The Law & Order Franchise

[pluckyduck]

All right, lets talk Law & Order.

Law & Order is in its 12th season on NBC. It is already renewed through May 2005! I'm a huge fan of the show, having come late to it (7th season) -- but completely "caught up" (and then some) through re-runs on A & E.

Okay, so, you've got a huge hit and an (I think) unprecidented renewal contract. What do you do now? Make more shows "just" like it. (Think Dateline only better.)

Law & Order: SVU was the first Son of Law & Order. I watch it, usually, but it never really grabbed me like the first show. (I think my stomach for these "special" crimes is a little weak.)

Does anyone else accidently call the show "SUV"? I do that all the time, drive me nuts. No it is not a Pathfinder.

And now, they might have outdone themselves! I love Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Sunday nights, 9PM)

Anybody else been watching it?




The cast is really, really strong. Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays the lead detective, is sort of a Columbo for the new millenium. This has become one of those shows that I think about during the day..."Oh, good! CI is on tonight!"

My only complaint is that the writing is getting a little too predictable. Yeah, D'Onofrio's character is 10 times smarter than everyone else, but he doesn't have to be right all the time. They need to put him up against a brighter opponent or two, give him a challenge.

Does fit in with Columbo thingie though. I can't remember Peter Falk sweating too much when he was nailing the bad guys/gals.

So, what do you all think?

Andrea
who is not a cop but pretends to be one when watching TV

[emeleel]

I haven't watched Criminal Intent, although it looks interesting. I've caught a couple of snippets here and there.

But I do watch the original and SVU both and really enjoy them. It's refreshing to see a series that doesn't get bogged down in some endlessly dragged dramatic storyline that hops from one episode to the next. They keep it clean, each episode is a story unto itself. Very little politics and soap-opera-type storylines.

[kurt_messick]

I like Law and Order, and watch it every chance I get (which is rare, as I have no cable and no network tv). I hadn't realised there was so much more to it, and that it had been going on so long.

Maybe, someday, when I retire (if I'm lucky enough so to do) I'll get to watch everything I wanted to watch...

[pluckyduck]

** Bump **

Law & Order: Criminal Intent tonight! 9PM, NBC. Assuming that will be 8PM central.

THE PARDONER'S TALE** *11/18/01
SLAYING OF REPORTER TAKES INVESTIGATION ALL THE WAY TO HIGH STATE OFFICE -- When an investigative reporter and his fiancee are gunned down, Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) hope to learn what the murder victim had intended to expose, but when they close in on the shooter, the cops discover dotted lines that connect to organized crime - and possibly the governor's office. While an uneasy Captain Deakins (Jamey Sheridan) chafes at the prospect of sniffing around the power elite, Goren and Eames plunge full speed ahead and focus on key evidence that a bribe was paid at the state's highest level. Courtney B. Vance also stars. TV-14

Not that I'm nagging or anything.

Andrea

[arianej]

Hee hee... I like the title of this thread, very apt.

I like L&O: SVU (and yeah, I do the "SUV" thing, too) as much as I like the original series, if not more. It IS a little gorier, but I think the cast works well together as a team.

Now, CI...I've only seen a few episodes, but it hasn't really grabbed my enthusiasm the way the first two did. D'Onofrio's character seems to overshadow the others, IMO, particularly his partner. I like his quirkiness (in the episode where he accepts a hit off some guy's joint, my husband choked, he laughed so hard), but I think they overdo it at times.

Ariane