THIRD ANNUAL SCREENS ISSUE - MediaPost

Advertisers like to buy ad time on shows that
Americans like to watch. These are the rules of the
game. “Broadcast television is basically filled with
procedurals,” Carroll shrugs. “That’s what works.”
This year’s new entries to the genre, CBS’
Person of Interest (about a former Green Beret who
attempts to stop crimes before they happen) and
Unforgettable (about a cop who has the blessing/
curse of remembering every detail of everything
ever, except when her sister was offed), both
ranked in Nielsen’s primetime top 20 through
January. They are intermittently engaging and
utterly inoffensive. If they were the featured entertainment
on your flight, you would watch them.
(2) But don’t respect the police/detective/
Mountie/rogue association of former spies
that operates with unofficial Pentagon
sanction/whatever procedural too much:
For networks not blessed with CBS’ viewers and
their paralyzed remote controls, developing a cop
show has proven an ordeal. Take NBC: With Law
& Order receiving last rites, the network decided
to meld a procedural component with characters
and plots inspired by … the Brothers Grimm?
The resulting product, Grimm, proved every bit
as schizophrenic as one might expect. On the
plus side, it turns out that reformed werewolves
are proficient at cracking unsolved homicides.
Then there was Fox’s Alcatraz, which layered
a Lost-like mythology — mysteriously disappeared
prisoners reappear after a few decades
and start, like, knocking off convenience
stores — atop a crime-of-the-week framework.
Intriguing though the underlying premise may
be, Alcatraz barely services it some weeks. Sadly,
Fox seems to have interpreted low ratings for
the excellently impenetrable Fringe as a sign
that mythology-dense shows with overlapping
alternate realities can’t thrive without throwing
less-involved viewers a lifeline.
(3) A branded network is a successful
network: This holds across genres, but especially
for drama. It has been mentioned once or
twice that CBS has branded itself as the go-to
channel for procedurals (which does a disservice
to The Good Wife, making a case for itself as the
quietest, smartest, most character-driven drama
in recent TV history). Equally worthy of notice,
however, is USA Network’s subtle strategy:
branding itself not only with a specific type of
programming, but a specific look.
USA has made a name for itself over the past
few years with its year-round rotation of what
might be described as airy procedurals. Yes, a
crime is committed and solved within the constraints
of the time slot, but shows like Burn
Notice (superspy finds himself disowned, solves
crimes), White Collar (con man misses girlfriend,
solves crimes), Psych (goofy observationalist is
bored, solves crimes) and Covert Affairs (multilingual
babe gets dumped by boyfriend, solves
crimes) have more in common than their quirkyprotagonist
center and lightly comic tone. No,
they’re also among the brightest shows — huewise
— on television.
Carroll doesn’t think this is a coincidence. “It’s
a stylistic approach that’s had some success,” he
explains. “They’re all really well-lit and they all
have lots of action sequences set outside in the
sun. I’m sure it’s a conscious decision.” Even the
network’s non-dramas stick to the visual script:
Seven years into its second USA Network tenure,
WWE Raw remains among the most spectacularly
bright programs on TV.
(4) At the same time, don’t defy viewer
expectations: When viewers point their clickers
TNT-ward, they expect to land on either a
crime show with quirked-up female protagonists
(The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles), NBA hoops or
a 7,300th airing of The Shawshank Redemption.
That’s probably why Men of a Certain Age, one
of the finest, weariest dramas to air on cable in
some time, failed to find a consistent audience.
It was canceled last July after two seasons.
“On one hand, Men of a Certain Age wasn’t
what the audience expected from [sitcom mainstay]
Ray Romano,” says Carroll. “But also, Men
was so far removed from what you usually get on
TNT. When you vary from that it’s difficult for the
audience to make that leap.”
(5) Fear the phrases “series reboot” or
“series reinvention”: In the 2011-2012 season,
that which was once good was not good
anew, or something. NBC’s U.S. version of
GRADE: B-
BREAKDOWN
What’s working: Shows
adapted from other media,
including FX’s Justified and
NBC’s Parenthood
What’s not: Mad Men knockoffs,
including Pan Am and The
Playboy Club
This upfront season,
look for: Networks staying true
to their brands, whether it’s CBS’
procedurals, USA’s lighter crime
dramas or TNT’s quirky female
protagonists
Ad spending in 2011*:
Drama
$7.06 billion, down 7.46
percent from 2010
Spring 2012 MEDIA MAGAZINE 25