“I certainly don’t feel like it’s a rut and I would say that the way that we’ve approached our development and I think throughout the history of Fox, the procedural elements are secondary to who the characters are and what those relationships are. So when I think back to Ally McBeal or 24 or The X-Files, they all took place in a world where there is a storytelling engine that is procedural, that’s helpful to storytelling but is always balanced with what’s going on with human beings in their lives and very heightened situations. So no, I would say no rut.”
Facts suggest otherwise.
For the 2015-16 season, Fox has or has had seven dramas in which the core premise can be boiled down to: quirky civilian contractor(s) aid law enforcement.
It’s a resilient and effective formula, and Fox didn’t come close to inventing it. You take somebody with no business fighting crime, but a particular set of skills, and you pair them with somebody committed to law and order and you get instant drama and, more importantly, instant weekly procedural structure…
