During the height of the terror era, networks programmed complex serialized dramas where protagonists and antagonists alike were shades of grey. But after years of missing WMDs, still-at-large terrorist masterminds and other sundry secrets and lies, TV has turned to shows about compiling clues and exposing deceivers.

“We are in a time where people sort of look for closure,” Simon Baker, the rakish star of newbie hit The Mentalist, told the Orlando Sentinel a few weeks back. “With a procedural show, you do get closure at the end of the episode.”

“Osama bin Laden, they didn’t find him,” piped in co-star Robin Tunney, “whereas procedurals, we would have gotten him, right?”

The Mentalist is now joined by Tim Roth’s similarly-themed wish-fulfillment series Lie to Me, though you might need your own sleuthing skills to tell them apart. On the former, a cop tells Baker’s smirky, super-smart, crime-solving consultant Patrick Jane, “This is not police work, this is guessing,” while on the latter, a cop tells Roth’s dour, super-smart, crime-solving consultant Dr. Lightman, “You’re just making wild guesses that have no basis in hard evidence.”

Jane’s just really observant, while Lightman’s a human lie detector who reads microexpressions — split-second shrugs, eyebrow waggles and grimaces — rather than resorting to torture. It’s a neat trick, sure, but that’s all it is. Lightman’s motto might be “truth or happiness — never both,” but the show’s unlikely to plumb its potential depths because procedural dramas are usually just about work and are as mindlessly repetitive as that sounds.

Whether set in court, hospital, or, more often than not, a police station or FBI lab — see: the CSIs, Without A Trace, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, Numb3rs, Flashpoint — procedurals eschew long-range plotting to focus on whatever the week’s generic case may be. They’re neat, tidy and endlessly repeatable — even character development is curtailed for fear of disrupting syndicated reruns.

Unlike the novelistic approach of, say, The Wire — whose beloved “Bunny” Colvin (Robert Wisdom) appears in a thankless minor role on Lie — every episode is a short story with a bow-wrapped bad guy and a climax that’s all tell, no show because an hour isn’t enough time for foreshadowing. Why should we care about who is innocent or guilty when we only met them minutes ago?

Often, we don’t even care about the interchangeable leads. Law & Order has had a revolving cast door over its 19 (!) seasons, while CSI was banking nobody would mind Lawrence Fishburne replacing William Petersen, who packed up his mega-millions and left for more creative pastures in the theatre. (Millions of fans packed it in with him though, as the show lost a chunk of its audience while holding the number one spot.)

Now, there’s nothing wrong with self-contained stories. Even serials often save their most memorable moments for one-offs — think The X-Files’ “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” Buffy’s “Once More, With Feeling,” The Sopranos’ “Pine Barrens” or Lost’s “The Constant” — but they still carried the weight of continuity so that what we’ve seen before adds nuance to what we’re seeing now. That can’t happen if every episode is essentially a reboot.

But there’s one smart-people procedural that offers more than simplistic storylines. Bones, about forensic anthropologist Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and beefy FBI agent Booth (David Boreanaz), has evolved over four seasons into a delight because the crimes take a back seat to the characters. Knowing murder cases can be repetitive — though last week’s dead conjoined circus twins was indeed an odd duck — Bones focuses its energies on the chemistry between its immensely likeable leads and strong supporting cast (including Freaks and Geeks’ John Francis Daley), hiring fun guest stars (Stephen Fry, Andy Richter) and, egads, even occasionally showing a life outside the office.

Procedurals attract many casual fans by making episodes missable, but the makers of The Mentalist and Lie To Me might be wise to note that in lieu of narrative ambition, charm can keep us loyal.

The Mentalist airs Sundays, 10pm on CTV/CBS; Lie To Me airs Wednesdays, 9pm on Global/Fox; Bones airs Thursdays, 8pm on Global/Fox