Been a fan of L&O since it started. I like two things about it , loosely connected: they never bothered getting into the main characters personal lives, never had a season-long arc. And you could come into an episode half-way through, and still be more entertained than confused. Sure, there were things you missed, but as procedurals go, the thread was not difficult to pick up.
When Special Victims Unit came out, they involved the cops as characters with backgrounds a little more, but not too terribly much. However, the case matter was usually to emotionally fraught for my tastes. So I gave it a pass. By the time Criminal Intent had debuted, I was sort of over my L&O kick, so I didn’t watch it too much.
But I was alwasy intrigued by the two cops, a kind of New York version of Mulder and Scully, with less skeptism, more cynism. I didn’t really like how they showed the criminals in the act, multiple times during the show, but I can see how that built the program up from just a procedural into something a little more dramatic.
Thanks to Netflix and their streaming content to my PC and my XBox 360, I’ve worked my way through the first season now. And it was excellent fare to have on while doing other chores (usually folding clothes or cleaning the kitchen). The on-demand aspect of it made it a little more cozy too, like reading a book as opposed to attending regularly scheduled sessions.
For the record, I saw one episode of CSI, and hated it almost immidietly. I mean, if your comparing police dramas.
