A common TV and book genre, procedurals draw viewers into the dramatic confrontations of those who solve crimes, apprehend serial killers, save lives, or unravel mysteries. They frequently serve as stand-alone tales and appeal to viewers who enjoy the thrill of investigating a mystery or finding a solution without having to tune in every week.
Television that features procedurals is quite safe and very soothing. Viewers shouldn't expect significant plot twists or dynamic character arcs in procedurals. They are intended to be viewed in an episodic format by definition. Although there may be some character or plot development, these changes are usually not too drastic to turn off those who are not regular watchers.
What Are Procedurals?
A team of professionals (or amateur sleuths) must resolve a series of episodic disputes utilizing a set of procedural abilities relevant to a particular line of work in procedural storylines, which are frequently shown in television shows or novels. These programmes often follow individuals who are employed by teams like the police, detectives, attorneys, political think tanks, fire departments, or medical facilities.
Whether they have a mystery to solve, a patient to save, or a wanted criminal to apprehend, the primary characters in these stories use their specific technological processes to settle the episode's central problem. This genre's basic format is procedural drama, while some of the programmes have comic elements. Instead of in-depth character growth or season-long story arcs, these shows typically concentrate more on the main character's method for resolving the crisis.
5 Procedural Types
TV procedurals frequently follow workplaces, businesses, or teams of intrepid amateurs practicing a specialty trade. The most common kinds of procedurals are listed below:
1. Forensic procedurals: Forensic procedurals, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Criminal Minds (2005), and The Mentalist (2008), concentrate on the technical elements of solving a crime, giving the standard detective plot an intellectual element. In order to find a perpetrator or unravel the mystery behind a victim's death, the protagonists in these series research the science of the human mind and body.
2. Legal criminal procedurals: This category of procedurals tells the tales of the events that take place in the courtroom and how they influence the people involved outside of the courtroom. For instance, Perry Mason (1957) centered on a good attorney who exonerates his falsely accused clients who ordinarily show up in court as a result of a shoddy homicide detective or police investigation.
3. Medical procedurals: Medical procedurals follow medical professionals (such as doctors and nurses) as they resolve situations involving their patients' lives and deaths. These programmes frequently take place in hospitals and occasionally feature insights into the private lives of the protagonists. E.R. (1994), House M.D. (2004), Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy (2005), and Saving Hope are examples of programmes in this category (2012).
4. Cop/detective procedurals: A cop/detective procedural is a type of detective fiction that focuses on police work and investigations. In police dramas, the main protagonists try to solve serious crimes (most commonly murder mysteries). This subgenre's narratives frequently follow a police force, detective inspector, or private investigator as they look for criminal suspects. Dragnet (1951) was the first police procedural; other programmes in this category include Columbo (1968), Law & Order (1990), Cold Case (2003), and Blue Bloods (2010).
5. Supernatural procedurals: Programs like Dead Like Me (2003), Medium (2005), and iZombie (2015) follow a mystery-solving plot structure with a supernatural or "magical" element. These procedurals successfully combine a rapid narrative arc with a more fanciful basis.
9 Popular TV Procedurals:
Television has a long history of featuring procedural dramas. Over time, several have changed to provide deeper character and plot development. Here are nine well-liked procedural TV shows:
1. Law & Order (1990–2010) This police procedural TV series chronicles the police investigation and court case of a different case in each episode. It is based on real-life crimes. The popular programme has one of the longest runs of any procedurals ever. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU), its spinoff, was as well-liked and mostly concentrated on sexual crimes.
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992–2003): This well-known supernatural drama centres on high school student Buffy Summers as she and her friends fight an ongoing vampire invasion in their tiny town. Although the show's plot arc became less episodic as the series went on, a new enemy was often introduced in each weekly episode.
3. NYPD Blue (1993–2005): In this police procedural, a team of New York City police officers is tasked with investigating crimes in the nation's largest city. The programme combines high drama with procedural framework to produce an engrossing weekly series.
4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-2015): This enduring forensic drama centres on a task team stationed in Las Vegas that is charged with investigating a variety of violent crimes. The series was so well-liked that it inspired a number of offshoot programmes, including CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.
5. NCIS (2003): This police procedural and military drama centres on the activities of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), a civilian law enforcement organisation tasked with bringing those responsible for crimes including terrorism and espionage to justice. The show was an offshoot of the legal drama JAG (1995), and it has since given rise to several spinoffs like NCIS: New Orleans (2014) and NCIS: Los Angeles (2009).
6. Suits (2011–2019): In this legal crime procedural drama, which is based in a New York City law practise, we follow a law school dropout as he employs his knowledge and street smarts to resolve issues for clients.
7. Bosch (2014–2021): This popular police procedural follows lead character Harry Bosch in his duties as a homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department and is based on the bestselling crime fiction novel series authored by Michael Connelly.
8. Lucifer (2016–2021): In this supernatural procedural, the devil, Lucifer, travels from Hell to Los Angeles where he joins the LAPD to assist their chief police officer in solving murders in the area.
The DC Universe's take on the Devil, played by Tom Ellis, uses his supernatural abilities to assist the LAPD in solving crimes in Lucifer, which is based on the figure of the same name from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Following his reign as king of the Underworld, Lucifer moves to Los Angeles to run a club before transitioning to a civilian consultancy role.
Despite having a tiny, but devoted following, Lucifer tackles plots involving demons, angels, God, and human serial killers. In Lucifer, Tom Welling made a notable comeback to the DC Universe for the first time since Smallville, as Cain, the world's first murderer, and a respected Lieutenant of the LAPD.
9. FBI (2018): This crime drama follows FBI agents in New York City as they use their technical know-how and field experience to keep the city secure.
In the end, viewers who watch TV shows that follow this traditional formula are aware of exactly what to expect. The same familiar faces, the same settings, and plots that are comparable (typically about finding a criminal or solving a crime). And while there is a lot of subpar procedural television, there is also a lot of excellent programming.
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