Why this influx of police/detective/spy shows featuring lead characters with a mental quirk???

[dixiegrrrrl]

These are three I can think of and I know I have heard of more...

Monk: lead character features his obsessive-compulsive disorder and a variety of phobias
Homeland: lead character is bi-polar AND goes off her meds from time to time.
The Bridge: lead character has Asperger's syndrome

[CBGLuthier]

1. Sherlock Holmes was a coke fiend who (seemed to) hate women.

Nothing really new.

[Orrex]

2. Influx?

Monk started in 2002!

The quirky investigator has a long history in literature, famously including Sherlock Holmes.


Perhaps the belief is that these quirks impart some kind of magical abilities that neurotypical characters don't possess?

[bemildred]

3. Old as the hills really, this sort of thing. It's Show Biz. You gotta have a gimmick. nt

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Perception, Unforgetable...

Makes it interesting-- real detectives lead boringly normal lives.

[Thor_MN]

5. Monk has been over for almost 4 years now

but you could substitute
Perception: where Eric McCormack plays a crime solving neuroscientist (that is often hallucinating) sidekick to a federal agent.

Add Psyche: where cop's son with freaky memory and observation skills aids the Santa Barbara police

Buddy cop shows needed some variety, so now a buddy is someone with unique abiliities that becomes so valued they travel to crime scenes with the LEOs, while somehow supporting themselves in some other manner.

That opens it up for Castle: where Nathan Fillion (one of my favorite actors) plays a mystery novelist that helps an investigative team solve crimes.

[ananda]

6. Poirot was pretty quirky too.

I like these kinds of characters. They're
really interesting that way.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Monk has been off air for 4 years...but ripping off Sherlock Holmes for profit is

a beloved show biz tradition. Detective with quirks and flaws and seemingly superior powers. Holmes.

[JHB]

8. Dragnet: Joe Friday was anal retentive

Why does it happen? Probably because most police work is D U L L, and they need some "twist" to mix into the same old stuff.

[LWolf]

9. The protagonist is supposed to be

somehow smarter than the average bear. The "quirks" set them apart from the average, and somehow manage to give them unique insight or perspective that helps them to solve cases faster or better than others.

How about "Perception," where the protagonist is an unmedicated schizophrenic?

Of course, D'Onofrio's detective for "Criminal Intent" was Holmes-like and possibly a bit autistic.

Then there are the influx of Holmes himself, in both movies and TV.

The original Holmes was decidedly "quirky," and so are his re-creations.

"Criminal Minds" has a resident genius who also has some Asperger's like characteristics.

I'm sure there are more; there are so many crime/cop/detective/spy shows out there these days that I can't keep up with them. I don't spend that much time on tv.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. D'Onofrio's acting/role left me twitchy

He came across as so wired.
I prefer the various renditions of Holmes, who sat and thought a lot...lol.

[LWolf]

14. "twitchy," lol.

I agree. I had this compulsion to reach through the screen, put a hand on his shoulder, and say, "breathe."

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Oh god, not just me then.

I have the same feeling about the woman on Homeland, who is trying to act a role of being "crazy" but all she ends up doing is making bigger and bigger eyes and grimaces.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. They ran through a lot of quirks in the 70's, too.

Blind Detective
Old Detective
Bald Detective
Fat Detective

[Bertha Venation]

21. Wheelchair-bound Detective

Which they are reviving this fall.

[The River]

12. Just Preparing Us

for the the eventual rise and deployment of "Thought Police".
It won't seem too out of place when viewers are conditioned
to seeing them as good-guy type crime fighters who
would never use their abilities for evil.

Since when does science fiction ever become reality?????

[Recursion]

13. House, too

Last edited Wed Aug 7, 2013, 02:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Mental illness can be interesting for writers because it lets them comment on things most people don't ever notice.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. I wish the writers would tell him

he is using that cane on the wrong side of his body.

Isn't House also munching down a lot of pain pills?
Dry?
On an empty stomach?

[Recursion]

17. I saw an interview with Laurie about the cane

He was told how to use one on the first episode and decided House would deliberately use it the more painful way.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Ok..that goes on the list of quirks...

Seems unnecessary tho, unless he wanted to really exaggerate the limp.

[MrScorpio]

19. And there was that detective who dressed up like a bat... nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. ahhh...the "exhibitionist" genre...

how about that crimefighter who had an unusual attachment to spiders?
.....or was it the other way around?