TV Shows

[Kevin Lang]

Why is it that all successful drama shows these days, on American TV, seem to be Lawyer Shows or Cop Shows?



Even new shows that aren't successful are launched in this formula, as if they know that the only way to be successful is to be in either of the 2 categories.



There are also medical shows, which don't have anything to do with cops, but those shows have been on a while, and are in decline...and I don't recall any new ones being made that met with success. (House is still around, but has been here for a while...while the only new non-cop medical show I can recall is Trauma, which was canceled.)



Are cops & lawyers the only way to have dramatic shows these days? :boohoo:



:soap:



Blue Blood

The Defenders

Harry's Law

Castle

Hawaii 5-0

..........

 

[EddieS'04]

Kevin,

It seems that shows rotate every 5 or so years. Im waiting for Sci-Fi to make its come back.:banana:

 

[Johnny O]

With a cop show they can always come up with new or topical stuff. Sitcoms with a stupid dad, a funny mom, and kids who are the smartest ones in the house are kinda played out after 40 years.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

My fave new show is on Showtime...."Shameless"

 

[Kevin Lang]

Personally, after the colossal ball-drop on Tru Blood, and suffering a few eps of Weeds & Spartacus, I gave up all those "premium" shows. I believe we had had a debate about this before, though to be fair I've never heard of Shameless.



Even sitcoms are getting cop-show elements, with new shows like Mike & Molly...a show that was a letdown IMO, despite the fact that I enjoy Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory (all 3 are made by Chuck Lorre). I also agree that the sitcoms are largely the same and are all but played out. The "stupid father" type shows that we've had for 50 years are a personal pet peeve.



Sci-fi would be a welcome comeback. There have been several sci-fi shows that I enjoyed in kinda recent years, but they all were canceled. The only Scifi show I remember really surviving is the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, which started out with a lot of potential--actors with gravitas are rare in shows these days, but then they just dropped the ball IMO. And then there was Caprica, which was bad beyond words.



It's hard to tell all the generic cop/lawyer shows apart. I find myself calling The Defenders "law and order" sometimes, as well as calling Blue Bloods "Magnum PI", as Tom Selleck is a main character.

 

[Johnny O]

The Walking Dead on AMC was excellent. Can't wait for season 2.

 

[TrainTrac]

With good writing and acting, cop & lawyer shows have almost always been a proven formula for success on TV, going all the way back to shows like "Dragnet", "The Untouchables", and "Perry Mason".

 

[Gavin Allan]

Two and 1/2 Men is my current favorite. I still miss Married...With Children though.

 

[Bill V]

The only Scifi show I remember really surviving is the reimagined Battlestar Galactica,

If by "Scifi", you mean "Outer Space", then yes, you may have a point.



But I would point to "Fringe" as being an excellent example of the genre in its current form. Then again, despite good critical reviews and a devoted following among its fans, the show did just get the kiss-of-death transfer to Friday nights...

 

[Andy Chase]

My fav sitcoms would be Big Bang Theory and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Both are fairly original compared to most and very funny {knock knock "PENNY" knock knock "PENNY" knock knock "PENNY". 2 1/2 men is great too.



Dramas do all seem to be the same, although I loved 24 since it more or less played out in real time, unlike most shows.

 

[Kevin Lang]

Fringe struck me as more of a paranormal show than a scifi show. Just like the X-Files did way back when. The ads never inspired me to watch it. I had the same issue with Big Bang Theory, the ads didn't show off the show's true content, so I didn't watch it for years, and then discovered its hilarity.



Maybe Fringe will be the same, but I have doubts. The only thing Fox has that I watch is Human Target. I was amazed when they saw that 24 was good, but was getting too overused, and canceled it. I was afraid it would be like The Simpsons and go on way past its prime.

I still miss Married...With Children though.

I hold that show as what all sitcoms should aspire to. 2.5 men is almost like its second coming.

With good writing and acting, cop & lawyer shows have almost always been a proven formula for success on TV, going all the way back to shows like "Dragnet", "The Untouchables", and "Perry Mason".

Yes, and after 50 years of observing that success, the only thing Hollywood (or wherever TV shows come from) can give us is cop shows. In fact, I believe that today's shows are even trying to ride on the coattails of the successful cop shows of yesteryear--Cho from The Mentalist seems to be channeling Jack Webb from Dragnet, and despite having other "more main" characters, Blue Bloods is marketed on the sole merit of Tom Selleck as Magnum PI.



Bill V, what marks the scifi boundary then? Galactica was about as Scifi as the later Star Treks, which are genre staples. Don't worry too much about the Friday death notice, Blue Bloods was able to overcome it, and CSI: NY has been surviving in Friday purgatory for years.

 

[Gerry Mac]

My favourite all-time cop show was "Hill Street Blues" Most of the others were/are just plain poor. Even the so called reality cop shows are played for the camera. IMO



Gerry

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gerry,



I too liked "Hill Street Blues", but I think "NYPD Blue" was just a bit better when at its best. Still, they are close.



One of my favorite dramas of all time, though, has to be "The Rockford Files", but it might simply be because of the nostalgia of watching it with my dad...who has been gone for just over 12 years now! I was just a little tike then.



TJR

 

[TrainTrac]

My favourite all-time cop show was "Hill Street Blues"

"Hey, hey, hey... Let's be careful out there."

 

[Bud Williams]

Agree with TJR, the Rockford files is at the top of my list.

I also like Magnum PI, almost a spin-off when Tom Selleck played Lance White.

I like the new show Good Guys with Tom Hanks son Colin. That's a funny show.

Big Fan of both NCIS shows. Pissed that Obama had to be on tonight instead of

NCIS...Mentalist, the new 5-0 and Castle are good too.

CSI Las Vegas won't be the same without Grissom, Criminal Intent is not good with

Jeff Goldblum, Denofrio did a good job on that show.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Im waiting for Sci-Fi to make its come back

V has returned to TV. I never liked the original one, but I am really digging the new series. The daughter is super hot too.:love:





Tom

 

[LaRue Medlin]

Hot in Cleveland

MASH

Andy Griffith

Leave It To Beaver

Bonanza

DIY Network

HG TV

Other than the news, we watch TV Land 95% of the time. Most of the new stuff is junk

 

[Jimmy Lavoie]

...shows like Mike & Molly...a show that was a letdown IMO,...

"Bones don't jiggly, maaa" :rofl:

 

[Kevin Lang]

"Bones don't jiggly, maaa"

I tried keeping up on V, but I fell behind.



I'm positive that the only reason Castle, Chuck, and V gained any ground was due to the cult phenomenon of Firefly. Shoot, when Castle debuted, all the marketing material did was go on about how it had "Firefly's Nathan Fillion", and the show is loaded with Firefly in-jokes.

I think I got halfway through Castle Season 2 before I just forgot about it. Seems to always happen with ABC shows & myself.



Adam Baldwin is personally the only reason I watched Chuck.



Morena Baccarin (sp) looks so strange with cropped hair in V....

Criminal Intent is not good with

Jeff Goldblum, Denofrio did a good job on that show.

Too bad he just bailed and left the show hanging.



I wish they had kept the pilot cast for NCIS: LA. Personally, I enjoy NCIS original more, though it is kinda sad that whenever an action scene happens, it generally comes down to Mark Harmon to perform it.

MASH

Andy Griffith

Leave It To Beaver

Bonanza

The problem is that I've already seen all of those...multiple times. Man does not live by reruns alone. :grin:

 

[Bill V]

Bill V, what marks the scifi boundary then?

IMHO, it's defined right in the term "scifi"--fiction which is based on bending the rules of the known bounds of science. So all the outer space shows all obviously qualify, but so do shows like Fringe and X-Files. Shows that deal strictly with "ghosts" and things like that (such as Ghost Whisperer or Medium) skirt the boundary of that definition, but IMHO are not science fiction.



Regarding the proliferation of cop and lawyer shows--you can tell that the quantity is causing them to have to reach farther to come up with original story lines. I especially loved Letterman's one-liner from a few months ago: "Officials in New York City are concerned that the cemeteries in the city are running out of plots. I don't see what the problem is--CSI ran out of plots three years ago, and they're stil going strong!"