"Law & Order" itself may be running out of juice: the original was axed on the verge of its becoming television's longest-running drama (it tied but did not surpass "Gunsmoke"); "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which NBC shares with USA to split costs, is in its final season, and though "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is the fourth-place network's highest-rated drama, that is not saying much these days. (It finished 44th last year.)
Still, looking again over his episodes, it's clear that there are some actors who can live in creator Dick Wolf's universe more comfortably than others — sincere Sam Waterston and wry Jerry Orbach are the prime examples — and that much of what makes for success there is the ability to distract the viewer from the fact that, underneath its veneer of naturalism, the franchise is heavily stylized, with a tendency toward corn and cliché. The short scenes that are its building blocks leave little room for casual talk, and the series runs on speeches, sermons and tough-guy quips. "If the STDs don't get you, the blunt-force trauma will."
Commentary and analysis on American politics, culture, and national identity, U.S. foreign policy and international relations, and the state of education - from a neoconservative perspective! - Keeping an eye on the communist-left so you don't have to!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
'Law and Order'
Before I started full-time at LBCC, I was fanatical about "Law and Order." Basically, all through the 1990s. I'd watch on NBC and TNT, and some of the other franchises were on USA. But I couldn't stay up until 11:00pm on most Wednesdays in the early 2000s, so I lost my mojo. Anyway, this Los Angeles Times piece argues that the entire Dick Wolf enterprise could be on the way out soon, "Critic's Notebook: A new order in 'Law & Order: L.A.'":
I was excited to see D'Onofrio back on L&O:CI this season - but man have these scripts, acting, and direction been really bad - really excruciating to watch. A real shame to see it go down in flames.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly I thought the show nothing but leftist claptrap hidden by "straw-man" arguments. The cops were always very quick to jump to conclusions that the facts, at least presented, did not support in many cases.
ReplyDeleteI had to stop watching it because I was always yelling at the screen. Next time you watch this POS pay attention to how things are connected and the biases that run through the whole series.