Procedural Shows

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

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The average TV watching person loves the type of show this post is about.  It allows them to easily view a show out of order, whenever they want, and most of the time, the season doesn't really matter either.  Also, it's not a comedy.

It's a procedural show.  A problem is presented at the beginning of the episode, the entirety of the episode is spent solving that problem, and the end is the solution of the problem.  There aren't really season-long arcs.

I'll use Wikipedia's definition of a procedural show if that wasn't clear enough: "Self-contained episodes also make it easier for viewers to return to a show if they have missed some episodes."  

I'm not really a fan of this format.  These shows were hurt most by Netflix in my opinion.  While I can see people watching a bunch of Law & Order episodes in a row if they are bored, nothing really pulls you in strongly to watch an episode.  Breaking Bad makes you want to watch every episode as soon as you can.  Law & Order?  Not so much.

If it sounds like I'm picking on Law & Order, I'm really not.  I've seen quite a few episodes and it's on this list so I'm a fan.  It pretty much created CSI, NCIS, and all other crime procedural shows.

I've gone on explaining this enough, so I'll just jump in and list the five shows I have picked out.  A important disclaimer is that these labels I give the show aren't necessarily strict so if you are somehow offended by this characterization, well, first off, analyze your life cause this isn't worth being upset over. Secondly, I haven't seen the show you're talking about most likely so if it's not a procedural, whoops?  

Law & Order (1990-2010)
Law & Order wasn't the first "procedural show" I got into - that would be CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - but it did pretty much create the genre.  I don't plan on watching all 20 seasons, because I don't love the show that much.  It's a good show to watch in your free time.  It's weird.  I never come away blown away by the show, yet I never come away disappointed.  It's adequate television.

I'll be watching the first eight seasons.  Why that rather arbitrary number you ask?  Well, quite simply, those are the only seasons on Netflix.  Eight seasons pretty much covers the 1990s, and I've seen quite a few re-runs of the 2000s episodes that I feel like I would have a good crash course on Law & Order history.

Is it odd that I find the changing of characters one of the most interesting things about Law & Order?  This is the only show I can think of that is watched due to its concept and not the characters.  I suppose Sam Wasterson comes in and slightly changes that (Jerry Orbach has an argument as well).  But most of these characters last a few seasons and then you have to adjust to a new one.  And people still watch the show.

The concept of the show is the law side of things and the order side of things (THAT'S THE NAME OF THE SHOW!).  The law features the district attorney, the executive A.D.A. and his assistant.  The order side features the two detectives and their commander.  To give an idea of the overhaul of characters, so far Chris Noth has remained the entirety of three seasons, but his partner has changed three times.  And he leaves after the fourth season.  The commander has also changed.  On the law side, Adam Schiff remains for 10 seasons.  Michael Moriarty has been the executive A.D.A the entire time, but his assistant has changed already.

Basically, that's six key positions in the show and only three have the same characters after just three seasons.  After four, the lone remaining original character is the district attorney, Adam Schiff.  I can't think of another show that could do that and still have the necessary ratings to remain a TV show.

Anyway, that's enough ink spilled on Law & Order (but not really - I'm on a computer, I just really wanted to say that).  I'm on Season 4, Episode 8.

Bones (2005-present)
So this show is about as light-hearted as a show can possibly get.  Everything about this show should make me hate this show.  But I can't hate it.  I actually like the show.  It's pretty enjoyable.  I like the characters.  Most importantly perhaps, I like David Boreanz.  I mean I liked him before I got into Buffy, but yeah having watched Buffy, I definitely like him more.  It's impossible not to now see him as Angel.

Pysch (2006-present) (Updated: I was correct about the procedural part, but USA shows get its own category for their... uniqueness)
Man, this show just looks like I'd enjoy it.  I've never seen the show, but it just looks like it's fun to watch.  It's got a really good rating on IMDB (8.4/10) and I've heard positive things from my friends about the show.  It's a USA Network show so I'm pretty positive about this categorization. If you've never seen a USA Network show, they are the epitome of allowing viewers to pop in whenever they want to watch an episode.

Updated: I've seen one season and I love this show.

Burn Notice (2007-present) (Updated: This is now in a different category - USA Shows)

Sigh... I have nothing to say.  I think it's overacted, with stupid plotting, and annoying voiceovers.  I can't tell you why it's listed here.  I would try if it wasn't impossible.  I'm not encouraging anyone to watch this show.

Law and Order: SVU (1999-present)
So... if you've ever accidentally caught a day-long marathon of this show, you understand.  I never mean to watch a bunch of episodes, but hey the next episodes on and it looks interesting already.

Anyway, this show is probably better than the original.  At least, I've been blown away by certain episodes, it has the same main characters for most of its run, and it goes farther in developing those characters.

The material is more serious, the stakes seem higher... everything about this show is just better than the original.  Perhaps I like Wasterson or Orbach more, but Law & Order didn't get me to care too much about their personal lives like this show does.

Updated
I've only added one extra show to this stable and that would be Castle.  This show wouldn't even be on my radar if it wasn't on Netflix and didn't star Nathan Fillion.  Those are the only reasons that show is on this list.

USA Shows
This is a separate, unique category on my Google Docs page, but USA shows are essentially procedurals from what I have seen so it's appropriate that I just post them here as well.  As from above, I plan to watch both Pysch and Burn Notice.  Pysch has been started and it's more fun than I anticipated.  You need fun, well-written shows like this.  I haven't disliked an episode yet.

Also on this list are Suits and White Collar.  I've been specifically told not to watch White Collar so I'm not sure when I'll get to that show.  Suits, on the other hand, I've only seen positive things.  It'll be a while until I get to that and I don't write about any procedural shows so you'll probably not hear about it until I update these posts again in 2015.

Overall
This is a section that will be largely ignored.  There's not many TV shows on this list and for that I'm glad.  I watch these shows sparingly and it will take a while for me to get through them.  For instance, I probably won't finish Law & Order Season 4 for months.  I just randomly decide to start viewing an episode.

(I realized CSI: Crime Scene Investigation applies here, but I've seen so many episodes that I just left it off the list.  It's essentially already watched.  And really if you've seen one of these episodes, you've seen all of them.  I've seen like 50 of them)

I haven't decided what comes after Law & Order.  I might just do Law & Order: SVU because the original ends in 1998 (at least for what I'm watching) and SVU starts in 1999.  That just seems like a perfect flow in terms of timeline.  I might watch Burn Notice, because I hate myself.  I might watch Pysch next because it's probably the best show on this list.  I don't see a scenario where I watch Bones next though.

Anyway, I have probably a year to figure that out.  I have just one category left and that category is "Other."  Either a certain category got too large or I literally thought it didn't apply to them, these are shows essentially without a category.