“babydoll, I recognize you’re a hideous thing inside!”
-TV on the Radio
I frequently discover new shows. I enjoy, surprisingly, a whole lot of them. The problem is just that many are cancelled rather sooner than later or they get old pretty fast. I discard one genre especially fast: Crime shows. I cannot help but wonder: what makes these shows lose my attention after only a couple of episodes?
This doesn’t mean I don’t care much for the genre. Murderers and detectives, literally, never get old. Crime stories have been around for quite a while now (both in literature and on the screen) and certainly count as a classic way to entertain the masses. Networks, as we should all know, prefer an easy way to get our attention, so recycling concepts that have been successful in the past isn’t an unusual practice. I mean, look at what’s on tv right now: CSI (and all it’s offspins), Bones, Psych, Law & Order, Monk are only a few examples. Soon there will be more murder on tv than in real life (maybe it’s already happened!).
The basic principle remains the same, while composition and presentation change (I guess you have to change something to draw attention to your new show, right?). Good cops, bad cops. Been there, done that. What’s interesting though, is the fact, that in a few shows the protagonists aren’t even detectives or PIs anymore:
Psych has a young man with heightened senses and his sidekick solve mysteries for the police. On Castle, an excentric author of cheesy pulp novels replaces an actual detective and Pushing Daisies, well, that’s a whole different story. Apparently, there’s no need for a “crime solving licence” (thanks to Drawn Together for this one!) in today’s murder-mystery-world. Murders are now solved by goofy individuals and the police is their sidekick.
One more thing, that impresses me and which I’d like to mention here, is the emergence of strong female detectives. As far as I remember, this genre used to be dominated by male detectives. Most shows nowadays offer us a mixed duo. I just wonder, if our dear female detectives are represented as equally skilled as their male counterparts. They are dedicated professionals in most cases (Psych actually features a female superior), but when it comes to the investigation, who gets the credit and who depends on whom?
Right now I’m watching Castle (I blame Nathan Fillion). It’s been a couple of fun episodes so far and I’m not getting tired of it (yet?). I’ll try to keep an eye open and find out if “Agent Beckett“, the actual detective, is really in charge or if it’s mostly Castle who gets the credit for their work despite being the amateur that he is. Be that as it may, it’s still a very enjoyable show and my intention is rather to promote good television than to bitch about the small things. Check it out some time and see for yourself!
I haven’t really answered my own question now, have I? Why do I tend to drop crime shows more than others? It could be that the murder-of-the-day and standalone episodes rather discourage me to go on (it gets repetative, doesn’t it?). I’m not sure. Tell you what: I’ll find out as I continue to watch Castle. Let’s make it a field study. 
Castle's Stana Katic & Nathan Fillion
(image taken from: http://www.tv.com )
