Well...it's true that anthology series seem to get a green light more often on cable than broadcast, for the reasons John Lau mentioned. even when the see broadcast syndication...though some of the best crime drama we've had, though usually medium-boiled, continues to appear on broadcast televition, with the likes of THE GOOD WIFE and LIFE (for a couple of seasons) and among the series rerun by DirecTV on its Channel 101 (they have DEADWOOD and BROTHERHOOD from HBO and Showtime, but also the likes of SMITH and EYES, strangled by their broadcast nets), with the better harder stuff popping up on FX as well as AMC (themselves niche channels attempting to gather audience from the "premium" channel audiences as well as from their "basic" cable rivals such as TNT and USA, which also have some fine medium-boiled series). And on largely on Hulu, for those without cable but good web access.
And don't forget PBS (obviously, the repackaged MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! series, though some crime drama is also offered under other rubrics) and the public syndicators and the smaller broadcast/cable networks and channels such as MHz WorldView and LinkTV, which regularly or at least often feature interesting materials, usually imported to the States, some quite hardboiled indeed.
Todd Mason
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