Has anybody else noticed that they changed Law and Order?
Special Victims Unit usually begins with Elliot and Olivia being called to a crime scene and finding out what the situation is.
Criminal Intent begins with a series of shots showing some clues to what happened and who may have done it before we see the results of these people's shady dealings.
And vanilla flavored Law and Order has always opened with some random person doing some random thing and stumbling on a random body.
But not anymore. I don't know how long it's been going on because I stopped watching Law and Order for a while. I started up again when it was just about the only new thing on the air during the strike. And now that it has Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson, two amazing actors that will probably end up being underused, I'm watching it every week.
I'm totally in love with Jeremy Sisto, by the way. Oddly enough I fell in love with him when I saw him as a skinny, twisted Devil worshipping serial killer in Hideaway. Apparently I have issues.
Anyhow, now instead of showing people finding the body, Law and Order has begun opening with a shorter version of Criminal Intent's series of shots. At first I thought it was a one-time thing and figured the episode may have been written by a Criminal Intent writer or something. But no, it was a regular writer for the show. And then every week since then they've started the show the same way.
It's not really a big deal, especially since a Law and Order spec is kind of useless these days, but I still found it intriguing. It was clearly a conscious decision by the showrunner to change things up. I wonder why? The show has clung to the same formula for over a decade, and now it's suddenly shaking up this one thing while leaving everything else the same - well, besides the ever-rotating cast.
I just thought this was interesting and that you should know.
In my opinion, not totally unrelated to your post, this is the best season of Law and Order in several years. The shake ups have worked. Also, this is the worst season of Law and Order SVU since...ever. It's terrible.
ReplyDeleteI have to be pretty bored to watch Law and Order, but Olivia is smoking hot. It had to be said.
ReplyDeleteAnd Abbie from the original... Sam Waterston(sp?) is one lucky mofo.
I fell for Jeremy Sisto when he played the son of Kevin Kline in Kasdan's Grand Canyon. In one scene of awesomeness Kline teaches him how to drive. When I was learning my driving skills that scene was referenced many times.
ReplyDeleteKline to Sisto: "This is difficult stuff. Making a left turn in L.A. is one of the harder things you'll learn in life."
Yes it is.
Scribe
The episode you watched may not have been written by a Criminal Intent writer, but the current L&O showrunner is Rene Balcer, who ran Criminal Intent for that show's first five years. (Prior to Criminal Intent, he wrote for L&O for its first decade, so he's as familiar with the typical opening as anyone.)
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