The Annie Le case is ripe for a procedural drama

I would like to speak to you in two voices: that of a normal citizen of the world, and the other as a network/program executive. As the normal citizen of the world, the murder of Annie Le by suspect Raymond Clark III is a tragedy on all sides. Annie was a young woman, full of promise, about to get married, whose life was snuffed, allegedly, by a man who seemed so nice to others but was an apparent tyrant in the labs that Le worked in. It’s just another example of a society that doesn’t respect life on this planet.

As the network/program executive, the Annie Le murder is a perfect case for a procedural drama!

It has all the elements that you would find in a procedural on television today. There’s the victim, whose life was taken just as she was about to be married; the suspect, who seemed all white bread and innocent, but was allegedly an obsessive, angry individual; and a number of friends and family who feel that the suspect could have never performed such a heinous act. If it all sounds familiar to you, it’s because you’ve seen it on one, or many, television shows over the years.

I guess the most obvious question is when one of the dramas is going to rip this from the headlines, and which one it will be. The scenario would fit in any of the Law & Order or CSI series, as well as The Closer. It would also fare well on Criminal Minds. It wouldn’t work on Bones because the story would have to be manipulated in order to provide a unrecognizable body for the Squint Squad to put back together. It would work on NCIS only if it had a Naval or Marine focus.

That’s what I think as the network/program executive. As the normal citizen I find the last two paragraphs disgusting to even think about. And yet, there’s no doubt that the executives are thinking about this already and getting their writers working on a plot. So goes the world.

Clacked by Richard Keller
on Sep 19, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT