7 Crime Shows That Have Aged Like Milk

We’ve all been in this situation before. You curl up on the coach, teeing up your favorite streaming service for a night of binging one of the classic crime shows from a bygone era. You settle in, popcorn and wine on deck, and press play, ready for a night of reliving nostalgia. Then, 30 minutes into the series, you begin to realize that the protagonist of your “classic” crime show is basically a walking HR nightmare, and you go searching for something that will be easier to watch.

This is the unfortunate fate of some of the shows that were once destined to become classics. Shows that once felt edgy and gritty now feel dated and problematic, according to today’s standards. Whether it’s the glorification of “cowboy” policing, or true-crime documentaries that feel more exploitative than groundbreaking, these crime shows didn’t age like a fine wine from Napa, but more like sour milk that sat on the porch for a week with the sun beaming down on it. So, let’s look at the shows that prove that “law and order” can sometimes become stale.

’24’ (2001–2014)

In the 2000s, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was the man that protected America from the terrorists. Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 premiered two months after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and the show ushered in a new age for crime shows as it moved away from the “crime-of-the-week” formula in exchange for high-concept television that was high-stakes, and provided high-drama. Each season of 24 focused on a single day in which Bauer and the FBI must investigate and stop a terrorist attack on the homeland. Back in the 2000s, this was an exciting and genre-bending premise; however, the veneer of 24 has dulled greatly in recent years.

For starters, while 24 focused on terrorism as its central plot, it was often accused of glorifying torture and illegal government surveillance, the latter of which became an issue in real life with the public as the War on Terror dragged on. 24 is also not fondly looked on for the way it portrayed Muslim characters, often stereotyping them as terrorists, along with the fact that the series ran too long. After the fifth season, the quality of the show dropped substantially as its terrorist-heavy, post-9/11 themes began to grow stale among an audience that was clamoring for something fresher. While older viewers may still look at 24 as a groundbreaking series, to those who grew up after its peak, and even those who were around during its original run, its themes and tropes have certainly aged like curdled milk.

‘Cops’ (1989–Present)

After the murder of George Floyd in the Summer of 2020, Americans began to re-think what they thought of law enforcement, both in how they interact with the public, and how they’re portrayed on television. This reckoning is what led to the cancellation of Cops, a longtime fixture of Saturday nights on Fox that was the vanguard of the reality TV genre. Born out of the writer’s strike of 1989, Cops became a hit among audiences with its portrayal of cops as they busted the bad guys and served their communities. The show blew open the notion that Saturday nights was a “death spot” in the TV lineup, and the action on the screen was often exciting.

But looking at the show from a modern lens, Cops was a very problematic show in which its high ratings help hide its poorly aged concepts. A large portion of the people profiled on the show were often people of color, who were highlighted as criminals who were the scourge of society. Cops also normalized police brutality, as the show framed violent arrests and the harsh treatment of suspects as justified, a thinking that changed dramatically after the death of numerous African American individuals at the hands of the police. While Cops was truly groundbreaking, kicking off the reality TV format that would only grow in subsequent years, Cops is nothing more than police propaganda in the face of other reality shows such as On Patrol Live, a similar show that shows police in real-time and gives a more honest look at policing.

‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ (1993–2001)

This one hurts, as this author is a huge fan of Walker, Texas Ranger, and remains so to this day. However, while I’m still a huge fan of this crime procedural, even I can’t help but notice how poorly the show has aged. Inspired by the 1983 film Lone Wolf McQuade, the crime drama stars Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker, a member of the Texas Ranger who, along with his partner, James “Jimmy” Trivette (Clarence Gilyard), help solve crimes and bring criminals to justice in the Rangers’ Dallas-Fort Worth division. Airing in syndication, Walker, Texas Ranger became a hit among viewers during its initial run, and has maintained its popularity in the years after it left first-run status in 2001.

Having said that, there are a number of issues that have made this show age poorly. For starters, Walker, Texas Ranger feels very predictable, thanks to its “attack first, ask questions later” format that it followed with religion, with Cordell being portrayed as a “Super Ranger” with near impossible immunity to physical harm, even though he inflicted a lot of harm on criminals. Then there’s the production quality, which looked a bit campy even during its original run, but it’s even more obvious today. In many of the action scenes, you can clearly see Norris’ stunt double, and the many mistakes that are made, such as clearly-damaged cars repairing themselves in between scenes. While many longtime viewers could possibly get past those examples, what modern viewers can’t get past is how the show clearly justifies excessive policing, to the point that some viewers now view Walker, Texas Ranger as a “conservative law enforcement fantasy” that has aged the show quite poorly according to today’s standards.

‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ (2000–2015)

Back at the turn of the millennium, TV viewers were becoming increasingly interested in forensic science, especially when it came to solving cases. This was thanks to CBS’ highly stylistic crime procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a show that would go on to launch an entire franchise that would become the bedrock of the network’s crime procedural programming. The original CSI premiered in 2000, and took a different take on the typical crime series, focusing on a team of crime scene investigators who use physical evidence and forensic science to solve murders in Las Vegas. The science the CSI team used was high-tech and looked cool to viewers, with the show having an outsized effect on the real world use of forensic evidence.

The downside, now, is that a lot of what was portrayed in the original CSI was very inaccurate. The show drastically exaggerated the capabilities of forensic technicians, making them look like detectives when, in reality, they’re not. As aforementioned, the “CSI Effect” wound up having a negative impact on the judicial system in real life, with juries often demanding excessive forensic evidence for convictions, which was impossible to do. This was corrected in later versions of the franchise, but they couldn’t fix the tone and style of the original CSI, with its highly stylized nature aging the show rapidly in subsequent years.

‘Worst Roommate Ever’ (2022–Present)

For a show that premiered in 2022, Netflix’s true-crime documentary Worst Roommate Ever has surely aged poorly in its short stint on the streaming service. Directed by Domini Hofmann and Cynthia Childs, the series tells stories of roommates who turned the lives of their unsuspecting victims upside down. This is a show that would make one think twice about taking in a roommate, but it’s also garnered a lot of criticism for the way it tells its horror stories. While the show’s originally aim was to highlight how some people can hide their malevolent tendencies, Worst Roommate Ever feels less like a cautionary tale, and more like a show that uses the “bad roommate” dynamic for entertainment purposes.

When you watch an episode of Worst Roommate Ever, the first thing that stands out is how sensationalist the series feels, almost like the story an episode is telling is “hyped up” for shock and entertainment value. Using a sensational tone has rubbed some viewers the wrong way, with the tone being inappropriate given the nature of the crimes committed, which often ends in death and long-lasting trauma for the victims who endured it. Also, some feel as though the show’s title itself is misleading. While most people see a “bad roommate” as someone who doesn’t pay their fair share of bills on-time, or leaves their living space a mess, the people portrayed in Worst Roommate Ever are actual criminals that go beyond the “bad roommate” label. You don’t get a deeper understanding of how America’s legal system allows these situations to happen; instead, you get a crime documentary that’s focusing on “scaring” the viewer and nothing else, ensuring that Worst Roommate Ever will surely age like spoiled milk.

‘Hill Street Blues’ (1981–1987)

There is zero doubt that the NBC police drama Hill Street Blues is a groundbreaking show that changed how crime shows were made. Created by Steven Bocho and Michael Kozoll, the series created the template for the modern prestige drama, with serialized storylines and overlapping dialogue now becoming a staple of modern day crime shows. However, as revolutionary as the series is, it hasn’t escaped the ravages of times, and there are a combination of things that have made Hill Street Blues age poorly when looked at from today’s cultural lens.

While TV culture was different in the 1980s, the way Hill Street Blues portrayed race and gender is very outdated, as people of color were often seen as criminals or the poor underclass, and casual sexism was the norm. Hill Street Blues also falls under the “Seinfeld is unfunny” phenomenon, in which the techniques that the series popularized have been refined and made better by other shows. Because of this, the show feels chaotic, derivative, and more of a product of its time instead of being the genre-changing series that it is. While it’s OK to still look at Hill Street Blues as a trailblazing crime series, its flaws have certainly made the series age more poorly than most people realize.

‘Law & Order’ (1990–Present)

As mentioned earlier, the cultural perception of law enforcement has changed significantly since the death of George Floyd in 2020, which wasn’t regulated to real world policing, but also to how it was portrayed on television. Suddenly, shows like the iconic Law & Order, created by the legendary Dick Wolf, weren’t looked at as a trailblazing crime series, but one with problematic elements that modern viewers simply can’t dismiss. Just to be clear, Law & Order helped advance the modern prestige crime drama Hill Street Blues brought into vogue in 1981. It was a series that focused on the totality of the justice system, from the detectives who investigate and arrest criminals, to the prosecutors who bring cases to trial, and it helped make Law & Order a powerhouse franchise for NBC.

But with the shifting cultural landscape policing, the cases looked at in Law & Order, which were pulled from existing headlines, don’t feel quite as satisfying as it once did. This is also thanks to how the show portrays the police, as the series is staunchly “pro police,” and portrays the detectives within the series as heroes, making the show feel less like entertainment and more like propaganda. This is not to say that Law & Order is a bad show, far from it; but being a fan also means pointing out its flaws, and the fact of the matter is that this is a show that certainly had flaws that have made it age less like wine and more like milk.