When television was brought to the masses for the first time in the 1950s, creatives and writers worked to create programs and stories that would captivate audiences and viewers on network television, bringing a different version of the motion pictures they saw on the big screen. As technology and the medium advanced, writers saw an opportunity to create a bottled story known as the procedural, condensing a mini-motion picture in the confines of a thirty-minute program.
Several procedurals of the past 70 years have been influential in a host of ways, laying the groundwork and foundations for the shows that followed, and helping redefine the entire medium. As the procedural style of television continues to dominate the airwaves, we look at eight classic procedurals that influenced the genre, in no particular order.
1
Supernatural
The WB/CW: 2005-2020
Before shows like The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us monopolized and dominated the serious horror genre on television, Supernatural opened a wide lane for the occult and the terrifying. Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins, the show follows brothers Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles) as they hunt the supernatural beings and monsters that roam the Earth in a story that’s part horror, part comedy.
In a time when horror wasn’t a popular or utilized genre on network television, Supernatural brought it to the collective consciousness, especially during its heralded first five seasons, and introduced an entirely new generation of fans to horror in an easily digestible, less intense format than some of the more disturbing aspects of the genre. A creative and comedic spin on a tried and true genre, it created a lane for similar television shows that have occupied The CW’s airwaves in the years since, and made it possible for the horror procedurals of today to take risks for the small screen they may not have been inspired to utilize before.
2
Law & Order
NBC: 1990-2012, 2022-present
A show that had no predecessor, Law & Order debuted in 1990 and changed the network television landscape in the mold of creator Dick Wolf’s vision. Spanning four decades, save for a 12-year hiatus, Law & Order spawned six spinoff shows and one television movie while utilizing a “ripped from the headlines” approach that brought a spin on current crimes that captivated American culture and into their universe.
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It’s hard to imagine a more impactful show on television dramas in general than Law & Order, as the formula has been co-opted by its original creator and a host of others who have followed with varying success. The show gave a road map for future creators and writers to present bottle episodes week after week, and new opportunities to keep their shows fresh and unique, while also focusing on the formula of police procedural dramas in a different way, one that would help pave the way for shows like NYPD Blue.
3
Star Trek: The Original Series (or Star Trek: TOS)
NBC: 1966-1969
Innovative and new in its era, Star Trek: The Original Series was the first procedural to present a space opera-style weekly program. Set on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise millions of light years away from Earth, the show was also one of the few shows to tackle major and controversial story lines and themes for its time, including the broadcast of the very first interracial kiss on television, a scene that was banned in some Southern states.
Star Trek: TOS season 1, despite some great episodes, wasn’t a smash hit when it was first on the CBS airwaves, but its legacy was borne in the syndication world, spawning the first legion of superfans known as “Trekkies,” who dressed and acted like the crew and its encountered life forms, fully fleshing out alien languages. The show’s scientific presentation and visions of the future helped create an entire genre of science fiction programming, laying the groundwork for future programs like Sliders, Alien Nation, and The X-Files.
4
Hill Street Blues
NBC: 1981-1987
The show that set the tone and tenor for NYPD Blue and Law & Order after it, Hill Street Blues was the archetype for all current police procedural programs. Hill Street Blues found its characters caught between the law and what justice should be, as well as the exploration of their lives outside the force. The show implemented the conflicting and oftentimes gray area in which people exist when it comes to morality, choice, and grace under fire.
The show implemented the conflicting and oftentimes gray area in which people exist when it comes to morality, choice, and grace under fire.
Critically acclaimed throughout its entire run, Hill Street Blues redefined a genre of show that saw less of a focus on the reality of both the law and the world and more on the formulaic Columbo-style detective work. Creator Steven Bochco set a road map for both Law & Order, which co-opted the show’s procedural elements, and his next venture, NYPD Blue, which both amplified and extenuated the morality play of its main characters.
5
NYPD Blue
ABC: 1993-2005
Before Elliot Stabler and Wayne Unser dominated the airwaves and blurred the lines between the law and vigilante, there was Det. Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), the no-nonsense anti-hero of NYPD Blue who fought for the good of the city he served while navigating both a difficult personal life and some unsavory personal defects. Through 15 seasons of the show, Sipowicz, in spite of his deeply held personal flaws, saw redemption as he recovered from alcoholism, became a father again, and ultimately became the commander of the 15th Precinct.
Controversial throughout its entire run on ABC, NYPD Blue was the first police procedural to truly capture the grittiness and messiness of the law and crime in New York City in a way Law & Order couldn’t.
Controversial throughout its entire run on ABC, NYPD Blue was the first police procedural to truly capture the grittiness and messiness of the law and crime in New York City in a way Law & Order couldn’t. It also reinvented the police procedural genre with its visuals, utilizing handheld cameras to provide a much more invasive and raw presence through intense scenes in the interrogation room. The legacy of the Sipowicz of then can be seen in the Stablers of today, showing that even the best man can be both pushed to the edge of oblivion and saved by the right forces, but its real legacy lives on in the grittier and intense visual depictions of our favorite shows.
6
The X-Files
FOX: 1993-2002, 2016-2018
One of the most popular and culturally defining network television shows of the 1990s and beyond, The X-Files and its wild storylines captivated an entire generation of viewers who wanted to believe. Led by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and later by Robert Patrick and Annabelle Gish, the show followed FBI Agents Mulder and Scully, then Agents Doggett and Reyes, respectively, as they investigated the supernatural, the extraterrestrial, and the unexplainable.
Debuting at a time when government mistrust and belief in conspiracy theories was becoming part of the American lexicon, and through one revival, two films, and two spin-offs, The X-Files leaned heavily into the themes and the questions about aliens, deep space, and government cover-up, and spawned a genre of mystery and sci-fi shows and films that were focused fully on a dark, shadowy government hiding the truth. The X-Files remains the most expansive and well-written sci-fi procedurals of all time, and continues to inspire legions of fans who question everything they’re told.
7
St. Elsewhere
NBC: 1982-1988
St. Elsewhere, the medical drama starring Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel, and William Daniels, aired to rave reviews and was a staple of NBC prime time programming from 1982 to 1988. Mixing elements of Medic and M*A*S*H, St. Elsewhere was the first popular medical drama that was peppered with comedic moments while also tackling contemporary storylines of its time on television, including one of the first to tackle the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
Considered by many critics as one of the best television shows of all time, St. Elsewhere provided the road map for medical procedural dramas, whether it leans into the more comedic and absurd humor mixed with the seriousness of the medical field like Scrubs mastered, or utilizes the seriousness of life in the middle of triage and medical decisions the way ER did for almost twenty years. With a who’s who of Hollywood mainstays that walked the halls of St. Eligius, as well as a twist ending that bred its own universe theory about television, one that includes shows like The X-Files and Law & Order.
8
CSI
CBS: 2000-2015
The first show to tackle a more advanced and scientific part of law enforcement investigation, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation spent 15 seasons navigating the new science of DNA forensics to solve crimes. Initially helmed by William Peterson as Dr. Gil Grissom, the show saw both Lawrence Fishburne and Ted Danson take over in the lead role as the show became the first cultural phenomenon of the new millennium.
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Outside of being the first to tackle this new forensic medium in a procedural, the show also created its mark in the real world, creating “The CSI Effect”, causing jurors and the public to demand more robust forensic evidence in order to prove a defendant’s guilt or innocence. While it paved the way for NCIS and FBI, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation‘s effect on the law is its true legacy, spawning other real-life crime shows to show its real world application.
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