I'm a boob.
I mean, not literally, or maybe, yeah, literally, but in the sense of the way other than the way in which your dirty mind is working.
I watch TV, and thereby come by the characterization, not by gender or age driven anatomical manifestations.
I watch TV mainly because there are shows I like to watch, still,and so far.
One of my all time favorites was "Hill Street Blues." Robert Crais was a screen writer for the show. Now he writes books I like. I gave one of his novels five stars. Mostly, if I really like something, I give it a four star rating. Robert Crais does good characters. And that, I've decided, is why I liked "Hill Street" so much.
Currently, "NCIS", "Hawaii Five Oh", "Blue Bloods", and "The Good Wife" are favorites.
After thinking about it for a bit, I've decided I like "NCIS", "Blue Bloods", and "The Good Wife" because of the characters.
"Hawaii Five Oh," on the other hand, I like the music and the scenery. The characters are okay, but there are things with the script that make me ask myself, "Now how much do you like the secnery—and I'm talking Diamond Head here?" I liked the original "Five Oh," so purely in the interest of research, I went to my local B&N and asked if they had any DVDs of the original "Five Oh," and, lo, they did.
Now one of the things that I found annoying in "The Mentalist" was Red John. In my mind, he is just over done. Find him, mort him, and be done with it, I say. One of the guys I found annoying in the current "Five Oh" was invincible Wo Fat and all the stuff with McGarrett's parents.
So I got the DVDs of the third season of the original "Five Oh," expecting more credible bad guys, and who is the main bad guy in the first episode?
Guess.
If you didn't say Wo Fat, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. So I was surprised to find the one guy I bought the DVD to NOT see. I will tell you, in the original, Wo Fat is, to me, more credible. Bad guys these days are invincible. Wo Fat in the current "Five Oh" is, even though, his face is burned and he should be wearing a Phantom of the Opera Mask and he is in prison, or not, he is invincible. Red John was, and that's the main reason I stopped watching "Mentalist."
The thing is, I liked "Vegas," mostly. Character consistency was an issue, but I was willing to hang with them to get that sorted. NCIS even has that problem once in a while. If you are established, a bobble now and then is okay. But, they pulled the plug on Vegas, apparently because it appeals to old farts, not youthful belchers. New "Five Oh" has the music and scenery, and the young McGarret, instead of the old Lord, for appeal.
All of this has bearing on the question, "Who do you write for?"
Every writer has a license to write for the people in answer to the question above. Before answering that question, though, I think it's important to answer the other question.
Why do write?
The answer to that one holds the answer to how you phrase your license.