tv series with no story arc...

[zombie no.one]

one thing I've noticed about a lot (if not most) tv series from the 70s and 80s is how there is basically zero story arc running over the course of a series.

take TJ HOOKER, THE A TEAM, KNIGHT RIDER, THE BIONIC WOMAN, THE FALL GUY, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE '88, etc etc... all of these seem to operate in terms of self-contained episodes. you could theoretically watch episodes of any series of the above in any order.

the only time there would really be a continuation of a particular storyline would be in the occasional 'two-part episode'

not sure why, but I personally really like this.

are there any tv series from the 2000s which adopt this approach? it all seems to be about the story arc and 'character development' from episode to episode now, which puts me off.

[Alex]

I've not watched them all, but the Dr Who episodes I have seen seem to have dumped the longer running story lines they had when I was a kid for a more monster of the week approach.

Pretty much any cop show I've seen. They might have the occasional theme that pops up a couple of times but no grand story line running through them (NCIS etc, although again I only see the occasional episode so I could be missing things).

[zombie no.one]

I've not watched them all, but the Dr Who episodes I have seen seem to have dumped the longer running story lines they had when I was a kid for a more monster of the week approach.

Pretty much any cop show I've seen. They might have the occasional theme that pops up a couple of times but no grand story line running through them (NCIS etc, although again I only see the occasional episode so I could be missing things).

ah, I've basically tuned out of cop type series... didn't they remake HAWAII FIVE-0? think I did actually see a few eps of that and yeah they seemed to be of the self-contained variety. (rubbish tv though... thought it was pants)

[Trevor]

I've not watched them all, but the Dr Who episodes I have seen seem to have dumped the longer running story lines they had when I was a kid for a more monster of the week approach.

Pretty much any cop show I've seen. They might have the occasional theme that pops up a couple of times but no grand story line running through them (NCIS etc, although again I only see the occasional episode so I could be missing things).

ah, I've basically tuned out of cop type series... didn't they remake HAWAII FIVE-0? think I did actually see a few eps of that and yeah they seemed to be of the self-contained variety. (rubbish tv though... thought it was pants)

The first three seasons of HAWAII FIVE O were good and the pilot was quite violent for TV. It tried to bring in people from the original series - Steve McGarret is now the son of a top Hawaii police officer, Kono is the niece of the original character, Danny is a former New York cop etc - and was focused on creating something different with the fearsome Wo Fat being played not only by a Hawaiian native but also portrayed as very dangerous.

Unfortunately it fell off after a while and jumped the shark when two of the main cast members left after a pay dispute and the writers killed off Wo Fat, substituting him with a Trevor clone running around with a machine pistol. 😳

It was good while it lasted.

[claws]

I quit watching TV in the mid-2000s so I wouldn't know of any 2000s series with no story arc. I did ask AI and it gave me this:

1. Light-Hearted Action & Adventure

Burn Notice (2007–2013): While there is an overarching background mystery about why the protagonist was blacklisted as a spy, every single episode is a completely standalone "client of the week" rescue/fix-it mission. It channels the exact breezy, high-action, problem-of-the-week energy of 80s classics like The A-Team or The Fall Guy. 

Leverage (2008–2012): Think of it as a modern, tech-savvy Mission: Impossible crew operating as modern-day Robin Hoods. They pull off an elaborate heist or con to rescue an everyday person from a corrupt villain in every episode. While the characters grow slightly over time, you can drop into almost any episode cold and enjoy the caper. 

2. Detective & Procedural Mysteries

Monk (2006–2014): A brilliant eccentric detective solves a completely self-contained murder mystery every week. Aside from a very loose emotional baseline, continuity is practically non-existent—characters don't drastically change, and the status quo is strictly maintained. 

Psych (2006–2014): A hyper-comedic spin on the classic detective formula where a slacker pretends to be a psychic to solve crimes with the police. It is fiercely episodic, focusing purely on 80s pop culture references, witty banter, and a standalone whodunit every week. 

House, M.D. (2004–2012): Take a procedural cop show, strip away the badges, and put it in a hospital. Every week follows the exact same bulletproof formula: a patient falls mysteriously ill, House and his team throw out wild diagnostic theories, nearly kill the patient twice, and miraculously figure out the rare disease in the final ten minutes. 

Classic Crime Procedurals (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU): The 2000s golden era of network procedurals built their entire empires on self-contained stories. You can turn on an episode of NCIS or CSI halfway through season 5 or season 9, watch a crime get investigated and solved in 42 minutes, and turn it off without ever needing to know what happened last week.