I have a soft spot for :Law & Order. I mean, doesn’t everybody? When that ‘chung chung’ sound is heard, it takes me to my happy place. When I used to visit Ian in Raleigh, I’d have it on in the background for hours on end (sorry, Ian!). One time, we were walking in Downtown Raleigh under an overpass when a van pulled up to us and offered us a ride. We declined, naturally. He offered again, and we declined again so he drove off.
Obviously, we spun it into a Law & Order: Raleigh episode for the next half hour and given that we are both writers, it was a hoot. I’m sure he was just a nice guy wanting to do a good thing, but it definitely had the flavor of o L&O episode, yes?
Another time, we were watching one of the L&Os and discussing the anatomy of an episode. In the first five minutes is the actual Crime. Then, credits. If there is a famous person, they are either the perp or the vic. I mean, why splash that kind of money around for Garbage Man #2? The killer is introduced in the second segment (the one following the credits). The fake motives are trotted out in the first half of the episode. The real motive/perp is revealed around that time and then legal shenanigans for the second half.
I signed up for Peacock, the basic sub, because…well, it’s like this. I became aware that there’s a new season of the original L&O, which, I mean, I guess Dick Wolf’s gotta eat. Oh! I know how I found out. I saw that Legal Eagle was dissecting an L&O order and assumed it was an old ep. To my surprise, I realized it was a new one, based on *sigh* the Cosby case. So I watched Legal Eagle reviewing the episode (video included). It was bad. very bad. even by L&O standards. Why? Because what worked for the series when it first came out (and I’ll get to that later) hasn’t aged well. At all.