Law and...Law and...what's the name of that TV show again?

It's on Wednesday nights, I think.  Ten o'clock?

You probably heard of it.  Show always starts with a murder.  Two detectives show up at the crime scene, one of them makes a cynical wisecrack about the dead body.  Theme music and credits.  The two detectives set out to solve the crime.  Very often they arrest the wrong guy.  Then they disappear and two lawyers take over.  They get the right guy, who almost gets away because he's hired a crafty lawyer who tries to take advantage of a technical quirk in the Law, but either the older lawyer breaks the guy down on the stand or the younger lawyer comes up with another technical quirk in the Law that trumps the defense attorney's technical quirk, and the bad guy's convicted.  Then the two lawyers talk over what happened with their gruff old boss who makes a cynical wisecrack about human nature or the Law and the show ends.

Same formula every week, but it worked.

Law and...

Law and...

Darn.  After Cheers went off the air, it was my favorite show.

Law and...

Shoot.

I've missed the first two episodes of the new season already, which surprises me.  And I don't care, which surprises me even more.

What happened?  Why don't I care anymore?

Law and...

Oh well.  Maybe I'll catch it next week.  Or not.

Comments

[coturnix]

I know, I know....Law and Golden Girls!

[Ben Jones]

I sort of drifted away from L&O when it seemed like every other episode has been about the War on Terror. If Dick Wolf wants to do a show about the NSA, he should just do it and not make a hash of his New York cop show.
Plus I miss Steven Hill.

[The Heretik]

Law and the West Wing.

[Order]

I'm Order. Law should be here shortly. We need to sort a few things out, Mannion.

[Law]

Mannion, I don't think Order is very happy with you

[Order]

I feel...forgotten. What's the deal? It's always Law, Law, Law. I'm the Jan Brady of this post.

[Law]

You should do the right thing and call it Jude Law and Order

[Order]

Oh you think you're so clever, Law. What good are you without Lenny, anyway? None at all. Now you're not so full of clever quips and sass. Now you know what it feels like. At least I've still got Jack McCoy. I think it's about time I got top billing. Order and Law! Order and Law!

[Law]

Order in the court! Point of order! Order is out of order!

[Order]

You're out of Order! This whole POST is out of Order!

Order and Law! Order and Law! I demand top billing! And a bigger dressing room!

[Law]

I don't mean to dis order, but dis wacked. I will not follow the order. It is not a lawful order.

[Order]

This ought to be against the Law.

[harry near indy]

farina's solid, but ...

how the hell can you replace jerry orbach and do it well?

i go with svu. with diane neal, tamara tunie, and .... drumroll ... mariska hargitay, how can you miss?

yeah, i'm a sexist pig. yeah, i like to look at pretty ladies. so what?

it's like you ladies out there watch svu to check out the handsomeness of ice-t and richard belzer.

[Lance]

harry,

Nancy Nall is the only woman I know who checks out Richard Belzer.

Ben,

Something important went out of the show when Hill left, definitely. But when Jerry Orbach called it quits, I think my loyalty to the show went with him. Just took me all of last season to realize how much Law and Order was his show.

Speaking of Law and Order,

Will you two settle down! Jeez! I can't take you anyplace. I'm warning you, I'll have to separate you, you keep this up. You'll wind up with new partners, the both of you. How would you like that? Fine pair of fools you'd look.

Law and Pretzels?

Sears, Roebuck and Order?

[blue girl]

I only ever watch SVU to watch Ict-T's acting skills.

He's so talented!!! And natural!!!!

[mrs. norman maine]

You THOUGHT Nancy Nall was the only who checks out The Belz.

[SV]

For me, it started when they replaced the firecracker Abby Carmichael with the wooden Serena Southerlyn. This was only partially corrected when they dumped her (and don't get me started on THAT idiotically out-of-the-blue "surprise" twist episode) with the marginally more interesting Borgia. But I REALLY stopped caring about Law and Order when I realized how much I disliked Dennis Farina's character, Joe Fontanna.

It's not about not letting go of the the Lenny love. As great as Jerry Orbach was, I still list Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) or Max Greevey (George Dzundza) before him on my list of favorite cops on that show.

As little as we see of the personal lives of the characters, they each have a distinct personality. Fans can name the categories (Lenny had a drinking problem, Green a gambling problem, Logan has anger management issues...). None are perfect, but every once in a while they recognize their weaknesses with a little humility. Or their co-workers do it for them.

The problem with Fontanna is that, every once in a while, he shows himself to be a bully. And he is completely cold-blooded about it. What's worse, you get the sense that the writers actually like this aspect of his personality - somehow they don't recognize the point where he stops being tough and instead becomes a thug.

[mrs. norman maine]

SV -- Don't be too hard on Fontana.

It's OK -- he's authorized!

[Criminal Intent]

Pfff. Those Law and Order yahoos think they're all that.

[daveminnj]

i still watch it now and then, but it lost
a good bit of it's uniqueness when they replaced
michael moriarty with sam waterston. really, mm
was sublime; sw is a mere proficient actor.

[Law and No Order]

The long arm of the law reaches out yet again to say there can be now law without order, nor no order without law.

[Lauren]

Hey, I've got a thing for Belzer too.

[Broke the Underage Law]

Oy. Belzer. Funny guy. Can understand how he would have his charm with those ladies who appreciate the dark side of humor. I used to see him do standup in the Seventies. Of course I was about five at the time and had to sneak in under the tables. But the bartender at Catch a Rising Star was very generous with the brandy in the chocolate milk. Belzer was nice to all the little kids back then when his hair was all black and Seventies shaggish, rather than slick. And he still does have an awfully big um nose.

[Lauren]

Law, don't tempt me. I get morderous when people talk about Richie. Jealous, I am.

[Not Underage Anymore Law]

Lauren, with Belzer there is more than enough to go around, unlike with those interchangeable, no personality Serena Barbie blondie assistant DA types that ran through the revolving door. Wasn't the incredibly believable Angie Harmon on Law and Whatever we can rip off the headlines and not get sued for? And who can forget Chris (Mr. Big)Noth as in Nothing? Oy

[Lauren]

You can have Mr. Big. I'll take Mr. Big Nose.

[Lauren]

All to myself, I should add. Big noses mean... big hankies.

[harry near indy]

yeh, the belz ... i remember one time when he did his imitation of mick jagger. the belz said jagger danced around on stage like a rooster on acid.

and ya know, he was right.

and belz/munch was a graduate of homicide, still my favorite tv drama so far.

as for svu, i bet one of the plot devices is that stabler goes postal on someone. his character, that is. meloni's been playing him with a murderous gleam in his eye.

[Kevin Wolf]

I agree with much of the above. I'll only add, Lance, that you're going through what I went through last season. Given the recent reaction to L&O and the failure of their last spin-off, it's clear the L&O supernova is now contracting.

[Scott Lemieux]

The first episode of the season was actually the best one in years (as I think I may have blogged about?); detailed legal twists and turns, interesting enough story, no position paper reading. The second episode I lost interest halfway through; it seemed to be an SVU crossover or something.

[Oogy Odekirk]

"Lawn and Order" is my favorite gardening show.