The Best TV Shows on CBC Television

Every CBC Television Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Highlighting CBC Television’s quality programming, The Nature of Things and Second City Television stand out, premiering in 1960 and 1976. From 1960 through to 2024, CBC Television has accumulated a diverse collection of over 20 television shows. Peruse our comprehensive roster of CBC Television’s top shows, encompassing over 20 distinct series as of October 2025.

  • Anne with an E
    Anne with an E (2017)8.7

    A coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for love and acceptance and for her place in the world. The series centers on a young orphaned girl in the late 1890’s, who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly woman and her aging brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform their lives and eventually the small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination.

  • Heartland
    Heartland (2007)8.3

    Life is hard on the Flemings' ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused or neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family. Debts abound and the bank is about to foreclose. Can they keep the ranch running?

  • Road to Avonlea
    Road to Avonlea (1990)8.2

    In the fictional small town of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, in the early 20th century, 10-year-old Montreal heiress Sara Stanley is sent by her wealthy father to live with her two maiden aunts, Hetty and Olivia King, to be near her late mother's side of the family.

  • Murdoch Mysteries
    Murdoch Mysteries (2008)7.7

    A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.

  • Schitt's Creek
    Schitt's Creek (2015)7.7

    Formerly filthy rich video store magnate Johnny Rose, his soap star wife Moira, and their two kids, über-hipster son David and socialite daughter Alexis, suddenly find themselves broke and forced to live in Schitt's Creek, a small depressing town they once bought as a joke.

  • Second City Television
    Second City Television (1976)7.6

    Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.

  • Kim's Convenience
    Kim's Convenience (2016)7.6

    The funny, heartfelt story of The Kims, a Korean-Canadian family, running a convenience store in downtown Toronto. Mr. and Mrs. Kim ('Appa' and 'Umma') immigrated to Toronto in the '80s to set up shop near Regent Park and had two kids, Jung and Janet who are now young adults. However, when Jung was 16, he and Appa had a major falling out involving a physical fight, stolen money and Jung leaving home. Father and son have been estranged since.

  • Workin' Moms
    Workin' Moms (2017)7.5

    Four women juggle love, careers, and parenthood. They support, challenge, and try not to judge each other as life throws them curveballs. Whether it is an identity crisis, a huge job opportunity, postpartum depression, or an unplanned pregnancy – they face both the good and bad with grace and humour.

  • The Red Green Show
    The Red Green Show (1991)7.3

    The Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on Public Broadcasting Service stations in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006, on CBC. The Red Green Show is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch comedy series, and is a parody of home improvement, do-it-yourself, fishing, and other outdoors shows.

  • The Nature of Things
    The Nature of Things (1960)7.1

    The Nature of Things is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on November 6, 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that humans have on it. The program was one of the first to explore environmental issues, such as clear-cut logging. The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.

  • Danger Bay
    Danger Bay (1985)7.1

    Danger Bay is a Canadian television series, produced in Vancouver, with first-run episodes broadcast on CBC Television and the Disney Channel starting October 7, 1985. One hundred and twenty three installments were filmed, ending in 1989, but the series, perceived as wholesome and exciting fare for older children and adolescents, continued to be seen through the 1990s in numerous countries around the world. The plots of the episodes followed the exploits of the Roberts family, led by marine veterinarian Grant "Doc" Roberts, and his two children, Nicole and Jonah. The 30-minute episodes featured the Vancouver Aquarium in nearly every installment. Most episodes focused on environmental issues such as pollution, wildlife endangerment and forest preservation. The series was also broadcast in Gibraltar Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Iceland, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Finland

  • Wild Cards
    Wild Cards (2024)7.1

    A spirited con woman and a demoted by-the-book detective are given the chance to redeem themselves. The catch? They have to find a way to work together each using their unique skills to solve crimes.

  • Republic of Doyle
    Republic of Doyle (2010)7.0

    Jake Doyle and his ex-cop father, Malachy, run a Newfoundland detective agency. Their rugged seaside town never lacks for intriguing cases, and the Doyles don't always land on the right side of the law.

  • Coroner
    Coroner (2019)7.0

    Jenny Cooper investigates unexplained or sudden deaths in the city of Toronto. Fierce and quick-witted, Jenny is a newly-widowed single mother with secrets of her own to unearth.

  • This Hour Has 22 Minutes
    This Hour Has 22 Minutes (1993)6.6

    This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials. Originally featuring Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh, the series featured satirical sketches of the weekly news and Canadian political events. The show's format is a mock news program, intercut with comic sketches, parody commercials and humorous interviews of public figures. The on-location segments are frequently filmed with slanted camera angles.

  • Frankie Drake Mysteries
    Frankie Drake Mysteries (2017)6.6

    Toronto’s only female private detective in the 1920s takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out.

  • The Book of Negroes
    The Book of Negroes (2015)6.5

    Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia and treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, in an attempt to secure her freedom in the 19th century.

  • Pretty Hard Cases
    Pretty Hard Cases (2021)6.4

    A fun and honest portrayal of two radically different female detectives in their early 40s following Guns and Gangs detective Sam and Narcotics detective Kelly, who by day are true action heroes in their own particular way: skilled, tough, determined, and ruthless. But by night, they’re both grappling with loneliness, dysfunctional families, screwed-up love lives, and a sense that their professional ambitions may not be totally in line with their personal needs.

  • Da Vinci's Inquest
    Da Vinci's Inquest (1998)6.1

    Da Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian dramatic television series that aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. While never a ratings blockbuster, seven seasons of thirteen episodes each were filmed for a total of ninety-one episodes. The show, set and filmed in Vancouver, stars Nicholas Campbell as Dominic Da Vinci, once an undercover officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but now a crusading coroner who seeks justice in the cases he investigates. The cast also includes Gwynyth Walsh as Da Vinci's ex-wife and chief pathologist Patricia Da Vinci, Donnelly Rhodes as detective Leo Shannon, and Ian Tracey as detective Mick Leary.

  • Dragons' Den
    Dragons' Den (2006)5.7

    Canadian version of the reality show in which budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hopes of securing business financing.