Sipowicz? Kojak? Did your favorite make our list of TV's top cops?

The very first network TV cop show was "The Plainclothesman," which launched on the DuMont Network a little over 76 years ago, in 1949. 

And since then ... well, how much time have you got? There have been hundreds of series over the decades, some iconic ("Dragnet" arrived in 1951), most not. And great TV cops? Well ... there's been a few of those, too.

With the return of "Blue Bloods" Detective Danny Reagan (Donnie Walhberg) on "Boston Blue," I've been inspired to assemble my own idiosyncratic list of favorite law men and women. "Idiosyncratic" is the byword here. Your list will be different, but see if you agree with any of these choices:

12. Detective Lt. Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas, "Kojak," 1973-78)

Get beyond the lollipops and the slogan ("who loves ya, baby") and you've got the consummate TV cop. This classic run began with a bang, in the 1973 pilot movie, "The Marcus-Nelson Murders," where Savalas was pure soul on ice.

11. Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer," 2005-12)

The deputy chief of the LAPD's major crimes division had a fraught personal life, but when she turned on that Southern accent and directed those gimlet eyes on a suspect who couldn't help but confess, one of TV's truly memorable performances got underway.

10. Detectives Ed Green and Lennie Briscoe (Jesse L. Martin, Jerry Orbach, "Law & Order," seasons 10-18)

Everyone has their favorite "L&O" cop team, but mine was this one — one old-school, the other new, one seasoned, the other street-smart. Martin also brought an unusual warmth and decency to Ed — a little like Martin himself.

9. Hank Schrader (Dean Norris, "Breaking Bad," 2008-13)

Walter's (Bryan Cranston) principled DEA agent brother-in-law was so full of his own bloviation that he couldn't see "Heisenberg" right under his very nose, yet Norris still made Hank one of the most memorable (and beloved) TV characters of our lifetime.

8. Capt. Amos Burke (Gene Barry, "Burke's Law," 1963-66)

Didn't every kid want to ride around in a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud while solving crimes? (Please don't tell me I was the only one.) Barry made law enforcement cool, and everything else he did as well.

7. Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis, "The Shield," 2002-08)

Chiklis created TV's ultimate anti-hero cop who was worse than the perps, but (of course) you couldn't take your eyes off him. Bad cop or otherwise, this was a TV performance for the ages.

6. Detective Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce, "The Wire," 2002-08)

Admittedly there could be a decent debate over whether Bunk or his partner, Jimmy (Dominic West), was the more indelible character, but I'm going with Bunk by a nose. Something about that pragmatism mixed with cynicism and decency mixed with toughness. He just felt more relatable.

5. Seth Bullock (Timothy Oliphant, "Deadwood," 2004-06)

Great series beget great characters, and who better than Oliphant to play this one: Seth the reluctant U.S. marshal forced to bring law and order to that which was essentially lawless?

4. Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs (Sonja Sohn, "The Wire," 2002-08)

You could always watch Kima think and, for her, there were a lot of angles to think through — her sexuality, perilous job, colleagues and own mortality. Greggs was the deep inner voice of "The Wire" — the voice that tried to sort out all the madness.

3. Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz, "NYPD Blue," 1993-2005)

Everyone's favorite detective from the (fictional) 15th Precinct had drinking problems, father/son problems, girlfriend problems, office problems, partner problems — but, man, how we loved him. Franz (and co-creator David Milch) brought us someone so real, so alive, we could reach out and touch him.

2. Detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver, "Bosch," 2014-21)

Both Welliver's Harry and Jamie Hector's Jerry (his partner) were outstanding, but Welliver gave Bosch flesh and blood, a troubled soul and seething humanity. Welliver had accomplished this before, several times really, including as a cop on "Brooklyn South" (1997-98).

1. Detective Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher, "Homicide: Life on the Street," 1993-99)

May as well quote myself here: "As Pembleton, he was that famous William Faulkner line incarnate, the human heart in conflict with itself. ..." The finest TV actor of his generation nailed this conflict perfectly, and forever.