Law & Order: SVU in the Media

[853fisher]

Unpopular opinion: while the family plot lines got to be too much (particular lowlight: Kathleen running amok and needing to be set straight by Grandma Ellen Burstyn), in early seasons, I think the insight into Stabler's personal life was illuminating and interesting.  I also really liked Isabel Gillies, who played his wife Kathy.  I don't think she's acted in about ten years now, but I'd be glad to see her again if they could get her and she was interested.

 

That said, if Stabler's no longer with her, I hope we don't get more of the kids.  None of them really resonated with me.  Especially not Kathleen, since nothing about "free spirited child of an authority figure pushes the boundaries" was done in a fresh and interesting way.  For a second, it crossed my mind that the show may want to get Stabler together romantically with Benson after all these years.  Please, Lord, I know I've done wrong, but do not do this to me and my Primetimer friends.  How innocent the days were of considering the potential Ho!Yay of Benson and Cabot back on TWoP when this was a show I watched other than by inertia!

Edited May 5, 2020 by 853fisher
Long live TWoP

[incandescent]

Watch Kathleen somehow end up a cop working under the direct supervision of her father, anti-nepotism policy be damned! Dickie's there too. Elizabeth remains the best child by virtue of never being the impetus for some big Stabler family drama.

[wknt3]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:12 PM, Xeliou66 said:

I hope Stabler and Benson both behave maturely when they reunite and there isn’t much soapy drama, but I think there will be given how much the writers love soapy crap. I hope to god we don’t have to deal with the Stabler family!!

I would love for them to devote some time to the relationship between Benson/Carisi, because I would like for Carisi to have more authority and put Benson in her place occasionally, last season wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought in terms of Benson trying to boss Carisi around, for the most part their relationship changed and he acted as an ADA, not a Benson Bot, but I would like some more focus on their relationship and I wish they would have conflict on occasion - the way Benson did with Barba and Stone sometimes.

It sounds like Warren Leight really really wanted to do Stabler family drama (surprised?) but they will have to drop it whenever they come back to concentrate on setting up and promoting the spinoff.

As far as the relationship between Benson and Carisi I agree that it was better than I expected. The show has always had a hard time with depicting conflict between the separate yet equally important police and DAs without portraying the ADA as the bad guy. Even when it was great. I wonder if they are wary of having Carisi and Benson butt heads because the current writing staff so often had the conflict with Barba and Stone as hinting at UST?

 

19 hours ago, dttruman said:

I don't know about Benson? An insightful commentator reminded us of Benson being a little two-faced when she was working with Amaro or Rollins for the first time and was talking about her old partner. She kind of stabbed Stabler in the back.

Yeah, but that's when they were mad at Meloni for leaving and trying to build up Mariska and the new younger co-leads. Like I said before I'm pretty sure that is going to be largely forgotten now that he is back in the fold.

Edited May 3, 2020 by wknt3

[dirtypop90]

I must admit that I’m intrigued.  It’s been so long.  And Olivia has been uninspired lately (Mariska too).  Regardless of my feelings about stabler, Meloni is a very capable actor. And much stronger than the actors she’s been opposite of (not just his acting but also his presence).  I’m wondering if Meloni can pull some more out of Mariska who has been coasting with that awful whisper for awhile.  Last inspired performances was when she adopted Noah and the Lewis arc.  

They don’t have to go the romantic route and I don’t think they will.  Their relationship was rich enough without them having sex.  Olivia sorting through feelings of having Stabler back, working with his unit, perhaps, will be more interesting than watching her run after Noah.

I do not want to see Kathy or those kids. Hopefully they scrap the idea they had for the finale. Stabler can explain where he’s been in the premiere. 

[dttruman]

52 minutes ago, dirtypop90 said:

I do not want to see Kathy or those kids. Hopefully they scrap the idea they had for the finale. Stabler can explain where he’s been in the premiere. 

I don't mind Kathy and the kids and I didn't even mind Noah, but only if their appearances are few and far between. Noah's appearance were almost every other episode and Kathy and the kids became more numerous when they were beginning to writing Stabler out of the. This is when the excessive soap opera stuff started and disappointment followed.

[Jaded]

With the Stabler character getting his own show at least we know they can't just kill him off on episode he returns for. It's disgusting what they've done to so many characters from the past.

[Xeliou66]

46 minutes ago, Jaded said:

With the Stabler character getting his own show at least we know they can't just kill him off on episode he returns for. It's disgusting what they've done to so many characters from the past.

Yeah SVU has thrown a ton of characters under the bus just for cheap drama - they’ve thrown shit on all 4 of their main ADA’s, the assassinations of Barba and Stone being the worst. They made Chester Lake into a vigilante killer. And the list of recurring characters they’ve either smeared or killed off for cheap drama is too long to count. 

I’m not a big fan of Stabler and I’m not excited for his return but I don’t want to see him thrown under the bus/killed off. 

[incandescent]

10 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

And the list of recurring characters they’ve either smeared or killed off for cheap drama is too long to count. 

I'm still waiting on Dana Lewis's fall from grace to be revealed as a fever dream or a cover story so she could infiltrate a prison gang 😞

[dirtypop90]

17 hours ago, dttruman said:

I don't mind Kathy and the kids and I didn't even mind Noah, but only if their appearances are few and far between. Noah's appearance were almost every other episode and Kathy and the kids became more numerous when they were beginning to writing Stabler out of the. This is when the excessive soap opera stuff started and disappointment followed.

I don’t know why stabler was given so many damn kids in the first place given his profession. I just never connected with any of them. 
 

I hope he comes back single because I think it opens more possibilities. Kathy hated when he went undercover etc. and we’ve just never seen Elliot single. He knocked up his high school or college (I can’t remember) gf and married her to do the right thing. I’d rather see Elliot awkwardly try to date than continue to fight with Kathy just because we haven’t seen it before.

Edited May 3, 2020 by dirtypop90

[incandescent]

15 minutes ago, dirtypop90 said:

I don’t know why stabler was given so many damn kids in the first place given his profession. I just never connected with any of them. 

It's not a Dick Wolf show without a Catholic!

[WendyCR72]

Since Stabler is getting his own show, I can see it going either way in terms of whether he is still married or if he and Kathy divorced...and perhaps that is why he returned to police work. *shrug* With the kids grown, let's hope they are rarely seen.

[dttruman]

15 hours ago, incandescent said:

16 hours ago, dirtypop90 said:

I don’t know why stabler was given so many damn kids in the first place given his profession. I just never connected with any of them.

It's not a Dick Wolf show without a Catholic!

The only cop show that I like where the wife or offspring show up (and their appearances were very few) was the Barney Miller show.

[wanderingstar]

On 5/2/2020 at 8:22 PM, dirtypop90 said:

I do not want to see Kathy or those kids.

This is where I am. I feel like he's been away long enough that Stabler won't annoy me. But if his wife and kids come back too? Pfft!

[dirtypop90]

2 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

This is where I am. I feel like he's been away long enough that Stabler won't annoy me. But if his wife and kids come back too? Pfft!

Crosses fingers for only one scene showing his visitation with Eli and no more!
 

i just had a thought...couldnt he be a grandpa now? Oh goodness...I don’t need another baby Noah. No more babies!

[wknt3]

19 hours ago, dirtypop90 said:

Crosses fingers for only one scene showing his visitation with Eli and no more!
 

i just had a thought...couldnt he be a grandpa now? Oh goodness...I don’t need another baby Noah. No more babies!

We can only hope, but as long as they have folks like Leight and Martin in charge we're going to be getting a lot of relatives and  family drama (and IIRC the new show is being run by someone from the Chicago franchise who is not a L&O vet). I remember reading some interview somewhere where he said he likes to think of the squad as a family and I can believe it. Come on and sing along!
 

Baby cop, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Mommy cop, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Daddy cop, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Grandma cop, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Grandpa cop, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Run away, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Run away!

 

[dttruman]

Got an update concerning Stabler and whether there will be family problems or not. Here is a hint:

 

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2495900/how-law-and-order-svu-originally-planned-to-set-up-chris-melonis-return-as-elliot-stabler

[balmz]

 

probably how the majority of people feel about stablers family and their antics

[dttruman]

19 hours ago, balmz said:

 

probably how the majority of people feel about stablers family and their antics

I would call it more annoying than boring. When numerous cases involve family members the quality of the show decreases IMO.

Edited May 12, 2020 by dttruman

[balmz]

5 hours ago, dttruman said:

I would call it more annoying than boring. When numerous cases involve family members the quality of the show decreases IMO.

eh, it's the same really, whether it's boring or annoying, the show quality goes down period regardless of which it is 

[dttruman]

Update on Meloni. It looks like he could be in for the long haul. He is "pulling up stakes" and heading east.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hot-property-law-order-star-123031941.html

[WendyCR72]

12 hours ago, dttruman said:

Update on Meloni. It looks like he could be in for the long haul. He is "pulling up stakes" and heading east.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hot-property-law-order-star-123031941.html

Well, it makes sense as I believe his new show was ordered straight to series.

[dttruman]

23 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Well, it makes sense as I believe his new show was ordered straight to series.

I thought he would keep his home in the Hollywood Hills in case the series tanks. I wonder if they offered him an executive producer position along with some other benefits to get him to re-establish himself back in NYC?

[Diana Berry]

Do you think they would ever do a spin off with Carisi?  I realize they would have to change things up but I’d like to learn more about him, the sister he always talks about, what his apartment looks like, etc.

[dttruman]

11 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

Do you think they would ever do a spin off with Carisi?  I realize they would have to change things up but I’d like to learn more about him, the sister he always talks about, what his apartment looks like, etc.

I don't think they would ever give him a chance unless another spinoff comes up, and he was made part of it, like that "L&O Hate Crimes".

[wonderwoman]

this is interesting...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/law-order-spinoff-writer-fired_n_5ed6a632c5b61c46ffb30243

[dttruman]

It looks like SVU has lost one of it's producers

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/06/02/law-order-writer-fired-after-threatening-looters-instagram-post/3126831001/

I wonder if this will affect Christopher Meloni's spinoff SVU series?

Edited June 3, 2020 by dttruman

[balmz]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

It looks like SVU has lost one of it's producers

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/06/02/law-order-writer-fired-after-threatening-looters-instagram-post/3126831001/

I wonder if this will affect Christopher Meloni's spinoff SVU series?

i also wonder if the coronavirus might affect it

[CrystalBlue]

19 minutes ago, balmz said:

i also wonder if the coronavirus might affect it

See?  There is always a silver lining in every cloud!

[balmz]

4 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

See?  There is always a silver lining in every cloud!

huh if the coronavirus causes it and svu to be cancelled, that would most likely be the only good thing to come from this

[illdoc]

https://tvline.com/2020/06/05/law-order-hate-crimes-spinoff-peacock-streaming-service-language/

[Xeliou66]

22 minutes ago, illdoc said:

https://tvline.com/2020/06/05/law-order-hate-crimes-spinoff-peacock-streaming-service-language/

L&O Hate Crimes is simply a terrible idea - every episode would be a boatload of political propaganda worse than anything seen on SVU now, and it would be extremely unrealistic as well - the truth is, violent hate crimes are rare, most hate crime incidents are stuff like vandalism or a minor altercation, violent hate crimes such as murder and rape that require serious investigation are rare. It would just be exploitative politically charged unrealistic dreck, and it would be canceled after half a season IMO. I hope it never happens. 

I honestly feel like Dick Wolf and company are just watering down the legacy of the franchise with what they are doing - between pushing the idiotic Hate Crimes spinoff, the new show with Stabler and trying to keep SVU going as long as possible, they are just sacrificing quality for trying to make money and cash in on the brand, and I’m not happy about it. 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

L&O Hate Crimes is simply a terrible idea - every episode would be a boatload of political propaganda worse than anything seen on SVU now, and it would be extremely unrealistic as well - the truth is, violent hate crimes are rare, most hate crime incidents are stuff like vandalism or a minor altercation, violent hate crimes such as murder and rape that require serious investigation are rare. It would just be exploitative politically charged unrealistic dreck, and it would be canceled after half a season IMO. I hope it never happens. 

I honestly feel like Dick Wolf and company are just watering down the legacy of the franchise with what they are doing - between pushing the idiotic Hate Crimes spinoff, the new show with Stabler and trying to keep SVU going as long as possible, they are just sacrificing quality for trying to make money and cash in on the brand, and I’m not happy about it. 

I think this Law & Order spinoff will be filled with nothing but controversy. It will be nothing but a one sided look that offers no accuracy at all just to promote a certain agenda. If it appears on regular TV, I think there would be more people criticizing it, where as if it's only streaming, people who pay for the streaming service will only be able to critique it

[Xeliou66]

38 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I think this Law & Order spinoff will be filled with nothing but controversy. It will be nothing but a one sided look that offers no accuracy at all just to promote a certain agenda. If it appears on regular TV, I think there would be more people criticizing it, where as if it's only streaming, people who pay for the streaming service will only be able to critique it

Spot on!! If it is actually made, it will be an awful show designed to promote a political agenda above anything else, hate crimes is just far too narrow a focus to make a good show, because actual violent hate crimes are very rare so portraying a bunch of them happening in the same city in a year would be extremely ridiculous. I agree that it would get bashed if shown on regular TV, but if only shown on a streaming service it wouldn’t get as harshly bashed as only people who paid for it and wanted to watch it would see it. It will be a horrid show if it gets made and by far the worst L&O show ever made.

Honestly what Dick Wolf and company are doing is just shitting on the franchise, between how weak SVU is now, the awful Hate Crimes idea, and the Stabler spin off which sounds awful and dumb as well, they are just ruining the legacy of the franchise, I wish they would just hang it up and Wolf would focus on his Chicago shows (which suck IMO) and his FBI shows (which I enjoy). 

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, illdoc said:

https://tvline.com/2020/06/05/law-order-hate-crimes-spinoff-peacock-streaming-service-language/

I am of two minds here. Considering the climate, perhaps this does need to be made - with the "real" language and all - to shine a spotlight. On the other hand, it can also glorify such behavior, which is absolutely NOT the way to go, especially now. Sigh.

But with Warren Leight at the helm here, too? So not hopeful for ANY needed nuance. So, if he is the show runner? Kill this spinoff NOW.

That's my two cents.

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

the Stabler spin off which sounds awful and dumb as well, they are just ruining the legacy of the franchise, I wish they would just hang it up and Wolf would focus on his Chicago shows (which suck IMO) and his FBI shows (which I enjoy). 

It's main premise will be for Stabler's crew to investigate all types of organized crime activities in the city, right? I wonder if the focus will be on the Italian section or maybe the Russian part of the so-called "MOB".

Wasn't it in NYC (some years back) where a few kids started up some lemonade stands in a couple of neighborhoods and the police were forced to shut them down because they didn't have a license. This may be one of the squad's first cases.

[formerlyfreedom]

Hey, folks - please take discussion of L&O: Hate Crimes over to the already existing topic - here is the link.  Thanks!

[dttruman]

Warren Leight makes an obvious announcement that nearly all saw coming.

https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/law-order-svu-will-highlight-george-floyd-death/

I wonder if he will keep his promise when it comes to the episodes, next season?

I think most of the Post story came from this article.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-george-floyd-death-coronavirus-pandemic-new-season

From the Fox News report

"Leight went on to share that the "SVU" writers' room will see changes in an "effort to bring in new voices, fresh voices, different voices."

As for the drama show itself, Leight explained that "SVU" has "tried really hard in the last year to show how class and race affect the outcomes of justice in society," however, he noted that he's "beginning to suspect 'really hard' wasn't enough."

Is Leight admitting he has made a mistake with many of the episodes and is bringing in new writers with a fresh prospective? Or will he continue to take good ideas and then twist them to fit his special narratives. All I ask is that he spends a little more on production and maybe the script where the entire focus is not on Benson or Rollins.

Edited June 8, 2020 by dttruman

[Xeliou66]

4 hours ago, dttruman said:

Warren Leight makes an obvious announcement that nearly all saw coming.

https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/law-order-svu-will-highlight-george-floyd-death/

I wonder if he will keep his promise when it comes to the episodes, next season?

I think most of the Post story came from this article.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-george-floyd-death-coronavirus-pandemic-new-season

Not surprising that SVU will address this situation - I just don’t trust them to do it well. They tried to tackle a similar issue a few years ago in Community Policing and I disliked how they did it, trying to make the police overly sympathetic and I disliked how sympathetic they made the SVU team to the cops who killed the unarmed guy. I hope they do it better this time around but I have no confidence in them to. 

 

13 minutes ago, dttruman said:

From the Fox News report

"Leight went on to share that the "SVU" writers' room will see changes in an "effort to bring in new voices, fresh voices, different voices."

As for the drama show itself, Leight explained that "SVU" has "tried really hard in the last year to show how class and race affect the outcomes of justice in society," however, he noted that he's "beginning to suspect 'really hard' wasn't enough."

Is Leight admitting he has made a mistake with many of the episodes and is bringing in new writers with a fresh prospective? Or will he continue to take good ideas and then twist them to fit his special narratives. All I ask is that he spends a little more on production and maybe the script where the entire focus is not on Benson or Rollins.

I’m afraid what he means is the show will have even more political preaching this season than in the past. I did notice that last season they did make an effort to give us a greater variety of cases rather than just having upper class white people be the victims and perps, which was a refreshing change, so hopefully that will continue in season 22. And yes I wish that they would dial back the focus on Benson and Rollins, and I wish they would give Carisi a chance to shine in his role as ADA, but I’m afraid given Mariska’s influence and Rollins seemingly being a writers pet that they will continue the heavy focus on Benson and Rollins, even at the expense of the plot.

[notNickAmaro]

Hello,

My first post here. My name is Nick. An appropriate name! I'm on a binge right now because of COVID and have been slowly re-watching the entire series. I remember an episode where Munch goes undercover in an attempt to buy a young boy. I think it was masked as a travel agency. I feel like I've only ever seen it once and with all the binge watching I've been doing, I haven't come across it. Hopefully someone can remember! I thought it was S4.E6 but I'm not sure.

[Xeliou66]

It was Angels - season 4 episode 6. A great episode, and I love any episode that features Munch, I really miss Munch, and I miss when SVU was really good like it was in the early seasons, when there was more suspense and more investigation and we didn’t always know who the guilty party was from the start, like we do in 90% of the episodes now. 

[WendyCR72]

I am going to respectfully request that real-life police events - and things adjacent - be tabled. It gets perilously close to politics at this time and, as we all know, that's not something to be discussed on the board.

Let's keep this for show media (meaning, as pertaining to BTS show stuff!), please and thanks!

[illdoc]

L&O: Stabler has a time slot: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/nbc-fall-lineup-2020-schedule-svu-stabler-spinoff/ as well as news: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/law-and-order-svu-spinoff-stabler-death-dies-organized-crime/

[balmz]

51 minutes ago, illdoc said:

L&O: Stabler has a time slot: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/nbc-fall-lineup-2020-schedule-svu-stabler-spinoff/ as well as news: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/law-and-order-svu-spinoff-stabler-death-dies-organized-crime/

maybe the thing that happens is someone murders stablers entire family and that's why he goes back to the police, to avenge in a way the family

[Xeliou66]

 Interesting, so SVU will move back to 9 PM, followed by the Stabler/Organized Crime show at 10. I don’t know if I will watch the Stabler show, I am not a Stabler fan and I loathe his family, but if Stabler has mellowed some and isn’t a rageaholic jerk and if the cases are interesting I might watch.  I am curious as to how SVU will reintroduce Stabler, I bet that the loss he has suffered is that his wife died and that is why he is rejoining the police.

[CrystalBlue]

Since L&O:SVU is going back to 9PM, I'll give the Stabler show a first watch.  Using Benson & Co. as the lead-in is the smartest way to get anyone to watch.

[RC3]

Please. There’s an episode of SVU where Olivia is questioning a suspect in the interrogation room and she asks the guy a question and he doesn’t respond. 2 seconds later she just straight up smacks him on the back of the head. Lol. I need to find this episode. Please help me internets!!!! 🙂

thanks in advance

[dttruman]

On 6/16/2020 at 5:58 PM, Xeliou66 said:

 Interesting, so SVU will move back to 9 PM, followed by the Stabler/Organized Crime show at 10. I don’t know if I will watch the Stabler show, I am not a Stabler fan and I loathe his family, but if Stabler has mellowed some and isn’t a rageaholic jerk and if the cases are interesting I might watch.  I am curious as to how SVU will reintroduce Stabler, I bet that the loss he has suffered is that his wife died and that is why he is rejoining the police.

  14 hours ago, illdoc said:

L&O: Stabler has a time slot: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/nbc-fall-lineup-2020-schedule-svu-stabler-spinoff/ as well as news: https://tvline.com/2020/06/16/law-and-order-svu-spinoff-stabler-death-dies-organized-crime/

maybe the thing that happens is someone murders stablers entire family and that's why he goes back to the police, to avenge in a way the family

If Stabler loses a family member (or members) to possible organized crime hitmen, won't that taint every investigation that Stabler heads, since this will give him every opportunity to abuse his authority?

23 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Since L&O:SVU is going back to 9PM, I'll give the Stabler show a first watch.  Using Benson & Co. as the lead-in is the smartest way to get anyone to watch.

I'll be honest, if I watch SVU and it's not good, I just might skip Stabler's show.

Edited June 17, 2020 by dttruman

[balmz]

5 hours ago, dttruman said:

 

maybe the thing that happens is someone murders stablers entire family and that's why he goes back to the police, to avenge in a way the family

If Stabler loses a family member (or members) to possible organized crime hitmen, won't that taint every investigation that Stabler heads, since this will give him every opportunity to abuse his authority?

and this is different from his regular characterization how? 😛

 

anyway maybe he does find out who did it in the first episode or something and later decides to stay in the unit to help prevent more issues

[dttruman]

5 hours ago, balmz said:

10 hours ago, dttruman said:

If Stabler loses a family member (or members) to possible organized crime hitmen, won't that taint every investigation that Stabler heads, since this will give him every opportunity to abuse his authority?

and this is different from his regular characterization how? 😛

I think there is a difference here. When he was with SVU, each case was an individual incident and every questionable action was on him and him alone.

As the leader of some kind of task force, his abuse of power could land him and his subordinates into a hell of a lot more trouble.

The more I think about this, I wonder how the he would ever gets this type of promotion or very important assignment.

Edited June 17, 2020 by dttruman

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

The more I think about this, I wonder how the he would ever gets this type of promotion or very important assignment.

The same way Rollins (of all people!) and Benson got promotions? No way should Rollins get ANY promotion and no way should Benson be captain. But here we are!