Crime drama defies odds by spinning a good story
By Bill Carter
The New York Times
While no one was looking, a 6-year-old TV series that lands on few magazine covers, gets almost no love from critics and is never nominated for prestigious awards is the hottest show on the air.
On Tuesday, "NCIS," the CBS crime drama about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, reached 18.8 million viewers, more than it ever had before and more than any other show on television for the week.
But that statistic told only part of the "NCIS" success story. Two weeks ago CBS decided to fill a weak hour, Friday at 9 p.m., with repeats of "NCIS." In both Dimmable LED Down Light K1038 - 8x1W / 8x3W weeks since, the repeat has been the most-watched show on Friday, with more than 11 million viewers each time.
And the cable network USA, which added "NCIS" repeats to its schedule in September, has seen its ratings soar anywhere it places the show. Most nights, it is the No. 1 or 2 entertainment show on cable, drawing audiences of more than 4 million.
The new popularity of the series flies in the face of the recent formula for prime-time success: a grab-people-by-the-throat concept, lots of sex and must-see story elements that compel viewers to watch every episode or lose the thread.
But as shows like that, which tend to be serial dramas, slide in the ratings, "NCIS" is part of a swing toward more traditional storytelling, the kind of shows that play well over and over.
"I don't know if there's a complete swing back to closed-end storytelling," said David Stapf, president of Paramount Network Television, the studio that produces "NCIS," "but those shows certainly seem to be working right now. I think what really works is the reliability if it."
Still, why would "NCIS" be working better than ever in its sixth season? CBS and Paramount executives pointed to a change in the show's creative leadership two years ago, when a veteran writer, Shane Brennan, took control after the departure of the prolific television hit maker Don Bellisario ("Magnum P.I.," "JAG"), who was pushed out in a conflict with star Mark Harmon.
"He's given the show a sense of emotion you can really respond to," said Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment.
Stapf also mentioned an unexpected element: humor. "It's a fun show."
Fun? The essence of the stories is murder, but the show does emphasize the camaraderie of a quirky band of investigators. Brennan said that he looked for "the naturalistic kind of humor you find in any office where people work together."
The charge from CBS and Paramount had been to "open the show up and try new things," Brennan said. So he concentrated on what he called "the core of the show, the ensemble cast." That meant finding stories that also contained memorable character moments.
LED Light Bulb SP80B-10W"The audience remembers the moments, they forget the plots. It's really not a procedural."
Brennan's role in the show's surge is somewhat surprising because he had never led a show before. He is a 27-year veteran of television - in Australia - but he said that gave him enormous storytelling experience because writers there work as freelancers. They must produce constantly or they don't eat. "I have no trouble coming up with stories."
It seems the only problem Brennan has faced came when his creative team went to Washington, D.C., for a research visit to a real NCIS unit. Government officials "told me I was not allowed to go in because I'm a foreign national."
Will the improved ratings bring "NCIS" more recognition? "The Emmys don't have a category for us," Brennan said. That would have to be something like "hugely popular but not critically acclaimed dramas."
on TV
"NCIS" airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS.
