I've been watching Law and Order since it first aired. I've watched rerun after rerun even when I know whodunnit. It's always been a great procedural:thirty minutes devoted to the crime and thirty to the trail and verdict. It's a formula that worked.
I haven't liked the last couple seasons because the format and the scripting and acting wasn't up to par with the series prior to its cancellation, but I watched.
Season 23 is absolutely disastrous! The studio must have stripped them of any budget for this series! Here are my gripes: First: it is obviously not being shot in New York. How do you NOT film in New York? New York is a character, not just a setting! It adds flavor and realism. It's all interior shots now. If they ARE filming in NYC, then they're leaving out the biggest character of the show!
Second: the writing is juvenile. I doubt any seasoned writers are used on this show now. The writers are given a basic idea and then a template for what they must include and whatever they churn out is good to go without any script reviews or revisions. Sure the previous series wouldnt stand up to reality, but at least my five year old wouldn't say,"they don't really do that do they?" Plot lines are so simplistic that it's ridiculous. The previous series had some twists and turns and banter between prosecution and defense but that is all missing here.
Third: the actors and the acting. THIS is where I really doubt that this series is shot in NYC.
Jerry orbach Tovah Feldshuh Chris Noth Patty Lupone and far more than I can name here were all Broadway actors. They could act! They could deliver lines and would make even idiotic dialogue better by speaking it.
Hugh Dancy seems to be the sole British actor who cannot act.
Sam Waterson is so decrepit that they are finally taking his character off the show( I'm surprised he's able to stand - and don't get me wrong- I loved Waterson and I know they pulled him in to make the transition from the previous series to this new one). But the poor guy is struggling.
The cops and their lieutenant are so NOT in sync with each other. They are stiff and have zero chemistry. This is especially evident in that they recast the one cop before this season. His character was just too objectionable.
The courtroom: I loved how the previous series had a regular rotation of actors playing judges. This series has no such thing and this is also especially where the acting and poor writing show up the most.
Supporting characters: where are they? Where is Dr Olivet? Where is my wonderful female Medical Examiner or the nerdy but cute lab technician? Where are the Yiddish and Russian accents delivered from capable stage actors? In the last episode some guy was supposed to be a big deal Irish actor in the show but his accent was so bad that it shifted from Irish to Scottish to generic British to mid American all in the same scene. Why not hire someone who can act? There were season after season of episodes where the same actor played the victim and the criminal and a supporting part and a lawyer and it was AWESOME because they could act and you knew that you were watching a cadre of NY actors. This new series is so streamlined by poor writing (and I'm guessing : lots more commercials which reduce time) so much so that there is nothing left to provide depth and nuance.
After Waterson is retired next week, I don't see any reason to continue watching. Dick Wolf may have raised the dead but he certainly isn't keeping his creation alive any longer. It's a shame it was not allowed to die on a high note as it had rather than resurrect a monstrosity.
I haven't liked the last couple seasons because the format and the scripting and acting wasn't up to par with the series prior to its cancellation, but I watched.
Season 23 is absolutely disastrous! The studio must have stripped them of any budget for this series! Here are my gripes: First: it is obviously not being shot in New York. How do you NOT film in New York? New York is a character, not just a setting! It adds flavor and realism. It's all interior shots now. If they ARE filming in NYC, then they're leaving out the biggest character of the show!
Second: the writing is juvenile. I doubt any seasoned writers are used on this show now. The writers are given a basic idea and then a template for what they must include and whatever they churn out is good to go without any script reviews or revisions. Sure the previous series wouldnt stand up to reality, but at least my five year old wouldn't say,"they don't really do that do they?" Plot lines are so simplistic that it's ridiculous. The previous series had some twists and turns and banter between prosecution and defense but that is all missing here.
Third: the actors and the acting. THIS is where I really doubt that this series is shot in NYC.
Jerry orbach Tovah Feldshuh Chris Noth Patty Lupone and far more than I can name here were all Broadway actors. They could act! They could deliver lines and would make even idiotic dialogue better by speaking it.
Hugh Dancy seems to be the sole British actor who cannot act.
Sam Waterson is so decrepit that they are finally taking his character off the show( I'm surprised he's able to stand - and don't get me wrong- I loved Waterson and I know they pulled him in to make the transition from the previous series to this new one). But the poor guy is struggling.
The cops and their lieutenant are so NOT in sync with each other. They are stiff and have zero chemistry. This is especially evident in that they recast the one cop before this season. His character was just too objectionable.
The courtroom: I loved how the previous series had a regular rotation of actors playing judges. This series has no such thing and this is also especially where the acting and poor writing show up the most.
Supporting characters: where are they? Where is Dr Olivet? Where is my wonderful female Medical Examiner or the nerdy but cute lab technician? Where are the Yiddish and Russian accents delivered from capable stage actors? In the last episode some guy was supposed to be a big deal Irish actor in the show but his accent was so bad that it shifted from Irish to Scottish to generic British to mid American all in the same scene. Why not hire someone who can act? There were season after season of episodes where the same actor played the victim and the criminal and a supporting part and a lawyer and it was AWESOME because they could act and you knew that you were watching a cadre of NY actors. This new series is so streamlined by poor writing (and I'm guessing : lots more commercials which reduce time) so much so that there is nothing left to provide depth and nuance.
After Waterson is retired next week, I don't see any reason to continue watching. Dick Wolf may have raised the dead but he certainly isn't keeping his creation alive any longer. It's a shame it was not allowed to die on a high note as it had rather than resurrect a monstrosity.