4 ms·

Honestly detective fiction is perhaps the worst format you could give for your example, because the structure of the story allows you to essentially tell a diff

Honestly detective fiction is perhaps the worst format you could give for your example, because the structure of the story allows you to essentially tell a different short story with different characters every time. Moody Twin Peaks has almost nothing in common with the goofball Psych (except the one tribute episode). Inspector Lewis plots are complex and intellectual, while Castle is fluffy and predictable. Recipes for Love and Murder, Brokenwood, Midsomer Murders, and Murdoch Mysteries are more about life among the varied settings than the murders; the murders give us an excuse to explore the characters around them. Though maybe the most important point of that is that watching TV from different countries will make your viewing more interesting.

the_af 3y ago
Agreed. Police fiction is a good format. You can vary it by focusing on a realistic procedural, or the mystery, or ditch the mystery and just focus on characters. And police shows vary a lot by country; shows from the US, the UK or Norway will be wildly different.
salad-tycoon 3y ago
So you must like detective fiction, eh? You’ve won me over and to your point you can have a Fr. Brown (1950s Catholic priest detective) and a Dexter (blood splatter analysis turned serial killer). Now of course the basic premise is always the same good (but conflicted) guy sees bad thing done, investigates, finds bad guys and reconciles one small aspect of world and maybe one small aspect of self discovery. Heck, most shows have this arc now that I think about it from Sherlock to dr house to those criminal lawyer/police shows.
- jprete 3y ago
  Nit: Basically all stories have a form like that. (I _think_ detective stories specifically choose for the protagonist to want societally-sanctioned retribution. The protagonist then has to publicly demonstrate that the antagonist deserves retribution, rather than take retribution on their own. And the stories also assume that society can and will inflict retribution on the antagonist once the society's rules are satisfied.)
  - labster 3y ago
    The more hardboiled the detective story, the more they are willing to seek non-socially sanctioned retribution. It's kind of funny because Father Brown partially refutes both parent and GP: the police never arrest the right guy, and the priest is neither conflicted nor in need of self-discovery, and is motivated mostly by a need to carry through God's mission of forgiveness through repentance. There are other aspects that you're both missing. One is the puzzle aspect: Detective Conan is almost entirely these kind of alibi and murder weapon tricks. There's only so much you can do in 25 minutes to characterize, after all. The other aspect in common is dealing with the problem of evil, specifically what drives people to the edge, to the ultimate transgression. So often I'll spend more time thinking about the perps than the detectives.

the_af 3y ago

Agreed. Police fiction is a good format. You can vary it by focusing on a realistic procedural, or the mystery, or ditch the mystery and just focus on characters. And police shows vary a lot by country; shows from the US, the UK or Norway will be wildly different.

salad-tycoon 3y ago

So you must like detective fiction, eh? You’ve won me over and to your point you can have a Fr. Brown (1950s Catholic priest detective) and a Dexter (blood splatter analysis turned serial killer). Now of course the basic premise is always the same good (but conflicted) guy sees bad thing done, investigates, finds bad guys and reconciles one small aspect of world and maybe one small aspect of self discovery. Heck, most shows have this arc now that I think about it from Sherlock to dr house to those criminal lawyer/police shows.

jprete 3y ago
Nit: Basically all stories have a form like that. (I _think_ detective stories specifically choose for the protagonist to want societally-sanctioned retribution. The protagonist then has to publicly demonstrate that the antagonist deserves retribution, rather than take retribution on their own. And the stories also assume that society can and will inflict retribution on the antagonist once the society's rules are satisfied.)
- labster 3y ago
  The more hardboiled the detective story, the more they are willing to seek non-socially sanctioned retribution. It's kind of funny because Father Brown partially refutes both parent and GP: the police never arrest the right guy, and the priest is neither conflicted nor in need of self-discovery, and is motivated mostly by a need to carry through God's mission of forgiveness through repentance. There are other aspects that you're both missing. One is the puzzle aspect: Detective Conan is almost entirely these kind of alibi and murder weapon tricks. There's only so much you can do in 25 minutes to characterize, after all. The other aspect in common is dealing with the problem of evil, specifically what drives people to the edge, to the ultimate transgression. So often I'll spend more time thinking about the perps than the detectives.