The other night, I had returned home from an out of town trip and needed some down time. I decided to order in and see what mind-numbing fare I could find on the boob tube.
When I discovered TNT was running back-to-back Law & Orders I knew I'd hit pay dirt. Bingo! Just what the doctor ordered. I could sit back with my dinner and enjoy 2 or 3 repeat episodes of a show I'd seen many times.
This got me thinking. What is it about the so-called "procedurals" that give them such a long shelf life while other shows, like Lost, for example, quickly die on the vine and lose their original appeal?
Here's a list of what I came up with:
1. The procedurals are always self-contained. The beginning, middle and end all occur within the span of one episode, whereas it has become more and more in vogue for all other shows to mimic the soaps in spinning long-winding and slow-moving plot lines spun out over years, rather than minutes. 2. The procedurals follow a predictable form. Law & Order, for example, always begins with a crime scene, the arrival of the two detectives followed by some investigative missteps, possibly a bad arrest, finally culminating in the prosecution of the guilty party... or at least someone we'd really like to see pay for the crime committed. Within the confines of this form, the writers and actors are free to play and show off their talents. The writers provide endlessly entertaining dialogue to fit within that framework and the actors often have the rare pleasure of playing against type, which for those of us who work and live in NYC theatre, is an extra treat. 3. The writers and actors get to breathe. Because of the set form of the procedurals, their regular cast have the opportunity to expand and deepen our understanding of their characters over the course of many episodes but, unlike their colleagues in the serialized programs, the journey of their character is incrimental and not linked in any way to the plot since the plot on these shows only lasts as long as a single episode. Because their characters' journeys are divorced from plot points, there's more freedom to experiment and play, for both the writers and the actors. Consequently, for a working professional, it's more fun to watch. 4. The HOW trumps the WHAT. In procedurals, the entertainment value is borne out of how the story is told, not what the specifics of the story are. The result of this emphasis is that a show I saw once before is less quick to lose its appeal since it's not the who, what and where of the story that really matters most. What do you all think? Any points I've missed?
