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The Best TV Shows on History

Every History Show Ranked From Best To Worst

History has delivered an expansive roster of over 20 shows, dating from 1993 all the way to 2020. Peruse our comprehensive roster of History’s top shows, encompassing over 20 distinct series as of February 2025. Some of the best tv shows from History include Modern Marvels and History's Mysteries, airing in 1993 and 1998 respectively.

  • Swamp People
    Swamp People (2010)8.3

    In the farthest corner of Louisiana lies the nation's largest swamp - a hidden world where nature rules... and man fights back. The Cajuns that live in this forbidding environment follow a tradition dating back three hundred years - the thirty day alligator hunting season.

  • Haunted History
    Haunted History (1998)8.2

    Haunted History is a 1998 UFA/Cafe Productions series exploring the supernatural. Executive Producer Ed Babbage for Cafe. The American version of the show also debuted in 1998 with the same premise of exploring the world to investigate the "haunted history" of reportedly haunted locations.

  • Project Blue Book
    Project Blue Book (2019)8.1

    A chronicle of the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ’60s, known as “Project Blue Book”.

  • The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch
    The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch (2020)8.0

    The investigation of the world’s most mysterious hot spot for UFO and “High Strangeness” phenomena with astrophysicist Dr. Travis Taylor who joins real estate tycoon Brandon Fugal, along with his team of scientists and researchers on Utah’s notorious Skinwalker Ranch. The team utilizes cutting edge technology to investigate the 512-acre property to uncover the possibly “otherworldly” perpetrators behind it all. With everything from mysterious animal deaths to hidden underground workings and possible gateways that open to other dimensions, witness the close encounters that go beyond conventional explanation, as the team risks everything to finally reveal the ultimate secret of Skinwalker Ranch.

  • Modern Marvels
    Modern Marvels (1993)7.9

    HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.

  • Forged in Fire
    Forged in Fire (2015)7.8

    Competitors re-create weapons from historical periods ranging from Japanese katanas to medieval broadswords to ancient throwing blades. Each entry is judged on its artistry as well as its functionality and accuracy.

  • The Food That Built America
    The Food That Built America (2019)7.8

    The fascinating stories of the families behind the food that built America, those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, those who invented new technologies and helped win wars.

  • The Curse of Oak Island
    The Curse of Oak Island (2014)7.4

    Follow brothers Marty and Rick Lagina through their effort to find the speculated - and as of yet undiscovered - buried treasure believed to have been concealed through extraordinary means on Oak Island.

  • History's Greatest Mysteries
    History's Greatest Mysteries (2020)7.4

    Investigates a wide range of historically compelling topics and the mysteries surrounding each including the Titanic, D.B. Cooper, Roswell, John Wilkes Booth, and more. Fresh, new evidence and perspectives will be showcased, such as never-before-released documents, personal diaries and DNA evidence.

  • SIX
    SIX (2017)7.3

    Action drama series inspired by the real missions of Navy SEAL Team Six.

  • Pawn Stars
    Pawn Stars (2009)7.1

    Go inside the colorful world of the pawn business. At the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on the outskirts of Las Vegas, generations of the Harrison family run the family business, and there’s clashing and camaraderie every step of the way.

  • Alone
    Alone (2015)7.0

    Hardcore survivalists are put by themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness, without camera crews, teams, or producers – on a single mission to stay alive for as long as possible.

  • American Pickers
    American Pickers (2010)6.9

    Pickers like Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are on a mission to recycle America, even if it means diving into countless piles of grimy junk or getting chased off a gun-wielding homeowner’s land. Hitting back roads from coast to coast, the two men earn a living by restoring forgotten relics to their former glory, transforming one person’s trash into another’s treasure.

  • Ancient Aliens
    Ancient Aliens (2010)6.8

    Did intelligent beings from outer space visit Earth thousands of years ago? From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate.

  • Mail Call
    Mail Call (2002)6.7

    Mail Call was a television program that appeared on the History Channel and hosted by R. Lee Ermey, a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant,. The show debuted on August 4, 2002 as part of the 'Fighting Fridays' lineup. Most episodes were 30 minutes, but from 2007 through the show's end in 2009 some episodes were 60 minutes. During each episode, Ermey read and answered questions submitted by viewers regarding weapons and equipment used by all branches of the U.S. military now or in the past, as well as by other armed forces in history. Ermey often took his viewers on location to military training areas to film demonstrations. When not on location, Ermey broadcast from a set resembling a military outpost, including a tent, a Jeep, and various other pieces of military gear which changed throughout the series. At times, he would also have a bulldog - usually symbolic of Marines, especially drill instructors - on his show as well. Comic relief was provided as Ermey inflicted DI-style verbal abuse on his viewers or tests the effects of various weapons on watermelons and paint cans, as well as occasional appearances of "Mini-Lee", an action figure styled in Ermey's likeness, often seen berating a luckless G.I. Joe figurine. His demeanor as host was similar to the character "Gunnery Sergeant Hartman" portrayed by Ermey in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, though this attitude was shown only towards his viewers and not the military special guests. Older viewers might compare him to Sergeant Vincent Carter, a character in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. television program.

  • Ice Road Truckers
    Ice Road Truckers (2007)6.6

    Take a trip to Yellowknife, Canada to experience one of the most dangerous careers around. In unfathomably cold conditions, truck drivers haul equipment and supplies to miners in the Canadian tundra in the dead of winter on a 350-mile highway of ice.

  • Mountain Men
    Mountain Men (2012)6.4

    Profiles of some of the men who choose to live off the grid in the unspoiled wilderness, where dangers like mudslides, falling trees and bears are all part of everyday life.

  • History's Mysteries
    History's Mysteries (1998)6.3

    History's Mysteries was an American documentary television series on the History Channel.

  • Texas Rising
    Texas Rising (2015)6.2

    A chronicle of the Texas Revolution, the uprising against the tyranny of Mexican dictator Santa Anna, from the battle of the Alamo to the battle of San Jacinto, and the rise of the Texas Rangers.

  • Top Gear
    Top Gear (2010)6.0

    Hosts Tanner Foust, Adam Ferrara and Rutledge Wood embark on adventures as they test cars in extreme stunts, intense challenges and first-person reviews using their unique perspectives.