Why do people watch police procedural shows?

I can’t stand most of them. The only police show I’ve watched from season to season is Dexter, and it doesn’t really fit in with the shows you mention.

The one I hate is Law and Order: Criminal Intent. At the end of every episode, the over dramatic lead detective always coerces a confession out of the murderer

I find it interesting how criminals screw up and get caught. I’m filing all their errors away. You never know when this information will come in handy.

My favorite is Law and Order: SVU. Well, back when Benson and Stabler were partners – now it sucks, as do the other versions of Law and Order.

I also love shows like Jail and Lockup where they show inside jails and prisons. Beyond Scared Straight is pretty good, too.

I’m interested in (and currently studying) criminal justice, so that could be why I like these shows. They are quite entertaining. Human interest, I guess.

I think there’s something in our DNA that’s attracted to crime and equally attracted to the methodical process of solving it. Characters like Sam Spade, Perry Mason, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Colombo, and of course the ever-popular Sherlock Holmes and movies and TV shows to numerous to list allow us to indulge in those urges. Crime pays on TV, and such contemporary shows as Law and Order and CSI are really just updates of series from previous decades including Arrest and Trial, which itself is a modern take on the famous movie M and Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

I told a cop once that myself (a doctor) and himself were living the dream! We could tell because the most popular dramas were far and away law enforcement, followed by a distant second at medical dramas.
It represents what people want. They don’t want to spend their entire professional life pushing paper. They want tangible evidence that what they did mattered. And both those fields at least hold the promise of experiencing those tangible rewards. Also: pushing a lot of paper.
So they watch those shows to feel what it is like to professionally matter.

@chyna I keep out of state license plates in my trunk. As I tell my wife, you never know when one day you’ll wake up and find out you’re a fugitive.

@drhat77 If shows like Law and Order and House were realistic depictions of the day-to-day lives of those in law enforcement and medicine, no one would watch them. No career is as awesome as it looks on TV.

Can’t speak for others. For me it’s the classic good vs evil battle. I also like listening to people who are smarter than me.

I want to solve the puzzle before the detective/forensic scientist does. Murder mysteries FTW.

Great question. I hate them. I have never understood why each one has to come in several flavours, either.

However, I have started watching a UK police procedural from a few years back called Life on Mars – the twist being that the main character has apparently travelled back in time to the 1970s (meanwhile, he’s actually in a coma) and is having to deal with police corruption and brutality being the norm… and it has a kickass soundtrack. But there are only two short seasons, thankfully. No chance of an interminable run or a zillion mimeographed spinoffs.

And yeah. I haven’t started watching Castle yet, but I suppose it’s inevitable. He’s just so shiny.

I’m with @Seek_Kolinahr, I like the mystery, the cool machines, the details leading to the solution of the crime. Most of us have never and will never be a part of that world, so it’s kind of neat.

My favorite is Law and Order: SVU. Well, back when Benson and Stabler were partners – now it sucks, as do the other versions of Law and Order.

My thoughts exactly!
I still watch old episodes on Netflix. I haven’t bothered with the last couple of seasons.