And one of the things USA does so well is to turn the procedural format inside out, so that the audience is more invested in the characters than in the outcome of the case.

DeKay: Each episode, the bad guy or girl is simply the vehicle to allow us to have banter. Like the other shows, they’re all Characters Welcome. I feel very fortunate to be an actor on a network whose tag line is Characters Welcome and not Procedurals Welcome.

Macht: Ours was [procedural], and as we’re going into Season 2, it’s becoming a lot more serialized. The cases do reflect what we’re dealing with in our lives, which makes it so much more palatable.

Gugino: There’s nothing wrong with a procedural; it’s a good construct. But people promise you that they will be character driven and they’re not, so it’s so refreshing when they are.

Macht: It’s hard to give exposition without really caring about what’s going on inside. And that’s what our writers do really well.

DeKay: I see on other procedurals, the amount of exposition they have to give out …

Macht: And how dry it becomes.

DeKay: I commend them greatly, because it’s very difficult.

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