TVSquad

This is a bummer. (By the way, isn't there a better expression than that to describe disappointment? "What a shame" is just too British to me.) Anyway, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that Law & Order: SVU has lost Diane Neal. The actress, who's played assistant district attorney Casey Novak on the Dick Wolf show for five years has turned in her resignation. This season will be her last. "Diane spent five years on SVU and was a tremendous addition to the SVU team. She is looking forward to new opportunities and she will be missed," says the NBC source about her departure.

Like I said, I'm not happy about this one. Unlike so many of the faces and forms that come in and out of the L&O universe, Diane Neal stuck out. And I mean that in a good way. She had a presence and a passion, which was not only recognizable amid the many others who seem interchangeable, it was crucial to match fire with Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay and the other SVU cast.

They're cooking up a new show for Bobby Flay, the Food Network chef who is quickly becoming the boy who just can't say no. The guy is cooking everywhere -- CBS' Early Show, Boy Meets Grill, Throwdown with Bobby Flay and, of course, he's one of the principals on Iron Chef America. And that doesn't include reruns of BBQ with Bobby Flay. But it's clearly not enough.

(S01E11) Didn't Stephanie March have shorter hair last week?

This week we have another instance of Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges) wrestling with his demons. He's trying to save a reformed gang member from jail and he goes over ADA Jessica Rossi's (Milena Govich) head to Bureau Chief Alexandra Cabot (March), who recommends a lesser sentence. I thought we got over Nick's psychological problems with his mugging last week, but this episode may be out of order. On a side note, we get to see very little of Rossi this week. Her only storyline is to establish that she's not a high-class gal because she doesn't know what 'Cocktail Attire' means or what Foie Gras is.

(S01E10)  I really wanted to like this show, but I just don't. I'm going to finish out the season (please, God make it end soon) and then it's being deleted from my TiVo Season Pass. I don't like it because of the multiple storylines in each episode. It goes from story to story so quickly that I still don't feel invested in any of the characters. Plus, it's hard to follow the stories when they're so fragmented and there are so many of them.

(S01E09)  I totally hated the judge on ADA Steele's case. He made my blood boil as he kept ruling against Steele and pushing for a lesser charge against a high school kid who killed a classmate. I know I wouldn't have kept my cool the way Steele did. But, was he right to continue with the murder charges? The judge's original offer for a lesser charge was for 1-3 years in jail. Steele refused to reduce the charge, got his conviction (no thanks to the judge), and then the judge reduced the charge anyway and put the kid on probation. Steele had to know that the judge had the ability to do this. He had to see it coming, right? Or is he just so stubborn and self-absorbed that he can't see past his own nose? He didn't seem to be fighting for the victim, rather for himself.

If there is any one show that can claim long-running success with a ever-changing cast of characters, it's NBC's Law & Order. For example, during its 16-year run (which will become 17 years starting next fall), the Assistant District Attorney's second-chair slot, which actor Richard Brooks left back in 1993, has been filled by five individuals: Jill Hennessy, Carey Lowell, Angie Harmon, Elisabeth Rohm (who departed earlier this last season) and Annie Parisse as current ADA Alexandra Borgia. Doctor Who didn't even regenerate this much in so little time!

Well, it looks like Parisee may be heading out the door this season, according to Zap2it. Of course, NBC is keeping mum about this rumored departure in order to maximize its ratings during May sweeps. The only mention of the final episode involves Borgia's boss, ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterson), who risks everything in order to nab two vicious criminals.

Parisee's Borgia replaced Rohm's Serena Southerlyn earlier this season when she was let go from the DA's office. In a bit of a departure from the L&O formula, which rarely steeps into a character's background, Southerlyn asked if she was let go because she was a lesbian. Who would replace Borgia? Well, if Conviction isn't renewed, there will be a whole mess of new ADA's to choose from. Maybe McCoy can team up with Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March).

(S01E08) So... the beginning of Conviction was cut off here in Portland because the Trailblazers/Lakers game ran long (Surprise, surprise: the Blazers lost 99-110). If there were any good, steamy sex scenes to kick off the episode like there were last week, I missed 'em.

Let me just say outright, what I don't like about this show is the way that Alexandra Cabot has become such a bitch. While on SVU, she was unorthodox, but passionate. Now her priorities are her career and she seems to have forgotten what it was like to live and breathe for a victim.

(S01E07) Surpise! Did everybody's TiVos or DVRs catch Conviction last night? Mine didn't! Luckily, I was flipping through the channels and I saw that it was on. TiVo is currently in a time out.

So, NBC put Conviction on a Tuesday night where Law & Order: SVU usually airs. This is obviously a ploy to get the SVU crowd interested in Dick Wolf's new ADA lovefest (seriously, the guy is in love with prosecuting attorneys). The problem is, it's very different than the procedural drama that we know as Law & Order. Could you imagine tuning in last night for the first time and wondering who on earth all these people are? Sheesh.

(S01E06) First of all... yum. Eric Balfour dancing with that woman in the opening scene? That, my friends, is how you open a show. Too bad J. August Richards totally ruined the mood.

Is it me or was everyone talking really fast during this episode? That opening sequence was all smooth and slow and then we just dove right the heck into fast-talking office-speak and, I tell you what, I spent the rest of the episode playing catch-up.

Once again, lots of things happen. Christina (Julianne Nicholson) is heartbroken over an emotional case involving a dead baby, Billy (J. August Richards) is trying to keep his perfect record in the courtroom, Cabot (Stephanie March) and Steele (Anson Mount) get it on, Potter (Jordan Bridges) grows some balls, and Peluso (Eric Balfour) hounds the beautiful but icey girl in the office. By the way, did anybody catch why the title of this episode is 'Savasana'? I don't get it.

Well, Billy is a jerk. In his personal life and his work life. He sleeps with a girl who turns out to be a clerk and then totally shrugs her off when he sees her in the courthouse. But, even worse than that was his attempt to get a woman to drop her 1974 rape case because it wasn't a slam dunk for him. He tells the rape victim, "I don't want to put you through any unnecessary pain." Grrrr.

I thought this week's episode of Conviction was much, much better than last week's episode. I still think that there are too many storylines in each episode, making it hard to care too much for any particular character. But, the multiple storyline thing seems to be the M.O. for this show. So be it.

Is anybody else wondering where this show is going? It's trying to balance a procedural drama, which is Dick Wolf's cup of tea, with a bunch of personal storylines, which are usually not included in Dick Wolf shows. It seems clumsy, fragmented, and packed with too much information. I still don't know any of the characters' names and I feel like I'm not getting any time to get to know them because the show jumps from character to character so quickly.

NBC was kind enough to make the new Dick Wolf procedural drama, Conviction, available for free on iTunes before it airs on Friday night. So, I took advantage. I'm just going to give you my general thoughts on the program. There will be NO SPOILERS HERE.

If you like Law and Order, you will probably like Conviction. There are a lot of characters on the show who will make for some great storylines that will no doubt be driven by the criminals and crime victims. It looks as though we'll be getting two storylines an episode, instead of just one, like the usual Dick Wolf procedural dramas.

There's this artist out there named Brandon Bird who has a special place in his heart for everything that is Law and Order. I own his original Law and Order coloring book ("An Adventure to Color!"), which follows Briscoe and Curtis as they seek a murder suspect and then on to the trial. The last page is a word scramble to figure out the verdict: LYTIGU. Funny stuff.

Now Brandon has it in for Law and Order: SVU. He has created some Valentines featuring the main characters from that franchise. My favorite is Ice-T, with the saying, "I'm on your tail". You can actually order these things for Valentine's Day. Check 'em out here.

In addition, Brandon does a bunch of cool Star Wars drawings, including this Ewok poster that I totally want. He also seems to have a bit of an obsession with James Woods, Christopher Walken (who doesn't?) and Edward Norton.

[Via Boing Boing]