Far from the days of "Dragnet" and "Adam-12," police procedurals are no longer just weekly cases cracked by committed cops. Now, they're sprawling franchises, with shows like "Law and Order" running for decades and providing fertile ground for multiple spin-offs. One of the best over the past 25 years has been "Criminal Minds," a show about a team of dedicated investigators and criminal profilers in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit who are tasked with taking down the nation's most vicious criminals.

While "Criminal Minds" has seen several spin-offs, the original remains the best. Airing for the first time in 2005, it closed its doors in 2020 before being relaunched just two years later as a streaming series on Paramount+, "Criminal Minds: Evolution." That's a whopping 18 seasons worth of stories, with a rotating cast of stars that has included Mandy Patinkin, Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Aisha Tyler, among others.

Attacking the most perplexing cases the FBI has ever encountered, the team uses its knowledge of human psychology to get inside the minds of criminals. With unrivaled expertise, the men and women of the BAU are some of the bureau's brightest minds, with special skills that allow them to defy the odds. If you love "Criminal Minds" and are looking for something similar as a late-night chaser, check out these other outstanding dramas.