The lessons of ‘Law & Order’
In Character takes on the old warhorse of network television.
Will
Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.
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The rigidity of form can lead to artistic greatness.
Tom Fontana said (in DVD commentary) that the L&O actors loved the Homicide crossover episodes because they could do something different once in a while.Report
@Mike Schilling, I’m sure the writers loved it, too. I thought the best part of it, though, was that it helped rein in the plots. It’s difficult for writers to avoid the temptation to go bigger, better, and more dramatic. L&O forced it on them. Or at least forced them to outsource the drama to disposable characters.Report
I used to watch L&O absolutely mesmerized with fascination. But I despised every single crossover.Report
I enjoyed the Jerry Orbach/Richard Belzer relationship. )They had an uneasy friendship, having a lot in common including Belzer’s ex-wife.)Report
@North, I like crossovers in general. I’m making my way through Las Vegas (the show) right now. I love it when they bring the Crossing Jordan characters in even though I’m somewhat luke-warm on Crossing Jordan the TV show.Report
@Trumwill, Different tastes Trumwill. The ascerbic antiseptic quality of the original L&O appealed to me because it stripped out so many of the stupid character driven cliches that many TV shows indulge in.Report
@North, not entirely different tastes. That’s what I loved about L&O, too. I’m really glad that every episode was not like the crossover episodes for sure. I just have a thing about crossovers, I guess {shrug}.Report