Cloning Success
Big Networks go for familiarity over creativity
Without a doubt, the break-out drama of last year’s TV season was CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In just one year it rose to the top of the ratings and won massive critical acclaim for its unique approach to the crime series genre.
The show is all about the team – the CSI unit as a whole and the group’s teamwork are the program’s major stars. Obviously, the CSI formula works, so, true to form, TV programmers have decided to beat it to death. Year after year, the big networks pinpoint breakout shows and spin them off or rip them off, whatever the case may be.
This fall, CSI network CBS has trotted out no less than three new series devoted to specialty crime fighting units. Without a Trace tracks a team of FBI agents searching for missing persons, Robbery Homicide Division is self-explanatory, and CSI: Miami is presumably the show we have already seen except with corpses on the beach.
Former NYPD Blue star and failed film leading man David Caruso heads the team on CSI: Miami. He plays a character with the rather pretentious moniker of Horatio Caine. Somehow, placing the humourless Caruso in a been-there-seen-that TV vehicle does not have me racing for the listings to see when it’s on.
Of course, CBS is not the only network guilty of cookie-cutter programming. One of the big surprises of the new TV season is that NBC did not create another new Law and Order series. Talk about beating something to death – first there was Law and Order, then Law and Order - Special Victims Unit, and, most recently, Law and Order - Criminal Intent. All three shows are back this fall. One can only hope NBC is finished milking this particular cash cow, but if they are determined to attempt new variations, might I suggest Law and Order: The Next Generation, Law and Order: Bloopers and Practical Jokes or Law and Order: The Former Child Star Case Files.
As much as the whole copycat thing annoys me, all three shows have pulled down decent ratings. But that’s not the norm – when a hit show spawns a slew of imitators, the rip-offs often quickly fade from sight. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire became a phenomenon a few years back, and was quickly followed by a pack of short-lived prime-time quizfests. Remember 21 hosted by Maury Povich, or Greed with game show dinosaur Chuck Woolery? No, I didn’t think so. Weakest Link made waves for a while, but as host Anne Robinson’s nasty act grew tired, that show’s prime-time days became numbered.
Of course, no discussion of recent TV rip-offs would be complete without mentioning the Pandora’s box that was opened when Survivor became a number one show. Now I’ll admit to being a fan of some of the reality series that have surfaced in the wake of Survivor’s success, but for every creative new take on reality TV, such as Amazing Race and Fear Factor, there has been a Boot Camp (Survivor rip-off) or Love Cruise (Temptation Island rip-off) that simply tried to steal the concept of another show.
It’s unfortunate that every new TV season sees the big U.S. networks go for flavour-of-the-month programming to fill their prime-time lineups. They must feel that garnering two-thirds of Everybody Loves Raymond’s audience for an imitation of the same show is something worth going after. You’d think they’d realize that hit shows like The Simpsons, The Osbournes and The Sopranos owe a lot of their success to being the first of their kind. (Having a surname in your title seems to help as well.)
Obviously, not all new ideas work, but we'll never know what we're missing out on if no one is willing to take a chance. |
