If You're a 'Serial' Addict, Obsess Over These 5 Murder Mysteries

Quick, are you experiencing any of the following symptoms?

* Obsessively refreshing your iTunes downloads on Thursday mornings
* Using Google Maps to remotely explore the town of Woodlawn, Mass.
* Listening to multiple podcasts about a podcast

If so, it's time to face facts: You're a Serial addict. Since it launched in early October, the This American Life-backed podcast has become a legitimate pop culture phenomenon, with millions of listeners tuning in week after week to piece together the events surrounding the 1999 murder of Woodlawn teenager Hae Min Lee — and her convicted ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed's alleged involvement in it — alongside the show's host, Sarah Koenig. It's a gripping, complex mystery that involves dubious testimony, curious investigation lapses, and crucial missing minutes.

Since Koenig drops only one new episode a week, you're probably in need of some crimes to obsess over before you get your next Serial fix. Here are five great (fictional) TV mysteries to keep you occupied until Thursday rolls around.

1. Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994)

Sure, we love watching the 'Batch and Bilbo as the modern-day incarnations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's dynamic detective duo on Sherlock. (Elementary's Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu will do in a pinch as well.) But if you want the defining 19th century version of Baker Street's top P.I., look no further than Jeremy Brett, who enjoyed a decadelong run solving crimes as Sherlock.

Made under a variety of titles (it initially launched as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and later changed to The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes), the series offers handsomely produced, terrifically performed and very faithful adaptations of 41 different Conan Doyle mysteries. Obviously, if you've read the original stories, you'll already know whodunit, but it's a pleasure to watch Brett crack the case again anyway.

Sherlock Holmes is available on DVD and for streaming on Amazon Instant Video.

2. Crime Story (1986-1988)

After helping turn a network executive's scribbled note "MTV cops" into the successful TV series Miami Vice, Michael Mann threw himself into this '60s period piece that pivoted on the obsessive relationship between a dogged Chicago cop (ex-Chicago PD vet Dennis Farnia in his first major screen role) and a flashy gangster (Anthony Denison) looking to make a name for himself in Las Vegas. Mann would later employ a similar premise for his beloved big-screen crime drama Heat, but Crime Story has its own unique twists and turns, with Farina eventually pursuing his nemesis all the way to South America just as the Vietnam War is breaking out. The series ends on a cliffhanger that we're still dying to know the answer to.

Crime Story is available on DVD and Hulu.

3. Murder One (1995-1997)

Pioneering in its mid-'90s heyday, this Steven Bocho-produced ABC series accomplished the same feat Koenig is now attempting: tracking a single case over the course of one season. The crime in question was the murder of a 15-year-old girl, allegedly at the hands of a troubled Hollywood actor (played by Jason Gedrick). Defense attorney Ted Hoffman (Daniel Benzali) and his crack crew accept the task of clearing the star, but… well, we'll uphold the 20-year spoiler ban and let you find out for yourselves.

Murder One's strictly serialized storytelling is commonplace nowadays, but a difficult sell in a time when both networks and audiences preferred episodic TV commitments. In fact, the show's second season shook up the format substantially in the hope of moving the ratings needle, following three different mysteries instead of just one. (The cast also went through an overhaul, with Benzali being replaced by Anthony LaPaglia.) It didn't pay off, but the groundwork for future success was laid. Without Murder One, we might not have The Killing, True Detective… or Serial.

Murder One is available on DVD and for streaming on Hulu and Amazon Instant Video.

4. The Fall (2013-present)

Gillian Anderson probably wished she was back in the X-Files division after spending five episodes pursuing a Northern Ireland-based serial killer in this acclaimed U.K. production. Effectively channeling Helen Mirren's iconic Prime Suspect detective, Jane Tennison, Anderson plays Superintendent Stella Gibson, who parachutes into the tight-knit Belfast police department to help catch a murderer (Jamie Dornan, 50 Shades of Grey) in the midst of an almost monthlong killing spree. Although the killer's identity isn't a secret to the cops — or to us — the tension comes from watching how Gibson goes about trying to prove it and the mistakes she makes along the way.

The first season of The Fall is available on DVD and for streaming on Netflix, Acorn TV, and Amazon Instant Video; Season 2 premiered in the U.K. earlier this month.

5. Top of the Lake (2013-present)

Jane Campion probably isn't the first director you'd assume would be into making a procedural, but then Top of the Lake isn't like most procedurals. Set in the tiny New Zealand community of Laketop, the show is less about the central mystery — the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old girl — than it is about the town's dark past and the way it impacts the present. That's certainly true for Detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss), who fled Laketop many years ago after suffering a horrendous crime and has reluctantly returned for a visit that grows longer as she searches for the missing girl. What she discovers about herself and her hometown is difficult to watch, but impossible to turn away from. We're eagerly anticipating returning to Laketop when the show starts shooting its recently announced second season.

Top of the Lake is available on DVD and for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.