There was an article in the NY Times magazine a couple of weeks ago that discussed Law & Order. It said that the show was designed to maximize its success in syndication. Thus: no story arcs, very little background info on the characters (which also makes them easily replacable), and a consistent format.
You know, CSI seems like it’s in the same vein (it’s just 9 seasons younger than Law & Order).
So long as L&O beats the living snot out of 99% of commercial network broadcast television, I really don’t have a problem with it. I regard the show as a law-based version of the Simpsons, as (I’m sure) the programming executives do as well. Mind you, I’ve not seen an episode of it in over two years, so it might have degraded. I just tend to think that there hasn’t been much competition yet, or it would have been dethroned by now.
Next on Law and Order:
How we make all those pretty badges!
PS: CSI (Cud Swallowed Indefinitely) doesn’t hold a candle to L&O.
Law and Order succeeds for the same reason McDonalds succeeds. I say this being a consumer of both products. L&O is comforting in its predictability. You get to know the format so well you can watch an episode for 45 minutes without realizing you’ve seen it five times before.
L&O has to be considered the most profitable television show in history. I don’t know what the record for the longest running hour long drama is as well, but I suspect they are getting close.
I think there is some F.C.C. rule that it must be playing on at least one channel at all times. I only watch it if it is an episode with Angie Harmon. After my wife told me she would “change teams” for her I watch it just because it brings forth all sorts of mental pictures for me. But those are for a different post.
I likes L&O… I also likes C.S.I., and… and… okay, there’s nothing else on that I like. All the sit-coms on TV are piss-poor rip-offs from overseas (Men Behaving Badly and Coupling were two of the most gut-splitting shows ever… when shown on the BBC), the two Bs have been slowly twisting the knife in Star Trek’s gut ever since the end of DS9, and I don’t wanna watch the contestants of FearFactorSurvivorSurprisePunkWedding eat bugs.
So, I guess I’m hoping it ends up supporting them all.
Oh wait, I like TLC… eh, I hit submit already too late.
Law and Order is terrific. Criminal Intent is a steaming load of crap. D’Onofrio, usually a fine actor, overacts all over the frakin place. And I can’t stand a character in a police drama that knows everything!!! Who spots the important clue right off the bat and makes horrendous leaps of logic to come up with the correct conclusion. Who knows the bad guy just by looking at him. I love Law and Order because it doesn’t have that (usually).
