More often now than ever, the plots of some television shows reveal themselves too quickly. As… More often now than ever, the plots of some television shows reveal themselves too quickly. As early as 10 minutes into a show, naming the killer, the secret or whatever the big climax is going to be often isn’t that hard. Being right about the plot can sometimes be exciting, but usually having this easily gained knowledge is just annoying.

Television shows are running out of new ideas, continually revisiting the same old plots to bring about some conflict. Sometimes the contrived plot can lead to something remarkable, as evidenced by many of the devices used on “Sex and the City.” Charlotte’s relationship with her divorce lawyer and Miranda’s pregnancy are merely a few examples of trite plot ideas given a successful new life by the show’s writers. Most shows aren’t like “Sex and the City,” though, and often their typical plots fall flat, leaving the viewer unsatisfied with the show.

Crime shows usually have the easiest plots to guess. With so many shows of that type, every twist and turn has already been explored. It is easy to see that anyone arrested 15 minutes into the show most likely isn’t the guilty party; after all, there are 45 minutes of the show left. With three versions of “Law ‘ Order” and a slew of other similar shows, it merely becomes part of a formula to predict what the conclusion is going to be.

Only rarely does a crime show produce a large shock value by turning all that the viewer believes into dust. “The Practice” displayed this best in its final season in 2004 when guest star Patrick Dempsey received a not-guilty verdict that appeared to be deserved until his lawyer and friend, played by James Spader, found the hidden murder weapon in Dempsey’s old backyard tree house during the final moments of the episode.

One of the shows most guilty of using the contrived plot is “CSI: NY.” Every time, it seems as if two of the crimes that the investigators are working on during an episode just happen to be connected to each other. One of the episodes connected two murders that were completely unrelated at first glance. One death was a man killed by a small splinter of wood after having collapsed in the middle of a New York City festival, and the other was a man found in Central Park with his head severed. The two murders led the investigators to a company that promotes fighting to stimulate competition.

In the scheme of things, it is hard to believe that, even in a city as large as New York, there could be two murders magically connected every week, especially two crimes committed at opposite ends of the city. “CSI: NY” tries to tie the murders together to make its episodes interesting, but a tactic used more than once in a season isn’t fascinating at all.

The New York version of this show is trying to distance itself from its predecessors, but instead the show strays from the blueprint that makes the original “CSI” and its Miami version so enjoyable.

Dramas get hit the worse with trite plot devices. Dramatic shows, especially those that explore premarital sex, almost always include a pregnancy scare. Shows on The WB like “7th Heaven” are guilty of this. When in a tight spot, a pregnancy scare is sure to bring the needed amount of drama. The WB show “Everwood” went the extra step, having the main character’s girlfriend disappear pregnant only to reemerge with news of the child putting the main character in a tailspin.

These moments leave other TV dramas in an awkward position. Every preview for “Gilmore Girls” that involves a big secret leads many to assume that the main character’s pregnancy is inevitable. While a pregnancy scare for Lorelai, one of the other main characters, has occurred on the show, an actual pregnancy has yet to appear. Time will test whether the show’s integrity will keep it that way. After all, when ratings get rough, networks will go to extreme lengths to ensure that viewers are glued to their sets.

Some people believe that there are only 10 different plots and that most stories are just variations of these plots, but there is a difference between making a frequently used plot fresh and simply rehashing an old plot. If TV shows continue to use old and tired plots, they’re sure to lose viewers in the process. Instead of trying to help a show recover with a “big secret,” networks should start getting creative and coming up with something else to keep viewers coming back.