Style and Structure in Procedural Television

The FBI universe, Law & Order legacy, every NCIS incarnation, and the Chicago-verse. There was also Castle, Lucifer, and The Mentalist; genre variations and proponents of the “police consultant” sub-genre on the quintessential police procedural. And I love them ALL. Let’s not forget Hawaii 5-0 and NYPD Blue… the list goes on. And will keep going on if the Wolf Pack has anything to say about it. But more on that later.

For me, it started with CSI in university. An obsession that popped my bingeworthy-TV cherry. But I needed more, and Criminal Minds offered that. What was it about these, quite frankly, often, gruesome shows that kicked off each episode through the twisted lens of the Bad Guy, that had me re-watching on repeat?

That has everyone watching on repeat, because while the structure of how we get our television shows has evolved immensely, the procedural is going strong whether it’s on network or streaming.

So, with the end of what used to be the standard network television season next month—who else remembers circling their favorite season finales in the TV guide? No? Just me; I’m that old!?—we’re going to dive right into the dark side.

It’s actually really super basic and utterly human. Procedurals are an inherently formulaic type of television that offer comfort in knowing what’s next. That’s all thanks to structure. Forgive all my generalizations, here, but: We know what kind of opening we’re getting if we’ve watched any other episode of the show. We know the tone, character tropes, and third act twists that each entry in a franchise offers because of style. We also like knowing—and this is the big one!—that the bad guy will get caught. Most of the time. Occasionally, even the bad guys get away in a procedural. But fear not, that’s usually so they can become an arch-nemesis and reappear in future episodes.

There’s something about knowing the structure of things and how (most likely) it will end, that offers some catharsis to the audience. In dark times, catching the ultimate monster, even if it’s just fictional before we go back to real life, offers escapist entertainment that is reality-adjacent enough to give audiences hope that yes, even in a tumultuous world, things can turn out OK.

Fun Fact: The very first police procedural crime drama was actually a radio show!

Created by Jack Webb, who also starred in the show, the radio drama Dragnet ran from 1949 – 1957. It spawned two films and debuted in the weekly television format we all know and associate with procedurals in 1951 on NBC. Episodes eventually evolved from dubbed versions of the radio show to their own original content.

OK so that term “good” is very subjective. What makes a procedural sustainable, might be more accurate.

I already talked about procedurals for catharsis. But finding that empathetic “in” with audiences comes down to Great Characters. These are people audiences will want to tune into week after week, year after year, sometimes for decades. Here’s looking at you, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which is coming up on its 30^th anniversary. Horrifically relatable cases where victims get justice? That goes beyond simple entertainment.

The Dick Wolf-produced Law & Order spin-off—the first in its sprawling franchise from L.A. to Toronto—also did one thing particularly well that may be partially responsible for its long-term success: The alluring Partner Dynamic. The chemistry between Dets. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) made that show.

Dynamic partners is a key ingredient in the procedural formula, sometimes manifesting as good cop, bad cop—hello, Hawaii 5-0’s McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Williams (Scott Caan) — and sometimes it’s a soul partner thing, like FBI’s Maggie (Missy Peregrym) and O.A. (Zeeko Zaki). A healthy amount of sexual tension can also help boost those B-story plots and keep viewers tuning in for the ‘will they, won’t they’ like in how Castle and Lucifer played out.

The style of the procedural depends on location: Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent gives very different vibes than Hawaii 5-0, or Lucifer, which was based around the premise of what if the Devil took a break to own a piano bar in L.A. … the City of Angels?

So, while the structure of a procedural is fairly stock, the where, who, and how set the various tones that pull different audience segments in, allowing room for so many of seemingly the same type of television on air.

I’d kill to write on a Dick Wolf show. FBI? I’m available, call me. But there are so, so many to choose from: Six Law & Orders have graced our screens, four Chicago-based shows, and three additional shows have evolved in the FBI-verse.

The executive producer started as a staff writer on the—wait for it—police procedural Hill Street Blues when he was nominated for his first Emmy Award. His list of honors is long after a prolific career that really doesn’t show any sign of stopping. Did you know Wolf’s also a fiction author and avid art collector? Maybe that’s why his shows are so evergreen; they’re as well-rounded as their creator.

Recently, in an epically Hollywood move, Wolf’s son, Elliot Wolf joined the pack. Co-creator on the Chicago franchise’s On Call, as well as a producer on Law & Order: Criminal Justice System, Elliot is proving that some things—like how to create a solid procedural — are just in your blood.

Procedurals will keep playing a role in our entertainment as long as there’s good vs. evil. In all its incarnations: literal, internal battles, and man vs. nature. They’re all valid, cyclical, and universal. Take your pick of locales, favorite buddy cop trope, genre, and chances are, that recipe is out there for you to tune into. Or, you know, open Final Draft and write your own after breaking down a few episodes to feel the structural rhythm of one. Chances are why you watch procedurals is why others do, too. There’s your driving theme. Let’s catch some Bad Guys, shall we?