Defiant1

NCIS & NCIS: LA, House, the CSI franchise, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, plus a whole bunch of new ones this season. I know a lot of these types of shows are very popular but something about them just doesn't click with me. When it comes to dramas, I tend to prefer more serialized, character-driven shows. In the last few years, I have really enjoyed shows like Battlestar Galactica, Rome, and True Blood. I can't be alone, can I?

I will admit that I have seen about 1/3 of The Good Wife's first season and liked it, although it's not appointment TV for me.

dan30oly

I'm exactly the same way. I haven't seen 1 minute of any of the above shows.
The closest I get to any of them is Castle.

Battlestar Galactica was good. Rome was great. I've only seen the first couple episodes of True Blood (have the first two seasons on blu-ray, but haven't made time for it yet).

jrsl76

Could not care less about procedurals. I don't generally speaking like stand alone episode shows as much:

Here's the type of stuff I love:

All the Joss Whedon shows, Gilmore Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Carnivale, Deadwood, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, The Adventures Of Pete & Pete, Arrested Development, Burn Notice, Bored To Death, etc. etc. etc.

GuessWho

I too have never seen a CSI, L&O, NCIS or Criminal Minds.

I watched Cold Case once because I was interested to see the guest star.


I only cop show I watch is Hawaii 5-0... and well, that's only been one episode so far so we'll see.

PopcornTreeCt

I could really careless for dramatic shows on the major networks. It's only good for comedies.

PhantomStranger

I abandoned procedurals a few years ago when it was obvious the networks were following a strict formula. Once someone has watched television a number of years, the plots become too easy to guess the outcome on a procedural. Original ideas are simply not used in them anymore for fear it will drive the audience away or they are saved for movie features.

Their typical audience skews much older and draws mainly from the Baby Boomers. I doubt future generations will be so enamored with them as the Baby Boomers, which will lead to a serious problem for the networks.

Geofferson

The only procedural I watch is the original CSI (though not quite sure why since it lost its luster years ago).

Defiant1

Yeah, I've found the cable networks generally do a much better job on their dramas. Pushing the envelope seems to pay off. I'm currently making my way through season 3 of Damages on FX. Incredible show!

Although they've been few and far between, I really enjoy historical dramas as well. The aforementioned Rome, The Tudors, Spartacus, and The Pillars of the Earth miniseries, for example. Thankfully, there are several more of those on the horizon so I'm really looking forward to those, including:

Pharaoh, set in Ancient Egypt, from one of Rome's co-creators
Versailles, set during the reign of Louis XIV, from the writers of Mad Men
The Borgias, about the notorious Renaissance family, from Neil Jordan and the creators of The Tudors

There is also Game of Thrones, which is a fantasy series on HBO next year.

Geofferson

^ Don't forget Camelot which is currently in production for Starz.

DJariya

The Good Wife was serialized mixed up with cases of the week. And CSI tends to have 1 serialized arc in addition to the regular cases that stretches an entire season.

I like serialized shows just as much as anyone here. 24 was one of my favorite serial dramas/shows on all-time. But the reality is that most of them on the big networks just don't click with Nielsen viewers and most of them get low ratings and get cancelled. Veteran serial shows tend to drop in the ratings as they get older too. Look at Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. They are no longer ratings powerhouses. Cases of the week episodes are easy to follow and anyone can watch anytime without feeling lost. People won't watch a serial drama randomly while it's airing on episode 5 of season 6, obviously they will need to start at the very beginning. Serial dramas do much better on basic and pay cable.

And yes, I do watch most procedurals. They are like junk food, you sit down, consume them and then move on to the next episode.

PopcornTreeCt

Had no idea about these shows. What stations will these be on?

Timber

I watch House and Bones. House is a straight procedural but I think Bones is a procedural plus.

DWilson

I try not to be too tight-assed about what I watch. Back in the '70s, -when there was only five channels and three networks, -I watched the original "5-0" and "McCloud" and "The Streets of San Francisco" and enjoyed the hell out of them. Times changed and shows like "Hill Street Blues" changed the way I watched television. For the most part I stopped following shows built around stand-alone episodes.

These days I enjoy "Breaking Bad" and "Dexter" and "True Blood" but I also watch a select few "Procedurals". Procedurals have changed for the most part, and most have continuing story elements along with a stand-alone story at the core of each episode ("Burn Notice" is a perfect example). In that sense they serve two different tastes, -I like the continuity and character development through an ongoing story, while others want to watch an entertaining story that won't leave them feeling lost.

Most Procedurals work as "Comfort Food", but they're driven more by their characters (and the audience wanting to see those particular characters working together in some combination) than the actual story of the episode.

Defiant1

The Borgias will be on Showtime and Camelot (which I just found out about in this thread) will be on Starz. AFAIK, the other two shows don't have US networks financially backing them (they are being produced by French company Canal Plus). I imagine one of the US cable networks will just buy the airing rights to them, like what Starz did for The Pillars of the Earth.

JuryDuty

I don't watch procedurals at all. Can't stand them. I like action/adventure, reality, quirky comedy.

kstublen

They aren't my favourite shows around, but I'll get locked into a Law & Order marathon on occasion. I'll also check out episodes sometimes depending on who the guest star is.

mwbmis

I only watch them when I'm stuck at a relative's house. I find them dull and predictable. Like dan30oly the closest I get is something like Castle. Don't really care at all for the "cases" in that show, but I enjoy the byplay.

majorjoe23

I catch various Law & Order shows sometimes when my wife is watching, and I'm always so annoyed by the sudden admission of guilt. The suspect is always denying everything and then one of the detectives goads them slightly and suddenly the bad guy is like "I wouldn't have done it if she wasn't such a WHORE!"

Wait for your lawyer, keep denying things. Too bad real criminals don't feel the need to have things wrapped up in 43-44 minutes.

Vipper II

I don't mind procedurals in the least. I like knowing I can miss an episode sometimes and not be completely lost. As much as I like TV, I'd rather not arrange my life to accommodate all of my favorite shows. That's a little too much.

PopcornBandit

I'm not a fan of procedural shows but like some people have already said, I'll watch if I want to see the guest star.

Goat3001

Two things I'll avoid right away: Procedurals and anything by Joss Whedon.

I watched a couple of eps of CSI when it first started. It was ok at first but it was pretty much the same thing every week so I got tired of it quickly. Since then I haven't really been interested in any other procedurals except the short lived Justice. That show was good but it got cancelled way too quickly.

JeffTheAlpaca

They all suck and all of them are on CBS a network I never watch except for the NFL.

Tscott

I can't stand any of the CSI or Law & Order shows because everything is so generic. The cases, the guest stars, the writing. The actors all seem to phone it in, and it seems like it's all just... **puts on sunglasses** ...procedural to them. (Yeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!)

But, one thing trumps my general dislike of procedurals- characters. If I like the characters, I can watch the show (though there needs to be some change and growth to keep me interested). I like Gibbs, DiNozzo, Ziva, McGee, Abby and Ducky, therefore I watch NICS. I like Brenda Lee Johnson and her team so I watch The Closer.

Tracer Bullet

Aside from Law & Order (if you don't like L&O, at least the first 10 seasons, you're probably dead inside) I don't care for them.

Jadzia

I'll only watch a procedural if it is saved by an interesting group of characters and/or has serialized elements. Such as House, Castle, etc.