Arts: Building a CBS Show That Can Last

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Television Building a CBS Show That Can Last Three new series demonstrate how difficult it can be to crack the seemingly simple procedural formula. By June Thomas Posted Thursday, Sep 27, 2012, at 02:31 PM ET Procedurals are the worker bees of television. The tireless toil of cops, doctors, lawyers, forensic scientists, and federal agents produces sweet ratings honey—seven of the 10 top-rated scripted shows in the 2011-12 season were procedurals—but no one pays them much mind. Every year, one drone rises above the rest to receive critical acclaim—currently The Good Wife is the critics' pet—but otherwise, they're so plentiful and popular that their essential genius goes unappreciated. CBS rules this niche—six of those seven hits air on the network—and this week it is introducing three new ones: Vegas, Elementary, and Made in Jersey. Their settings are rural, urban, and suburban; and their heroes are a modest Westerner, an arrogant foreigner, and a gregarious East Coaster; but all are attempts to find a formula that can be entertainingly repeated 24 times a year. Two of them are successful. One can't crack the case. In Elementary (Thursdays at 10 p.m.), Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes is a recovering drug addict whose post-rehab regime has him working as a consulting detective in present-day New York. His stylish partner in crimesolving is Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), a former surgeon who now spends her days as a "sober companion," a line of work that Holmes charmingly likens to "a glorified helper monkey." None of these departures from the Conan Doyle canon bothers me in the slightest. A female Watson feels fresh and full of potential; Holmes' powers of deduction ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate House of Pain Why Is Apple Forcing Us All To Put Our Phones In Our Pockets Upside-Down? Watch Samuel L. Jackson's New Adult-Themed Children Story For Obama Supporters	Advertisement
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