[thetallstick]

It's also my favorite background noise while working. The only problem is I keep getting distracted as I see new things.

It's funny how much more character development shows had back then. For example Columbo talking to a parking attendant about something random that has absolutely nothing to do with the case. Or scenes of people walking down hallways, not saying anything, just strolling. I like the slow pace so much more than today's TV.

[GekkePrutser]

Also today's shows always feel so overblown. Crack investigative teams operating from luxury offices that could double as a nightclub, wisecracking all day. Earplug 'comms' with unlimited range. Explosions and gunshots in every episode.

Real police work is not like this. I feel like the shows of the 70s were a lot more realistic. Columbo, Hill Street blues etc.

Even though Columbo was not really a realistic depiction of detective work, it did make it feel like work and not just competence porn.

Then in the 80s the whizzbang started with Miami Vice and its blue night skies, cops driving Ferraris etc.

The good shows these days take a step back from this. Like The Wire. But must of them are just fluff IMO.

[dTal]

Possibly this is an American phenomenon? I can recommend the British show Happy Valley for a very realistic depiction of police work, that is no less tense and dramatic for it.