Brainerd Dispatch: TV review
‘Law & Order’ deserves a positive verdict
By JOHN HANSEN
April 26, 2007
“Law & Order” isn’t just what Chuck Norris calls his right and left legs. It’s also the name of NBC’s oldie-but-goodie, cops-and-courts drama, which – despite telling timely stories every week – apparently isn’t timeless.
In what some might consider a sign of the apocalypse, “Law & Order” has popped up on TV insiders’ “bubble” lists. The network hasn’t decided whether to bring it back for an 18th season.
NBC has canceled several of mega-producer Dick Wolf’s shows over years – including one with the “L&O” brand name, 2005’s “Trial By Jury.” However, I highly doubt it will cancel the original. Nine million viewers may not make it the hit it used to be, but 9 million people can still create a sizable backlash.
“L&O” needs to be on the air next year, and for many years to come. Sure, it’s the second-longest-running drama ever, behind “Gunsmoke’s” 20 seasons, but it’s not the years, it’s the mileage. “L&O’s” motor still purrs like a kitten.
Excepting the low-tech cartoon “South Park,” which sometimes wraps an episode the same day it hits the airwaves, no other show exploits TV’s quick turnaround time like “L&O.”
If something makes headlines, it will be an “L&O” episode within months. This season, the show has riffed on the O.J. Simpson pseudo-confession book and political pundit Ann Coulter’s inflammatory remarks. The Duke lacrosse case, Pacman Jones and Don Imus doubtless will inspire future yarns.
For someone who doesn’t watch much TV news, “L&O” is my newscast, complete with deeper analysis – it illuminates issues of the day. The best episodes develop a subtle momentum, paralleling Jack McCoy’s (Sam Waterston) never-quenched thirst for justice and leading to climactic moments that would stand up even without the dark cello music. It’s immensely satisfying to see McCoy take down a defendant who is wielding a made-for-primetime defense like “God made me do it.”
“L&O” doesn’t play good guys and bad guys. The law is a tool, and sometimes even the righteous McCoy screws up. Witness the recent episode with two suspects, in which the district attorney’s gut leads him to the wrong conclusion. But while the law can be wielded wrongly, it also can correct itself – McCoy, fortunately, loses that case.
It’s nice to see the characters aren’t bigger than life. A scene like McCoy purchasing a hot dog from a New York street vendor as his assistant D.A. (Alana De La Garza, who started this season) nurses a coffee is the show’s straightforward way of keeping it real.
Milena Govich also joined the cast this year as “L&O’s” first female detective, but it was hardly an earth-shaking move. This is the same show it’s always been.
That’s not always high praise – “24” is the same as it’s always been, and it’s tiresome. Indeed, if every show followed “L&O’s” lead and told slight variations of the same story for two decades, TV would be a very dull place.
But I’ll always make room in my schedule for one rock-solid show about current events and controversial issues. NBC should do the same.
If you watch
What: “Law & Order” Season 17
When: 9 p.m. Fridays
Network: NBC