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Law and Order: UK
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communicator's post on Law and Order: UK, and since it pretty much sums up what I thought, I'm copying, tweaking, and pasting.
As you know, Bob, I adore Law and Order, and I thought this was a pretty decent stab at it. I felt there weren't quite enough twists in the police story (L&O generally weaves around a hell of a lot in the first 20 minutes) and there was the notorious stock TV scene-ender at one point ("Oh, and [character]?" [character pauses at door and looks back questioningly] "Thanks." [character beams and leaves]) [1].
The legal scenes didn't capture that sense of civic society being constructed and enacted in the court-room (which programmes like L&O and Boston Legal do so well); partly because we, er, don't do that so much in the UK.mraltariel was saying last night that given the UK court system is about weighing competing narratives, it might work better dramatically to have cutaways as people gave evidence, like in Without a Trace.
[1] As noted in Rusty's The Writer's Tale.
communicator's post on Law and Order: UK, and since it pretty much sums up what I thought, I'm copying, tweaking, and pasting. As you know, Bob, I adore Law and Order, and I thought this was a pretty decent stab at it. I felt there weren't quite enough twists in the police story (L&O generally weaves around a hell of a lot in the first 20 minutes) and there was the notorious stock TV scene-ender at one point ("Oh, and [character]?" [character pauses at door and looks back questioningly] "Thanks." [character beams and leaves]) [1].
The legal scenes didn't capture that sense of civic society being constructed and enacted in the court-room (which programmes like L&O and Boston Legal do so well); partly because we, er, don't do that so much in the UK.
mraltariel was saying last night that given the UK court system is about weighing competing narratives, it might work better dramatically to have cutaways as people gave evidence, like in Without a Trace. [1] As noted in Rusty's The Writer's Tale.
Does it never end?
(Anonymous) 2009-02-25 01:17 am (UTC)(link)Britain especially doesn't need this, because dammit, Britain gave us Rumpole of the Bailey, and that, by God, is a thing to celebrate. There is no need for a pale knock-off of a neurotic and earnest U.S. prosecutor when you have Leo McKern to regale you with his cross-examination speeches, blunt cantankerousness, and frumpy decadence.
Dwim
Re: Does it never end?
Re: Does it never end?
Why not CI?
(Anonymous) 2009-02-25 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)L&O:SVU is creepy and makes me writhe with uncomfortableness. I have not managed to force myself to see Trial by Jury or Crime and Punishment - at a certain point, enough is enough!
I have roommates who love Boston Legal, and the episodes I've seen/had to listen to by virtue of the nearness of the television to my room and the thinness of walls were very funny, but it's not something I feel compelled to follow. We have to get everything on DVD anyway due to not paying for cable and having crappy reception even before the Great Digital Shift.
Dwim
Re: Why not CI?
I watched Trial by Jury for the sake of completeness, but it was pretty unmemorable. Crime and Punishment hasn't reached these shores yet. SVU is a nasty, voyeuristic show.
BL can wait till after your thesis when you need to let your brain rest! It's coming to an end soon, so it's not like you'll be chasing to catch up. Shatner's finest hour (as I type I'm watching original Trek, 'Mirror, Mirror', and realizing he's nowhere near as bad as I remembered him).
Re: Does it never end?
Re: Does it never end?