The Five Best Action Television Shows

There's nothing better to liven up a boring, rainy afternoon than a marathon of an exciting, action-packed adventure series. The television genre has been popular for many years, and the competition to be the best is ruthless. Many series flop after only a few showings, while others thrive on for years. Here are some of the best action TV shows ever made.

MacGyver inspired people everywhere to think outside the box with his innovative solutions to complex problems using the limited (and sometimes bazaar) resources at his immediate disposal. This staple of mid-'80s television was wildly successful, with Richard Dean Anderson in the title role for 139 exciting episodes. Given a gum wrapper, some dental floss, and a ball point pen, there was nothing this survival expert could not accomplish. I watched religiously, always anxious to see what kind of trouble MacGyver would get himself into each week and what crazy contraption he would use to get out safely.

Another '80s classic, Knight Rider, starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight with his companion, a talking, indestructible supercar named Kit. The pair fight crime on a weekly basis, with the intelligent car usually getting Knight out of some kind of trouble. The show was later revived, but the remake paled in comparison to the classic original and was canceled after only 18 episodes.

And who can forget Quantum Leap? From 1989 to 1993, Scott Bakula starred as Sam Beckitt, a man trapped in time and forced to "leap" into the body and life of a different troubled person each week. The premise of the show gave it endless plot possibilities, and the writers too full advantage by writing scripts full of originality. Some episodes were serious, while others were downright hilarious, making it irresistible for me to tune in each week for Beckitt's next adventure.

Created in part by Mel Brooks, the series Get Smart was a witty alternative to most action/adventure shows. Running from 1965 to 1970, the show was about bumbling Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86, and his struggle to outdo Agent 99 while trying to bring down the evil organization KAOS. The show was revived briefly in 1995 and made into a movie in 2008, but nothing will ever beat Don Adams' original portrayal of the character.

While I'm not a fan of the Mission: Impossible movies, in large part because I don't much care for Tom Cruise, I must say that the TV series that spawned the films was awesome. The show, running from 1966 to 1973, was incredibly clever and unmatched in originality. It makes me hold my breath more than any other show I have ever seen with its intense and perilous scenes.