Approach The Bench: Law & Order General Discussion Thread

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 8/30/2016 at 4:08 AM, SparedTurkey said:

So, I recently bought seasons 9-11 on dvd and I have to say...Abbie is my favourite. I despise her politics (i.e. saying a woman can find another type of birth control other than abortion which...just no, no wonder you were from Texas)

Surprising no one, I'm sure, I cut Abbie some slack for being wrong-headed on that score. Given that her first episode was Cherished, with the well-off couple who had dumped a dying kid off on another set of would-be parents without having the damn decency to inform anyone about the little girl's health problems, I can see why she would take a dim view of irresponsible behavior when it comes to children. Yes, she was wrong in Scrambled, but she also told that excuse-making wench in Cherished, "In fact, as long as you could make the baby someone else's problem, you just didn't give a damn, did you?"

[SparedTurkey]

Quote

Surprising no one, I'm sure, I cut Abbie some slack for being wrong-headed on that score.

Yeah no, I think they were very much pushing her Texan roots in the first few episodes she was in to be honest. Abortion, death penalty - they hit them all. Then I think they settled down with that stuff, and Angie Harmon was charming enough to make you kind of ignore the odd crap thing she would say every now and then. I'm kind of glad she wasn't there when Branch was - I think they would have doubled down on it and made her less of what she was.

She was big on personal responsibilty for all - witnesses, defendants, bloody stupid jury forepersons. I appreciated that more than anything.

[Arcadiasw]

I caught School Daze this weekend. Angie Harmon played Abbie showing restraint very well in this one. Abbie was on the verge of losing it with Nora for showing sympathy at the shooter because he's sixteen. I imagine Abbie venting in her office afterwards. 

Amazing Nora only lasted two seasons.

[WendyCR72]

Huh. One of the questions on the "Charged Up" quiz just now was asking who auditioned for Max Greevey. The choices were David Caruso, Jerry Orbach, and Steven Hill.

The answer was Jerry Orbach. Makes sense since he made that S2 appearance as Frank Lehrman!

[WendyCR72]

Apparently, WE is back to its yo-yo scheduling. By happenstance, my remote clicked on WE and instead of House (which I've never watched), S1 of the Mothership is on.

[303420]

Quote

S1 of the Mothership is on.

Season 20 of the Mothership has been on Ion. This is some divine symmetry.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

10 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Apparently, WE is back to its yo-yo scheduling. By happenstance, my remote clicked on WE and instead of House (which I've never watched), S1 of the Mothership is on.

And they return to airing season 5 on Saturday, beginning with the episode Privileged at 5:00 PM.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched "Good Girl" last night.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the guy for his own death, and I understood exactly why he didn't want to keep being his girlfriend's secret just because he was black...but still, wasn't physically throwing her out of the apartment a little harsh?  Especially given the fact the whole reason why she hid the relationship was out of fear of her racist father, who BROKE HER ARM the last time he found out she dated an African American boy?

[BW Manilowe]

And the WE yo-yo scheduling on Wednesday continues. Today they're airing the Mothership from 2PM Eastern through 8PM Eastern (so I hope this helps somebody catch it, if they want to), when they start running some movie I forget the title of, & I think they run it twice in a row, to boot.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

They did that last week too, @BW Manilowe. They ran Sweet Home Alabama back to back, which is just another reason I can't abide Reese Witherspoon.

[Ailianna]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I watched "Good Girl" last night.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the guy for his own death, and I understood exactly why he didn't want to keep being his girlfriend's secret just because he was black...but still, wasn't physically throwing her out of the apartment a little harsh?  Especially given the fact the whole reason why she hid the relationship was out of fear of her racist father, who BROKE HER ARM the last time he found out she dated an African American boy?

How else was he supposed to get her to leave though?  If he didn't want to be with her anymore, he has the right to get out of the relationship and to have her out of his home.  She was pretty clearly not going to leave, as she was so upset that he wouldn't appreciate her "sacrifice" to be with him.  I get that she had reasons to fear her father, but ultimately it wasn't his responsibility to keep dating her and feeling her shame about him just so she could keep lying to her dad.  If she had just accepted the break up, her dad would never have known and everyone could have gone about their lives.

[shapeshifter]

On July 14, 2016 at 10:08 AM, roseslg said:

Nothing much to add, but my husband has made mention (and not in the positive way) about my excessive watching of L&O.  I've tried to cut down and only watch when he's not home.  He was home Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  I mean, those are marathon nights on Ion and WE.  I mean, I try not to watch on the weekends on TNT... I don't know if this marriage will work out :). 

It looks like ION is now running L&O on both Mondays and Wednesdays--at least on alternate weeks. They were airing Criminal Minds on Mondays and Tuesdays, but maybe someone in programming is starting to realize that CM really isn't daytime viewing. I can't handle it at all. 

 

Robinett's speech patterns always sound like 1940s announcers to me.

Edited September 15, 2016 by shapeshifter

[Cobalt Stargazer]

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I watched "Good Girl" last night.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the guy for his own death, and I understood exactly why he didn't want to keep being his girlfriend's secret just because he was black...but still, wasn't physically throwing her out of the apartment a little harsh?  Especially given the fact the whole reason why she hid the relationship was out of fear of her racist father, who BROKE HER ARM the last time he found out she dated an African American boy?

Wasn't it her dumb friends as well as her father? I didn't watch last night because the first season of Criminal Minds was on ION, and I always watch that because priorities, but I could swear that one of her college friends said something to the effect of that she'd never go with a "guy like that"? I might be conflating it with something else, I'm not  sure.

[ktwo]

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I could swear that one of her college friends said something to the effect of that she'd never go with a "guy like that"?

You are correct, and the friend was played by Jennifer Esposito!

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Wasn't it her dumb friends as well as her father? I didn't watch last night because the first season of Criminal Minds was on ION, and I always watch that because priorities, but I could swear that one of her college friends said something to the effect of that she'd never go with a "guy like that"? I might be conflating it with something else, I'm not  sure.

 

Just now, ktwo said:

You are correct, and the friend was played by Jennifer Esposito!

She also used the N-word. It's not bleeped out on TNT, but is on all other networks that air this episode.

[BW Manilowe]

Awhile back I posted here that Elizabeth Röhm had mentioned on her Twitter (which I saw as ReTweets on my Twitter because I don't follow her) that she was in Hawaii, filming a guest spot on Hawaii Five-0 for an ep airing in the upcoming season.

In case anyone here wants to watch her ep, especially if you're not a regular viewer of H50, her ep will air on Friday, October 7th, at 9PM Eastern/8PM Central Time on CBS (check local listings for the correct time west of Central Time). She plays a police psychiatrist in the ep.

[BW Manilowe]

The WE marathon today, Wednesday, September 21st, started at 11:30AM Eastern & runs through 5:30PM Eastern, when they start running the movie Hitch 3 times in a row (uh-huh). WE is running eps with Ben Stone as immediate underling to Adam Schiff.

The ION marathon started at 11:00AM Eastern, I think, & runs until 1:00AM Eastern tomorrow (pretty much the usual time). They're running eps with Branch, Jack, & Serena in the DA's office, & Lennie, Van Buren, & I think Ed, in the 27th. At least at the moment.

[BW Manilowe]

The WE Mothership marathon for Wednesday, September 28, 2016 runs from 10AM Eastern/9AM Central-4PM Eastern/3PM Central. Followed by a CSI: Miami marathon.

The ION Wednesday Mothership marathon remains at the usual time--10AM Eastern/9AM Central-1AM Eastern/12 Midnight Central late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.

[topanga]

What I'd like to know is why the networks insist on running the same episodes over and over. And there are some that never or hardly ever appear. e.g. I set up my DVR to record "Profile" -- an early episode with Logan, but another episode was substituted. So I've been searching my DirecTV log to try to find that episode again, and in 5 months, it hasn't replayed. So frustrating. 

[BW Manilowe]

OK... Upthread I mentioned (in case there are any Elizabeth Röhm fans here) that Elizabeth Röhm will be guest starring in the October 7th episode of Hawaii Five-0, playing a police psychiatrist named Dr. Madison Gray. That episode airs tomorrow night, at 9PM Eastern/8PM Central Time on CBS.

And according to the press release for next week's episode, it looks like that role will last for at least 2 episodes. Elizabeth will also be in next Friday's episode of Hawaii Five-0, airing Friday October 14th, at 9PM Eastern/8PM Central time, on CBS.

[wknt3]

22 hours ago, topanga said:

What I'd like to know is why the networks insist on running the same episodes over and over. And there are some that never or hardly ever appear. e.g. I set up my DVR to record "Profile" -- an early episode with Logan, but another episode was substituted. So I've been searching my DirecTV log to try to find that episode again, and in 5 months, it hasn't replayed. So frustrating. 

Yeah it seems like they run the same seasons in a loop too so you will see Logan episodes over and over and then it will be all post-Briscoe for a couple months. And it seems like the California trilogy is always on my DVR listings. And there doesn't appear to be any logic to it other than not airing the Milena Govich episodes very often - I could understand those doing worse in the ratings or being seen as unrepresentative.

[BW Manilowe]

The Mothership Wednesday Marathon Schedule for October 12, 2016 is:

WE TV: 10AM Eastern/9AM Central until 4PM Eastern/3PM Central.

ION TELEVISION: 11AM Eastern/10AM Central until 1AM Eastern/12 Midnight Central, Thursday Morning October 13, 2016.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

And Sundance is showing episodes tonight, even though it isn't Thursday. They pause at nine for a special about Rectify, but then continue at ten. The regular schedule resumes tomorrow night.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Random, but I'm watching The Infiltrator on DVD, and Benjamin Bratt has a role as a Panamanian drug lord who Bryan Cranston is trying to bring down. He's got a beard which is heavily laced with gray, which may or may not be his own as Bratt turns 53 in December.

[topanga]

Perhaps I missed this discussion, but what happened to Lennie Briscoe's other daughter? I watched "Kids" the other day, and a retired police detective asked Lennie about his children. The detective specifically said, "Two daughters, right?" And Lennie nodded.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just now, topanga said:

Perhaps I missed this discussion, but what happened to Lennie Briscoe's other daughter? I watched "Kids" the other day, and a retired police detective asked Lennie about his children. The detective specifically said, "Two daughters, right?" And Lennie nodded.

Disappeared into the ether, never to be seen or heard or mentioned again...Like how Cragen had a 14 year old on the mothership, but ceased to exist when he reprised his role on SVU.

[BW Manilowe]

In the ep where the guy buys a virus from a company called Allgen & kills his kid with it (which was on WE earlier tonight), I love the surprised looks Abbie & Jack give Adam when he tells them how to get to the motel where Briscoe & Rey, et al, end up finding the hanged body of the guy, like they don't believe/think Adam should know how to get to a place like that, before he explains he knows how to get to it because "you can see it from the highway".

I also love Abbie's smackdown of the Texas serial killer they inadvertently stumble upon, in a different episode which was also on WE after the Dad kills kid ep, because he's used a similar MO to the NY case they're working. But, to be honest, the killer's comeback--after he's whined to his lawyer about, basically, how "mean" she's being to him, by threatening him with death in TX & that she hopes she gets to give the fatal injection--of making Abbie listen to how he tortured 1 of his victims was kind of epic too.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

13 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

In the ep where the guy buys a virus from a company called Allgen & kills his kid with it (which was on WE earlier tonight), I love the surprised looks Abbie & Jack give Adam when he tells them how to get to the motel where Briscoe & Rey, et al, end up finding the hanged body of the guy, like they don't believe/think Adam should know how to get to a place like that, before he explains he knows how to get to it because "you can see it from the highway".

Abbie gives Jack a similar look in the episode where he says he had an affair with Diana Hawthorne and that's what some government investigator wants to ask him about, in addition to other things. Except then her face is like, "I heard that about you!"

[Spartan Girl]

On October 25, 2016 at 9:35 PM, BW Manilowe said:

In the ep where the guy buys a virus from a company called Allgen & kills his kid with it (which was on WE earlier tonight), I love the surprised looks Abbie & Jack give Adam when he tells them how to get to the motel where Briscoe & Rey, et al, end up finding the hanged body of the guy, like they don't believe/think Adam should know how to get to a place like that, before he explains he knows how to get to it because "you can see it from the highway".

 

God I hated that episode. The child dies, the scumbag asshole dad escapes prosecution by suicide, and the mother can't even sue the company that hindered prosecution. The one time the writers COULD have given us a vigilante ending, and they didn't.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Mushrooms is on Sundance right now, and may I just say that S. Epatha Merkerson fully deserved a second chance as a regular on the Mothership for her turn as Denise Winters. Watching her try to sprint past Mike, only to collapse on the sofa in the office she's cleaning, barely refraining from becoming utterly hysterical, is wrenching. And say what you will about or against George Dzunda, Greevey's quiet fury when he watches them pull the white sheet over the dead body in the morgue makes me wonder how that punk gets the drop on him later.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Ahem.

Shut up, Not!Paul Robinette.

That is all.

[BW Manilowe]

Actor Robert Vaughn, who had a recurring role in the Mothership as the wealthy bipolar businessman Carl Anderton, who turned from being a friend of DA Adam Schiff's to being his nemesis--because of a case involving his grandson, who also was bipolar--died today at age 83, from acute leukemia. I sort of hope 1 of the channels will air his eps as a tribute. He was especially good in the 1st; just mean in the 2nd.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched "Doped" last weekend.  God, I wanted to smack that perp so bad.  What he did was unforgivable, and nothing, not even trying to stop the car mitigates that.  All that whining about how he didn't want to kill anyone, he just wanted to get the lady drunk enough to get into a fender bender -- ANYTIME a person who is doped/gets behind the wheel, there is an automatic risk of someone getting hurt.

And all because she wanted to give the whistleblower money to charity when he "needed it more."  Gee, wow, I'm sure you family appreciates that, linking them forever to this terrible tragedy.  I hope his wife took the kids and left his sorry ass.

[topanga]

This show likes to reuse names, doesn't it? I recently watched "Profile," where James Earl Jones plays a defense attorney named McCoy. Did someone like that name so much that they just had to use it again for the Assistant D.A.? I mean, I couldn't imagine Jack McCoy being called anything else, but I wonder who decided to reuse the name?

[WendyCR72]

40 minutes ago, topanga said:

This show likes to reuse names, doesn't it? I recently watched "Profile," where James Earl Jones plays a defense attorney named McCoy. Did someone like that name so much that they just had to use it again for the Assistant D.A.? I mean, I couldn't imagine Jack McCoy being called anything else, but I wonder who decided to reuse the name?

The whole franchise was into name recycling. I watched a CI episode, "Icarus", from the last season some time ago, and the character Cynthia Nixon played in the episode was named Amanda Rollins. Mere months later [after the episode initially aired], Kelli Giddish joined SVU as Det. Amanda Rollins.

ETA: And this carries over now into Dick Wolf's Chicago franchise: Chicago Justice had its backdoor pilot on one of the other existing Chicago shows. And one of the lawyers had the last name of Stone. If this character remains once the series premieres in January, it'll be extra weird since Lorraine Toussaint's Shambala Green is supposedly going to be on this upcoming show.

[Maherjunkie]

Shambala rises??!!

[WendyCR72]

19 minutes ago, Maherjunkie said:

Shambala rises??!!

Yeah, TV Line said the character will appear on Chicago Justice  months back.

[Maherjunkie]

That's it, all I need for Christmas.

[topanga]

7 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

That's it, all I need for Christmas.

But I'd also like to see a scene with her and Ben Stone bantering in a local bar. 

[WendyCR72]

5 hours ago, topanga said:

But I'd also like to see a scene with her and Ben Stone bantering in a local bar. 

Sadly, unless Ben Stone is recast, I don't see that happening. I understand Michael Moriarty has moved to Canada and has lived there for some time now, as an aside.

[Maherjunkie]

He could drop in like he did for that Hallmark movie.  Or alcohol needs him more.

[wknt3]

2 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Sadly, unless Ben Stone is recast, I don't see that happening. I understand Michael Moriarty has moved to Canada and has lived there for some time now, as an aside.

 

2 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

He could drop in like he did for that Hallmark movie.

He could, but that's not the geographical situation that makes it impossible. What rules it out is that the scene could only be shot over Dick Wolf's dead body...

[Maherjunkie]

Bad blood?

[wknt3]

Beyond bad blood. Dick Wolf can get past bad blood if it will make him money (see Chris Noth or NBC execs.)This is more like Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorre. There is plenty if you Google, but there is a pretty good summary here http://previously.tv/law-and-order/michael-moriarty-needs-return-series-tv/ Of everyone he pushed out or who quit there are only two who have probably burned their bridges beyond repair - him and George Dzundza. And Dzundza didn't publicly accuse Wolf of conspiring with Janet Reno to censor him. I would say we have a better chance of seeing Fred Thompson or Jerry Orbach showing up in Chicago. They are doing incredible things with CGI these days...

[Maherjunkie]

Maybe he's changed! (Smiley)

[wanderingstar]

Just watched Divorce. Jill Clayburgh is great in this ep, but her lawyer character is like someone possessed by the devil. It's so heartbreaking when she tries to frame her client, and the poor client is just dumbstruck. Solid episode with some good snark from Jack.

[GHScorpiosRule]

ION needs to just STOP with showing Rohmbot as a reason to watch this show. Though Sisto as Lupo was good, as was Martin as Green, it should be Waterston, Orbach and Merkerson who should be the reasons to watch. Throw in Green and/or Noth there as well!

[Maherjunkie]

Pilot is on WE right now.

[mattie0808]

I watched the pilot last night. I'm sure I've seen it before (if only because I'm a fan of Roy Thinnes from his One Life to Live days and get a kick out of seeing him in Adam's spot), but boy, I remembered nothing checking it out yesterday. It was a fun watch. It's crazy how young everyone looks! And even in Prescription for Death -- John Spencer! I always get a kick from the really early episodes, and wish they were shown more often, particularly on TNT.

[shapeshifter]

On December 7, 2016 at 1:15 PM, mattie0808 said:

I watched the pilot last night. I'm sure I've seen it before (if only because I'm a fan of Roy Thinnes from his One Life to Live days and get a kick out of seeing him in Adam's spot), but boy, I remembered nothing checking it out yesterday. It was a fun watch. It's crazy how young everyone looks! And even in Prescription for Death -- John Spencer! I always get a kick from the really early episodes, and wish they were shown more often, particularly on TNT.

The library where I work just got the complete set of all seasons, so I checked out discs 1 & 2* for the weekend. At 6 minutes and 57 seconds into the first episode [Correction: I must've put in disc 2;* this 1st of a 2-part episode is 1.15: "Torrents of Greed"] a homeless witness describes the suspect as "Mean looking. Fancy suit. Like Donald Trump." At 8 minutes in, back at the station, the detective is trying to make his case to Captain Cragen that it's mob connected and not gangs: "No. The guy was wearing a suit. Remember? Donald Trump?" Further Trump discussion should go to that thread in the Politics board, but the lines made me wonder how far Drumpf would've gotten in the early 90s. Just to be clear, Donald Trump is not mentioned again in the episode. Trump is not the perp; he is just an archetype (the perp even has reddish hair).

*ETA: It turns out the student who was handling the checkout accidently put discs 5 and 6 in the 1.1-2 case. I'm working there Sunday night, so I'll swap them out and get to see the pilot etc.

Edited December 11, 2016 by shapeshifter
typo & clarity & correction