Weekly Analysis 5-1

Weekly Analysis #5-1 – Crime Investigation Shows

Many years ago, the television craze was westerns. There was a big name western on every night, which included Gun Smoke, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Bat Masterson, and the list goes on. Years later, lawyer shows, then police shows, and many science fiction thrillers replaced westerns. Today we still have lawyer shows, the main one being Law and Order and there are still many police shows to tickle your interest, such as Castle and The Mentalist.

However, a new series of television shows have evolved that deal mainly with the scientific aspects of solving crime, the forensic genre. America’s fascination with forensic television shows may have had its roots in documentary programs found on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel.

These fictional shows take a crime scene and boil it down to a solution within the time span of one hour. DNA analysis is instantaneous and computer labs can trace the identity of persons and origins of weapons, chemicals, and other items in minutes. Although the based in real practice, these depictions are often unrealistic and give the impression that real crime labs have a staggering budget and all the latest technology.

The most popular forensic shows include NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds, and Bones. Before long, NCIS evolved in to another show, NCIS, LA and CSI developed two additional shows, CSI Miami and CSI, NY. CSI began the forensic craze and it is now in its tenth season. It is listed as one of the most watched show on television. Forensic shows now dominate all other detective shows (Britton, 2010). The demand for this type of television programming looks like they will be around for many more years to come.

References:

Britton, V. (2010, May 10). Forensic tv shows monopolize detective genre. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/forensic-tv-shows-monopolize--detective-genre-a128566

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