Is Dick Wolf the luckiest hack ever?

Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and Law & Order was groundbreaking.

Law & Order season 1-8 is amazing. Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, Michael Moriaty, Chris Noth, Richard Brooks, Jill Hennsessy, S. Epatha Mekerson, Carey Lowell, Dann Florek, George Dzunda, Paul Sorvino, and Steven Hill are all great actors who brought their characters to life. In those early seasons, NYC was a character itself.

From season 9-1o to 13, it was so-so. Fred Dalton Thompson was a good addition. I don't remember much else. Even Diane Weist wasn't that good in her couple of years.

This was when SVU was good and they were competing against each other. SVU had the same fate. After year ten or so, it went to shit (especially once Daddy Chris Meloni left).

Then you have Criminal Intent, Chicago Justice, Chicago Med, etc. They are all generic and the same.

I'd add Angie Harmon in that list, too.

He gets paid to read New York Post? That sounds like fun!

R1 I feel like most of the surprise twists particularly on s v u make absolutely no sense.

You lie! Most of his recent shows are set in Chicago.

R4 Sometimes. They have some good ones. I remember one about the racist family that shot their adopted black son at his playground to collect life insurance. Sad.

SVU has a few episodes per season that are spectacular. A few that aren't worth watching all the way through. And the rest are mildly entertaining. It's the only procedural I watch

People can read the New York Post, but very few can write scripts like him. He works hard too, OP.

I always preferred Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

SVU became a campfest long before Meloni left. I think it reached its camp zenith in the episode where Stuckie is revealed as a murderer. It actually became more of a realistic, if boring, procedural after he departed.

Not by a long shot.

I'm glad you gays love me.

SVU must have no budget. In their heyday it was one well-known guest star week after week. Now, it's basically struggling NYC theater and NYU theater actors.

For me, Law and Order is THE definitive TV show of the 1990s.

I met a guy who had DICK WOLF knuckle tattoos. I thought he was trying to communicate that he goes after the younger guys. He had to explain things for me.

I would add Norman Lear too. Except for a few instances of brilliance in particular All in the Family and Maude early episodes, most of his stuff was dreck. Good Times and The Jeffersons were basically minstrel shows, and One Day at a Time was pablum. There's an archives interview on YT with David Lee, who got his start on The Jeffersons writing staff, and later was involved with Cheers and Frasier. He said that the writers on The Jeffersons didn't garner much in the way of industry respect.

[quote]People can read the New York Post, but very few can write scripts like him. He works hard too, OP.

When was the last time you saw a script that Dick Wolf wrote?

He struck oil and figured out what to do with it. Respect.

The early seasons of Law & Order were very good. The cast changes hurt more than helped and the writing went down hill with them.

[quote] SVU became a campfest long before Meloni left. I think it reached its camp zenith in the episode where Stuckie is revealed as a murderer.

Oleebia would like to have a word with you, r10.

The mothership started improving before NBC abruptly canceled it. I thought Trial by Jury was very good, but it wasn't given a chance. CI was watchable once Vincent whatshisface and his super-annoying tics departed.

If it were as easy as that OP, I'm sure there would have been hundreds of others.

Dick Wolf knows how to produce, manage, and market popular procedural network tv that people enjoy watching. It is not easy, he's had some flops along the way as well.

Full Disclosure: I have appeared on a Dick Wolf show and hope to return as the same character.

It was so bizarre when they cancelled the mothership. It was about to outdo Gunsmoke for longest running show for people with weak bladders or liver spots or something.

Anyway, it was stupid. Even 30 Rock made an episode long running joke about it. "They cancelled Law & Order? That doesn't make any sense."

I always liked the gag where Dennis Farina would lament ruining yet another pair of Gucci loafers.

The most laughable episode of SVU in recent memory combined the Covington racist teens, Jussie Smollet, Ilhan Omar, AOC and a lesbian twist in one fetid pool of suck.

The writer got really mad when people made fun of it and flamed out on Twitter.

L&O got cancelled instead of SVU because Wolf got into a pissing contest with NBC over money. I think he did it out of spite. L&O's last three seasons had the best overall cast it had had in several years and its ratings were going up.

I didn't fall in love with Law & Order straight off. I think it happened as with a lot of series I came to love when it was in heavy syndication and you could see daily old episodes and then a weekly new episode. The fairly unwavering formulaic structure didn't seem an attribute at first but it was precisely that that held it together: Body found. Briscoe wisecrack. Investigation. DAs and trial. Resolution of justice.

The bookending allowed for a certain visual style and development of stock character types and keeping the story at the front. It was never a slow, slow boil Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren), a show in which to get lost in the details or nuances, everything was simplified, told in a shorthand, and given exactly X minutes at most in which to play out. The rich cad. The spoiled son. The Munchausen by Proxy mom and her enabling husband. There were types that came up again and again, with different stripes, attached to different stories, with different twists of plot or justice.

Getting a big dose through syndication while the show was still in production, it had its ups and downs with cast changes but somehow the structure saved the thing. Even at its worst periods it was a smart, tight, well conceived show, and well put togteher. I understand that some people don't like the stylized nature of its format, but for me it was always a pleasure on some level, whereas the SUVs and all the rest never once rose to the level of pleasure just the misery of actors looking constipated.

[quote] L&O's last three seasons had the best overall cast it had had in several years

Agreed, loved Sisto, Anderson and Roache together.

Wolf: “When they made the Friends deal, the $100,000 apiece deal, I was pretty upset. What I would have done was come out the first day, say I was disappointed the cast had chosen to negotiate in the press, and I had the unpleasant news that Matt LeBlanc wouldn’t be on the show next year. I guarantee that you’d never have gotten to a second name.

Does anyone have insight why For the Defense was cancelled? The way the show was announced then cancelled is just an accumulation of media PR auto text.

[quote] Agreed, loved Sisto, Anderson and Roache together.

And Alana de la Garza was great as the ADA. For me, it's between her and Jill Hennessy as the best ADA during the entire run of the show. I have to admit that Angie Harmon had her moments, since she basically played someone whose worldview aligned with her own (the right winger one.)

I'm watching it in daily reruns right now and the current episodes are the season when Dennis Farina replaced Jerry Orbach, whose departure signalled the wilderness years until the Anderson/Sisto team took over. I generally like Farina in other things but he was woefully miscast here and the character was a caricature. Plus, around this particular time, it seems that 2 out of every 3 episodes dealt with cases that had something to do with organized crime or American foreign policy in the Middle East. L&O was always far better when tackling more individual crimes that had some moral or socio-political ambiguity to them.

Eh, whatever. I love the whole franchise. My favorite was Goren and Eames. I hate-watch SVU. I absolutely LOVE the episodes that rip off Jon-Benet and Anna Nicole.

I also love seeing character actors play different roles over the years. And seeing famous actors before they hit it big. And lots of New York actors in their bit parts.

I loathe when the plot lines veer from crime solving to delving into the cops’ personal lives and emotional travails. I don’t care if they’re an alcoholic, seeing a shrink, or a single parent with life balance challenges. Just solve the fucking crime in an hour.

Same. I love L&O, through all the cast changes. Brief mentions of home life were fine but no SVU-like entire episodes devoted to personal problems, yeeecch.

[quote]After year ten or so

And that just sums it all up.

I’m really liking Chicago PD. It’s a reprieve from the preachiness of SVU.

Add me to the list of L&O mothership lovers. I can watch them no matter what episode it happens to be. Thank God for WE and BBC America. They show the reruns at least 3 times a week. The Farina and Imperoli seasons were the weakest, IMO. Oops, forgot the Elizabeth Rohm seasons. Her firing was completely ridiculous! "Is this because I'm a lesbian?" I think that was because there was a perception that Jack slept with all his female ADAs.

I recently saw the 1/2 crossover with Homicide: Life on the Street, another great show. Loved Lennie and Munch together.

I wish they'd given Law & Order:LA more of a chance. I tried to like Law & Order:UK, but it's missing something.

Law and Order: DataLounge

Never watched.

Just can't with any procedural.

I have loved L&O (mothership) and many of the early casts for far too many years. Much later seasons have plots that get far too complicated/convoluted for my tastes, but showrunners gotta try new things over time, right?

I did not mind the cast changes, it was one way to keep things fresh for the viewers. So count me as an outlier who thinks that S. Epatha and Sam W wore out their welcome along the way. Anita and Jack retiring and adding a new Lt. and Executive DA would have been interesting. Also, I really wish at lest ONE of the ADAs (after Paul) had not been "model" beautiful... someone older, less well-put together, maybe heavier?

The program definitely did not start as a hack job. It was interesting and filmed in and around NYC when NYC was not pretty to look at (no one else was using NYC as a backdrop or "character" as the time). It employed NY-based stage actors and NY character actors, lending a realism and grit to many episodes. It did become formulaic, but two decades of script writing? Bound to happen.

It's unfortunate that Dianne Weist and Dennis Farina did not work out... I loved the idea of Nora being DA but with little courtroom experience and a background in judicial ethics and Farina still had that actor "magic" of turning on a dime (friendly to scary is just moments!)... his mysterious background was fun, very different from other cop characters. Apparently both actors thought they would have more to do on the show and were unhappy with the scripts. How would that be possible? Did they NOT watch before being cast?

Yea for reruns... I dg being able to know who the murderer is if I tune in randomly and catch one scene.

This was their best show.

[quote]It's unfortunate that Dianne Weist and Dennis Farina did not work out

R32, I live far removed from L&O Classic reruns, but how did I forget Dianne Wiest? Dennis Farina almost tried in a half-assed sort of way, I just tried not to look at him and focus on the rest. Terrible as he was, Dianne West managed to outdo him in some of the hamiest acting in years. The stupid pauses, the hesitations, the internal angst and smugness in equal measure...what a load of old shit she was. Just dreadful.

Watching L&O on Sundance TV right now. George Dzunda was murdered in the last episode (Season 2 ep 1). Now Noth is working with Sorvino. I completely forgot about Paul!

P.S. Noth is absolutely GORGEOUS in this season.

The one thing I loved about business travel was wherever you were, if all else failed, there was a Law & Order mothership marathon on one of the cable channels, usually USA. You just ignored the blood clot sock and gun commercials.

Sorvino has been to the well one too many times, esp. around the time he joined the cast and Wasterston is just dull.

R39, L&O: UK basically turns the L&O into an American cops show. The greater emphasis on the regular character's emotional life and the sentimental music make it more American.

The original US law an order is a lot tougher and focuses on narrative rather than feeling--which makes it more like a British procedural.

I am a huge CI fan for all of its Goren & Eames quirkiness, but you know who cannot act their way out of a wet paper bag, I mean way worse than early Ice-T?

Eric Bogosian. Pee-Yew!

Damn DL would not let me post Friday evening... the 5pm ET episode of L&O was the classic, "let's go watch an execution (except Anita)." Afterwards, Rey sleeps with the former Mrs. Ben Affleck, Jen Garner. Lenny falls off the wagon, Claire offers to drive him home. Unexpected car accident at very end, bye bye Jill Hennessey and later, welcome Jamie Ross!

I remember watching that episode thinking then unknown Jennifer Garner was too plain to be so smug, hahaha!

[quote]For me, Law and Order is THE definitive TV show of the 1990s.

For me, it was Homicide: Life on the Street, my favorite network program of all time.

I would have married Jill Hennessey or Claire Kincaid in 1995. Who wouldn't? She is smart and gorgeous.

Aw, I liked Dennis Farina. I loved how in every episode when he wanted to convince a reluctant character to allow him to do something (search a place, look up a record) he’d smile and reassure them, It’s okay, we’re authorized. He and Christopher/Sopranos made a good team.

I think all the regulars who were cast were fine, 95% of the time. There were regulars I liked less, Serena, Diane Wiest, maybe Angie Harmon but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the show when they were on.

I'm with you R54, I enjoyed the season with Farina... actually, I don't think there was a cop I actively disliked. i think the producers tried too hard at shaking things up when they cast Milena Govich as Cassidy. She was just too pushy, a big chip on her shoulder... it didn't work, quick course correction by adding Jeremy Sisto.

And let's give shout-outs to Olivet and Skoda. Always appreciated seeing the actors names in opening credits.

Angie Harmon and Milena Govitch were horrible actresses.

I appreciate all the shows and franchises. Also loved D’onofrio.

Luckiest if you measure luck by the dollar ($550M? $600M?), but hackiest makes me think we've overlooked Joe Estzerhas of the $4M scripts that were pure shit.

The corniest lines ever to fall out of Lenny Briscoe's mouth were pure gold compared to the shit Eszterhas wrote. Remarkably bad by any standard, yet his name and his work was everywhere for a long time. For all the hype about rolling in cash, his net worth is estimated at around $18M, a fraction of Wolf's haul.

I liked that other girl. Whatsername... with the hair.

I love all of the L&Os and have downloaded every episode of each franchise. I used to live to play 'which character in the episode is going to be a star?' and was often correct

[quote]I liked that other girl. Whatsername... with the hair.

Diane Neal?

I grew to love her and believe she remains underrated.

Cassidy, forgot about her. She always seemed a bit slow and lumpen. I didn’t dislike her, more like I never remembered her. She was like a blank.

Casey Novak? I liked her.

I watched an early episode from Season 1. Jerry Orbach was the defense attorney,

Do you have any idea how many paper cuts he got from all of that headline ripping, OP?

R62, S. Epatha had a brief appearance on L&O before being cast as Lt. Van Buren. She played a woman whose sons were shot while they were in their apt. She was at work when the shooting occurred, cleaning an office.

And Annie Parisse (ADA Alexandra Borgia) played some slutty character on L&O before being cast as Jack's assistant.

Who loves repeat defense attorneys like Danielle Melnick or Lorraine Toussaint as Shambala Green? Personally, I really loved Lorraine's appearances - really wish she popped up in much later seasons.

"The program definitely did not start as a hack job. It was interesting and filmed in and around NYC when NYC was not pretty to look at (no one else was using NYC as a backdrop or "character" as the time). It employed NY-based stage actors and NY character actors, lending a realism and grit to many episodes."

*

Sounds vaguely familiar, r42.

I can't stand D'Onofrio, r56. He's the reason the term self-indulgent was invented.

Don't forget Casey Novak's sordid past, r65.

R66, just because two programs are filmed in NYC and do not try to make the metropolis pretty, does not make Wolf a hack. Plenty of cop shows (for example, Kojak) have presented NYC as is. Kojak and L&O have very little in common. Naked City and L&O have very little in common, but the city.

I stand by the post... L&O when it premiered was not the usual TV fare and much of that was because NYC was the actual locale with wonderful NYC actors who added color and realism to the episodes.

Where did I state Wolf was a hack, r69?

um R66, it's the start of the thread - read the title...

[quote]And Annie Parisse (ADA Alexandra Borgia) played some slutty character on L&O before being cast as Jack's assistant.

Fun fact: Annie Parisse's brother (actor Louis Cancelmi) is married to Sam Waterston's daughter (actress Elizabeth Waterston.)

Um, r66, I was merely pointing out that the idea of filming on the streets of NYC with New York actors wasn't groundbreaking...it had been done. I don't consider Wolf a hack for copying that much of the format.

[quote]I was merely pointing out that the idea of filming on the streets of NYC with New York actors wasn't groundbreaking...it had been done.

Cagney and Lacey for one. I've been watching it lately in reruns and it holds up surprisingly well due generally decent scripts and the first rate performances of Daly and Gless.

[quote]Fun fact: Annie Parisse's brother (actor Louis Cancelmi) is married to Sam Waterston's daughter

Louis Cancelmi has a very unusual look and in lots of photos has severe gayface. I'm surprised he's straight.

I refer to Dick as DOCTOR DICK.

Naked City was another great cop show that still holds up and shot on location in the city with NY actors.

r77 see r66

Sorry, don't know how I missed that.

Brett Somers on Naked City...

DW is a brilliant businessman. He hit on the correct formula for being able to replace some of his leads when they start making too much money without the viewship walking. Every season and a half or so, one major player could die/retire/transfer and a new one brought in. By the time the next time rolls around, people are used to the new cast member. Really brilliant.

I think Louis Cancelmi performed on an L&O episode, playing a man with parkinson's disease who tried to kill and Ann Coulter-inspired character.

From some googling about, he's got a seriously impressive body... I couldn't get one for sharing, but man he is much bigger than I presumed.

Damien Lindelof has that title I believe.

Yeah, but his shows are very entertaining. Especially Criminal Intent. Vince D'Onofrio was eminently watchable.

I wish every character on SVU would die of Covid. Including Oleebia and her brat.

"Vince D'Onofrio was eminently watchable"

*

So is a train wreck, r84.

The Equalizer was filmed in NYC during the late 80s and often had scenes set in a gritty Times Sq. Lots of guest stars who later became well known.

The (New) Equalizer is also filmed in NYC.

R86

So true! That's why I peruse most DL threads!

Does anyone here remember the Vincent D'Onofrio troll? I forget her name.

D'Onofrio is all tics and tricks, thinking he's *acting*.

R90 - Her name is Kathryn Erbe.

I loved Jeff Goldblum on L&O: Criminal Intent.

Kathryn Erbe as Pat Nixon...

S. Epatha Merkerson was leaving Law & Order after the last season (which hadn't been intended as the final season). That's why they gave her her own story arc that lasted through the season.

Kathryn Erbe was going to replace her in her Lt. Eames character from Criminal intent.

I love the "ripped from the headlines" episodes for their sheer insanity. Take the episode guest-starring Radha Mitchell which featured a goop/Marianne Williamson/Brené Brown business leader and a plot combining WeWork, Uber, Harvey Weinstein and Joker.

Two of my favorites were Liza as a mother obviously meant to be Patsy Ramsey (Criminal Intent) and Lucie Arnaz as a Martha Stewart clone who is sleeping with her daughter's boyfriend and slays him in a rage because she goes nuts after discontinuing hormone therapy to stop her hot flashes (L&O).

^ IIRC, the boyfriend is her stockbroker and there were charges of insider trading.

The Liza Minnelli one where she hits on Vincent D’Onofrio!!

There was a Chris Noth Criminal Intent episode in which Whoopi Goldberg played a Charles Manson-meet-Fagin foster mother who ran a ring of teenagers who committed home invasions and murders. It is the scariest episode I have seen. And Chris Noth’s acting was never better than in the interrogation scene with Whoopi. That he could go beat for beat with an actor of her calibre shows how lazy the writing all to frequently was.

The Lucie Arnaz episode on L&O was very good - she was excellent. I loved how she was always dressed in white, as if that was her character's 'signature' look. There was an early L&O episode with Jane Alexander, where she played the matriarch of an Irish political family, Regina Mulroney - she was frightening in her hautiness (and Schiff/McCoy have a great bit about her being "lace curtain Irish" - ouch!) and she beat Jack in the courtroom... the slutty daughter gets away with murder if memory serves.

The special guest star episodes were good for publicizing the program, but weren't "all that"... Julia Roberts, the Liza episode on C.I. and that Whoopi episode was just too whack to be believable.

For me, way too many episodes of C.I. were too complicated, convoluted to be believable and the trials and tribulations of Bobby Goran became ridiculous... the mother was a schitzo (her former live-in b/f was a serial killer and possibly Bobby's father?) and his brother was also a schitzo, living on the streets. I mean, come on and wait, there's more! Bobby's former mentor (John Glover) goes on a murder spree to set Bobby free of people who were holding Bobby back? Christ...

It was a relief when Chris Noth and Jeff Goldblum were cast and simply went about the business of solving crimes. On C.I. I enjoyed Julianne Nicholson and Saffron Burrows as the partners. Alicia Witt gave it the ole college try as well, showing she was more than a Hallmark movie star.

The Mulroneys were obviously based on the Kennedys, who faced their own accusations of being only a generation or two away from lace curtain Irish.

Nah, Whoopi was the nuts. My favourite guest star episode of SVU was Carol Burnett and Matthew Lillard in a John Holmes stache.

The writing and plotting is excellent.

They never waste a word in moving the story forward.

R99, Theresa Rebek's book Free Fire Zone is batshit crazy. But it has some great gossip. She describes D'Onofrio negotiating to get a certain number of moments per episode where other characters would be astonished at his brilliance.

You would think that Kathryn Erbe would be quite annoyed about this "special" acting partner, especially since she was relegated to a wise-cracking sidekick with nothing else to do. Me - I would probably laugh all the way to the bank about this cushy job with royalties coming for years.

I took a break from work... if you aren't working today, L&O on the WE network is going way, way back. Ben Stone, Paul, Robinette! I think this was the program's take on the parking department scandal from the Koch administration.

And I can't continue watching... work, work, work.

Who plays Phyllis, r105?

I'm watching it, too, R105. The 11 am ET episode is S1 E2.

Cynthia Nixon, you're a muderess - no matter what Shambala Green says!

Now watching the "Mayflower Madam" episode with Patricia Clarkson as the 'Madam.'

L&O: CI was, essentially, a slightly less campy version of "Murder, She Wrote" if Jessica Fletcher suffered from Asperger's. During D'Onofrio's years, you'd have 50 minutes of meandering towards the confrontation in the interrogation room where he would start doing his schtick of bulging eyes, circling around two co-conspirators, getting into their faces while doing some weird facial ticks and they would all miraculously start turning on each other and confessing while Kathryn Erbe and Courtney Vance/Jamey Sheridan/Eric Bogossian would look through the glass and make sarcastic comments. Chris Noth-centered episodes were more watchable.

r109 - That was back in her ingenue days, Cosmo.

R110 C.I was one of those shows that centered on one character who was an implausible genius who had the answer to everything. House was very similar. I found both shows cringe worthy. It's like watching the fantasies of a clinical narcissist. And Gorens backstory, as someone mentioned above, was frankly ridiculously over the top. It reminded me a little of Don Drapers background in Mad Men , in that it was a bit too much. Sometimes writers don't seem to grasp that dysfunction in a protagonists past is like a good spice, you only need a little to add flavor. Though mad men was otherwise a far superior show to C.I.

You left out his weird hand/finger gesticulations, r110.

Yesterday's shows were an embarrassment of riches:

Cynthia Nixon as a female Bernie Goetz

A take on the Lisa Steinberg story. This one had a full disclaimer at the end that was read by a narrator.

One with Frances Conroy as a rich woman. Can't remember the story, though.

I loved the casting of Sharon Stone as a detective, Sandy Duncan as a defense attorney and Fran Lebowitz as a judge.

Didn't Cynthia Nixon also play a Julie Taymor type in one of the last L&O episodes?

That was CI, r116.

One thing about L&O is that is kept a plethora of New York actors in work. If you watch the show long enough, you'll notice recurring judges. My favorite was Tom O'Rourke. He was a defense attorney for several years and then in SVU he was a recurring judge.

Very talented NYC-based theatre actor.

I stopped watching L&O when Olivia got the kid.

R119 she got a kid?

r120 - Fuck off Benay, she needs the softness.

R114, have you ever read the article actress Jan Maxwell about working on L&O? It's so good. Here's the first paragraph: "I KILLED someone. It happened in 1994. And every three years after that — I killed again and again, whether I felt like it or not. I was paid, not well, but it was something. And, as those things go, I rather enjoyed it. I wasn’t moonlighting as an assassin, though, but as an actress on NBC’s “Law & Order.”"

In an Eames episode of SVU when Olivia Benson gently made fun of her bending and finger wagging in the interrogation room, she said she got it from Goren and explained why he did it and how it worked. It made sense, but I can’t for the life of me remember what she said.

R122, Jan Maxwell played a family court judge who killed an estranged wife. She was fixing court cases and the estranged wife found out and wouldn't go along. I think the judge wanted to rake the estranged husband over the coals and gouge him financially.

D'Onofrio just looked spastic doing it.

In the early episodes of ”Law and Order” the ending credits said, “All characters in this photoplay are fictitous.”

What exactly is a photoplay?

A magazine, r126.

R126 Photoplay=screenplay=teleplay. Basically it's a script.

No one has mentioned Benjamin Bratt in seasons 6 to 9. He was gorgeous and such a good fit with the rest of the cast.

I’ve never liked SVU as it includes too much of the staff’s personal lives. Just give me the crime, investigation, and prosecution!

R129, I really liked Rey Curtis as well. It was entertaining how the writers often worked how attractive he was into the scripts (the ladies were ALWAYS flirting with him - did any men? I can't remember).

He did have to strip down to an undershirt a few times and my, he was built! Julia must have enjoyed that body numerous times.

It was nice that he returned to L&O to bury his wife Debra and in a scene with Anita, his 3 'girls' were shown in the background and they were young adults. Easy depiction of how much time had passed for Rey and Anita.

R129, I remember Lenny telling Lt. Van Buren that "he had socks (or underwear) older than him," referring to his new partner, Rey Curtis. R130, I just watched that episode. We must have watched it together!

For anyone interested, BBC America also shows L&O. It's on today starting at 1 PM ET.

In the early days of the original, there were a lot of continuity errors.

In the second episode, Cynthia Nixon shoots a guy on the subway. The route she is riding is impossible, the announcer says, “Next stop 14th Street, change for the uptown local.” She clearly gets off a 6 train, which is a local train and gets on an A train and the station sign clearly says Hoyt. She shoots the guy. When the police come to investigate, they very clearly enter a C train.

When they go to her apartment, the fat officer clearly makes a big deal out of it being a walk up and he’s breathing heavily through the whole scene, but the apartment number on the door is 2. Does he have issues walking up one flight of stairs?

I demand continuity!

R132 - The I suggest you never binge watch Doctor Who!!!!!

I agree with you r132, but one of the things I love about the original L&O and its spin offs is that almost invariably they get the NYC geography right. If they say they're on the 400 block of West 14th, that's where they are shooting. They get uptown, midtown and downtown right. I give them a pass for when they shoot in Central Park for some upstate rural area.

[quote]I agree with you [R132], but one of the things I love about the original L&O and its spin offs is that almost invariably they get the NYC geography right. If they say they're on the 400 block of West 14th, that's where they are shooting.

You mean unlike "I Love Lucy," where the Ricardos' apartment is in the East River?

Exactly, r135.

[quote] You mean unlike "I Love Lucy," where the Ricardos' apartment is in the East River?

But when Lucy got the loving cup stuck on her head at least they got the subway stations correct on the 6 train going downtown.

Ripped from the headlines...

Season 1, episode 3 - a story about AIDS. Very daring for a first season early episode!

Does anybody...still mention...

[quote] Does anybody...still mention...

No. Law & Order: Evil Bitch didn’t test well with audiences, so it never got past the pilot.

Stritch did two episodes as a defense attorney. She was very good but posts at the old now gone IMBD forums said she was widely disliked by the staff and crews who had to deal with her. That isn't far off from her stage reputation.

Baranski

[quote] Law & Order: Evil Bitch

OMG, I would LOVE to watch that show.

R142, last night I watched the episode where Felicity Huffman played the bored housewife-turned-prostitute. Elaine Stritch (unsuccessfully) defended her.

They may get NYC right but they botched NJ in the episode with the religious couple whose child dies because of their religious beliefs. There is no "Hanover, NJ." There is a Hanover Township. I also didn't recognize the police station or background shots. I live not far from there and have worked, and still work in the area.

Was not Stritch married to some British aristocrat?

[quote] Was not Stritch married to some British aristocrat?

No. They lived in London for several years, but her husband was from Chicago. The family business, Bays English Muffins, was headquartered in Chicago.

I always thought Elaine Stritch was lesbian.

[quote]I always thought Elaine Stritch was lesbian.

I don’t think she was lesbian, just repressed Catholic. And as she got deeper into alcoholism, she had no interest in sex. She did have an affair with Ben Gazzarra. I think she was a beard for John Bays. When they married, he was 43 and he died 10 years later. I’m assuming that Elaine inherited some of his family fortune. But there were never any stories of her having girlfriends.

[quote]No one has mentioned Benjamin Bratt in seasons 6 to 9. He was gorgeous and such a good fit with the rest of the cast.

Hated the smarmy, self-righteous Catholicism that informed so many of Rey's opinions. And I never found BB attractive. Too pinheaded.

Ingenue Laura...

Glad to see this. After reading the comments, I thought I was the aficionado of original L&O. The only ADAI disliked was Jamie Ross. Came off way to smug and cold. Although on SVU, Loved Stephanie Beachum and Diane Neal, Alana, Elizabeth Rohm. Didn’t like S.Empatha at first, but grew to love her. Liked all the detectives in the show except for Golina. Tried to watch the new Stabler show, but he just came off the angry and didn’t like he format. SVU has gone downhill in the writing the last couple of years. Wished Munch and Florick were still around and Danny Pino.

Antiques Roadshow visits S. Epatha...

I’m watching some of the early original episodes and in some episodes Chris Noth’s makeup is terrible, his lipstick is terrible.

Who doesn't love Deborah Rush?

[quote]Although on SVU, Loved Stephanie Beachum and Diane Neal, Alana, Elizabeth Rohm.

Stephanie BeachAM was never on SVU.

She should have been on one if the shows though. Fantastic actress!

It’s interesting how some of the actors have excellent agents. Priscilla Lopez got her name in the opening credit of an episode and yet she had a scene with only two lines. Maybe she had filmed more and they cut it?

I recall watching a Numb3rs episode where Kelli O'Hara didn't get an opening credit (unless I missed it). Granted she gets bumped off at the beginning...

Who cares about Numb3rs? Jesus, this thread's about L&O (and sometimes tits inferior spin-offs). Right now it's a Paul Sorvino episode, William H Macy has been stupping young girls. Prosecutors found out after Kate Burton (playing a nun) was accused of molesting a young woman... yea Sundance!

I didn’t realize George Dzundza left after Season 1 because his wife was pregnant and producers threatened to sue him if he delayed shooting of Season 2 to be with her.

Dzunda himself always claimed that he did not like the plot driven scripts without much character development.

Others have said that he wanted to star, not be in an ensemble.

I also heard that he did not want to move his family to NYC.

This is the first I have heard of a pregnancy.

I miss Munch and Florick as well. I don’t like the jug-eared bisexual woman. The show needs a new male detective. Maybe bring Jeremy Sisto or Donal Logue back. Ice T is countering a lot of estrogen.

[quote] This is the first I have heard of a pregnancy.

It’s mentioned on his imdb page.

[quote] Left Law & Order (1990) over a dispute about scheduling and script quality. During the first season, Dzundza's wife was pregnant and he had to divide his time between his home and New York. The producers threatened to sue Dzundza if he held up shooting to be with his wife when she gave birth.

Very early episode on Sundance... I think it's the first time Danielle Melnick makes an appearance, defending a doctor who raped Olivet.

L&O:CI - Olivia d'Abo as Nicole Wallace is THE BEST!

Someone please clarify... are posts about L&O: CI allowed? Isn't it the most (rightfully) ignored L&O? Should R166 be hissed into submission? If posts are allowed, may they be positive? I mean it's D'Onofrio and all of his Bobby ticks...

Diane Neal should have a fan club.

No one did "indignant frustration" the way she did and not be annoying. I think she served the role and the show very well.

Underneath the Kevlar.

Sick Wolf also has the two FBI series on CBS. I think both are good, and an FBI International is being added this fall.

LOL That’s Dick Wolf, not Sick Wolf.