law & order rants

[Ryan W]

first off, this got started when i was browsing old topics and noticed someone's infatuation with a certain vincent d (who i will get to later). i know this is old news, but jerry orbach leaving l&o, i will be forever saddened by this.  i'm sure dennis farino will do a fine job as his repleacement (if we can forgive him for his appearance in stealing harvard).  furthermore, elizabeth rohm leaving midseason is also a bummer.  i may be one of three people who will actually claim this, but i really did like her. yet, orbach leaving is quite the double edged sword.  on the one side, no unstoppable duo of briscoe and mccoy (however they appeared to get "stopped" quite a lot last season. they lost just about every case in the first half of the season, or so it seemed to me).  yet, on the other, he's slated fro trial by jury, and more law & order is always a good thing except in the case of....

c.i.  i know many people who swear by this show, however i just do not see it.  i've given it its chances, being that i am always willing to embrace any form of l&o, but vincent dinofrio is just a horrendous actor in this series.  i know that this has been stated many times, but in ci he really is the william shatner of this generation.  and besides for that, i just do not buy his character's all-knowing-ness.  the only redeaming thing about c.i. would have to be stephen colbert's appearance as a counterfeit-er (not sure that's a word, but hey...)

and what's the deal with the now backwards release of the l&o dvds?  it took them forever to finally release the 2nd season, now they've decided to release the series backwards?  season 13 comes out on sept. 7 and from there they planning on releasing the seasons in reverse chronological order till they get to season 3 i guess.  it makes absolutely no sense to me at least.

finally, i am in love with mariska margitay.  enough said, sorry aout the lack of brevity here but some things just need to be said.

[Roque]

The real infatuation is with Sam Waterston, first of all. And this is an awesome thread; way to go, Ryan. L&O is my televisual lifeblood, along with a bunch of HBO shows (I'm neither a Sopranos nor 6FU declinist). West Wing was part of this elite club, in the salad days of the Sorkin era (I'm an avowed WW declinist, though).

Orbach's exodus is heartbreaking. (I don't even wanna think about Waterston leaving. I can't, won't.) I didn't even know that Farina was taking his place. I think he'll do a great job, definitely. Farina brings both the street & the funny to the table. Plus he's an ex-cop. He's gonna be golden. Look forward to it.

How can you like Rohm?!?! "The Ice Sculpture." I'm not even gonna make the effort to add the umlaut. She was lifeless. She was monotonous. But she was supposed to be this legal genius. I just couldn't buy it, b/c she always seemed borderline braindead, or at least highly medicated. Stick with the brunettes, should be the casting guideline here.

Counterfeiter is definitely a word. The Counterfeiters is arguably Gide's best novel. Can't say that I've seen much of CI--for the better, maybe. I wish I would've at least caught the Colbert cameo. Anyway, I've heard much about this omniscient detective, and best get to watchin' before I deliver my verdict (pun not intended, dear God no).

The DVD situation is puzzling. But on to the real questions, like: who is the finest of the female ADA's? It's definitely not that girl from License to Kill (who's returning for Trial by Jury?!). For me, it's betwixt Angie Harmon & Jill Hennessy. I can't decide. Maybe Hennessy a bit over Harmon, at this precise moment.

The bigger (& more gender-neutral) question: The Best Cast?

For me it's Orbach/Waterston/Hennessy/Bratt/Hill/Merkerson. Season 6.

[erin]

I think SVU's portrayal of cases involving transgendered people is really well-done, because they show the polar opinions one might expect to find in a cosmopolitan city like New York -- Benson being respectful and well-informed, referring to the said individuals by the genders with which they identify rather than their biologically assigned sexes, and Stabler being an ignorant asshole about the whole thing and calling all the MTFs "he-shes".

It's nice to see a mainstream show acknowledge the existence of such a marginalized community and address the issues facing them.

[maura]

i just found out that the new l & o spinoff -- obliquely, yet clunkily referred to by briscoe in his final episode* -- will be shooting two blocks away from my apartment. and a 24 hour diner is opening across the street from the studio! good thing i have this job with crazy hours.

i would definitely agree that the bratt/orbach/waterston/hennessy cast is the finest. and i totally had a crush on sam waterston when i started watching, but these days i just feel bad for him. he's a really good actor, and the fact that his talents are sandwiched in between the 'acting' of both the ice queen and fred 'watch me show off my senatorially honed ASSHOLE STYLEE POLITICKIN' thompson is UNJUST. someone put dick wolf on trial!

* but that's sort of unsurprising, i guess -- the writing on the flagship show sure has gotten worse over the past couple of seasons. can you say 'phoning it in'?

[Ryan W]

yes, sam waterston is my jesus.  he can't leave law and order for at least another 3 years, till i'm in law school nice and good.  yes, i base what i want to do with my life on tv, so what?

and angie harmon is everyone's favorite.  but you guys are forgetting the o.g. of a.d.a.'s, paul robinette played by richard brooks.  now that guy brought the heat.

a subject a completely forgot to touch on, fred dalton thomas as d.a. aurthor branch.  that guy is awesome, best d.a. ever.  yes i said it.  to hell with d.a. adam schiff, d.a. branch kicks his mother fucking ass.  thomas used to be a senator in real life, how cool is that?

[maura]

re thompson: you're so wrong. i'm sorry, but you're so, so, so wrong. he's awful, from his acting to his fauxliani 'hardass' stance.

[Nickosaurus]

I think I'm going to miss his one liners most of all.

PS - I like all the law and orders, though CI seems to stretch out the crime  too much, and I hate how they never go into the trial.

[Roque]

yes, sam waterston is my jesus.  he can't leave law and order for at least another 3 years, till i'm in law school nice and good.  yes, i base what i want to do with my life on tv, so what?

and angie harmon is everyone's favorite.  but you guys are forgetting the o.g. of a.d.a.'s, paul robinette played by richard brooks.  now that guy brought the heat.

a subject a completely forgot to touch on, fred dalton thomas as d.a. aurthor branch.  that guy is awesome, best d.a. ever.  yes i said it.  to hell with d.a. adam schiff, d.a. branch kicks his mother fucking ass.  thomas used to be a senator in real life, how cool is that?

Hot damn you are out of your mind. Rohm and now Fred Dalton Thomas?!? DA Adam Schiff was roughly 27 times Branch's superior. And I'm not forgetting Robinette, no no no; he was taken into account. But the Season 6 cast dominates.

/////

[swilkes]

Oh thank god, someone started an L&O thread! Now I can never leave my computer.

I have to agree with Roque on the best cast lineup ever. It could only have been improved with Robinette for ADA, but then we'd be in fantasy cast territory, and I'd have to have Chris Noth and Benjamin Bratt onscreen simultaneously.  With Steve Buscemi and Clark Johnson (Det. Lewis on "Homicide") as the guys they rough up in the interrogation room, Andre Braugher playing the defense attorney, and Rosie Perez as the star witness. Ah, a fan can dream...

I can't stand Elizabeth Rohm. I thought no one could be worse than Angie Harmon, but boy was I wrong.

[Nickosaurus]

Throw Richard Belzer in there too. I love that guy.

[Ryan W]

ha, yes i realize i'm more than likely alone in the fact that i love thompson and was not too huge a fan of schiff.  schiff was just too much of a crumudgeon for my liking, no spirit what so ever.  and i never said that rohm was my favorite, just that i liked her.   if push came to shove, i probably would have to say angie harmon in a very close race with richard brooks for my fav ada (although she did always sound like she was losing her voice).  i will concede the duo of orbach and bratt dominates all detective pairings.  i was never really a noth fan.

and i think we can all agree, hopefully, that dianne wiest was the worst d.a.

but there's an issue no one has really responded to: the suckiness of c.i.  please tell me i'm not alone in thinking this (all though i realize i'm alone on a lot of other l&o related issues).

[John]

Please not to hate on Adam Schiff ppl

I've already told everybody here about how I got to tour the set of Law & Order, right? k good

[Funkyboss]

Y'all have seen this, right?

[heather]

Please not to hate on Adam Schiff ppl

I've already told everybody here about how I got to tour the set of Law & Order, right? k good

what?

hey, for the kids who have seen wet hot american summer, do you ever think of fondling sweaters or humping refridgerators [sp?] when you watch SVU?

[maura]

Y'all have seen this, right?

seen it? i have one, yo. the connect the dots page is my favorite.

also, worst da ever is still arthur branch. i mean, honestly.

[Roque]

also, worst da ever is still arthur branch. i mean, honestly.

I don't know ... Wiest's Nora was pretty goddam bad. Humorless + grandmotherly + Oriental wardrobe = bad DA.

And if you're the Help Wanted Maura, I hope there are more stories on the way!

/////

[SPACERACE]

I must have bad taste, because I liked Elizabeth Rohm. Although not neccesarily for her acting; I just thought she was hot.

[Ryan W]

I must have bad taste, because I liked Elizabeth Rohm. Although not neccesarily for her acting; I just though she was hot.

don't ever let the haters tell you you're wrong for liking rohm.

[Kath]

hey, for the kids who have seen wet hot american summer, do you ever think of fondling sweaters or humping refrigerators [sp?] when you watch SVU?

That, and buttsex [oz]. Chris Meloni is way hot though, so it's forgiven.


ps - Without Waterston and Orbach, I doubt I would watch L&O. I can deal with one leaving, but when Sam goes.. well, he's a tough act to follow. If they get good replacements I might be able to deal, but still. I shudder to think.


PS - Speaking of crime drama, is anyone elseTOTALLY ENRAGED at USA cancelling Touching Evil?


edit:

Throw Richard Belzer in there too. I love that guy.

Richard Belzer + Ice T = television masterpeice

[Nickosaurus]

Hah, I was just watching one of the 15 episodes that play each day, and the victim was names "Filmore Prescott" which is one of my aliases. It's kind of like I died a little myself!

[leslie]

I'm on the season six bandwagon for best overall. And Angie Harmon was the cutest ADA but Claire had the most passion and the most well developed character and complex relationship with Waterson. Which I enjoyed. I"m onthe Rohm as wooden puppet, but I love SVU's Stephanie March, she's a snack and a half and she can seriously act. I'd love to see her get bummped up to the main L&O but that's never going to happen. I just can't fathom what it'll be like without the Orbach one liners opening each show and I don't share the Farina love y'all seem to have, I find him tedious and worry he's going to overplay the role. Jesse Martin really has grown on me - he's developed a lot and become a better ator (like Bratt did) but of allthe Detectives, eh has the least developed backstory. Hopefullythis year we'll get to know him slightly better - all we really know is that he was raised middle class and likes nice clothing and beautiful women. And?

I like that SVU can ask difficult questions and use the characters to movethe morality play rather than preaching, which is enhanced by the very broad swath of characters - from Mariska to Ice T to Belz to Stabler they have a very ready four courners viewpoint without making an implausible team - it doesn't ask a leap of faith that we believe they actually work together, save the fact that Hartigay is 1000x too classy to be a cop. And Stabler has some non PC opinions but is a fair minded guy and a good dude the rest of the time, so it really drives home the hate the sin business.


Now - as for D'Onfrio - I go back and forth on him from love to hate - one minute he's COlombo, the next he's Shatner, then I'll see one of his films and remember why I really used to love without question. I'd like to see his artner have a little more going for her than just being his set up person though, yes, it's clear he's the star and all, but come on, she's no idiot and I get frustrated she just kind of pads around after him etc. They could take a lesson from the writers of "monk" and see there's room for her to have a couple genius moments without upsetting the D'Onfrio as genius apple cart.

[SPACERACE]

ps - Without Waterston and Orbach, I doubt I would watch L&O. I can deal with one leaving, but when Sam goes.. well, he's a tough act to follow. If they get good replacements I might be able to deal, but still. I shudder to think.

L&O without Waterston is like apple pie without apples. I will be completely shocked if anyone can make it work with him gone.

[leslie]

L&O without Waterston is like apple pie without apples. I will be completely shocked if anyone can make it work with him gone.

You know, there is such a thing as Mock apple pie made with ritz crackers and as freaky as it sounds, it does taste exactly like apple pie. It's disconcerting even. But I don't mean to explode your metaphor - without Waterson, I can't imagine L&O.

[heather]

Richard Belzer + Ice T = television masterpeice

YES.

[Nickosaurus]

Well, the show was still good before waterson and orbache joined the cast.