Is TV crime getting slower? There’s a lot of crime about.
I don’t mean in real life, although there’s a fair bit of that, I mean fictional crime.
You can hardly turn on your TV now without dropping in to something, whether homegrown or imported from the US, Europe or Australia.
Crime shows, like life, follow fads – particularly in America.
CRIMINAL HERITAGE
Cops have always been popular, of course. Back in the 50s Jack Webb’s DRAGNET was, perhaps, the first procedural on US TV screens and the catchphrase ‘Just the facts, ma’am’ was everywhere. Actor/producer/director Webb later returned to the mean streets with ADAM 12, which followed two uniformed cops on their adventures, a format later emulated by CHiPS.
More followed, many, many more. Series like HAWIIAN EYE, HIGHWAY PATROL, THE FBI, HAWAII 5-0 (the one with Jack Lord), A MAN CALLED IRONSIDE (the original, with Raymond Burr, not the recent revamp with Blair Underwood.)
And let’s not forget the simply titled POLICE STORY, created by cop-turned-author Joseph Wambaugh and featuring a different cop every week. It also had a belter of a theme from Jerry Goldsmith.
Back in the 70s we had the Mystery Movie seasons, which spawned the immortal COLUMBO and lesser known series like McMILLAN AND WIFE (with Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James), McCLOUD (with Dennis Weaver, inspired by the Clint Eastwood movie ‘Coogan’s Bluff’) and BANACEK (with George Peppard, who later enjoyed huge success in ‘The A Team.’)
The US also gave us KOJAK, with Telly Savalas sucking lollipops and asking all and sundry about their love life. It was rebooted with Ving Rhames but, like the new ‘Ironside’, just didn’t work. ‘Kojak’, like CAGNEY AND LACEY, started off fairly gritty but glossed up as the years went on and lost its power.
CRIMINAL REVOLUTION
HILL STREET BLUES changed everything. Yes, we could argue that ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ changed everything but we’re talking crime shows here.
Anyway, ‘Hill Street Blues’ had a large ensemble cast, sharp writing, great acting and off-beat story lines, mixing some wacky humour with the grit. And let’s not forget a great theme tune from Mike Post.
This led to LA LAW, about smooth high-priced lawyers but still following the same format, and then NYPD BLUE, a street-smart take on law and order in New York. Oh – there was also LAW AND ORDER which is now, I believe, the longest running episodic show on US screens. Could be wrong about that, though.
Cop shows are still popular but small-screen crime is changing.
SLOWING CRIME DOWN
Now we have what one article has called ‘the slow crime drama.’
Slow crime. Yeah, I know what they mean.
The article, and I’ll post a link below, traced its origins back to the likes of MURDER ONE, which was created by Hill Street Blue/LA Law/NYPD Blue creator Steve Bochco, and TWIN PEAKS (which is to return).
But I think its true inspiration lies in the success of the Scandinavian imports like THE KILLING and THE BRIDGE.
BROADCHURCH, FORTITUDE, yes even TRUE DETECTIVE, owe allegiance to these slow-moving mysteries, where people gaze thoughtfully off into space and we have long, extremely l-o-n-g, shots that would have even Kubrick looking at his watch.
The latest screen sensation from the US is HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER while Bochco has climbed back into the ring with MURDER IN THE FIRST. They move faster enough but still feature one story, with various twists along the way, over the entire series rather than a murder a week.
Okay, so here’s the personal view – I don’t like them much.
I watched the first series of ‘Broadchurch’, felt it could’ve been a LOT shorter, didn’t bother with the second. ‘True Detective’, for me, was four weeks too long.
‘Fortitude’ I’ve given up on, just as I’ve done with ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and ‘Murder in the First’. Sorry about that.
Why?
I just didn’t care. It got to the stage that I didn’t care who killed who, or why. I found it difficult to root for characters I should’ve been cheering along. Everyone has so many secrets, tells so many lies, that I was punchdrunk by the end of the episode.
And some of them trample joyfully across established procedure.
I’m not criticising these shows, despite my views above they’re well-made, well-acted, well-written, but maybe I suffer from a TV related Attention Deficit Disorder.
I’ve never watched the original Scandinavian noirs – subtitles annoy me, but then, so does dubbing. I was never on board with ‘Twin Peaks’, I thought it too arty for its own good. I did love ‘Murder One’, though.
I think my main problem is that many of these programmes are just a tad, well, po-faced. Okay, there’s not a lot to laugh at in murder but in real life there would always be someone who would have something witty to say. This was recognised by the likes of Bochco and David E. Kelley (who has given us some wonderful TV in ALLY McBEAL, BOSTON LEGAL and the incredible THE PRACTICE). They knew that humour was important and often helped underline the starkness of the tragedy.
The only ‘slow crime drama’ I can think of recently which gave us some sly humour was FARGO, thanks to it being influenced by the Coen Brothers. Let’s hope the makers keep that up with the second series.
So, come on – how about giving us something to laugh at while you’re chilling us to the bone?
I don’t mean that there needs to be a custard pie fight or a knock-knock joke every second scene. Just a little light touch here and there, a ray of sunshine. Get someone to smile, for God’s sake.
A laugh every now and again really gets me on your side.
You can read the article that prompted this here: American Crime
Thought this was a well argued post. Whilst I loved True Detective I struggled with almost every other ‘longer format’ show. Fortitude is still on my planner, mocking me with with the amount of space it’s taking up – might just grow a pair and delete it as not heard anyone say anything positive about it yet which is a shame as the concept, actors and setting are superb. Broadchurch, especially the 2nd series was an abomination. The Wire was more like a 50 hour film than a 50 part crime series so I’m leaving that alone when it comes to this blog.
Certainly food for thought, and as a crime writer, the pace of the novel is always in the back of my mind
Yeah, Mike – forgot about ‘The Wire’, ‘The Shield’ and the truncated ‘The Chicago Way’. They, too, owed an allegiance to ‘Hill Street Blues’, although ‘The Wire’ and ‘The Shield’ added enough grit to build a highway. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Good memory
Good blog Douglas. Reminded me of a lot of auld crime programmes from the dim and distant past