Did they?
How did that revelation increase ratings? Was it publicized in advance?
I doubt it did increase ratings. The sudden and inexplicable revelation that she was a lesbian (though I’m fairly certain there were episodes where she had male dates) was random and bizarre. I pictured a bunch of middle age white guys sitting around the NBC ratings desk trying to dream up ways to have her leave the show with the most drama possible. Sad.
There weren’t any previews about her character’s sexual orientation, but there was plenty of hype leading up to that season finale episode.
If her character had really been a lesbian, why the hell didn’t they write it into any of the previous episodes? THAT might have been interesting–and real.
And while I’m on the subject (sort of), why have they never told us a THING about Ed’s character? We know nothing. Is he divorced? Does he have kids? Where is he from? Does he have siblings? Parents? Hobbies? We know more about Farina’s character, and he’s only been there for one season!
What is that about?
sounds like shark jumping territory to me.
Syndication.
It’s one of the things to love or hate about L&O (to varying degrees in all of the versions). But while the detectives and lawyers probably have lives that aren’t about their jobs, we don’t really see them. It is almost never part of the plot of the show.
And that way, you can watch an episode of L&O from 5 or 10 years ago, and not worry about who was sleeping with whom, or whether this episode is before or after the big revelation that Joe was Ted’s illegitimate son. It simply doesn’t matter. All you need to know is who are the detectives and who are the lawyers (and if you don’t know, you can figure it out quickly, even with a short attention span.). It works very, very well and gives the show a bit of timelessness so the syndicating networks can show episode after episode of the show in almost any order at almost any time and people will watch knowing that they can catch up with the story.
I disagree that it’s JUST about syndication. I think the secret of L&O and its clones’ ratings successes has to do with the fact that they focus on the plot – they have a story to tell, and they tell it. For those of us who like an interesting story with lots of surprises and whatnot, and are not at all interested in whether or not Jack will sleep with his ADA, it makes them a lot more watchable. Keeps things moving fast, too. I think characterization is too often a dodge used by people who have no story to tell. As the success of Star Wars vs. all those European art flicks shows, an interesting story with weak characters plays a lot better than an in-depth examination of the protagonist’s psyche that moves like a turtle crawling through oatmeal.
Well, she did have an affair with Ryan O’Reily. 
(Dean Winters was in SVU the first season as Det. Cassidy, and he and Benson had an affair. Benson ended it b/c he was getting too clingy and it was affecting their work relationship).
“Should Benson and Stabler have an affair?”
No.
That would be a massive violation of the premise of the characters. Thank you & good day.
Yes I know, having watched SVU since day one. 
I still think Munch needs to get some ASAP, poor guy. It seems like every third episode or so he mentions his ex-wife (leaving him for his partner) or some sarcastic remark about marriage in general. C’mon John, you wouldn’t be the first cop to get a freebie from a streetwalker.
For that matter, I really don’t need to hear about how Benson’s parents “met” ever again. Can someone with that upbringing really work in sex crimes? In real life I’d have to think Cragen would have shitcanned her in the first episode (helping blow the case against the Bosnian concentration camp survivors who killed their assailant).
It’s bad enough that we have to hear about Olivia’s mom “all the time” (probably not all the time…it just SEEMS like it) and see Eliot’s stupid family every so often…his teenage daughter makes me cringe.
But to build in more drama with a relationship between the two main characters where we COULDN’T ESCAPE IT?!
Hell no!!!
That’s the main reason I watch all the L&O’s. No stupid sexual tension. Just law. And order.
Emphatically NO.
They are pros who happen to be friends. If they do the horizontal bop, it will change their relationship forever and not for the better.
Speaking of that TV guide article, the actor and actress playing benson and stabler was a great interview. One part I didn’t get (or was confused about) was where they said they did [do it] once or twice and the work relationship had been great since. (exactly how it was with the brackets)… Did they mean what I thought they meant? Because that’s all I thought of, watching SVU last night… and it was very weird.
I don’t think Benson and Stabler should have a thing, no. The idea is to foster a sexual tension that constantly exists, if there is a sexual encounter it takes the mystery away from the sexual tension.
I believe that it was indicated that Jack had not only slept with Claire Kincaid, but essentially all of his ADAs. There was one episode where Jack was talking to his DA Nora Lewin, and he said something about “Yeah, I did stuff with my ADA, but I ended up marrying her” and she says “Yeah Jack, but it wasn’t just the one time, was it?”. And then she walks away.
That ties in a little more to the whole Serena being fired thing, if it was known that Jack has an affair with all of his ADAs, and she refuses to because she isn’t interested in men, it would make her comment of “Is it because I’m a lesbian?” a little more poignant.
IMHO, my favorite ADA from the original series is Abbie Carmichael. She was fantastic; rough, gritty, intelligent, sarcastic and by far the most attractive of any of the others. I’d do her if it wasn’t for that damn Jason Sehorn.
As far as Serena being a lesbian, I know that she had never had a male date in the series, ever. They left that entire part of her personal history out, whether they planned it or not is a toss-up, but we really didn’t see much of the ADA’s personal lives except for once when Alexandra Cabot goes on a date with a defense attorney, and Abbie’s story about getting date-raped at Law school.
I’m a L&O freak, I watch it as much as possible all the time. Best show on TV. But I hate Criminal Intent with a passion, fire Vincent D’Onofrio or however you spell it. He is the worst actor I know. Not that I know him personally but it seems like whenever he gets into a confrontational situation he turns into a twitchy crazy guy instead of a real f-ing cop.
-foxy
Thanks for the info on Serena; I had forgotten about the Jack/ADA thing, because I didn’t believe a man as self-righteous as Jack McCoy would EVER do a thing like that.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about Abby. She was my favorite as well. But I couldn’t disagree more about Vincent D’Onofrio. Yeah, I hate Criminal Intent, too, but I don’t blame D’Onofrio. I think he’s a terrific actor. Did you see him in Happy Accidents? The Homicide “Subway” episode? Men in Black? He kicked ass in all of them. I just think the character he plays on L&O is tired. That show does nothing for me.
The worst one, though, is that horrible Trial by Jury. I couldn’t even get through the first episode.