Sherbrooke Record e-Edition

More screaming with streaming: Crime shows still booming

Peter Black

As if the infernal misery of this pandemic were not enough to break the spirit of Quebecers, now comes the news that one of the most beloved French language television series of all time will soon give up the ghost.

Radio-canada announced last week that its phenomenally successful cop serial District 31 will investigate its final case in April after six seasons and 720 episodes.

The series, an anomaly for its format of four half-hour episodes a week, regularly drew an average 1.7 million viewers, an incredible achievement in a province of 8.4 million.

The announcement came suddenly, driven by the pressure of having to write and shoot a steady daily product of compelling plots. Chief writer Luc Dionne noted in a press conference that “six years of daily writing, 4,800 pages per year, is a lot. At a certain point, you have to take care of yourself and your family.”

The 61-year-old said the sudden death last month of film director Jean-marc Vallée was on his mind when the series creators discussed the possibility of calling it quits.

As impressive as 720 half-hour episodes over six years may be, District 31 is still a relative hit and run compared to some of the longest running crime series out there, at least in terms of years.

There are many ways to measure the longevity of a crime series since some shows produce varying numbers of episodes per year. That said, it would seem a Scottish series called Taggart is the granddaddy of all crime shows, lasting 27 years, from 1983 to 2010, and even living on 16 years after the death of the actor who played the title character.

The British series Silent Witness has had no shortage of bodies to provide forensic challenges ever since it debuted in 1996. The Bbc-produced show will celebrate its 25th season sometime in 2022. Another British series, Midsomer Murders, is close behind with 24 seasons and counting.

On this side of the pond, Law and Order: SVU has been on duty since 1999 and carrying on the franchise from the original Law and Order which aired from 1990 to 2010, a very decent run in itself.

In this land of ice, snow, murder and mayhem, the uncontested champion of crime shows is the turn of the 20th century drama Murdoch Mysteries which enters its 15th season this year. It’s been among the most popular dramatic series on CBC since the peoples’ broadcaster picked it up in 2013.

Crime shows are of course ubiquitous, international and come in a bewildering variety of formats, styles, tones and topics. A study by The Hollywood Reporter found that cop shows comprise 20 per cent of all scripted shows and are by far the most popular genre of programming.

Of course, what has changed everything in terms of access to crime series - or any type of programming for that matter - is the on-demand and streaming revolution.

What is also obvious is that periods of COVID-19 confinement have had a major impact on streaming subscriptions. There’s been a leap of an average 20-30 per cent for the 26 streaming channels available in Canada during the first year of the pandemic. Growth tapered off last year, say the analysts, as viewers became saturated with content.

For fans of cops, coroners, prosecutors and procedurals, streaming and ondemand cable are a dream come true if you are willing to shell out for the subscriptions or blitz through as many series as you can during a free monthly or weekly trial.

There’s another thing that’s changed the world of crime T V - subtitles. Thanks to the genius of captioning - which is a legal requirement of broadcasting regulators programming from around the planet in dozens of languages is available to those who don’t mind following the action while reading the dialogue.

Subtitles are all but essential for most crime shows, in particular anything set in Scotland, where the dialogue, though nominally in English, is about as comprehensible as Swedish or Swahili.

District 13, alas, is not currently available with English subtitles. That would change, however, if and when it gets picked up by one of the big streaming players.

THE RECORD EDITORIAL

en-ca

2022-01-17T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-17T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://sherbrookerecord.pressreader.com/article/281595243898300

Alberta Newspaper Group