series. Second these. Also _The Good Wife_ is great. Initially I avoided it, thinking it was a drama about a wronged, cheated-upon political wife. But it’s more of a legal drama. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-non-violent-tv-dramas/665625.md?page=1)