Creativity and Genre in TV Crime Drama

The article is written by Nick Lacey and was published in Media Magazines 33rd issue, during September 2010.

The article aims to cover the following points:

• The importance of change and development in different genres
• The themes and use of zeitgeists in TV crime dramas
• The role of women in crime dramas
• The ideologies supported by cim dramas 
• The different between the creative risks taken by mainstream and non mainstream institutions 

The article states that,

"If two texts are too similar they are unlikely to be popular" 

Later elaborating on this point, writing: "Genres that are not creatively developed will inevitably atrophy and lose their popularity." This suggests that without change and development, a genre such as TV crime dramas will lose desirability and viewers. I believe that this may be true, however after the recent growth in popularity of Super hero films, many films have chosen to abide by the generic features and iconography that make up the super hero genre, whilst maintaining a large amount of success. This therefore suggests that, it is possible for similar texts to be popular and lack of creativity and development doesn't aways cause a decline in audience. I believe this is also true of the TV crime drama genre. Although some have been developed and altered, sometimes creating a hybrid genre, many have such to the generic features of the classic crime drama genre. 

An example of a generic crime drama would be the non "glossy look" BBC programme Common by Jimmy McGovern:

I would agree that some porgrammes are opting to create hybrids such as Life on Mars which combines crime drama with Sci-fi as the protagonist Sam Tyler played by John Simm, who travels back in time to the 1970's.




Even though I don't believe that the development of the genre is purely to blame for the success of a particular TV Crime Drama, I realise that there is a lot more competition, with so many channels and also lots more independent creators using platforms such as Youtube. Therefore I understand why many creators have chosen to develop the genre to make is appear more unique and engaging.

Lacey's article states that the producer of CSI Jerry Bruckheimer demanded,
"a show so stylistically different that a channel- surfing audience would be forced to stop and view the unusual looking image."

The article goes on to say, "If a generic variation is going to appeal to audiences, it is likely to express the zeitgeist." This statement is supported by Common (shown above) in which they explore the contemporary fight to remove the joint enterprise law from our current justice system. Jimmy McGovern is renowned for highlighting current issues, allowing them to gain more acknowledgement whilst engaging the audience. Lacey also uses CSI as a case study, "Mac (an American 'Everyman' name) Taylor, lost his wife in the destruction of the twin towers". The uses of the zeitgeist makes the topics feel more relevant and engaging for the audience, but as the article states, "we cannot simple 'read' society off a TV crime programme."

Despite the fact that TV crime dramas are quite diverse in the topics they cover, the article suggests that, "TV crime series serve to reassure audiences that the police are an effective, if not always perfect, bulwark against crime". However recently there have been more and ore programmes based on the corruption of the police, creating an opposing ideology, making it seem as though the police are the enemy. The audiences perception would also be based on cultural experience and maybe situated culture.

An example of a TV crime series showing the corruption of the Police, is Good Cop: