It's not too much of an exaggeration to say you could flip on your television at any time, any day, and catch an episode of Law and Order or any other series in the Law and Order franchise. TNT is mostly to thank (or blame) for this, having aired repeats of the series for quite some time.
The problem is, even people who love chocolate cake don't want chocolate cake all the damn time, so the ratings for Law and Order have been slipping. To try and alleviate this, TNT began to syndicate Without a Trace, but despite strong ratings when it first aired as a late night repeat from 2004 to 2006, its current place in primetime hasn't garnered nearly as many viewers.
According to Variety, Without a Trace could be replaced by repeats of Cold Case, another CBS series. But the article also points out, quite rightly, that TNT has done well with The Closer, an original series, and will hopefully find the same success with the upcoming Holly Hunter series Saving Grace.
It would seem the Law and Order crutch is starting to break, and it's time for TNT to throw it away, kick off the training wheels, and start riding on its own like the crippled cyclist in this terrible analogy I just now came up with.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-04-2007 @ 1:42PM
BC said...
There are two problems. One is that TNT isn't the only network with rights to show "L&O" reruns; the second is that right now they are showing relatively recent programs (right now they're on the Green/Fontana years), when I would prefer to see the very early years, many of which I missed, and others may not be familiar with at all. Which years the different networks have the rights to isn't clear to me.
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7-04-2007 @ 2:04PM
William J. said...
I agree with BC, when A&E had the show they showed it all the way back from the beginning, TNT only shows the "newer episodes" with Jerry Orbach forward.
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7-04-2007 @ 3:05PM
JTS said...
As an L&O fan, I wanted to chime in to agree with what others have said. My guess as to why we only get new episodes (i.e. last 7 seasons or so) is that the older episodes are drastically longer than those that aired after '99. If you download some of the first two seasons on iTunes, they're still terrific, if not better than the McCoy/Briscoe/Green years, but they're also between 8 and 10 minutes longer in duration, which means that TNT can't run them without cutting them down considerably.
That's just a guess, but TNT definitely hasn't been doing fans of the show any favors. As I type this, I'm watching an episode from their most recent marathon. The episode is drawn from a pool of about 100 episodes that TNT draws from. In 17 seasons, there has to have been at least 300 episodes. I would guarantee better ratings if TNT advertised that they were starting back at the beginning. All the old fans who have grown weary of repeats of episodes from the last couple of seasons would come out of the woodwork in no time.
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7-04-2007 @ 4:37PM
David said...
There seems to be almost 400 episodes of the original alone.
I wonder what the ratings will be once they start showing new episodes of CI.
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7-04-2007 @ 9:37PM
nick said...
Agreed, I'd much rather watch the original, older L&Os than the newer shows on the Law & Order Channel-- I mean TNT
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7-04-2007 @ 10:52PM
Kaydee said...
I loved it when TNT used to offer some variety; In the Heat of the Night, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, The Pretender, Angel (during the day, and not the pre-dawn hours.), etc. Now its all Charmed and Law & Order. There are a host of other shows TNT could break up the monatony with. How about a little imagination, TNT?
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7-05-2007 @ 5:47PM
J8675309 said...
I remember when there was a time for a couple of months when I would literally watch hours of Law and Order every night on TNT.
It got old after awhile.
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7-05-2007 @ 3:25PM
brendaleighwannabe said...
I love L&O, but I agree getting some of the earlier seasons would be fantastic. I never watched L&O until about 4 years ago, having worked nights and attended night classes, so I have to thank TNT for getting me hooked in the first place with the noon hour repeats. I would like to see some of those really early episodes with the Chris Noth character.
I also like the repeats cuz I miss Lennie.
I am glad TNT picked up CI - I would have to mourn Goren & Eames. I am already mourning Jordan & Woody, Macy, Lilly & Bug (terrible to get Lilly & Bug together and then cancel, not to mention never finishing the Jordan/Woody relationship). I wish TNT would pick up Jordan, too.
Finally: I LOVE BRENDA LEIGH!!!! This has to be one of the greatest shows ever. It gives me the opportunity to bring my family together for an hour a week (thank goodness for 3-way calling). Me in Indiana, Mom in Wisconsin, and my sister in Cali, all of us together even though we are so far apart. Thank you TNT!!!!
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