While the Zen mysteries follow the formula of crimes that can be solved in 90 minutes, the series's broader theme is a departure for "Masterpiece" as well, as Zen tries to maneuver his way around corruption in his own department and the government, with conflicting pressure from all sides in the cases at hand.
Fincham also gently disagreed with Kevin Spacey's MacTaggart lecture the previous evening, in which the House of Cards actor argued for Netflix's model of allowing fans to binge on multiple episodes of shows online, pointing to the successful formula of hit crime series Broadchurch.
A larger problem is that the show is neither here nor there, caught between serialized, high-concept idiosyncrasy — the specialty of its creator, Bryan Fuller ("Wonderfalls," "Pushing Daisies") — and the formulas of episodic crime drama.
"Fox's editorial formula was a three-legged stool of crime, sex and sport," Deford writes.
The resultant formulae produce numbers of crimes and crime rates for neighborhoods with upwards of 90percentt accuracy in most cases.
And "Ocean's 13" perpetuated a formula of stagnant antihero plus interchangeable crimes, locations and dames.
Inspired by Chicago's "Ceasefire" model, the hybrid formula of Minority Report-style pre-crime mediation and outreach programs has been rebranded as "Cure Violence," an alternative approach for New York's toughest streets.
The most talented of crime writers work, like Michael Connelly, with genre formulas as poets work with "fixed" yet malleable forms like sonnets and sestinas; they put their signatures on the archetype.
Somerfield was very conscious that the News of the World's traditional formula of lurid court reporting and sensational crime stories – a formula that had changed little in 100 years – appeared increasingly dated in an increasingly affluent and consumerist Britain.
Mr. Kennedy claims that Mr. Dunne's work is biased by what he calls Mr. Dunne's formula of "linking powerful people to notorious crimes".
