Few genres have a more devoted audience than action. Critics haven’t always embraced it, but the genre has thrived on audience support. Its golden era arguably ran from the 1970s through the 1990s, thanks to box office behemoths like Dirty Harry, The Terminator, and Speed. On television, the genre leaned toward cult series, with campier shows that felt closer to B-movies. There’s nothing wrong with a lower-budget approach, but it took a while for prestige TV to deliver the kind of action seen in theaters.

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