[Stewart Vernon]

Ok, I'm exaggerating a little... but it occurred to me the other night that quite a bit of the shows I watch kind of have the same core... Consider:

The Closer
Cold Case
House
Law & Order
Life
Monk
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Without a Trace

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

I'm stretching a bit with House, since usually no one dies, but the rest fits... I do watch other things (Dr Who, Eureka, Simpsons, Family Guy, and more) but it was interesting when I realized how many of my shows are almost the same show without me always being conscious of it.

 

[DogLover]

Ok, I'm exaggerating a little... but it occurred to me the other night that quite a bit of the shows I watch kind of have the same core... Consider:

The Closer
Cold Case
House
Law & Order
Life
Monk
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Without a Trace

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

I'm stretching a bit with House, since usually no one dies, but the rest fits... I do watch other things (Dr Who, Eureka, Simpsons, Family Guy, and more) but it was interesting when I realized how many of my shows are almost the same show without me always being conscious of it.

Used to be a term for these "Who done its". I admit they make up a large number of my prioritzer as well. (If you were to only count the fiction shows, they would be a large part.)

I hadn't really thought of House being in this category, but you are probably right. Maybe we could all it a "What done it", since the antagonist is not really a who, but a what.

And you could even make a case for Eureka to be in this class. Most of the episodes, they usually find out "Who done it", but they do mostly focus on "How did they do it" and "How do we fix it"

Whether crime, medicine, or technology, they all focus on solving a puzzle of some sort.

 

[Steve]

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

Yup. That formula is as old as broadcasting, beginning back in the days when radio detective shows were popular. Throughout the years, the first interesting variation on this theme I can recall was Columbo, where for the first time you actually knew who the murderer was and how s/he did it, and the enjoyment you got was from the cat and mouse game played between Columbo and the criminal as he eventually figured out "whodunit". /steve

 

[Stuart Sweet]

It certainly brings up the old axiom that there are in truth, only six plots.

 

[bonscott87]

What's funny is that I don't watch any of those shows. Used to watch House but we gave up on it last year.

 

[paulman182]

What's funny is that I don't watch any of those shows. Used to watch House but we gave up on it last year.

I've never seen any of them.

 

[Doug Brott]

It certainly brings up the old axiom that there are in truth, only six plots.

And I'll bet Kevin Bacon has done all six

 

[Stewart Vernon]

I guess that's the way it works too... people probably watch (or at least have an interest) in all of the shows I listed OR none at all. If you like one, you'd probably like parts of all eventually.

On the House front... I haven't read in detail behind-the-minds of the producers/creators... but I read an interesting opinion/review once that is what ultimately turned me onto the show.

In essence, House is Sherlock Holmes... A smart, quirky, detective with an attitude looking for clues and piecing things together... also has an addiction (House has painkillers to Holmes Morphene).. and even the name "House" makes you think "Holmes".

That is what originally piqued my interest in the show... as I usually do not like the typical medical dramas like ER and such.

 

[phrelin]

Ok, I'm exaggerating a little... but it occurred to me the other night that quite a bit of the shows I watch kind of have the same core... Consider:

The Closer
Cold Case
House
Law & Order
Life
Monk
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Without a Trace

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

I'm stretching a bit with House, since usually no one dies, but the rest fits... I do watch other things (Dr Who, Eureka, Simpsons, Family Guy, and more) but it was interesting when I realized how many of my shows are almost the same show without me always being conscious of it.

Ouch! Disturbing observation since our list would look include all those. Our "other things" list does include some comedies, scifi and nighttime soaps (I'm not sure what Sons of Anarchy is), but the "solving mysteries genre" is really a core of the our programming.

 

[rustynails]

Ok, I'm exaggerating a little... but it occurred to me the other night that quite a bit of the shows I watch kind of have the same core... Consider:

The Closer
Cold Case
House
Law & Order
Life
Monk
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Without a Trace

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

I'm stretching a bit with House, since usually no one dies, but the rest fits... I do watch other things (Dr Who, Eureka, Simpsons, Family Guy, and more) but it was interesting when I realized how many of my shows are almost the same show without me always being conscious of it.

Of those you listed, I watch House, Monk and Without a Trace.
I would add:
ALL 3 CSI with CSI Los Vegas being my favorite
Lost
TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
24 if it ever comes on again
Battlestar Galactica
Stargate Atlantis
Heros

It looks like I like scifi and drama! I dont watch any comedy shows. What does that say about me?

 

[photostudent]

I guess that's the way it works too... people probably watch (or at least have an interest) in all of the shows I listed OR none at all. If you like one, you'd probably like parts of all eventually.

On the House front... I haven't read in detail behind-the-minds of the producers/creators... but I read an interesting opinion/review once that is what ultimately turned me onto the show.

In essence, House is Sherlock Holmes... A smart, quirky, detective with an attitude looking for clues and piecing things together... also has an addiction (House has painkillers to Holmes Morphene).. and even the name "House" makes you think "Holmes".

That is what originally piqued my interest in the show... as I usually do not like the typical medical dramas like ER and such.

Check his apartment number sometime.

 

[joshjr]

I've never seen any of them.

I have seen 4 episodes of the original Law & Order but it was not very good so I gave it up. Never seen any of the other shows on that list though.

 

[Supervolcano]

Ok, I'm exaggerating a little... but it occurred to me the other night that quite a bit of the shows I watch kind of have the same core... Consider:

The Closer
Cold Case
House
Law & Order
Life
Monk
Psych
Pushing Daisies
Without a Trace

At their core, most of the above are essentially about a criminal committing a crime (often a violent one) and then people trying to figure out and prove it, with twists and turns... and the main characters have some kind of "hook" that in many cases is quirky.

I think this is why I love "Dexter" on Showtime so much.
It's the exact opposite.

Main character is a serial killer who works for the police department!!!

The show is about how he maintains his 2 different lifestyles (killer and nice guy), carefully chooses his victims, meticulously executes each crime, and in season 2 even learns how to cover up some of his previous mistakes when they start figuring out who might have done it.

It's the inside looking out, where all your shows are the outside looking in.

Season 3 begins this sunday night if interested.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

I only watch the original Law & Order, limited myself to exclude the spinoffs... and have only sparsely watched the CSIs... There is also NCIS, which I've watched a little... so I could be worse than I already am!

I missed the start of Dexter or I might be watching... I didn't have the premium channels when it first started.