The death of the procedural

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e’re told that this is the golden age of television – so all shows must be thriving, earning millions for their respective networks and lining the pockets of their stars, right? Yet we know that not all shows are equal. Some are certainly more successful than others.

Elementary has proved a success for the procedural format. Image: Justin Stephens, CBS
Broadcasting Inc., and Sky

The procedural format has been around for a long time. It typically consists of self-contained episodes with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Usually there’s a problem, the main characters find the clues, and then the problem is resolved. Think of shows like House, CSI or Elementary. This format has been by and large successful. Take CSI as an example: it’s lasted for 15 years, created three spin-offs, and earned millions in the process. However, many of the most successful shows recently don’t follow the procedural format, such as Game of Thrones, True Detective, or House of Cards.

So why the change? Previously, the only way to watch your favourite TV show was through a cable box. Your show would air once a week, and you’d have to wait a week for the next instalment. This works well with the procedural format, which involves a resolution at the end of each week.

It’s also great for syndication purposes, as re-runs don’t need to be placed in any particular order, and you can watch an episode without any prior knowledge of the show or characters. Often key points get repeated to bring the viewer quickly up to speed.

Yet things are changing, and it’s all to do with the way we consume TV. Viewers – especially the younger demographics – prefer to binge-watch TV, rather than wait each week for a new episode. This is partly due to the way distribution methods have evolved.

The way stories are told needs to evolve too

If you binge-watch a procedural show, you’ll probably get turned off by the constant repetition in the dialogue.

Procedurals are also not maximising the story potential; stories with longer arcs are now being favoured. These require more concentration on the viewers’ part, but as they are more likely to be watching the series in one or two sittings, the story can progress faster.

Image: Dan Taylor / Flickr

There’s very little doubt that television is going to move online. Channels will soon be streamed over the internet, rather than beamed from satellite masts. So this trend of on-demand content is only going to increase.

This presents exciting opportunities for more rich interactive content: perhaps we’ll see a boom in live voting, or being able to switch camera angles yourself during a drama. This dynamic way of watching content allows the viewer to tailor it to their own viewing needs, blurring the lines between TV and gaming.

The days of watching a show linearly, the way it’s been edited, are coming to an end. By giving the viewer control on how a story unfolds, it makes the procedural format archaic and its about time we put it to rest.