Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "private-detective-as-protagonist"
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1. So Help Me Todd (2022–2024)
TV-14 | 43 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A talented P.I. agrees to work as the in-house investigator for his mother, who is reeling from the recent dissolution of her marriage.
Stars: Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger
Votes: 6,840
2. Monsieur Spade (2024)
TV-MA | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The famous detective Sam Spade is now 60 and living as an expat in the south of France in 1963.
Stars: Clive Owen, Cara Bossom, Denis Ménochet, Louise Bourgoin
Votes: 5,009
3. Marlowe (2022)
R | 109 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
In late 1930s Bay City, a brooding, down on his luck detective is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Brenda Rawn
Votes: 11,795
4. Simon & Simon (1981–1989)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two brothers of disparate tastes and manners run a private detective agency.
Stars: Jameson Parker, Gerald McRaney, Mary Carver, Tim Reid
Votes: 6,110
5. Frankie Drake Mysteries (2017–2021)
TV-PG | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The series follows Frankie Drake, a female private detective operating in Toronto in the 1920s.
Stars: Lauren Lee Smith, Chantel Riley, Rebecca Liddiard, Sharron Matthews
Votes: 3,182
6. The Kid Detective (2020)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity; until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
Director: Evan Morgan | Stars: Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Adam Brody, Kaleb Horn, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 22,525
7. Riptide (1984–1986)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The cases of a private investigations agency run by two Vietnam War veterans and their computer geek friend from high school, armed with toughness, their own helicopter, and the third's technical ability.
Stars: Perry King, Joe Penny, Thom Bray, Jack Ging
Votes: 3,189
8. Small Town Crime (2017)
R | 91 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An alcoholic ex cop finds a woman on the roadside, left for dead. He offers to find the killer pro bono as P.I. Her granddad hires him. Things get nasty.
Directors: Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms | Stars: John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, Octavia Spencer, Robert Forster
Votes: 12,480
9. Too Late (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Explores the tangled relationship between a troubled private investigator and the missing woman he's hired to help find.
Director: Dennis Hauck | Stars: Dichen Lachman, Natalie Zea, Jeff Fahey, John Hawkes
Votes: 3,910 | Gross: $0.06M
10. Dicktown (2020–2022)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Comedy, Mystery
Nerdy private detective John Hunchman and his jock sidekick David Purefoy investigate oddball mysteries in their small town.
Stars: John Hodgman, David Rees, Ronald Peet, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 786
11. Snoops (1999)
45 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In this detective series with a comical note, Glenn Hall runs an unconventional flashy private detective agency in Los Angeles, and means business above all, never mind the rules--if she ... See full summary »
Stars: Gina Gershon, Paula Jai Parker, Edward Kerr, Danny Nucci
Votes: 283
12. The Black Bird (1975)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
The son of famous detective Sam Spade carries on the family tradition of getting involved with the Maltese Falcon - and with the people who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get it.
Director: David Giler | Stars: George Segal, Stéphane Audran, Lionel Stander, Lee Patrick
Votes: 623
13. Eyes in the Night (1942)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Mystery
A blind detective and his seeing-eye dog investigate a murder and discover a Nazi plot.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed, Stephen McNally
Votes: 1,957
14. Serangoon Road (2013)
561 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Serangoon Road is a detective noir series set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1960s Singapore.
Stars: Don Hany, Joan Chen, Maeve Dermody, Alaric
Votes: 692
15. The Killer Is Loose (1956)
Passed | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An unhinged, deceptively mild-mannered bank robber escapes prison, seeking revenge on the cop who accidentally killed his wife during a gun battle.
Director: Budd Boetticher | Stars: Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey, Alan Hale Jr.
Votes: 2,484
16. Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–1988)
30 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Norman Buntz, a gruff and somewhat ethically questionable detective, leaves the inner city and heads to the sunny climes of Southern California where he opens up a detective agency.
Stars: Dennis Franz, Peter Jurasik, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Guy Boyd
Votes: 116
17. Sonny Spoon (1988)
60 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A slick, street-smart private eye and top disguise artist solves various crimes with a little help from his friends and also takes care of his dad, a bar owner.
Stars: Mario Van Peebles, Terry Donahoe, Bob Wieland, Melvin Van Peebles
Votes: 122
18. Murdered: Soul Suspect (2014 Video Game)
M | Crime, Fantasy, Horror
A detective, murdered by a serial killer, returns as a ghost and must combine his investigative skills with powerful supernatural abilities to uncover the shocking link between his own death and a series of killings terrifying the town of Salem.
Director: Yosuke Shiokawa | Stars: Jason Brooks, Cassidy Lehrman, Travis Willingham, Tiffany Espensen
Votes: 1,365
19. Blade in Hong Kong (1985 TV Movie)
100 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
To save the life of the one who created it, detective engages in a network of corruption, crime and seduction.
Director: Reza Badiyi | Stars: Terry Lester, Keye Luke, Michael Preston, Jean Marie Hon
Votes: 55
20. The Big Fall (1997 Video)
R | 90 min | Drama
L.A. private detective is hired to investigate the disappearance of an alluring woman's brother. Surrounded by double-crossing deals and dangerous relation, Rybeck will have to plunge headfirst into his deadliest case ever.
Director: C. Thomas Howell | Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Sophie Ward, Jeff Kober, Sam Seder
Votes: 193
21. Catherine's Grove (1997)
R | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Undercover cop Doyle is working on a serial killer case that's left a trail of dead transvestites. He also moonlights as a private eye, so Doyle and his girlfriend are hired by a rich young... See full summary »
Director: Rick King | Stars: Jeffrey Donovan, Jeff Fahey, Andrew Fiscella, Mario Ernesto Sánchez
Votes: 194 | Gross: $0.03M
22. Discworld Noir (1999 Video Game)
Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Third game based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. On a dark and stormy night in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the first and only private investigator on the Discworld, Lewton (you), is ... See full summary »
Director: Gregg Barnett | Stars: Rob Brydon, Robert Llewellyn, Nigel Planer, Kate Robbins
Votes: 275
23. Smart Philip (2003)
95 min | Comedy, Crime
Inspired by the stories of the American writer Raymond Chandler, the classical hero is private detective Phil Marlowe, a romantic cowboy, who takes the law into his own hands in the rough ... See full summary »
Director: Václav Marhoul | Stars: Tomás Hanák, Vilma Cibulková, Pavel Liska, Bohumil Klepl
Votes: 517
24. Betaville (1986)
30 min | Short, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Spoof of the classic black and white French sci-fi-noir film, Alphaville (1965), about a hardboiled private eye looking for someone in a strange futuristic city.
Director: Alyce Wittenstein | Stars: Steve Ostringer, Holly Adams, Fred Wittenstein, Alyce Wittenstein
Votes: 27
25. Kishin Houkou Demonbane (2004 Video Game)
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Romance the Necronomicon and save the universe from ultimate evil in this Lovecraft-inspired super-robot epic from Nitroplus.
Director: Jin Haganeya | Stars: Kentarô Itô, Rie Kanda, Yu Asakawa, Junko Asami