In today’s pop-culture climate, there is no shortage of shows depicting the American criminal justice system. In the 2015–2016 season, thirteen of the top fifty shows on broadcast network television (based on viewership) were crime dramas or police procedurals. Thirteen new network shows of the 2016–2017 season have some kind of criminal justice element. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is currently the longest-running scripted, non-animated U.S. primetime series, followed closely by NCIS, another procedural. The public’s fascination with the criminal justice system is thus reflected in these media sensations. 

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