Entertainment Weekly* has a bit in this week’s issue called “Naval Gazing: Gillian Flynn tries – very hard – to figure out NCIS’s popularity.” I laughed, because (as I’ve admitted before) I actually enjoy this show quite a bit.
Ms. Flynn says:
Ouch!
She’s right, though. Although I found JAG pretty unwatchable, I enjoy NCIS, which is presented in a more cartoony style, such that the complete implausibility of the science (there’s a tiny bit of saliva in the tiny bit of fiber stuck to this tiny piece of duct tape – it shouldn’t take more than five minutes to extract the DNA and come up with a suspect!), I just hang out and enjoy the ride. It helps, as Ms. Flynn points out, that the characters are all extremely likeable (unlike, say, oh, CSI).
Last night’s episode was completely typical – to the usual experience of it being 8:55 with the crime unsolved, so I think “oh, this must be a two-parter” – only to have them wrap up the entire story (including a flashback montage of how the bad guy dunnit) in 2.5 minutes flat.