Approach The Bench: Law & Order General Discussion Thread

[Theli11]

I'll bite with ADA rankings
1. Claire - Her seasons were so good, I will say that her first season is a rough one, especially as a woman in a previously male dominated role. I will always love her. 
2. Connie - I found it interesting to me how much she was a powerhouse in an office with both Jack McCoy and Michael Cutter as her bosses. Unlike 
3. Abbie
4. Paul - So great, but he doesn't have as much characterization with him. Wish he got more epsidoes like other ADAs
5. Serena - She's not as bad as the entire fandom would think. I think she's a very important part of L&O, because of her sympathies towards the defense. 
6. Samantha - She might rise above Serena if she continues getting better in the current season. 
7. Alexandra - So boring, I can't remember a thing about her. 
 

[Raja]

 

There is no need to wonder how fast they can do the episode inspired by this big NY December 2024 murder of a health insurance CEO because they already have. It looks like a "ripped from a Law & Order episode" crime.

Edited December 6 by Raja

[Theli11]

5 hours ago, Raja said:

There is no need to wonder how fast they can do the episode inspired by this big NY December 2024 murder of a health insurance CEO because they already have. It looks like a "ripped from a Law & Order episode" crime.

I think I could write the episode.

[Raja]

15 hours ago, Theli11 said:

I think I could write the episode.

And then get sued for plagiarism 😉 

[wknt3]

On 12/6/2024 at 12:33 PM, Raja said:

There is no need to wonder how fast they can do the episode inspired by this big NY December 2024 murder of a health insurance CEO because they already have. It looks like a "ripped from a Law & Order episode" crime.

Unfortunately with all the OTT unrealistic flourishes like the words on the bullets and the Chief of Detectives giving away key details to "avoid panic", as well as the crime and suspect being caught on multiple cameras yet somehow not having good angles or enough detail to identify the perp it seems like they ripped it from the reboot and not the original run...

Edited December 7 by wknt3
fix typos

[Xeliou66]

I immediately thought of L&O when I heard about that murder - seems like something straight out of an episode. I was reminded of the season 12 episode about the guy who killed the insurance executive who voted against approving the treatment for his sick daughter, given that this real life victim was a healthcare company CEO. I also thought of the episode from last year about the tech big wig who was killed after replacing some jobs with AI. A few other episodes came to mind as well. I have a feeling revenge may be the motive in the real case as well. I have a feeling L&O will rip from the headlines with this sooner or later depending on how the real case shakes out. 

[Raja]

38 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

I immediately thought of L&O when I heard about that murder - seems like something straight out of an episode. I was reminded of the season 12 episode about the guy who killed the insurance executive who voted against approving the treatment for his sick daughter, given that this real life victim was a healthcare company CEO. I also thought of the episode from last year about the tech big wig who was killed after replacing some jobs with AI. A few other episodes came to mind as well. I have a feeling revenge may be the motive in the real case as well. I have a feeling L&O will rip from the headlines with this sooner or later depending on how the real case shakes out. 

My go to was the body armor executive with Detective Cassidy 

[Xeliou66]

12 minutes ago, Raja said:

My go to was the body armor executive with Detective Cassidy 

Yeah that’s another one with some similarities - Profiteer from season 17. 

[Stiggs]

When I saw the news about the health insurance CEO I sent a friend a message — Did Law & Order already do this one? 

I've been doing a rewatch now that Hulu has 20 seasons. I'm on Briscoe's second or third episode — and man did he come in hot on his first one. It was weird, and I'm glad they softened that up. Jerry Orbach is a treasure and I love Lenny. I think Briscoe/Green is my favorite cop partnership. They had just enough in common and just enough not in common to work. I really liked Logan, but Briscoe and Green just had the best chemistry. Then again, Green had chemistry with everyone except for Detective Beauty Queen, who I just like to not count. I loved Green with Lupo, and am in the minority who liked Fontana. He was such a peculiar character, acting like a mobster while being a cop, throwing around his Chicago accent, talking about his Benz and his expensive shirts, telling everyone he was authorized. He cracked me up. I feel like Green and Van Buren were amused by him, which was amusing to me? I dunno — he didn't bother me. 

I liked Ben Stone — it's interesting how Jack McCoy has become such a TV institution. I wonder if Ben Stone would have? I love McCoy and his sudden onset emotional yelling. Seeing him retire made me wander if he was still riding his motorcycle, heh. 

My favorite ADA was Abbie, but I also loved Rubirosa and really wanted McCoy to just fire Cutter and let Connie take over. Serena grated so much, but none of the others bothered me. Agree it's time we had a woman in the first chair. And wow I almost forgot about Claire. Looking forward to that era during my holiday binge. :)

The current show version ... I have an open mind? I really like Shaw, and the other one is growing on me. There's something weird about Hugh Dancy's performance that makes me oddly uncomfortable. He seems doomy? Or like he's hiding a big secret? It's weird. (But I'll take him over Cutter any day. That guy grated.) 

This show premiered when I was in college (I'm very old...), and rewatching the first two seasons reminded me how very 80s the early 90s looked. And it's just trippy how much has changed, starting with the pay phones and DNA being questioned a new, unreliable science. And I think every actor who has ever acted has been on this show... 

 

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, Stiggs said:

When I saw the news about the health insurance CEO I sent a friend a message — Did Law & Order already do this one? 

I've been doing a rewatch now that Hulu has 20 seasons. I'm on Briscoe's second or third episode — and man did he come in hot on his first one. It was weird, and I'm glad they softened that up. Jerry Orbach is a treasure and I love Lenny. I think Briscoe/Green is my favorite cop partnership. They had just enough in common and just enough not in common to work. I really liked Logan, but Briscoe and Green just had the best chemistry. Then again, Green had chemistry with everyone except for Detective Beauty Queen, who I just like to not count. I loved Green with Lupo, and am in the minority who liked Fontana. He was such a peculiar character, acting like a mobster while being a cop, throwing around his Chicago accent, talking about his Benz and his expensive shirts, telling everyone he was authorized. He cracked me up. I feel like Green and Van Buren were amused by him, which was amusing to me? I dunno — he didn't bother me. 

I liked Ben Stone — it's interesting how Jack McCoy has become such a TV institution. I wonder if Ben Stone would have? I love McCoy and his sudden onset emotional yelling. Seeing him retire made me wander if he was still riding his motorcycle, heh. 

My favorite ADA was Abbie, but I also loved Rubirosa and really wanted McCoy to just fire Cutter and let Connie take over. Serena grated so much, but none of the others bothered me. Agree it's time we had a woman in the first chair. And wow I almost forgot about Claire. Looking forward to that era during my holiday binge. :)

The current show version ... I have an open mind? I really like Shaw, and the other one is growing on me. There's something weird about Hugh Dancy's performance that makes me oddly uncomfortable. He seems doomy? Or like he's hiding a big secret? It's weird. (But I'll take him over Cutter any day. That guy grated.) 

This show premiered when I was in college (I'm very old...), and rewatching the first two seasons reminded me how very 80s the early 90s looked. And it's just trippy how much has changed, starting with the pay phones and DNA being questioned a new, unreliable science. And I think every actor who has ever acted has been on this show... 

 

Good post and I mostly agree with it. Briscoe/Green is also my favorite detective pairing, they had awesome chemistry and worked really well together. Lennie is a legend, he’ll forever be my favorite L&O detective. And yeah Jack is a legend as well, he was an awesome prosecutor. I think Ben would’ve been just as beloved if he had been on longer, both Ben and Jack were great but very different - Ben was stoic and business like and deadly serious, Jack was fiery and wore his emotions on his sleeve more and was visibly passionate about his cases, but both characters were great lawyers dedicated to justice. And yeah I love the Green/Lupo pairing as well, too bad they were only together for 14 episodes, Lupo gets forgotten about sometimes. Beauty Queen was awful. I found Fontana to be interesting but totally unlikable - arrogant, smug, a rule breaker, borderline shady and unethical at times, and lacking in empathy for people. I appreciated that they went with someone totally different from Lennie, but Fontana just had no likable qualities. 
Connie and Abbie are my favorite ADAs as well, although I love Claire, Paul and Jamie as well. Completely agree about disliking Cutter much of the time.

The revival is usually pretty good, not as good as the original run for sure but still good, I like it a lot more than most, I love the Shaw/Riley detective pairing, I like both of their personalities and they have nice chemistry. Nolan Price is rather hit or miss but I’ve liked him more lately. I enjoy Tony Goldwyn as Baxter as well, even if they don’t always use him properly. I really miss Dixon though, the new LT Brady is too abrasive and surly. Maroun can really drive me nuts in some episodes though the same way Serena could. The worst thing about this season has been the intro of more personal melodrama, 4 of the 6 characters have had personal plots directly in the episodes and we’re only 8 episodes in. I really hope they cut this out, I don’t know if there are new writers who’ve come in from SVU or Wolf’s Chicago soap operas, but L&O should be all case centric and the revival needs to get back to that. 

[Stiggs]

9 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Good post and I mostly agree with it. Briscoe/Green is also my favorite detective pairing, they had awesome chemistry and worked really well together. Lennie is a legend, he’ll forever be my favorite L&O detective. And yeah Jack is a legend as well, he was an awesome prosecutor. I think Ben would’ve been just as beloved if he had been on longer, both Ben and Jack were great but very different - Ben was stoic and business like and deadly serious, Jack was fiery and wore his emotions on his sleeve more and was visibly passionate about his cases, but both characters were great lawyers dedicated to justice. And yeah I love the Green/Lupo pairing as well, too bad they were only together for 14 episodes, Lupo gets forgotten about sometimes. Beauty Queen was awful. I found Fontana to be interesting but totally unlikable - arrogant, smug, a rule breaker, borderline shady and unethical at times, and lacking in empathy for people. I appreciated that they went with someone totally different from Lennie, but Fontana just had no likable qualities. 
Connie and Abbie are my favorite ADAs as well, although I love Claire, Paul and Jamie as well. Completely agree about disliking Cutter much of the time.

The revival is usually pretty good, not as good as the original run for sure but still good, I like it a lot more than most, I love the Shaw/Riley detective pairing, I like both of their personalities and they have nice chemistry. Nolan Price is rather hit or miss but I’ve liked him more lately. I enjoy Tony Goldwyn as Baxter as well, even if they don’t always use him properly. I really miss Dixon though, the new LT Brady is too abrasive and surly. Maroun can really drive me nuts in some episodes though the same way Serena could. The worst thing about this season has been the intro of more personal melodrama, 4 of the 6 characters have had personal plots directly in the episodes and we’re only 8 episodes in. I really hope they cut this out, I don’t know if there are new writers who’ve come in from SVU or Wolf’s Chicago soap operas, but L&O should be all case centric and the revival needs to get back to that. 

Oh, I so agree on the personal plots! I mean, I'll watch Shaw read the dang phone book while crying - much like Jensen Ackles from Supernatural, he's a pretty crier, heh. Do not mind the eye candy, but I like a little less personal drama from my L&O characters, thanks. Don't need to know about Maura Tierney's adult kids and their problems. (Though her character is growing on me...I don't mind her being abrasive, but I feel like they haven't gotten the balance right yet.)

Something that's struck me during the rewatch was that Ben Stone was ahead of his time when it comes to social issues that weren't terribly understood in the early 90s. I like how nuanced his approach to everything is. It's a contrast to. Motorcycle McCoy's louder approach. 

Oh, and I have another unpopular opinion - I couldn't stand Greevy. There were times when he was the sensible one in the room, but my god if something so much as thought about disagreeing with his personal dogmas he turned into a brat. However, he was a great contrast to young Logan, who was about as open-minded as a TV cop could get back then. 

IMHO Lupo goes down in L&O history as the most under-appreciated detective. I'm not Anthony Anderson's biggest fan, but I liked them together. I remember feeling like the show really got its legs back, and Van Buren had hot Bernie Hudson, and the show was on such a nice roll ... and then they killed it. Still crying, lol. I love the 30 Rock references to, "THEY CANCELED LAW & ORDER?" because I, too, felt like maybe we weren't America anymore, lol. People love SVU more and I have no idea why. I'm an original recipe purist, and my second favorite in the franchise is Criminal Intent (And I loved ALL the detectives they had - from D'Onofrio to Goldblum - it was always interesting. I still laugh at Logan's "major coffee" line...)

I saw Jeremy Sisto on another "cop" show - FBI, maybe? - and I was still remembering him fondly as we call him in our house (Detective Elton from Clueless), but realized WOW, yeah, his time on L&O was a while ago. It felt like in a blink he went from a young detective to the elder statesman - when really it was like, more than a decade ago. 

I wish they'd find a way to bring on Shambala Green for like, every third episode, lol. 

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, Stiggs said:

Oh, I so agree on the personal plots! I mean, I'll watch Shaw read the dang phone book while crying - much like Jensen Ackles from Supernatural, he's a pretty crier, heh. Do not mind the eye candy, but I like a little less personal drama from my L&O characters, thanks. Don't need to know about Maura Tierney's adult kids and their problems. (Though her character is growing on me...I don't mind her being abrasive, but I feel like they haven't gotten the balance right yet.)

Something that's struck me during the rewatch was that Ben Stone was ahead of his time when it comes to social issues that weren't terribly understood in the early 90s. I like how nuanced his approach to everything is. It's a contrast to. Motorcycle McCoy's louder approach. 

Oh, and I have another unpopular opinion - I couldn't stand Greevy. There were times when he was the sensible one in the room, but my god if something so much as thought about disagreeing with his personal dogmas he turned into a brat. However, he was a great contrast to young Logan, who was about as open-minded as a TV cop could get back then. 

IMHO Lupo goes down in L&O history as the most under-appreciated detective. I'm not Anthony Anderson's biggest fan, but I liked them together. I remember feeling like the show really got its legs back, and Van Buren had hot Bernie Hudson, and the show was on such a nice roll ... and then they killed it. Still crying, lol. I love the 30 Rock references to, "THEY CANCELED LAW & ORDER?" because I, too, felt like maybe we weren't America anymore, lol. People love SVU more and I have no idea why. I'm an original recipe purist, and my second favorite in the franchise is Criminal Intent (And I loved ALL the detectives they had - from D'Onofrio to Goldblum - it was always interesting. I still laugh at Logan's "major coffee" line...)

I saw Jeremy Sisto on another "cop" show - FBI, maybe? - and I was still remembering him fondly as we call him in our house (Detective Elton from Clueless), but realized WOW, yeah, his time on L&O was a while ago. It felt like in a blink he went from a young detective to the elder statesman - when really it was like, more than a decade ago. 

I wish they'd find a way to bring on Shambala Green for like, every third episode, lol. 

Yeah the personal stuff drives me nuts usually - one of my favorite things about original L&O is the minimal personal stuff. It’s the main reason I think the SVU spinoff is far inferior to the Mothership - SVU has a lot of personal crap and it’s only gotten worse over the years. CI is my second favorite L&O as well, I love Goren/Eames and of course Logan as well. 
Lupo is one of my favorites also, he was a good detective and I liked him with Bernard, they had nice chemistry. The show was very strong overall in season 20 and it’s a damn shame they took it off the air then because it was on a nice roll. Van Buren was leaving no matter what at the end of season 20 but L&O’s replaced every character at some point or another. I enjoy the revival and I’m glad they brought it back but the writing isn’t as good as it was when L&O went off the air after season 20.

I’m also not a Max Greevey fan, he had a few good moments but he was absolutely awful a couple of times as well. Cragen chewing his ass out when he wanted off the case in Prisoner of Love is awesome. 
I love both Ben and Jack, very different but both great. I like how L&O doesn’t try to replace characters with a clone of the previous character - the one thing I liked about Fontana is that he was not a Lennie clone, and fortunately L&O hasn’t tried to clone previous characters. 

[Chaser]

It’s funny. When it comes to the personal lives, I think less is more on the Original and SVU (especially SVU) But I’m okay with it on Criminal Intent.