Our time has come, procedural watchers. This is Beat Cop, and it’s our TV watch. Read the full post.
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I’m not a procedural fan, per se – i’m a good acting / good writing / ensemble show fan.
Hence, the love of NCIS, House, Bones, and the late ER.
cold case, IMO, is better than the late Without a Trace (which I called ‘watch the australians and british pretend to be new york FBI’, or ‘ooh, is that an accent I hear?’)
Cold Case is great because of the acting and stories and stylistic devices – they go back in time for bits, flashing back and forward, and the music is always spot-on.
try it out again – TNT runs it late at night in reruns, and the reruns are easier to catch than the original airings (which always seem to be delayed by a sports game, or a around the world reality show competition).
Please say you will be including Bones in this Beat Cop thing!
I am very excited about Beat Cop! I’m a newbie when it comes to procedurals. I began to see the appeal of the current crop last year when I got hooked on The Mentalist. There really is something awesome about being able to tie a bow on a mystery at the end of a hour. Your explanation of what a procedural fan is seeking reminded me of Jay Pearsall’s explanation of the appeal of mysteries in ‘Mystery & Crime’: “Rex Stout, who created one of the world’s greatest detectives in Nero Wolfe, had a theory that people who don’t like mysteries are anarchists. I think that what Stout meant by this is that people who don’t like mysteries don’t appreciate order. For where else but in a mystery can you find such perfect order? Unlike so much of modern literature or life for that matter mysteries have a very definite plot, and by the conclusion, loose ends have been tied up, a logical solution reached, justice served and order restored.” Most of the shows I have followed the past several years have been sci-fi/mythology shows. But last year The Mentalist with it’s return to Columbo type crime-solving as opposed to lab work hooked me. I often wished there was a TV Watch for The Mentalist. Beat Cop has fulfilled that wish. This year I plan to add Castle, Lie to Me and NCIS:LA to my dossier of procedurals.
Ooops, and Southland as well.
Dang! I can’t see Castle or Lie to Me making it. Schedule is full to bursting. NCIS: LA and Southland may not make it either.
Monday – Heroes, BBT, HIMYM, 2 1/2 Men
Tuesday – (maybe NCIS: LA)
Wednesday – Gary Unmarried, Glee, Modern Family, TUF (maybe Cougar Town, Hank and Eastwick)
Thursday – Supernatural, Flashforward, Mentalist, Fringe, (maybe Community)
Friday – Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Monk, Psych, Dollhouse, SGU, Sanctuary
Saturday –
Sunday – Fox cartoons, Curb, Bored, Entourage
I would like to nominate Ghost Whisperer for inclusion as a procedural. I have been watching GW since the start of Season 2. I never thought of it as a procedural until an article in EW last fall about The Mentalist and the CBS procedural machine referred to GW as a supernatural procedural. That is exactly what it is. Each week Melinda encounters a spirit who is not at rest. She must indentify the spirit, figure out how they died, why they are troubled and help them cross over. Also how about Monk and Psych? Comedies yes, but I would say they are also procedurals.
Of course Mandi Bierly did a great job recaping Ghost Whisperer last year so if that territory is staked out, that’s cool too.
“and we’ll cover lots of shows instead of getting all precious about just Lost or Fringe, but we’re doing God’s work here, ladies and gents.” Amen! I enjoy Lost and Fringe but the people who obsess over every tiny detail can give you a migraine. A column that can a give a paragraph or two to several different shows will be a nice change from a TV Watch that can spend 4 or 5 pages dissecting an hour of one show.
I’m a huge procedural geek, so this column totally excites me. Any NCIS or Law & Order talk would totally make me beyond happy.