Perry Is Just The Beginning

I love television. I love it more than movies, more than live theater, maybe even more than pizza. And that, as anyone who knows me will tell you, is saying something.

I can’t even tell you which genre is my favorite, because I can’t pick one. But here’s one from the top of the list.

Crime Dramas. When I was a child I fell asleep every night to the theme from Perry Mason. My mother was a night owl who never missed a rerun. Later when I reached high school my siblings and I would huddle around the living room tv around midnight and watch Perry on our own. (We all remember the night when Perry’s big black phone rang and rang on his desk, with no one there to answer it, until finally our father came bursting out of the bedroom, snatched the kitchen phone off the receiver and barked “Hello?” We didn’t stop laughing for days.)

So I suppose it was my early exposure to Perry, his faithful secretary Della Street and his dapper investigator Paul Drake that got me started on crime dramas. The best thing about cutting your teeth on Perry Mason was that the series set the bar pretty high. Crimes had to be complex, suspects had to be intriguing, tension had to be high. No post-Perry viewer was going to settle for dull or obvious.

So where do you go from “Perry?”

Luckily, there are plenty of choices.

Let’s start with the basics. I refer, of course, to “Law and Order.”

Producer Dick Wolf launched his crime and punishment franchise way back in 1990. The original series set the pattern for all those that followed. In the first half of every episode, a crime is committed, and the police investigate (“Law”). In the second half, the attorneys in the DA’s office prosecute (“Order”). With 20 seasons and 456 episodes, “Law and Order” kept crime drama fans riveted for twenty years.

Dick Wolf, as television lovers know, didn’t stop with “Law and Order.” He created several other series for his franchise. The most recent- and, sadly, the most recently wrapped- was “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” L&O: SVU is so raw that it can be hard for viewers to take. Detective- eventually Captain- Olivia Benson and her team investigate the most gruesome crimes in the city: sexually based crimes, crimes against the elderly, and crimes against children. Very tough stuff, very well written, and very well played. “L&O: SVU” had such a powerful grip on its audience that it ran for 22 seasons with nearly 500 episodes.

If only “Perry Mason” had lasted that long, my dear mother would have died a happy crime fan.

Not all “L&O” chapters were so successful. There was the ghastly and notorious “Law And Order: Trial By Jury” that starred Bebe Neuwirth and Amy Carlson as a team of attorneys. “Trial By Jury” broke many of the most sacred rules of Law and Order Land: I mean, come on, Bebe Neuwirth has curly hair! There’s no curly hair in Law and Order! Everybody knows that! Naturally the series was cancelled after only one season.

So there’s a thousand-plus great crime shows right there. The trouble is, fans of great crime dramas have probably watched them all at least a couple of times by now. It was a long pandemic.

So now what?

Well, I’d say it’s time to try something a little newer. A little more contemporary. Something with a great character at its center, a detective with depth and nuance and a stunning clifftop house overlooking LA.

That’s right, reader. It’s time for “Bosch.”

Detective Harry Bosch, played by Titus Welliver (“Suits,” “Argo”), is a man with issues. The son of a prostitute, at age 12 Harry was taken away from his beloved mother and placed in an orphanage that made Oliver Twist’s crib look like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. A few years later Harry’s mother was murdered. Her body was found in a trash bin. As the series begins, her murder remains unsolved.

Grown-up Harry joins the military. He returns from Afghanistan with a nearly crippling case of PTSD. (In the books Harry is a Viet Nam vet, a former “tunnel rat.”) Later he marries Eleanor, a forensic profiler turned professional poker player (played by Sarah Clarke of “Twilight” and “24”). They have a daughter; they get divorced; Eleanor goes back to working for the FBI; Eleanor is murdered, right in front of her ex-husband.

Like I said, issues.

Bosch had at least one great stroke of luck in his life: he worked as a consultant on a major Hollywood movie called “The Black Echo.” Bosch was dissatisfied with the final film, but the gig paid him enough to buy a gorgeous Hollywood Hills house with spectacular views of LA. Much of the action in the series takes place inside this house, so you get to enjoy the view right alongside Harry. If Titus Welliver is not your idea of easy on the eyes, I promise you his house certainly will be.

“Bosch” is based on the bestselling novels of Michael Connelly. The writers of the series Bosch” combined plots from a dozen different Connelly titles to come up with the scripts. There are serial killings, drug dealers, dirty cops, and the interminable political haggling that goes hand-in-hand with big city police work. There is something in “Bosch” for everyone.

“Bosch” is so good I’m afraid to watch the last season (Season 7, available this spring). I don’t want it to be over. Dive in if you like “L.A. Gritty” style mysteries.

OK, Elissa, you’re saying to yourself about now. You took us from the old classics (Perry Mason) to the new classics (Law and Order) to the latest in L.A. noir. What else have you got?

The last series I want to recommend is something completely different.

Strictly speaking, “Fortitude” is not a crime drama. It’s a crime/horror/psychological thriller drama. In other words, it has something for everyone.

Fortitude is the name of a small Norwegian island on the edge of the Arctic Circle. In this pristine Arctic wilderness, a developer is planning to build a luxury eco-hotel, where lovers of nature with deep pockets can view the Northern Lights while spending money in the exclusive hotel. The governor of Fortitude, Hildur Odergard (Sophie Grabol, “Gentleman Jack”), is eager to see the project completed because without the hotel, the best future the island can hope for is as a forgotten weather station.

So there’s a pristine wilderness and a developer- a combination that, as any crime drama buff knows, always leads to a murder.

Stanley Tucci arrives from the London Metropolitan Police - go figure- to investigate. Do I have your attention yet? Okay, I guess I’ll have to mention the thawing mammoth carcass and the marauding polar bears and the mysterious illness that turns its victims into homicidal maniacs. If that’s not enough to grab you, well, I can’t help it if you’re tough to please.

So there’s more than enough streaming to keep crime lovers happy.

One more thing: if your head finally starts spinning with all the murders and the poisonings and the polar bears, you might want to think about refreshing your little grey cells with “An Inspector Calls.”

A classic of the British stage, “An Inspector Calls” tells the story of one night in April 1912. That’s the night when a man called Inspector Goole drops in on the wealthy Birling family to question them about the suicide of Eva Smith, a young woman whose diary mentions many members of the family. Each member of the family, we learn, had dealings with Eva that turned out badly for her. So who is responsible? And who, exactly, is Inspector Goole? J.B. Priestly’s play was first performed in 1945, but it still touches our consciences today.

Crime drama lovers, rejoice. There is an embarrassment of riches waiting for you on your streaming services. Enjoy!