The Best TV Shows on ABC

Every ABC Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Showcasing over 20 shows from 1971 up until 2024, ABC stands as a beacon of television excellence. Premiering in 1971 and 1977, Columbo and The Love Boat are among ABC’s most celebrated shows. Our curated list, current as of February 2026, showcases over 20 of ABC’s highest-rated series.

  • The Good Doctor
    The Good Doctor (2017)8.5

    Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital's surgical unit. Unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

  • The Rookie
    The Rookie (2018)8.5

    Starting over isn't easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force's oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.

  • Twin Peaks
    Twin Peaks (1990)8.3

    The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.

  • Grey's Anatomy
    Grey's Anatomy (2005)8.2

    Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

  • 9-1-1
    9-1-1 (2018)8.2

    Explore the high-pressure experiences of police officers, paramedics and firefighters who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives.

  • Columbo
    Columbo (1971)8.1

    Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.

  • Scrubs
    Scrubs (2001)8.0

    In the unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital, John "J.D." Dorian learns the ways of medicine, friendship and life.

  • Castle
    Castle (2009)8.0

    After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.

  • High Potential
    High Potential (2024)8.0

    Morgan is a single mom with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective.

  • Lost
    Lost (2004)7.9

    Stripped of everything, the survivors of a horrific plane crash must work together to stay alive. But the island holds many secrets.

  • Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives (2004)7.9

    Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.

  • Modern Family
    Modern Family (2009)7.9

    The Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan is a wonderfully large and blended family. They give us an honest and often hilarious look into the sometimes warm, sometimes twisted, embrace of the modern family.

  • MacGyver
    MacGyver (1985)7.7

    He's everyone's favorite action hero... but he's a hero with a difference. Angus MacGyver is a secret agent whose wits are his deadliest weapon. Armed with only a knapsack filled with everyday items he picks up along the way, he improvises his way out of every peril the bad guys throw at him. Making a bomb out of chewing gum? Fixing a speeding car's breaks... while he's riding in it? Using soda pop to cook up tear gas? That's all in a day's adventures for MacGyver. He's part Boy Scout, part genius. And all hero.

  • The Practice
    The Practice (1997)7.6

    A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”

  • The Middle
    The Middle (2009)7.6

    The daily mishaps of a married woman and her semi-dysfunctional family and their attempts to survive life in general in the city of Orson, Indiana.

  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
    Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013)7.5

    Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) puts together a team of agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.

  • Once Upon a Time
    Once Upon a Time (2011)7.4

    There is a town in Maine where every story book character you've ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth and only one can break the spell. Emma Swan is a 28-year-old bail bonds collector who has been supporting herself since she was abandoned as a baby. Things change for her when her son Henry, whom she abandoned years ago, finds her and asks for her help explaining that she is from a different world where she is Snow White's missing daughter.

  • The Love Boat
    The Love Boat (1977)6.3

    Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!
    Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003)5.4

    Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.

  • The View
    The View (1997)4.3

    ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.