I'm a sucker for a fun, British mystery TV show.
Caught the bug back in the early 90s, with a show called "Inspector Morse."
Crochety, inconsiderate, prone to rash judgments, and far-too-fond of adult beverages, Morse nonetheless managed to riddle out the puzzle of whodunit every episode - in a manner that typically involved frustrating and confounding both his partners and superiors.
The writing was whip-smart, the acting most excellent, and the setting - Oxford, with its hallowed halls and ancient byways - superb.
Since then, Charlotte and I have gone down the rabbit hole of many other similar series.
We both lean towards tales with a light-hearted twist. Some of my current favorite shows, still in production include:
- Midsomer Murders
- Murdoch Mysteries
- Death in Paradise
- Endeavour (a younger, somewhat less cynical Morse)
Our current binge-focus is "Father Brown," a priest who solves crimes in a rural English village back in the 1950s.
Frankly this show took me a bit to warm up to, but now that we're into Season 7, I'm definitely coming around.
Now the "mystery" as to who actually committed "murder most foul" is rarely all that surprising.
The writers have honed the formula down to finely tuned precision.
Early on in every episode it's clearly obvious who DIDN'T do it - and discerning the actual DO-ER ain't that difficult.
But offsetting the ease in ferreting out the killer is the joy you get from spending time with the characters.
They're all well-drawn, quirky, and full of attitudes and opinions about life and one another.
The interplay between them as they go through their paces in solving the crime is what makes this show fun.
Because figuring out "WhoDunIt" - while intriguing and admittedly sometimes challenging - takes a backseat to the joy of simply watching these characters do their thing.
And they simply do odd, unexpected, INTERESTING things - like fake their own deaths... allow themselves to be poisoned... prepare meals for their kidnappers... and so on.
THAT is why I keep watching.
And THAT is why your prospect will also keep paying attention to your webinar... your sales letter... your landing page... your email...
Because, as Dan Kennedy put it, one of the things that made him such an effective copywriter was his ability to "say interesting things in interesting ways."
It's one of my favorite rules-o-thumb gut-checks when it comes to putting pen to page and writing flat-out...
"Am I saying interesting things in interesting ways?"
It's KILLER advice.
Write Faster. Write Better. Right Now.
- Jack Turk
"World's Fastest Copywriter"