No one loves procedural crime dramas more than New Yorkers and the people that want to be them (i.e. all of us). The combination of the glitz and glamour of high society and the grit and grime of the city’s underbelly make for intriguing drama, not to mention the twinge of danger you feel when you recognize that side street you take as a shortcut to work was a scene of the crime on last night’s episode of CSI. We, the TV viewer, crave suspense like we crave that slice of pizza.
But there are so many crime dramas set in New York on television today, you worry if Special Agent Jack Malone would run into Detective Elliot Stabler while having coffee with a retired Andy Sipowicz. And although the thought of that encounter would excite any TV viewer, the reality is we are suffering from an oversaturation of the genre. While there are so many reasons why shows like these are successful, there are just as many reasons why they fail.
Make Way, Law & Order, Here Come the New Blood
This season there were six procedural crime dramas on American networks and one on basic cable, with two launched the last two to three months as mid-season replacements. All based in New York City. One show, Life on Mars got word their contract would not be renewed for a second season during filming of their final few commitments—probably to make way for the next New York-based cop show to not be allowed a chance to work. Yet arguably stale, formulaic shows like the Law & Order franchise have thrived for almost 20 years on television with no sign of slowing down.
The reason shows like Mars are doomed to fail is because the artistic value of the story is so unique and fresh. It is primarily a police drama, but so much more lurked beneath the surface. The present-day detective being mysteriously transported to the year 1973 and his personal and professional journey back home may sound like a bunch of hooey, but looking much closer at it, it mirrors the times we live in. It is a mix of science-fiction, pop culture, philosophy and psychology with a baseline of solving crimes. Very few shows could pull off a feat like that, which may be the reason shows like these don’t get the proper backing from networks, and in turn don’t last.
Paying Respects to the Cop Shows of Old
So where did it go wrong? It may have all started in 1958 with Naked City, based on the 1948 film of the same name. Since then there’s been a steady stream of procedurals focusing on crime, its perpetrators, the defenders of justice and their tightrope walk between legal and criminal on the streets of Gotham. What we get is usually an hours’ worth of entertainment, but more importantly is a feeling of connectedness to a city and its characters that we either know, or are very eager to explore.
Since then, there have been an increasing number of shows to try their hand at this kind of drama, most notably Kojak and Baretta in the 1970s, Cagney & Lacey in the 80s, and NYPD Blue and Law & Order in the 90s. These examples set the bar for the dramas of their day; maybe a bit too high. The process in which these shows made their bones seemed to focus more on the character than the crime, almost as if the egregious act was secondary to the show itself. We started to care more about the detectives and their lives than the actual jobs they were doing.
While there is nothing wrong with this approach—it is called a drama after all—there are only so many character traits you can develop for a television show that are lasting enough for the viewer to allow empathy for their struggle. After a while it seems the style of these shows is recycled, almost generic. Not to mention the same empathy is forced upon the viewer in the overdone backdrop of New York City. While it’s true that these shows are called “procedural” for a reason, there needs to be ways to depict them to bring a fresher feeling to the genre, i.e. Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Network Crime Dramas: A Victim of Supply and Demand
Yes, with the opportunity to reinvent itself like Law & Order has done for so many years, they’ve created a following that is very difficult to break. But how can other shows be given the chance to thrive when networks don’t give the necessary time and publicity to create viewership? Why give the means to fall in love with characters you won’t be able to enjoy for long? Networks and studios are so obsessed with the bottom line that convention (and, let’s face it, trust) are thrown out of the window. Studios don’t trust the networks to fully back a show, networks don’t trust viewers to tune in every week, and viewers don’t trust themselves to watch a show that won’t last anyway, no matter what they do. It’s become a vicious cycle that ultimately leaves no one happy in the end.
Then again, you can always move to the other coast and experience the Hollywood cop show angle. Can’t wait for season two of Southland and the new NCIS: Los Angeles, can you? Let’s hope for everyone’s sake we won’t have to suffer much longer for a new, exciting location for our cop drama fix.
Omar Bobb-Semple - Omar Bobb-Semple has made Los Angeles, CA his home for the last five years. This New York City native sought fame and fortune, but instead ...
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