I’m caught up in the Criminal Element again. This time, I consider the case of Crossing Lines:

Crossing Lines, NBC’s ten-episode Eurocrime entry into the summer-series derby, probably sounded like a great idea in the pitch meeting. Crime! Europe! Sexy cops! Paris! Donald Sutherland! Europe! The short-run series has done great things for basic cable, and the form’s limited scope (and cost) allows a network to try something new without needing it to become a blockbuster, so this makes all kinds of business sense for NBC. But how does the series work as a story? Well…

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