I’ve a bit of a confession to make. I’ve a bit of a soft-spot for US crime/cop shows. Law and Order, CSI (original series, natch), and more recently, and despite some initial reluctance, Numbers.
For a while, it kinda bugged me as to why I like these shows. Let’s face it, they’re rarely that demanding. But I realised that I enjoy their self-contained format. There are, inevitably, story-arc’s, but they’re usually bite-sized in their own way: You can still watch the arc development shows without needing to know or care too much about character development, if you don’t want to. Being able to watch a show, miss a few, then just grab another, is the name of the game. Bite-sized cop shows. Usually something interesting going on, perhaps a bit of a moral or twist. Nothing too taxing at after a hard day at the, er, computer screen.
Of course, it has its downsides. By being bite-sized and time-limited, they have limited scope for complicated stories or characters (hence the story arc). Plus my usual gripe that US shows featuring any science or technology (ie. CSI/Numbers) almost inevitably involves silly computer usage (some “database” that can be readily searched, readily accessible CCTV cameras (always easy to “enhance” to get a retina reflection), and always involving windowing environments you’ve never ever seen before in your life), and painful use of technology no doubt envisaged by muppets.
Some time ago – we’re talking late 1990’s – I used to be a fan of The Bill. Largely because it coincided with my eating dinner, plus living on my own. I’d also recently returned from Germany, so glutted on British TV shows I’d missed. The Bill, you’ll recall, wasn’t previously a soap opera. In fact, as soon as the ‘character development’ cranked up, I pretty much stopped watching it. I didn’t want to care about characters. I just wanted to see a 30 minute show which involved criminals getting nicked godsdammit! (Yeah, BSG is another big favourite! You can tell, can’t you)
New UK derivative arrival “Law & Order: UK” didn’t entice me from the trailers, but it’s actually looking like it’ll go the distance. I can’t quite get used to Apollo^wJamie Bamber speaking with a British Accent, but it’s proving rather good (being born here helps, naturally!). The format seems to make the transition reasonably well. I’ll be curious to know if they show it in the US at any point. But certainly one to watch a bit more, and it’s suitably “bite sized” for my tastes.
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March 6th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I tried to get into numbers, assuming it would be my kind of thing (it features geeks, it’s about maths, it’s a specky crime drama), but I could never get into it. If you think the IT is bad, the maths is even worse, and I find myself shouting at the screen. Yes, I have become my father.
Do you like The Wire?
March 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Yeah, I do find the explanations a bit painful. You can see the build-up to the simplistic explanation, and the application of these things frequently just beggars belief. But, it’s Friday night and nothing else on stuff, and it’s harmless stuff all said. A bit of a mental footrest really.
Planning to get in to The Wire and, similarly, Dexter. Have heard nothing but good things about them, and do need something a bit meatier and more interesting to replace The West Wing.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
You need The Wire, Dexter (S1 – I didn’t like S2 as much), and The Shield (again, this is patchy: I lost interest in the Glen Close era but apparently its got good again since). Those aren’t bite-sized at all though.
My problem with Numbers is that they didn’t follow the Seinfeld mantra: “No hugging, no learning”. The endings…really grate. When I’m looking for bite-sized telly, Psych and Monk do the job, they’re even less taxing than CSI.
BTW why are all TV computers set to use a font like Agency FB (all caps)? http://www.identifont.com/find?font=Agency+FB&q=Go