Posted Aug 10th 2009 8:12AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
And so ends the first season of
Law and Order: Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum as one of the stars (alternating the lead role with Vincent D'Onofrio). There are fans who love the Goldblum episodes and those that only want to see the veteran D'Onofrio in the lead. I noticed that the plots of the Goldblum/Nicholson episodes seemed to be really ambitious, but I don't think that made them better.
What grade do you give Goldblum for his first season?
Posted Aug 4th 2009 8:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Things are really cooking at the USA Network. Not only has the new show
Royal Pains been renewed for a second season, but
Burn Notice is also coming back for a fourth.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent is on the verge of being re-upped, and now
In Plain Sight has just gotten a pick-up for Season Three.
Wow! Talk about a winning formula. This part of the Universal family, as opposed to NBC, seems to have figured out how to make dramas work and work well.
Continue reading USA signs up for more In Plain Sight
Posted Jul 13th 2009 11:04AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: OpEd, Law and Order, Reality-Free
A few weeks ago, I wrote about
Jeff Goldblum's disappointing start on
Law and Order: Criminal Intent. My basic point was that he hadn't really found his character yet - that he hadn't gelled with the series - and he wasn't getting any help from poorly written episodes like the atrocious "rock star" opener.
After watching this week's episode, I have to say, everything was much improved, all around. Granted, the poetry was just as
bad as the rock music from Goldblum's debut episode; they managed to force Goldblum playing piano into the plot yet again, and the ending confessional was overly dramatic.
But the bad poetry wasn't quite as distracting as the music in the first episode, the piano playing was at least tangentially related to the plot (although still a stretch), and fans of the series in all its forms must have learned to forgive the dramatic confessions years ago as part of the show's style.
Continue reading Goldblum episodes of Law and Order are improving
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 10:32AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Law and Order, Casting, Reality-Free
More good news out of NBC's top drama.
Wentworth Miller is guesting on Law and Order: SVU, and this time he's not going to be behind bars. The
Prison Break actor will star in the September 23 premiere of
Law and Order: SVU, which is kicking off its 11th season on the NBC.
Wentworth Miller's casting comes on the heels of
NBC re-signing of Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni to two-year extensions as the show's mainstays, Detectives Benson and Stabler, as well as the return of Stephanie March as Alex Cabot and a four-show arc for Christine Lahti. I'd say that the powers-that-be are stacking the deck with prime talent to make sure
Law and Order: SVU maintains its top quality status.
Continue reading Wentworth Miller goes from Prison Break to Law & Order: SVU
Posted Jun 30th 2009 3:25PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Law and Order, Reality-Free
Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing
Law & Order: SVU back for the 11th season without the two stars that have anchored the show, there's good news.
Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have re-signed with
SVU. They pair agreed to stick with NBC's top-rated Neilsen drama for two more seasons.
Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with
SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.
Continue reading Meloni & Hargitay sign on for more Law & Order: SVU
Posted Jun 29th 2009 12:05PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: OpEd, Law and Order, Casting, Reality-Free
When Chris Noth left
Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Jeff Goldblum was announced as his replacement, I was kind of excited. I'm a fan of Goldblum's, and he's always entertaining, whether he's a guest on a talk show or doing something decidedly strange like his guest spot on
Tim and Eric: Awesome Show, Great Job!So far, not so good. Last night's episode, which tried to weave together the stories of a washed-up celebrity chef, a hip hop mogul, and a flighty socialite, still didn't provide the punch I was hoping for. It was better than most of his episodes so far - and a good deal better than his first episode. And there are some elements I like; Goldblum's Detective Zach Nichols can't seem to keep from correcting his co-workers, seemingly with no ill will, but irritating them in the process.
Continue reading Waiting on Jeff Goldblum and Criminal Intent
Posted Jun 29th 2009 8:08AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Not sure why USA Network ran two new episodes of
Law and Order: CI back to back last night. Since the show was delayed so much this season you would think they'd want to spread out the fresh episodes over the summer longer. But we got to see a Jeff Goldblum episode and a Vincent D'Onofrio episode on the same night so we can compare the two leading men.
Posted Jun 8th 2009 9:04AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
"Folie a Deux" was also the name of one of my favorite
X-Files episodes, the one where the telemarketing boss was also an evil creature (as someone who worked a few telemarketing jobs, that episode seemed more like a documentary to me).
This was a Goren/Eames episode. Is it just me or does D'Onofrio look more and more unhealthy/disheveled? I know, I know, it's part of his character arc, but still...
Posted Jun 4th 2009 10:10AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, OpEd, Law and Order, Celebrities, Ratings, Reality-Free, Celebreality
If Jay Leno isn't the answer for NBC prime time, perhaps the network should think about booking President Obama. NBC News devoted two hours, on Tuesday and Wednesday night, for
Inside the Obama White House and the
ratings were strong. Better than the insipid
I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, which acted as a lead-in. Of course the season finale of
Law & Order: SVU on Tuesday didn't hurt the news production.
Having watched the two hours, NBC should sign the president ASAP. There's always the curiosity factor when a viewer is being given access behind the scenes, and that's what
Inside the Obama White House did. It was a look at the real West Wing, which reminded me a lot of the fictional, Aaron Sorkin
West Wing creation, and that was quite cool. President Obama still fascinates me, and
it's well past 100 days.Continue reading NBC scores with Inside the Obama White House
Posted Jun 4th 2009 8:08AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
I haven't warmed up to Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson, but I still like the second half of the
Law and Order team. This season finale was ... convoluted. I was lost about 20 minutes into it, even after McCoy went to the board and literally drew a graphic for the audience to explain what was going on. In short, an S&M murder case led back to Tom Everett Scott's governor character and his wife, and hinted at an interesting race next season (which will see the show on at a new day and time, Friday at 8 PM).
What did everyone else think?
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 12:30PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Law and Order, Casting, Reality-Free
"You always made me feel safe, John."
Perfect. Beautiful. That line was delivered by Carol Kane to Richard Belzer on last night's season finale of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A bit of history. Kane played Gwen Munch, the conspiracy-minded ex-wife of Belzer's Detective John Munch. The last time the two of them played those roles was more than a decade ago, not even on the same show.
When last Detective Munch fans saw the pairing, it was in 1997 on
Homicide: Life on the Street. And they picked one hell of an episode to bring her back. Fans of Belzer know he was having fun with the black helicopter crowd before he brought that particular obsession to his character, and last night's episode was tailor-made for him, even if he wasn't really in the forefront of the plot.
Continue reading Carol Kane and Richard Belzer - Together again on Law & Order: SVU
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 8:00AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Wow, I gotta say that this was a great season finale. I wasn't really familiar with Stuckey, but what happened still shocked me (though I guessed what was going on halfway through). It was rather
Bones-ian, in a way.
This could turn out to be the last episode of
Law and Order: SVU for Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay, since
they are holding out for more money and NBC is thinking of replacing them. Of course, I don't think that's going to happen. Sure, all of the
Law and Order shows have had many cast members over the years, but I'm betting that the duo will be back for another season.
Posted Jun 1st 2009 8:03AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Law and Order, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
So...are you a D'Onofrio (Goren) fan or a Goldblum (Nicols) fan? I'm wondering if this "Goldblum this week, D'Onofrio next week" format is irritating longtime fans, or if longtime fans like having Goldblum in the mix too. Will they ever have Goldblum investigate a case with Kathryn Erbe?
Last night was a Nichols/Wheeler episode, with the duo investigating the death of a con man's partner.
Posted May 19th 2009 6:08PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I figured they would do this, for nostalgia's sake if nothing else. It seems pretty likely that
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is going to outlast the parent that spawned it (because let's face it, sex sells!). Still, it was nice of
NBC to renew Law & Order for a 20th season, allowing Dick Wolf to match
Gunsmoke at twenty seasons.
Of course, now he's going to be angling to surpass the series next year. Even more ambitious would be a push to outdo
Gunsmoke in episodes. With word coming down that
L&O got a 16 episode commitment, it's just falling further and further behind.
Continue reading Law & Order matches Gunsmoke's longevity record, sort of
Posted May 19th 2009 12:56PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Programming, The Apprentice, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live, The Office, Heroes, Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Upfronts, Chuck, Reality-Free, America's Got Talent, Parks and Recreation
NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.
Returning: Heroes, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, SNL: Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Law & Order, Southland, Dateline NBC
Returning mid-season: Chuck, 30 Rock, The Celebrity ApprenticeGone: Life, Medium, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim,
Kings,
Knight Rider
New: Trauma, The Jay Leno Show, Parenthood, Community.
New for mid-season: Day One, 100 Questions, Mercy, The Marriage Ref
Not reflected on the schedule, but will be returning in the summer: America's Got Talent,
Friday Night Lights (which will once again be aired first on Direct TV).
Watch this space for more details on the new shows...
More on the schedule and comments after the jump.
Continue reading The Upfronts: NBC
« Previous Page | Next Page »
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
