Law and Order - Season 21

Just an update: I am loving `Law & Order'. Hugh Dancy is fantastic. And now
that Dylan McDermott (I was going to say Dermot Mulroney) is gone, I'm back
watching `Organized Crime' and enjoying it.

 

Some bosses are more hands on than others. The way she runs the unit as Captain is true to her character.

How long have you watched SVU? I ask because there’s lots of Benson screw ups the first 12 years before Amanda came onto the scene. There were many times she blatantly disobeyed Cragen’s orders. Think of the whole subplot with her brother.

 

Agreed, but that's changed in the past few years. It's not like I want to feel this way, she's my favorite TV character.

 

The trouble is that Benson's character is now someone who considers herself the only person capable of getting anything done. In real life, wouldn't someone promoted to captain be glad that they could stop interviewing freshly traumatised victims? But Benson doesn't trust anyone else to do their job. In real life, again, the people who have to work with her would dislike her and probably ridicule her behind her back.

 

That's it. That's exactly it.

 

Sounds like a case of The Main Characters Do Everything - TV Tropes except there's only one main character so it looks really weird.

 

Ha! That describes it completely.

 

I call this the "Dennis Franz" effect. In my opinion the early seasons of NYPD Blue were very good. Eventually instead of being a significant character among several, the show started revolving more and more around Dennis and it went down hill quickly. Other shows have done similar things with a hot character.

 

I agree. I like the Order side. I don't care much for Camryn Manheim on the Law side. But, all the pieces are in place. It just comes down to good writing.

 

One of the problems with the return is that the original is still on, and on with a vengeance. No nostalgia or fading memories to help here.

 

The 90s originals are on but so are the ones from 2001-2007 which the current version is at least equal to before the series rebounded from 2008-2010.

So, from my point of view, the new version is far from the worst and better than some previous seasons.

 

I think that’s fair. With any show that’s on for that long there’s going to be peaks and valleys and lots of changes.

 

Well I finally got around to watching last week's episode (3/17) this evening. Seemed like it was based on the Britney Spears story but using a tennis player as the main character. Overall, I thought this episode was a bit better. They even had a sarcastic remark by Anderson in the opening sequence. The actors didn't seem quite so stiff to me. But, the writing is still not great. I blame the writers for the quality or lack thereof more than the actors.

 

Being a writer, I never blame them exclusively. They have a lot of people to please. Inevitably, it also comes from the producers and the network.

 

Those years and the first few with Waterston, they really hold up.

 

Watching tonight’s episode now and it is a rerun of the episode based on Theranos. Seems a bit soon to start reruns.

Looks like they are taking a 2 week break. New episodes return April 7th.

 

Don’t want to compete with March Madness.

 

Good point and correct. Since I am not a basketball fan I had not thought about that.

 

I miss the graininess and handheld camera shots of the original. This looks too modern.

 

For me, the best season is the one with Moriarty, Hennesey, Noth and Orbach.

 

Sounds like you’re stuck in the early 90s.

 

Well, for me, that's when the show was at its peak.

 

David Milch has viewed NYPD Blue as The Redemption of Andy Sipowicz and ,as someone who stayed with the series till the end kept up with cable repeats and a few DVD seasons,that is as fine a description as any for this fan. As many may know,the episode titles(never shown on the credits) involved puns and lighthearted wordplay,even when the plots were sad and/or filled with violence. Near the end, Sgt. Sipowicz' Lonely Hearts Band was the episode where Andy becomes a sergeant.The last episode,Moving Day,where he takes over the aquad,has multiple meanings as a plot description and a nod to the audience. Once Kelly left in season 2, a mean-spirited title of Dead And Gone,Andy became the focus of NYPD Blue.

 

Dann Floreck possibly makes an appearance,possibly 4/7/22, on Organized Crime,though the teaser seems to show up on the L&O ad.

 

Why aren't they eating? In the past, sometime in each episode, people were eating. Only in one new episode do I remember seeing members of the cast eating and that scene started with them cleaning up a meal. They were just scavenging scraps.

Come on, Law & Order. It's a signature move. Buy these folks lunch!