I wish the procedural framework would get used to tell stories about things other than crime or medicine. The West Wing is my "just have something on" how and has been for years, but at this point I have really sucked all the meat off those bones. I need something else with more story than a sitcom but formulaic enough that it doesn't demand my full attention. But if I don't want to spent my time with cops or doctors I don't have a lot of choices.
I really enjoyed the promise of S1 of Revenge back in 2011, a vengeance-based procedural that quickly devolved into an extremely soapy melodrama. The idea of the 'case of the week' being the MC getting her 'vengeance of the week' was a fun twist on the usual fare. I would love to see more creative settings, not just creative storytelling mechanisms, but then, maybe that's what procedural sci-fi shows (your Star Treks and Quantum Leaps) are for?
Thanks for this report! I really like network shows and am sad there are far fewer today. Of the shows mentioned, I am a dedicated viewer of Elsbeth. I watched The Good Wife and The Good Fight, and am just a big fan of the Kings. But you nailed it on how the limitation of a procedural can also be a source of creativity. I think case of the week with some serialized elements is a superior format to the prestige drama bloat format (having one story across a season which gets tedious). However today’s procedurals on network TV are usually unambitious and small c conservative. We have to remember Buffy and Lost and the X Files still were at heart episodic. I end up watching lots of non-episodic TV for their ambition but I wish it weren’t so heavily serialized.
… This has nothing to do with this blog, but I don’t think I can ever see Zachary Qunito without thinking of the IG post publicly banning him from a Toronto restaurant.
I watched about half of "the Irrational" and almost all of "Found"'s first seasons. "The Irrational" was okay and Jesse L. Martin is always a compelling presence, but ultimately it was a bit too lightweight. "Found," while being completely ridiculous in many ways, was far more compelling in both good and bad ways. I really think it could be the next SVU: over-the-top, overtly "woke", absurd stuff happening, characters talking in non-stop therapy speak to each other. It's borderline camp but can be good
If I am misremembering the title, it was the one with Michael Sheen as the serial killer dad helping out his son with murder cases. Both are very high concept.
ooooooh yeah! Wow I'd totally forgotten about that one. Yes it sounds similar conceptually but Found is very much about social commentary and discussions of trauma which I don't know if there were aspects of that in Prodigal son
I wish the procedural framework would get used to tell stories about things other than crime or medicine. The West Wing is my "just have something on" how and has been for years, but at this point I have really sucked all the meat off those bones. I need something else with more story than a sitcom but formulaic enough that it doesn't demand my full attention. But if I don't want to spent my time with cops or doctors I don't have a lot of choices.
I really enjoyed the promise of S1 of Revenge back in 2011, a vengeance-based procedural that quickly devolved into an extremely soapy melodrama. The idea of the 'case of the week' being the MC getting her 'vengeance of the week' was a fun twist on the usual fare. I would love to see more creative settings, not just creative storytelling mechanisms, but then, maybe that's what procedural sci-fi shows (your Star Treks and Quantum Leaps) are for?
Tracker is good for that, possibly, though it is crime-adjacent.
Thanks for this report! I really like network shows and am sad there are far fewer today. Of the shows mentioned, I am a dedicated viewer of Elsbeth. I watched The Good Wife and The Good Fight, and am just a big fan of the Kings. But you nailed it on how the limitation of a procedural can also be a source of creativity. I think case of the week with some serialized elements is a superior format to the prestige drama bloat format (having one story across a season which gets tedious). However today’s procedurals on network TV are usually unambitious and small c conservative. We have to remember Buffy and Lost and the X Files still were at heart episodic. I end up watching lots of non-episodic TV for their ambition but I wish it weren’t so heavily serialized.
… This has nothing to do with this blog, but I don’t think I can ever see Zachary Qunito without thinking of the IG post publicly banning him from a Toronto restaurant.
I watched about half of "the Irrational" and almost all of "Found"'s first seasons. "The Irrational" was okay and Jesse L. Martin is always a compelling presence, but ultimately it was a bit too lightweight. "Found," while being completely ridiculous in many ways, was far more compelling in both good and bad ways. I really think it could be the next SVU: over-the-top, overtly "woke", absurd stuff happening, characters talking in non-stop therapy speak to each other. It's borderline camp but can be good
Haven't watched it at all, but the commercials for it reminded me of Prodigal Son in a somewhat abstract way.
I don't even remember a tv show called that
If I am misremembering the title, it was the one with Michael Sheen as the serial killer dad helping out his son with murder cases. Both are very high concept.
ooooooh yeah! Wow I'd totally forgotten about that one. Yes it sounds similar conceptually but Found is very much about social commentary and discussions of trauma which I don't know if there were aspects of that in Prodigal son
No, they weren't. Again, I only saw the ads for Found from when the show premiered.