NYPD BLUE: CONFESSION CENTRAL

Still watching Season Two of NYPD Blue, but it's beginning to pall a bit. Does everyone who talks to detectives incriminate themselves? Jeez, Louise!

Part of your template on a procedural (even a semi-procedural semi-character) show is whether all the crimes get solved. So far it's looking like the writers don't want the sun to go down on an unsolved crime. I find that the weakest part of an otherwise gritty and realistic show. I've seen NYPD Blue shows where the cops blow the investigation, but not in this stretch. And they always know who did it.

Do real cops always know who did it? I read the book Homicide was based on. They don't, always. Some investigations drag on for months. They think they know who did it, but they're not 100% sure and they certainly can't prove it.

<political outburst>
(Of course, you could also make a show based on the Justice Department's investigation of terror, where people are arrested, held without access to lawyers, tortured, and eventually released for want of evidence, like that Australian guy who was just released, but people might not enjoy it so much.)
</political outburst>

I gather investigations on Homicide, the show, also last several episodes. Maybe I should give it another try, especially if Will and Emma like it so much.

On the other hand this is the danger of watching a show on DVD; or, if you will, the challenge for the writers to write for a show that winds up on DVD. On TV, the consistency of the template keeps viewers coming back for more; the patterns of the show don't wear on the audience so much when there's a week between shows. On DVD, the consistency of the template gets a bit irritating, as the viewer sees the pattern all too clearly when he can watch show after show without intermission.

The show we did last summer, Charlie Jade, though, should be best on DVD. There's a lot of obscure stuff that will reward close examination. As it flies by on the air, it might be a bit tough to follow.