`It’s the story, stupid.” That’s the mantra for selling new dramas on network television.
Officially they’re called procedural dramas, a technical-sounding term for shows that emphasize plot over character. The granddaddy of them all is “Law & Order,” a 13-season phenomenon so focused on stories that the cast turns over on a regular basis and viewers don’t seem to care.
“That’s a departure for most of the history of American mass entertainment,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. “Usually the job is a tiny part of the story. Cliff Huxtable [on “The Cosby Show”] was an obstetrician, but who would have known it?”
The procedural subgenre is not new. The original “Dragnet,” with two stone-faced, emotionless cops marching through an investigation, was the original procedural.
But the preponderance of them is new. This season, we’ll see more procedural dramas on television than ever before. Four of the 17 new dramas debuting in September focus on the process of solving a crime or, in the case of ABC’s anti-terror thriller “Threat Matrix,” preventing one.
Success inspires cloning, and with “CSI” striking the mother lode, CBS is poised to be heavy with procedural dramas next season. Besides the two “CSI” series, the network has “Without a Trace,” which has beaten NBC’s aging superstar “ER” all summer; “JAG” spinoff “Navy NCIS”; “The Handler,” about undercover FBI agents; and “Cold Case,” about a Philadelphia homicide cop who tackles unsolved murders.
With so many on the horizon, isn’t there a risk that viewers will grow weary of the step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts crime solvers?
“We were asked that question last year, and a year later we have `CSI: Miami’ and `Without a Trace’ standing tall,” CBS president Les Moonves told television critics in Los Angeles last month. “We think we have a few more very special shows. Yes, they are procedural dramas, but each one is different. You know, when you see among the top 10-rated shows three `Law & Orders’ and two `CSIs,’ there’s obviously an appetite for these shows.”
Here’s the proof: “CSI” was the No. 1 show last season, and “CSI: Miami” was the highest-rated new series. “Without a Trace” is the fastest-growing show, and all three of the aforementioned CBS series are fixtures in the summer top-10 ratings. Also in the high numbers are NBC’s unsinkable “Law & Order” and its two spinoffs, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
Summer ratings vital
The summer ratings are important, because they mean that procedural dramas do well in reruns, which character-driven series such as “NYPD Blue” and “The West Wing” do not.
There are many theories about why procedural dramas are so popular, and arguably the strongest is that the stories tend to be current — as in “ripped from the headlines” — and edgy. “Without a Trace” last season dealt with, among other things, teen prostitutes, pedophiles and pornographers.
The upcoming pilot episode of “Cold Cases” is based on the murder case involving Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. “Law & Order” had an episode inspired by the murder of intern Chandra Levy, including hints of her romantic connection to former Congressman Gary Condit.
“Before the ’90s, there was so little content you could actually do,” said Thompson. “The controversial stuff that’s in the real world was not allowed in procedural dramas back then. But now those dams have burst in a big way. Procedural dramas have stuff viewers can sink their teeth into.”
The popularity of “CSI,” replete with heads exploding from slow-motion gunfire and liquid corpses oozing onto the examining table, proves that even the most gruesome and detailed procedures can be attractive in a TV drama.
When story trumps character, the result can be emotionless heroes plodding through the plot. On “CSI,” Grissom doggedly pursues hair fibers and chemical compounds, leaving his personality at the lab door. But as the series has moved from its first season to its third, tiny details have emerged that make him interesting. Last season, Grissom developed a hearing problem. The season opener, Moonves told TV critics recently, will hint at a romance for the character.
But the show’s producers are quick to quash any notion of an emotional outpouring by good old Grissom.
“There will be slices of those moments, but we’re primarily a show about forensics,” said producer Carol Mendelsohn.
“The stories will always dictate how much back story is told,” added creator-producer Anthony Zuiker.
Few details revealed
The cops and lawyers on “Law & Order” reveal only the barest of details about their lives. We know that Lenny Briscoe is a recovering alcoholic with multiple ex-wives, but that “back story” took years to dribble out.
On “Without a Trace,” the FBI agents Jack and Samantha went about the business of tracking down missing people, drawing little diagrams to show their progress and maintaining inscrutability throughout. Toward the end of the season, however, we learned that Jack’s marriage is crumbling and that he and Samantha had had an affair.
In newcomer “Cold Case,” the main character promises to be equally slow to reveal inner secrets.
“We may get little windows into her life, but especially in the beginning it’s really about the cases she’s working,” said executive producer Meredith Steihm. “It’s dangerous when you do too much character stuff too quickly, because you start running out of stories. Plus, your credibility falters if you give someone four tragedies in a season.”
In practical terms, it’s easier for writers to broaden the appeal of a show with stories rather than characters. Viewers either love or hate Andy Sipowicz on “NYPD Blue,” but from week to week the different stories on “Law & Order” can attract a wide range of viewers.
“There are more places you can go, and you can keep going longer when the story and not the star is the focus,” Thompson says.
“You never wear out the headlines, but you can use up characters.”
Another plus in today’s multiple-choice universe is that procedural dramas are self-contained stories. Viewers don’t have to keep track of continuing story lines or struggle to remember what happened in somebody’s personal life that might have an impact on a particular episode.
One possible drawback to these shows, however, is that they are complicated. Viewers have to pay attention from start to finish to keep up; drifting in and out of an episode just doesn’t work.
But for today’s viewers, at least for now, shows that require little emotional involvement are a plus.
