'VISUAL NICOTINE' THE PLAYERS COME AND GO, THE STORIES CHANGE, BUT 'LAW & ORDER' HAS MADE PRIME TIME CRIME TIME.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer WHEN ``LAW & ORDER'' airs its 300th episode at 10 p.m. Wednesday, 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. of course will celebrate. After all, Dick Wolf's cop drama brought back the long-dormant procedural genre and spun off quite successfully into two related series on the network, ``Law & Order: SVU'' and ``Law & Order: Criminal Intent,'' as well as his reality-style summer replacement, ``Crime & Punishment.'' The headline writers of the New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily.[3] Since 1976, it has been owned by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and is one of the 10 also should rejoice, those whose 150-point punchy punch·y adj. punch·i·er, punch·i·est 1. Characterized by vigor or drive: "He speaks in short, punchy sentences, using plain, populist words that excite" and punny words on Manhattan crimes and scandals are Wolf's bible for the series. And the Screen Actors Guild also should bow to ``Law & Order,'' which has survived a 100 percent core cast turnover in 13 seasons as well as employing countless guest stars and extras for its New York-based shoots. In a way, even CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. should tip its hat because it was the solidity of ``Law & Order'' that inspired CBS to pick up the now top-rated ``CSI CSI Crime Scene Investigator CSI CompuServe, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems, Inc. CSI Commodity Systems Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) CSI Crime Scene Investigation (CBS TV show) CSI Christian Schools International : Crime Scene Investigation'' and its Miami cousin. Who could have guessed ``Law & Order'' would last this long? Not its creator and executive producer. ``I was hoping to go past 10 shows,'' Wolf said. ``Look, every show is born under an execution order. They just don't tell you the date.'' The show's formula, tighter than any other TV drama, opens with the detectives (Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20 1935 – December 28 2004) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Det. Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and for his musical theater roles. and Jesse L. Martin) arriving on a crime scene. The first half-hour follows their investigation to the arrest, and the second half-hour opens with the bail hearing. The prosecutors (Sam Waterston and Elisabeth Rohm) battle the defense on points of evidence and go after the accused in court or, about as often, in a plea bargain plea bargain n. in criminal procedure, a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the conference. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. The ``ripped from the headlines'' angle is just what it says, Wolf noted. The headlines are the starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the , because the real crime story often has a different and less dramatic outcome. ``The highbrow high·brow adj. also high·browed Of, relating to, or being highly cultured or intellectual: They only attend highbrow events such as the ballet or the opera. n. way of looking at it is that it's trompe l'oeil trompe l'oeil (trôNp lö`yə): see illusionism. trompe l'oeil (French; “deceive the eye”) cinema verite ci·né·ma vé·ri·té n. A style of documentary filmmaking that stresses unbiased realism. [French cinéma-vérité : cinéma, cinema + vérité, truth. ,'' Wolf said. ``It looks very real, but everybody knows the cops don't catch them in 22 minutes and the prosecutors don't cook them in 22 minutes.'' The series has grown in the ratings, even with multiple daily reruns on A&E and then TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. . Wolf says it's ``visual nicotine.'' Orbach attributes its popularity to ``a kind of reliability that the audience feels.'' ``They know they're going to see a whole story from beginning to end on each episode,'' he said. ``They don't have to wait till next week to find out what happens.'' The series' tight construction, though, has been part of the reason for some actors' departure. Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. Biography Bratt's mother, Eldy Banda is a Quechua Native American activist, born in Lima, Peru, who moved to the U.S. at age 14. , who played Orbach's partner for four seasons, left in 1999. Bratt said that after a while, there are only so many ways one can say, ``Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt your daughter (brother/husband/business partner)?'' ``There must be a hundred different ways to say that,'' Orbach said, laughing. ``I don't think I've used them all up yet.'' Orbach, who has played Detective Lennie Briscoe Det. Lennie Briscoe was a fictional character on NBC's long running crime drama, Law & Order. He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004. He was created by Walon Green and Rene Balcer, and was portrayed by Jerry Orbach. since 1992, said the show's freshness is found in ``these hundreds and hundreds of wonderful actors from this very rich 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 talent pool ... somebody playing the bereaved mother, somebody playing the retarded nephew, and people playing cops and investigators and scientists.'' Rohm called Wolf a ``mensch'' for employing so many theater-trained actors, giving them the opportunity for recognition and a much-needed boost to their incomes. Wolf credits his casting team with maintaining the momentum through 18 lead players in six roles as well as all those guest parts. ``If you go to the theater in New York There are many famous theaters in New York, most notably the Broadway theatres in New York City.
n. A poster announcing a theatrical performance. playbill Noun a poster or bill advertising a play Noun 1. biography, they either just got off the bus or they're really bad actors.'' George Dzundza George Dzundza (born July 19, 1945) is an American actor known for his role as Sgt. Max Greevey in the first season of the TV crime drama Law & Order. Biography Personal life , the show's first lead detective, tired of the commute between work in New York and his family in Los Angeles. His replacement, Paul Sorvino, could not endure the New York winter's strain on his operatic vocal cords vocal cords: see larynx. Vocal cords The pair of elastic, fibered bands inside the human larynx. The cords are covered with a mucous membrane and pass horizontally backward from the thyroid cartilage (Adam's apple) to insert on . In 1993, the network hammer dropped. ``I was told categorically by NBC that I was being given a cancellation notice a year early if I didn't put women in the show,'' Wolf recalled. ``And you know what? They were right.'' Dann Florek as Capt. Donald Cragen and Richard Brooks as assistant D.A. Paul Robinette were forced out to make way for S. Epatha Merkerson and Jill Hennessy, respectively. ``Those were the worst two phone calls I've ever had to make in 20 years as a producer,'' Wolf said. `` 'Dann,' I said, 'Look, you were the bedrock of the cast, you never complained, you show up on time every day of work, you have never been a pain in the ass Noun 1. pain in the ass - something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness; "washing dishes was a nuisance before we got a dish washer"; "a bit of a bother"; "he's not a friend, he's an infliction" , and thank you - you're fired.'' Wolf made it up to Florek by bringing back the Cragen character for a ``Law & Order'' movie and, now, ``SVU SVU Special Victims Unit SVU Southern Virginia University (Buena Vista, Virginia) SVU Society for Vascular Ultrasound SVU Sri Venkateswara University (Tirupati, India) SVU Syrian Virtual University .'' Michael Moriarty, playing executive assistant D.A. Ben Stone, resigned in 1994 by faxing his notice to Wolf in the wee hours of one morning. ``(NBC Entertainment president) Warren (Littlefield) called me up, literally his voice an octave higher, saying, 'My God, the show is over! What are we going to do? He's the back half of the show,' '' Wolf said. ``And I said, 'I have two words for you: Sam Waterston.' And he said, 'Oh. OK.' '' The cast changes have not been easy for the writers. ``I think that the first season of every character transition in the history of the show has been a difficult first season,'' Wolf says, ``because it takes a full season for the audience to accept the new character. ``It's not like, 'Tonight, Hamlet will be played by ...' The only reason these things work is because you write a completely new character from a blank sheet of paper. But I always see it as an opportunity to freshen fresh·en v. fresh·ened, fresh·en·ing, fresh·ens v.intr. 1. To become fresh, as in vigor or appearance: freshened up after the day's work. 2. the show.'' Wolf says in 300 episodes the writers have offended ``every race, color, creed, religion.'' ``Somebody said, 'You have an awful lot of rich white guys killing people in your show.' And I said, 'There's no rich white guys' pressure group. You can go after them every week and nobody calls you.' '' The show won the best drama series Emmy in 1997 and has been nominated in that category for every season to date. ``My current biggest hope is that we get another Emmy nomination, which would give us 12 consecutive Emmy nominations which puts us ahead of 'Cheers' and 'M*A*S*H,' '' Wolf said. ``That would be a nice record to have because the landscape has changed so much that it's unlikely that anybody will ever be able to beat it. Beyond that, the main goal is to beat 'Gunsmoke' and have 'Law & Order' become the longest-running scripted show in history.'' That would take seven to eight more seasons. ``The way I look at it is we've finished our first cycle of 13,'' Wolf said. Rohm says a recent party for the show at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's house helped her understand the importance of ``Law & Order'' to the Big Apple. ``The city has been there as a sponge, to soak up the dollars and to appreciate the work that Dick Wolf has provided,'' she said. ``And I've never really gotten the gravity of that.'' Wolf said he still watches the show Wednesday nights, even though he sees them through filming and editing. ``I'll never get bored doing it,'' he said. ``Pry the New York Post out of my cold, dead fingers.'' LAW & ORDER What: NBC marks the 300th episode milestone of the popular cops-and-courts procedural drama with three episodes back to back: The pilot, ``Everybody's Favorite Bagman "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" is the sixth episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order. It originally aired on 30 October 1990. Cast Police Dann Florek Capt. Don Cragen George Dzundza Sgt. Max Greevey Chris Noth Det. ,'' followed by the 299th episode, ``Couples,'' and the 300th, ``Smoke.'' Where: NBC (Channel 4). When: 8 p.m. Wednesday. The 'L&O' family tree Police supervisor Dann Florek (Capt. Donald Cragen) - 1990-1993 S. Epatha Merkerson (Lt. Anita Van Buren Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running drama, Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. She is the longest-running character (by number of appearances) on the show, although she does not hold the record for most consecutive appearances. ) - 1993-present Lead detective George Dzundza (Sgt. Max Greevey) - 1990-1991 Paul Sorvino (Sgt. Phil Cerreta) - 1991-1992 Jerry Orbach (Detective Lennie Briscoe) - 1992-present Second detective Chris Noth (Mike Logan) - 1990-1995 Benjamin Bratt (Rey Curtis) - 1995-1999 Jesse L. Martin (Ed Green) - 1999-present District Attorney Steven Hill (Adam Schiff) - 1990-2000 Dianne Wiest (Nora Lewin) - 2000-2002 Fred Dalton Thompson (Arthur Branch) - 2002-present Executive assistant D.A. Michael Moriarty (Ben Stone) - 1990-1994 Sam Waterston (Jack McCoy) - 1994-present Assistant D.A. Richard Brooks (Paul Robinette) - 1990-1993 Jill Hennessy (Claire Kincaid) - 1993-1996 Carey Lowell (Jamie Ross) - 1996-1998 Angie Harmon (Abbie Carmichael) - 1998-2001 Elisabeth Rohm (Serena Southerlyn) - 2001-present - Valerie Kuklenski CAPTION(S): 21 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) 13 YEARS TO LIFE! Ripped-from-the-headlines crime drama `Law & Order' reaches a milestone (2) In 'Law & Order's' 300th episode, Jerry Orbach, left, and Jesse L. Martin stick with what they know - chasing the bad guy, played here by Otto Sanchez. (3) Jerry Orbach (4) Paul Sorvino (5) George Dzundza (6) Dianne Wiest (7) Richard Brooks (8) S. Epatha Merkerson (9) Can you name all 18 regular cast members from ``Law & Order''? Creator Dick Wolf, left, can. (10) Fred Dalton Thompson (11) Steven Hill (12) Jill Hennessy (13) Dann Florek (14) Sam Waterston (15) Michael Moriarty (16) Carey Lowell (17) Jesse L. Martin (18) Benjamin Bratt (19) Chris Noth (20) Elisabeth Rohm (21) Angie Harmon Box: (1) LAW & ORDER (see text) (2) The 'L&O' family tree (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion