'CONVICTION' LACKS JUST EXACTLY THAT.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic DICK WOLF Richard Anthony Wolf (usually billed as simply Dick Wolf), (born December 20, 1946, New York City), is one of American television's most respected drama series creators and is an Emmy Award-winning producer, specializing in crime dramas. has always been pretty adamant that his ``Law & Order'' franchise avoid significant exploration of its characters' personal lives - until ``Conviction,'' which lacks the ``L&O'' moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. and title theme, but does feature Stephanie March's prickly Alexandra Cabot For the comic and cartoon character called Alexandra Cabot, see . Alexandra Cabot is a fictional character within the Law & Order universe. She is a primary character in and Conviction. Cabot is portrayed by Stephanie March. , who first appeared on the ``Special Victims Unit'' spinoff. What accounts for Wolf's change of heart? Certainly not the fact that ``Conviction'' is populated by sexy, bed-hopping 20-somethings and not middle-age cops and attorneys. Oh, certainly not. ``Conviction'' begins like so many other TV dramas: Newcomer wakes up with a stranger in bed, breathlessly scrambling to his new job, only to discover things aren't anything like what he'd envisioned. Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges Jordan Bridges (born November 13, 1973 in California, U.S.) is an American actor. He is the son of actor Beau Bridges and Beau's first wife Julie Landifield. He's the nephew of Jeff Bridges and grandson of Lloyd Bridges. ) comes from a wealthy family and could've easily gone into a more lucrative area of law, but something passing itself off as idealism brought him to the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of District Attorney's Office. The chaos and hazing to which he's subjected makes one wonder why he doesn't turn tail by the first two minutes of the second episode. There, he meets randy and ambitious Jessica Rossi (Milena Govich Milena Govich (born October 29, 1976) is an American actress. She was born in Norman, Oklahoma, where both of her parents, Bruce and Marilyn Govich,[1] were professors of music at the University of Oklahoma. ) and hot-shot, power-drink-quaffing bad boy Brian Peluso (Eric Balfour). There's also Sara Finn (Julianne Nicholson Julianne Nicholson (born July 1, 1971) is an American actress. Biography Nicholson was born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts (outside Boston), and is the oldest of four siblings. ), who actually has emotions and insecurities, and Billy Desmond (J. August Richards J. August Richards was born Jaime Augusto Richards III on August 28, 1973 in Washington, D.C. He played the street-wise Charles Gunn on the TV series Angel and was seen on NBC's short-lived courtroom drama, Conviction. ), who occasionally values his political aspirations over his pursuit of justice. Cabot, as usual, runs roughshod over this bunch. Cases here are handled in bite-size snippets, rather than unspooling in ``L&O's'' trademark procedural manner. Some, naturally, are torn from the headlines; an upcoming episode features a Little League murder recalling last April's tragedy in Palmdale. Despite the obvious compromises Wolf has made to lure a younger viewership (and yet, NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. has scheduled this on Fridays, when its target audience is likely not home), ``Conviction'' isn't bad, just not terribly convincing. The young cast postures and preens, but it appears likely that if they heard the phrase ``tort reform,'' they'd think it meant improving a cake recipe. Bridges bears a resemblance to Anson Mount, who plays the deputy D.A., adding a layer of confusion to the cast's sundry couplings. Ultimately, ``Conviction'' lacks that very quality - it's just another legal show in a network landscape cluttered with them. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com CONVICTION - Two and one half stars What: A group of 20-something prosecutors pursue justice - and one another - in this unofficial ``Law & Order'' spinoff from Dick Wolf. Where:NBC (Channel 4). When: 10 tonight. In a nutshell: The young cast isn't always convincing: They look like they'd think ``tort reform'' refers to improving a cake recipe. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The show's young bed-hopping characters don't quite give the appearance of knowing their way around courtroom briefs. |
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