There’s plenty of drama surrounding the New York Police Department in real life these days and that’s always been the case on TV as well, from Naked City to the even more naked NYPD Blue.
As the former reminded us every week, “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.” So perhaps it’s no surprise that two of TV’s longest-running current dramas, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (now in its 16th season!) and Blue Bloods (which just blew past the 100-episode mark) continue to follow New York’s Finest.
But have these Big Apple cops been squeezed dry of all their narrative juice? Not even close. Blue Bloods rules Friday nights, and its ratings just keep getting bigger.
Meanwhile SVU remains NBC’s most-watched show on its awkwardly named ‘Woman Crush Wednesday’ lineup, which includes Debra Messing’s inexplicably not-yet-axed The Mysteries of Laura and L&O mastermind Dick Wolf’s Chicago PD.
It’s not hard to see why these shows have maintained their popularity. After lapsing into unbearable ridiculousness under former show runner Neal Baer, SVU has been re-grounded in gritty reality in recent seasons by exec producers Warren Leight (the Tony-winning playwright of Side Man) and Julie Martin (a veteran of NBC’s late, great Homicide: Life on the Street).
And following a surprisingly shaky start overseen by creators Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green (The Sopranos), Blue Bloods now pumps with vitality thanks to exec producer Kevin Wade, an acclaimed playwright (Key Exchange) and screenwriter (Working Girl).
The key to both shows’ appeal lies in their solid ensembles, led by beloved veterans with real TV-star presence. For Blue Bloods, it’s Tom Selleck, who fits his role as NYPD commissioner and law-enforcement family patriarch Frank Reagan like one of his character’s well-tailored three piece suits.
And for SVU, it’s Mariska Hargitay, whose Olivia Benson has matured from scrappy street cop to the squad’s lovingly maternal captain and off-the-job new adoptive parent.
At first glance, SVU seemed the least likely of the L&O franchise’s series to last for so long. As its Naked City-esque opening voiceover states: “In the criminal justice system, sexually based offences are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.”
Had it stuck with its off-putting original subtitle, Sex Crimes, SVU might not have caught on. But by focusing on victims rather than perpetrators, the show found a sympathetic window into an icky world.
Of course, it hasn’t hurt that the show has put its own spin on stories torn from the tabloids. This week’s episode took off from a James Franco-like actor contacting an underage fan via social media, and one can only assume the allegations against Bill Cosby will be given the SVU treatment soon.
Blue Bloods, on the other hand, always focuses on the family: Frank’s former-commissioner pop Henry (Len Cariou), detective son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg, TV’s most credible cop ever since his days on the short-lived but much-loved Boomtown), ADA daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan), and her patrolman little brother Jamie (Will Estes).
No matter what criminals they’re chasing, the Reagans always find time to sit down together for a Sunday family dinner, in the show’s signature scene. It may be wish fulfilment for viewers from fragmented clans, but such a meal sums up the allure of Blue Bloods – and SVU.
They’re the TV equivalent of pot roast, warm and comforting. In the end, that’s why we’ll never turn our backs on them.
Bruce Fretts is a veteran of both Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide Magazine, where he penned the wildly popular ‘Cheers & Jeers’ column for ten years.