What's with this "Police on TV" thing?

I suppose it all started with Batman and Scooby-Doo - you know, crime fighters and detectives.  Maybe it goes all the way back to The Keystone Cops themselves. Maybe it goes back even further to Cain and Abel or even back to the dawn of time and Good vs. Evil.

Medical shows are thin on the ground and come and go, but Police Procedurals or Crime Drama to give it the more modern name, go on.

But I get ahead of myself.

I was skipping channels on TV in the wee hours and heard those three initials: GSR.

Am I the only one that knows this is short for gunshot residue? I think not. Then I got to thinking, given that from the media there are lots of "bad people" out there, why is it that detective/police series are so popular? Why are they so popular when, it seems, that any demonstration has its fair share of people who want to fight the police at any opportunity?

QUICK QUIZ.

What TV shows do you associate the following with?

1. "I'm sorry for your loss...."
2. "Hey, let's be careful out there."
3. "Let's do it to them before they do it to us...."
4. "Book 'em, Danno!"
5. "Who loves ya, baby?"
6. "You're nicked!"
7. "Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?" 
8. "Go ahead, make my day!"
9. "Elementary, my dear Watson!"
10. And I would have got away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

I suppose for me it must have all started with Z Cars - you might not know the title but I'm sure you'll recognise the theme tune. I thought so. It was either that or it was my mum who seemed to read John Creasey books all day, every day.

That was the 60s. The decade went mad as did the 70s, 80s and 90s:  The Saint in all his guises.  The Baron Starsky and Hutch , Columbo , Charlie's Angels, Ironside, Kojak, Taggart , Hawaii -5-0, The Rockford Files, Miami Vice, Quincy, ME, Cracker, Prime Suspect, Midsomer Murders, Crown Court or even Judge Judy...the list is endless. I'll bet your favourite is there.

There appears to have been no let-up. Now we have, what seems to be, entire TV channels of crime drama.

The  CSIs have moved from Vegas to Miami and NY, and their naval equivalents from Washington to LA. Not forgetting the JAG corps. The Law and Order franchise fills in the gaps with both a home grown (UK) and a US variety.

Cop shows seem to spout from any US State you could care to name. Don't think our European neighbours haven't tested the waters:  There was Hotel de Police and Police Precinct from France; Tatort , Der Bulle von Tölz, Countdown: Die Jagd beginnt , Alarm für Cobra 11 and the Rosenheim Cops all from our German speaking cousins; and Wallender from Sweden.

New kids on the block are the likes of Rookie Blue, Dark Blue and Blue Bloods.

For those that like their LEOs to be in black and white, I'd recommend Euro Crime for some up-to-date information on books of the genre. Maybe I'll go deeper into that in another blog.

ANYWAY, back to the quiz:

I'm sure you can guess where some of these sayings come from.

1. Nearly any American cop show has a character saying this.

2. Hill Street Blues (Esterhaus)

3. Hill Street Blues (Jablonsky)

4. Hawaii 5-O

5. Kojak.

6. The Sweeney

7. That would be Harry Callahan. (Dirty Harry) Yeah, yeah, you could quote the whole lot :)

8. Harry Callahan (Sudden Impact)

9. Sherlock Holmes.

10. Scooby Doo.

I'll sign off with my favourite saying from the cop shows:  "Holy Boobjob, Batman....." but I'll let you come across that gem in your own time.