Serial Success

My last post dealt with the longest running hour-long show in television history, Law & Order. In this post, I offer my thoughts on why L&O, and other long running series, were able to sustain their audience season after season.

This is relevant to my work as a writer since I write serial suspense stories. They all feature the same cast of primary characters and the same general locations. Only the stories differ. This is part of,  but not the determining factor, for a successful series.

So what is the secret? In my view, it is quite simply consistency and believability.

 

Law & Order

Let me start with Law & Order – the original.

L&O was on television from September 1990 to May 2010. And in that time, the ‘formula’ never varied. Whether you watched an L&O show in 1991 or 2009, the story structure was the same: two detectives and their supervisor investigated some crime, and made an arrest. Then a team of prosecutors – an Executive Assistant District Attorney (EADA) and an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) prosecute the offender, overseen by the elected District Attorney.

Not only did this formula not change during the 20 year run, but the crimes were believable. Yes, sometimes they were at the edge, but the series often drew from actual events for story ideas (just as I have done with the Angela Masters Detective Novel series). Sometimes, life produces strange interactions between people. But–and this is key–as a viewer, you could identify with the crime and the perpetrators, at least from the lens of a resident of a major city. In short, Law & Order was believable.

Another long running series that has stayed true to its roots is the original NCIS (with a couple of deviations – notably a foray into Mexico to rescue a former NCIS agent). In both series, the characters may have changed, but the story formula remained.**

Contrast that with two other of my favorite (at least initially) dramatic series: NCIS – Los Angeles and Scandal.

 

NCIS – Los Angeles

This should have been a no-brainer: Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigate crimes (murder, espionage, maybe an embezzlement here and there) involving personnel of the US Navy or US Marine Corps. This is the formula which made, and still makes, the original NCIS a success.

But did NCIS-LA follow suit? Not at all, and not even from the start. Let me say that NCIS-LA has some likable and generally believable characters: Agents G. Callen (), Sam Hanna (), Kensi Blye (), and Heddy Lange (). Even the addition of LAPD Detective Marty Deeks () worked for me.

But from the start, this group of “NCIS Agents” was roaming the world chasing terrorists. Sometimes, Naval or  Marine personnel were involved, but they rarely seemed to be the focus of the exploits of the NCIS-LA team. Instead, one (Blye) spent time in Afghanistan as a sniper (apparently the only available sniper in the whole US Military was an NCIS agent stationed in LA).

And my biggest pet peeve: virtually every major character has been kidnapped – usually by “middle east terrorists.” This is not, I’m quite certain, a common experience among NCIS agents.

 

Scandal

This show had great promise for me. A political ‘fixer’ with connections at the highest levels of government, working to help politicians and other notable personalities extricate themselves from situations – usually of their own making. The fixer, Olivia Pope () is aided by a small group of operatives, and in the early stages, this show had a believable if sometimes distasteful premise.

But could we continue with such a formula? Unfortunately not. First, we are treated to a mysterious underground assassination squad called ‘B613.’ And (of course) B613 is headed by a shadowy figure who also happens to Olivia’s father. (Exit believable if distasteful story lines, and enter the preposterous.)

Then, it turns out that at least two of Olivia’s associates are former B613 operatives. And, of course, major characters get kidnapped.

 

What This Means for Angi Masters

Sometimes it’s a challenge to create a good story for the next Angela Masters Detective Novel. But my readers can rest assured: Angi will never be kidnapped by terrorists, will never take a leave from the Santa Rosa Police Department to hunt terrorists in outer Slobovia, or battle shadow assassination squads on the streets of Sonoma County’s largest city.

 

**

A side commentary on the characters in the original NCIS series: Following a strong character is always hard for a ‘replacement’ actor. Coming in on the heels of ‘s Ziva David is hard enough. But it’s made even worse by the tepid performances of .  My choice for the slot: .

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