Crime And Justice And Behavioral Analysis

Since the 1950s, the representation of crime and justice has dominated American television. According to Dowler (2016), more than 300 police dramas have been aired since the 1950s and every year new ones are created to entertain American viewers. These television series, include NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Bones, which have been aired every week on networks, such as CBS and FOX. When it comes to these series, each episode depicts a law enforcer, such as a cop, a forensics team, or an FBI team, attempting to solve a crime through the collection of evidence. With every episode, viewers are drawn into the suspenseful storyline that causes them to engage with the program as if they are law officials themselves. Shows that have these plots are called

For example, in Criminal Minds, it follows FBI profilers that work in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. The team includes various members who are highly skilled in predicting a criminal's next move. They do this by determining their suspects’ motives and emotional behaviors that might have triggered their actions. Whereas Bones follow a forensic anthropologist named Dr. Brennan, an FBI Special Agent named Booth and their team. They work together to solve crimes revolving around human remains. While NCIS follows a team from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service who investigates crimes revolving around the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps. Despite each individual show having different characters with different roles, they are still similar because each crime drama has the same end goal, which is to uncover a mystery and to capture the criminal. Furthermore, throughout every show, we get a personal insight into a main character’s life. This allows the audience to develop a personal connection to the cast. Thus, as a result of the narrative, themes, and characterization that occurs in a crime drama, it helps retain its audience and keep them coming back for

During these times, “most people are home from work and catching up with the news or their favorite shows” (Halbrooks, 2017). Furthermore, television stations are more likely to run their most successful programs between 8 PM and 11 PM because they can obtain the most money from advertisers since advertisements are more expensive during primetime. This is because “networks cannot afford to have a show during primetime that does not encourage viewers” (Halbrooks, 2017). For example, on CBS, NCIS is primarily aired on Tuesday at 8/7c and Criminal Minds was also aired on Wednesdays at 10/9c. While on FOX, Bones aired at 10/9c on Thursdays. Thus, due to the popularity of crime dramas, it has impacted program producers and distributors to think about what shows can obtain the most popularity. This has pushed many television stations to produce television series that include all the elements of a crime drama so that they can air at primetime and help maximize