It’s called a light switch, Detective

Why...

Do so many cop shows feature earnest looking detectives flashing a torch as they enter a building looking for someone, when there is a perfectly good light switch nearby?

Flashlights are quickly joining forces with other cop cliches

1) How bad the coffee is in a police station,

2) There’s always a parking spot right where it’s needed

3) A cop with a troubled home life or estranged spouse, leading to personal phone interruptions mid-case.

4) The mismatched partners forced to work together, often a “family man” paired with a “loner” or eccentric cop

5) The cantankerous police boss who constantly chews out the main cop and threatens to take their badge.

6) The cell phone signal dropping or battery expiring at a vital moment And finally

7) Police and FBI fighting over jurisdiction with “This is OUR case!” arguments.

 

...and another thing

Don’t get me wrong. I love mystery and thrillers. I make a living out of writing them but occasionally I wonder at the narrow spread of what is currently being produced.

Groundbreaking shows revolve around an iconic group of characters but so many central ones recently have been ‘damaged’. That’s not the only way to create interest or empathy but it seems de rigeur at the moment.

...and another thing

I am very torn about rebooting. Some work remarkably well; think UK Sherlock or even US Elementary. Both great. Earlier life of Perry Mason, and reboots of Ironside, The Fugitive and LA Dragnet less good. I think those tanked as they failed to capture the essence of what made the originals so good. Play about with the central character and it’s like moving the main lintel that holds a house up.

Clearly the one to watch will be Bond. They have managed to go though six actors and held it together but that was mainly because Cubby Broccoli and then his daughter Barbara understood the essence of the character. There is an underlying consistency. However Bond when Fleming wrote him was very much a product of his time ( I know first hand as I helped make the TV movie Goldeneye with Charles Dance playing Ian Fleming).

Much as I think we can nibble at the edges taking big chunks out of Flemming’s Bond, ie changing ethnicity or even sex, is an arrogance that I find breathtaking. It’s not someone else’s character to play with at the whims of current fashion and thinking.

If you want a female Bond character or an ethnic one go write the books yourselves. But mirroring today’s views over an iconic character is just lazy and you will lose the audience in droves.

Villeneuve is a terrific Director. I just hope Amazon to whom Barbara Broccolli handed the flame, don’t think it’s a good idea to stand in the rain of woke thinking, till it’s extinguished for good.

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