Police Procedural - Televised Stories - TV Series - United States

United States

• Dragnet (1951–1959, 1967–1970, 1989-1991 & 2003-2004) Dragnet was the pioneering police procedural that began on radio in 1949 and then on television in 1951. Dragnet established the tone of many police dramas in subsequent decades, and the rigorously authentic depictions of such elements as organizational structure, professional jargon, legal issues, etc., set the standard for technical accuracy that became the most identifiable element of the police procedural in all media. The show was occasionally accused of presenting an overly idealized portrait of law enforcement in which the police (represented by Sgt. Joe Friday) were invariably presented as "good guys" and the criminals as "bad guys", with little moral flexibility or complexity between the two. However, many episodes depicted sympathetic perpetrators while others depicted unsympathetic or corrupt cops. Further, though Jack Webb may have seemed to go to extremes to depict the Los Angeles Police Department in a favorable light, most depictions of cops at the time of Dragnet's debut were both unsympathetic and unrealistic. Webb's depiction was meant to offer balance. Also, the show benefited from the unprecedented technical advice, involvement, and support of the LAPD, a first in TV, which may also have been an incentive to depict the Department favorably. After the success of Dragnet, Webb would go on to produce other procedural shows like The DA's Man, about an undercover investigator for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Adam-12, about a pair of uniformed LAPD officers patrolling their beat in a radio car, and O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, with David Janssen as a trouble-shooting federal officer.

• The Untouchables (1959–1963) fictionalized real-life Federal Agent Eliot Ness's ongoing fight with Prohibition-era gangdom in Chicago and elsewhere. Originally a two-part presentation on the anthology series Desilu Playhouse, it made such a splash that a series was launched the following fall. That two-part pilot, later released to theaters under the title The Scarface Mob, stuck comparatively close to the actual events, with Ness, as played by Robert Stack, recruiting a team of incorruptible investigators to help bring down Al Capone. Later episodes showed Ness and his squad, post-Capone, going after just about every big name gangster of the era, and when the writers ran out of real-life figures to pit against Ness, they created new ones. Quinn Martin, who would become closely associated with police and crime shows like this, produced the series during its first season, leaving to found his own company, QM Productions, which would go one to produce police procedural shows like The New Breed, The F.B.I., Dan August, and The Streets of San Francisco over the next twenty years. The success of the series led to an Academy Award-winning motion picture in 1987, and a new TV series that was syndicated to local stations in 1993.

• Columbo (TV Series and Made for TV-Movies, 1968–2003) Columbo popularized the inverted detective story format. With the exception of a couple of special episodes with added twists, almost every episode began by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator. As such, there is no "whodunit" element. The plot mainly revolves around how the perpetrator, whose identity is known, would finally be exposed and arrested. The show's creator once referred to it as a "howcatchem". Lt. Columbo is a shambling, disheveled-looking, seemingly naive Italian American police detective who is consistently underestimated by his fellow officers and by the murderer du jour. The subjects of his investigations are initially both reassured and distracted by his circumstantial speech and increasingly irritating asides. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulous and dedicated approach become apparent only late in the storyline. Other "howcatchem" style Police procedurals include Castle, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Monk, The Mentalist and Psych.

• Police Story (1973–1978) was an anthology series set in Los Angeles created by LAPD Detective Sergeant Joseph Wambaugh. Hard-hitting and unflinchingly realistic, its anthology format made it possible to look at police work from many different perspectives, what it was like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession, what it was like to be an honest cop suspected of corruption, what it was like to be a rookie cop, an undercover narc, a veteran facing retirement, or a cop who had to adjust to crippling injuries incurred in the line of duty. Despite its anthology format, there were a number of characters who appeared in more than one episode, including Robbery/Homicide partners Tony Calabrese (Tony Lo Bianco) and Bert Jameson (Don Meredith), vice cop turned homicide detective Charlie Czonka (James Farentino), and stakeout/surveillance specialist Joe LaFrieda (Vic Morrow). Several series were spun off from the show, including Police Woman, Joe Forrester, and Man Undercover. During its last two seasons, the show appeared as an irregular series of two-hour TV movies rather than a weekly one-hour program. The show was revived for a season in 1988, using old scripts reshot with new casts when a writers' strike made new material inaccessible.

• Kojak (1973–1978, 1989–1990) created by Abby Mann, focused on a veteran New York City detective-lieutenant played by Telly Savalas. Its exteriors were filmed at New York's Ninth Precinct, the same place where NYPD Blue's exteriors would be filmed. In 1989 Savalas returned to the role briefly for five two-hour episodes, in which Kojak had been promoted to inspector and placed in charge of the Major Crimes Squad. It rotated with three other detective shows on ABC. A 2005 remake for the USA Network starred Ving Rhames. Kojak's most memorable character trait was his signature lollipop.

• Hill Street Blues (1981–1987) featured a number of intertwined storylines in each episode, and pioneered depiction of the conflicts between the work and private lives of officers and detectives on which the police procedural was centered. The show had a deliberate "documentary" style, depicting officers who were flawed and human, and dealt openly with the gray areas of morality between right and wrong. It was set in an unidentified east coast or midwestern metropolitan area. The show was written by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll.

• Cagney and Lacey (1982–1988) Cagney and Lacey, revolved around two female NYPD detectives who led very different lives. Christine Cagney, played by Sharon Gless, was a single-minded, witty, brash career woman. Mary Beth Lacey was a resourceful, sensitive working mom. Loretta Swit was the original choice for Cagney however she couldn't get out of her contract on M*A*S*H. During the first season, Meg Foster played the part of Cagney, while Tyne Daly played Lacey, the role she'd originated in the pilot. CBS canceled the series claiming low ratings. It was brought back on due both to a letter-writing campaign which drew millions of letters nationwide and to the fact that ratings actually went up during summer reruns. A TV Guide magazine read Welcome Back. Daly continued as Lacey, but Foster was replaced with Gless, who would become the actress most identified with the part. It would go on to win 36 nominations and 14 wins during its run. Four TV movies were broadcast after the series ended.

• Miami Vice (1984–1990)
• 21 Jump Street (1987-1991)
• Law & Order, a long-running series (1990–2010) focusing on the two 'halves' of a criminal proceeding in the New York City criminal justice system: the investigation of the crime by the New York City Police Department homicide detectives and the subsequent prosecution of the criminals by the New York County District Attorney's office. The success of the original Law & Order inspired nine other spin-off series in four different countries:
  • Five in the U.S.: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–2011), Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005–2006), Conviction (2006-debuted and concluded) and Law & Order: LA (2010–2011). Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, and LA series focued more on the police procedurals than Trial by Jury and Conviction. As of August 2011, Special Victims Unit is the only currently running American series in the Law & Order franchise.
  • Two in Russia: Adaptations of Special Victims Unit (2007) and Criminal Intent (2007), both set in Moscow.
  • Paris enquêtes criminelles (2007), a French adaptation of Criminal Intent set in Paris.
  • Law & Order: UK (2009), a British adaptation of the original Law & Order set in London.

Aside from being its depiction of police investigation, this program also relates to the Legal drama and "forensic pathology" subgenres, and has inspired such other programs as the CSI series.

• Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999; TV movie in 2000), a police procedural focusing on the homicide unit of the Baltimore city police department. Critically praised (although frequently struggling in the ratings), the show was more of an ensemble piece, focusing on the activities of the unit as a whole (although significant characters such as Detective Frank Pembleton and Detective John Munch, who has also appeared on the various Law & Order shows, among others, became popular with viewers). The show (particularly in its first three seasons) used long-form arcs to depict ongoing criminal investigations, such as the investigation of a murdered child in the first season, which ran through 13 episodes but ended without an arrest or conviction, or even conclusive proof of who committed the crime. The show also heavily featured the complex internal politics of the police department, suggesting that rising through the ranks has more to do with personal connections, favors and opportunism than genuine ability.

• NYPD Blue (1993–2005) explored the internal and external struggles of the assorted investigators of the fictional 15th Precinct of Manhattan. The show gained notoriety for profanity and nudity never previously broadcast on American network television. NYPD Blue was created by genre veteran Steven Bochco and David Milch. The cast of NYPD Blue included actor Dennis Franz, who previously played Detective Buntz on Hill Street Blues, as well as on a spin-off series, "Beverly Hills Buntz." Another cast member, David Caruso would later play Lt. Horatio Caine on CSI: Miami.

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–present) is a show about forensic scientists in Las Vegas, Nevada who investigate how and why a person has died and if it is a murder or not by investigating not only whodunit but also howdunit. It spawned two spin-offs, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, and inspired shows such as Body of Proof, Bones, Castle, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, Crossing Jordan, NCIS, The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
  • CSI: Miami (2002–2012) Features a team of crime scene investigators accompanied by homicide detectives in Miami, Florida who conduct investigations into Major Crimes in Miami such as Murder, Human Trafficking, Robberies & Drug-Related Crimes. CSI: Miami is often credited with inspiring the creation of the spin-off series CSI: NY, and introduced it to television in MIA/NYC Nonstop, an episode during the show's second season.

• The Shield (2002–2008), The Shield is about an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department set up in the fictional Farmington district ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, using a converted church ("the Barn") as their police station, and featuring a group of detectives called "The Strike Team", who will do anything to bring justice to the streets. Michael Chiklis (Chiklis previously played the title character in the TV series, "The Commish.") has top billing with his portrayal of Strike Team leader Vic Mackey. The show has an ensemble cast that will normally run a number of separate story lines through each episode. It was on the FX network and was known for its portrayal of police brutality and its realism. The show inspired other shows similar to The Shield such as Dark Blue and Southland. The Shield was created by writer/producer Shawn Ryan.

• The Wire (2002–2008), a television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland, created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of his writing partner Ed Burns, a former homicide detective. Burns, when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology, had often been frustrated by the bureaucracy of the Baltimore police department; Simon saw similarities with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. The show is realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity, with many of the plot points based on the experiences of Simon and Burns. Despite only receiving modest ratings and never winning major television awards, The Wire has been described by many critics as the greatest television series ever made and one of the most accomplished works of fiction of the 2000s.