The Industrial Logic of Déjà Vu: Narrative Formulas and the Screenwriter's Function

How the Culture Industry Shapes Television Storytelling

Introduction: The Sensation of the A Priori Plot

For many viewers, watching a television procedural evokes a peculiar feeling: a sense of déjà vu. An episode of CSI may echo the central puzzle of a Bones episode from a previous season. The “framed hero” arc in NCIS often feels structurally identical to one resolved in Law & Order. Critics sometimes dismiss this repetition as a sign of creative exhaustion.

This article argues otherwise. Narrative repetition in television procedurals is not a failure of creativity. It is a systemic feature of industrial media production. Standardized formulas function as risk-mitigation strategies, efficient production templates, and legible generic conventions. These conventions are shaped by the economic imperatives of the culture industry.

By combining insights from Frankfurt School theory, genre studies, narratology, and the sociology of creative labor, this study shows that plot repetition is logical within a system designed for mass production. Screenwriters are tasked not only with inventing new stories but also with executing familiar structures skillfully, ensuring both audience satisfaction and economic viability.

The Economic Imperative: Television as Culture Industry

Television production must be understood in its economic context. Theorists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer coined the term “culture industry” to describe cultural goods produced as standardized commodities for mass consumption (Adorno and Horkheimer). In this framework, innovation is risky, whereas reliable reproduction ensures profitability. Television, with high production costs and dependence on advertisers or subscribers, epitomizes this logic.

Procedural dramas are ideal commodities. Their predictable, self-contained structure makes them accessible to casual viewers, suitable for syndication, and less reliant on previous episodes. This economic demand for consistency incentivizes narrative formulas. Novel, experimental narratives are financially risky. Proven formulas, such as a “whodunnit” with a last-act twist, guarantee a baseline audience comprehension and satisfaction, securing advertising revenue or subscription retention.

This industrial logic extends globally. Licensed remakes of franchises like CSI and the international influence of genres like Nordic noir show that replicable narrative engines have universal appeal. As Jean K. Chalaby notes, formats are “conceptual skeletons” adaptable to local culture while retaining core structural formulas (Chalaby 22).

Genre as System: Repetition, Difference, and Expectation

Economic pressures shape formal genre conventions. Steve Neale argues that genres operate through processes of “repetition and difference.” A genre repeats familiar elements to be recognizable but adds variation to maintain interest. Procedurals achieve this balance. Their core structure—crime, investigation, red herrings, and resolution—manages audience expectations reliably.

This expectation management benefits both producers and viewers (Fiske 128). Yet audiences are active participants. Stuart Hall’s model of encoding/decoding demonstrates that viewers can produce oppositional readings (Hall). Jason Mittell extends this, describing the pleasure audiences find in recognizing and evaluating storytelling mechanics (Mittell 29).

Contemporary procedurals, including streaming-era examples like Mindhunter or Criminal: UK, illustrate this dynamic. While retaining procedural formulas, they often layer in stylistic or thematic variation. Audience reception data suggest these hybrid forms increase engagement without abandoning formulaic predictability.

The Deep Structure: A Proppian Morphology of the Procedural

Procedural episodes share a deep narrative structure, akin to Vladimir Propp’s 31 functions in folktales (Propp). A typical procedural maps onto a Proppian sequence:

1. Villainy or Lack (Function 8): A crime occurs, creating societal tension.
2. Mediation (Function 9): Investigators become aware of the crime.
3. Departure (Function 11): The team is dispatched to the scene.
4. The First Function of the Donor (Function 12): A helper provides critical information.
5. Struggle (Function 16): Investigators face obstacles and false leads.
6. Branding (Function 17): Key evidence identifies the true culprit.
7. Exposure (Function 27): False leads are eliminated; the villain is revealed.
8. Punishment (Function 30): Equilibrium is restored with the villain apprehended.

These steps underlie many recurring tropes, including the “framed hero,” as seen in NCIS and The Mentalist. The narrative beats remain consistent even as details—settings, characters, or minor plot twists—vary.

Audience Analytics and Reception

Industry metrics confirm the effectiveness of these formulas. Ratings data show that procedurals maintain stable viewership across demographics, while serialized shows generate high engagement among niche audiences. Hybrid formats, blending episodic closure with serialized arcs, maximize both accessibility and retention. Viewer analytics, including completion rates and streaming binge behaviors, suggest that audiences recognize and enjoy formulaic structures as part of their viewing experience.

The Screenwriter as Industrial Labour

Screenwriters operate within a highly professionalized, collaborative environment. John T. Caldwell describes “production culture” as the set of rituals, norms, and self-regulating practices that shape creative labor (Caldwell 14). Writers are tasked with executing formulas skillfully. Dick Wolf, creator of Law & Order, notes: “The wheel is not broken… It’s a closed-ended box, and most of the writers who have not been able to do it are the ones who want to do an open-ended box” (Rose).

Professional pressures reinforce adherence to formula. Mark Banks highlights that creative labor in cultural industries is often precarious, encouraging writers to rely on established structures for career survival (Banks).

Conclusion: The Art of the Formula

Narrative déjà vu is not a flaw but an industrial reality. Formulas emerge from economic necessity, genre conventions, and structural consistency. Procedural storytelling persists because it reliably satisfies audiences and sustains industrial profitability. Hybrid and streaming-era formats show that formulas evolve but remain central. The industrial logic of repetition continues to shape television, ensuring that the procedural remains both a familiar and adaptable medium.

This article was developed through an iterative collaboration between our Editor-in-Chief and multiple AI language models. Various LLMs contributed at different stages—from initial ideation and drafting to refinement and technical review. Each AI served as a creative and analytical partner, while human editors maintained final oversight, ensuring accuracy, quality, and alignment with AuthZ's editorial standards.