Open letter to showrunners of procedurals starring actors we'd like to see shirtless
by Mandi Bierly
Categories: 'Bones', 'NCIS', News You Can Use, Sexytimes, Television
Dear showrunners,
Hi. We know you’re back in production because your Twitter updates tell us so. You’re busy breaking stories, thinking up cases that will play well in syndication and, just maybe, reveal something about your characters. Do not neglect your men’s chests. Look at what the folks at CSI: Miami have already accomplished with new addition Eddie Cibrian (pictured, courtesy of a People First Look). To stop a gunshot victim from bleeding out, he must take off his shirt and use it as a tourniquet. Totally believable. All this required was a little forethought: Presumably, his character, an officer from the Hollywood division who transfers to Miami, does not believe in belts.
We realize this shirt-as-tourniquet routine won’t work for all of you. Fans of Bones, for instance, already know that David Boreanaz’s FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth loves his “Cocky” belt buckle. Alex O’Loughlin, on his new CBS medical drama Three Rivers, plays a cardiothoracic surgeon who’ll have actual instruments that can be used to apply pressure. Get creative. Both those jobs are stressful — have them work out to relax. Then shower. Or take baths. (We’ve already seen Booth in the tub once, with his beer helmet and comic book — it’s not gratuitous to do it again; it’s continuity!)
We’ll ask our readers to suggest other ways to get your leading men shirtless, so please continue reading the comments. (Maybe Cibrian is really, really clumsy when he eats? Or perhaps he’s prone to getting residue from the crime scene on his clothing, and it has to become evidence each week? If you’re very creative, you can use that to get two men shirtless at once, like they did on NCIS when Sean Murray’s McGee had to bag and tag his top, and Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo gave him the shirt off his back rather than a fresh one from his desk.)
All our best,
PopWatch
