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Essay Subject: Critiques TV police/court drama. Production, reasons for success, characters/actors, problems, writers, social issues.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Critiques TV police/court drama. Production, reasons for success, characters/actors, problems, writers, social issues. Paper Introduction: NBC television's series Law & Order is now well into its ninth season in an era when few shows make it through their first, especially hour-long dramatic shows. In addition to surviving, which shows it has been developing an audience of sufficient size to be renewed, Law & Order has garnered many awards, from the prestigious Emmy in various categories to other television and related awards. It has accomplished this under circumstances which might have destroyed a different sort of show, for virtually the entire cast has been replaced since the first season, with only one cast member continuing through the entire run (and he was not in the pilot and so is missing from that one episode). The show is certainly an ensemble show, which is what allows it to survive cast changes, though changes of this magnitude are rare in a continuing series. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Every courtroomhas a gallery where the public sits to watch trials, and except underextreme circumstances, every trial is open to the public. The series is not only successful in its timeslot on NBC buthas been seen for several years now in repeats on the A&E Cable Networkfive nights a week. In spite of these many changes, the show has both survived andachieved much. 17 in the ratings(Kennedy 32). It has accomplished this undercircumstances which might have destroyed a different sort of show, forvirtually the entire cast has been replaced since the first season, withonly one cast member continuing through the entire run (and he was not inthe pilot and so is missing from that one episode). The decision byWolf to shoot in New York gave the show its unique look and access to avariety of New York actors not seen that often on television, and thatdecision contributed to the success of the show. As in the real world, the trials on Law & Order maybe decided in a way the observer believes is wrong, or the decision may beinconclusive. Since that time, public interest inthe law has ballooned, and Law & Order has benefited because it gives astrong sense of the law to its viewers and neither condescends to them norpresents a false image of the way the law is administered. The first half-hour follows the cops . In the 1997-1998 season, the show "posted its second consecutive seasonal win in thekey male demographics (18-49 and 25-54) and expanded on that audience toemerge as the time-period leader in the key adult demographics (18-49 and25-54) for the first time ever" ("Law & Order" NBC TV Central). What is most important in the show is the verisimilitude--the policeplod along asking questions and do not indulge in heroics; and the districtattorneys follow established legal practice and conduct trials as theywould be in a real courtroom as far as possible. Hartmann, Peter Shaughnessy, David Sherward, Michele LaRue, and Robert Simonson. NBC television's series Law & Order is now well into its ninth seasonin an era when few shows make it through their first, especially hour-longdramatic shows. I'll just tell Bill Fordes [a lawyer-writer on board] the issues I want to examine. Having viewed virtually all 18 -some shows produced so far, anobserver would find that the show has a pattern which is reflected in thetwo-part structure noted above--the police investigate the crime in thefirst half, and the district attorney prosecutes the person arrested in thesecond half. In 1995, NBC indicated its support for the show byrenewing it for another two years in a season in which the series reachedits best numbers to that time and reached as high as No. One of the proofs of the success of the show is that Wolf has plansto export various versions of Law & Order around the world. However, at the end of last season, a similarattempt was made that fell flat because in this case every member of thecast wa given a big problem with which to wrestle, the implication beingone would fail, perhaps fall from grace, and leave the show. . I don't any more. The public is also being let in on the sort of backroommaneuvering and bargaining that marks so much of criminal prosecutiontoday. Thisadds to the documentary nature of the show: "Even the camera workbrilliantly enforces chilliness and distance" (McConnell 2 ). This verisimilitude extends to the source of many stories, which arebased on real cases in some degree, with major changes to alter the legalissue involved or to bring some new twist to a story many people may haveread about in the newspaper. The legalelement of the series would then be shot locally with local casts andscripts, working off the same scenario but played against the backdrop ofthe individual legal systems that apply in each case ("CurrentInternational Listings"). Law & Order combines the realism of Court TV with the intensity ofdrama, and it satisfies viewers now interested in legal issues because itprovides an ending, something the real world often does not. . Wolf says,Then people started to recognize that we were dealing with real issues,presenting a forum for very disparate, controversial points of view on alot of subjects. The underlying rationale for Court TVderives from the Constitution, which in turn was developed based on theunfortunate experience of the Founding Fathers in England. The show that emerged in 199 combined two television staples--thepolice drama and the courtroom drama. That serieswas a more common television format, however, and was not as legallyrigorous as Law & Order has proven to be. At the end ofthe sixth season, a very good example of such a shift was produced when thecast observed an execution and then suffered in various ways through theday as a result, leading by the end of the episode to the death of one.The personal lives served as a means to bring change to the show, and thiswas highly effective. Simpson forkilling his wife, a trial which was carried live on television networks,discussed and debated endlessly on talk shows, and carried live on thecable network Court TV. Other changes would followuntil the six primary roles on the show had been played by a total oftwelve actors ("FAQ"). Of the original six, only theDistrict Attorney played by Steven Hill remains in the ninth season--and assome fans point out, technically he was not present throughout since thepart was played by a different actor in the CBS pilot that was shown fourthin the NBC run. Law & Order has benefitedfrom a number of unfortunate incidents which have focused attention on thelaw and made the law on television a major category. They will also see highquality drama and realize that many in our society responded to thatquality as well. The pilotwas made for CBS, but CBS did not believe the show would work. The show is by no means a recreation ofactual cases, but it is a recreation of actual police procedures andcourtroom methods. Whatever the subject, accuracy is important (Armbrust et al. Many observers have blamed producer Dick Wolf for the many castchanges, and he contributed to this criticism when he commented that theshow was "actor proof," meaning that it is the format and not the actorsthat attracts viewers. In addition, Law & Order willcontinue to represent these values far into the next century as it is rerunfor future generations. One didindeed leave the show, but the effort was so desultory that the otherpersonal stories have not been addressed or wrapped up since--everycharacter has thus been left hanging, and so have any viewers who mighthave become interested in those particular problems. The show is certainlyan ensemble show, which is what allows it to survive cast changes, thoughchanges of this magnitude are rare in a continuing series. Eventually advertisers discovered a special market:people who didn't watch TV except for "Law & Order." And our ratings havebeen going up every year for the past four or five years (Armbrust et al.51).Wolf developed the idea originally as a legal show in a half-hour formatfor syndication. He changed the format because he believed that a legalshow would not be popular, and he thought if he combined it with a copshow, it would have a better change. The most importantevent in recent history in this regard was the trial of O.J. If we resolvesome of these issues, they will see how those issues developed and what wetried to do about them before they were solved. I might even come up with a legal theory myself, and then he'll compile cases and evidence on the subject (Armbrust et al. In addition to surviving, which shows it has beendeveloping an audience of sufficient size to be renewed, Law & Order hasgarnered many awards, from the prestigious Emmy in various categories toother television and related awards. He further notes that it may be the only series ever sold tothree networks before it got on the air. Ratherthan the 1 or fewer people who can sit in the gallery, Court TV enables apotential audience in the millions to watch a trial. He notes that whathas become the longest-running dramatic hour-long show currently ontelevision started with a different format and with no certainty ofsuccess. Arguably,fear of crime has long contributed to the popularity of police shows ontelevision which do the same thing--the perpetrator is always identifiedand caught. But her,e writing is different. Often, the two contingents come intocontact with one another, with the police acting as witnesses, or with thedistrict attorney's office asking for more evidence or a follow-up of somekind. . Law & Order, interestingly, does not always provide the sortof ending which might make the viewer feel comfortable, for the guilty arenot always punished. This is a danger whena show only dips into the personal lives of characters defined by theirwork. This leads to another reason for the success of the show in thecurrent climate--the law and how it is administered in a courtroom hasbecome a major focus of interest for the public. Works CitedArmbrust, Roger, Simi Horowitz, Esther Tolkoff, Amelia David, T.M. The producer of the show is Dick Wolf. In this case, both were treatedbetter than usual and were approached in near-documentary fashion, and thebasic structure has remained the same, as described by critic FrankMcConnell: Every episode of "L&O" contains two stories, or actually, two tellings of the same story, one a detective narrative, the other a trial . clearly, the program says much about our contemporary society, aboutthe issues that both plague and interest us, and about our dedication tolaw as a means for resolving issues. Many of the writers are lawyers, while others have somelegal background. Wolf, however, sees no reason to change what is working,though some shows have shifted focus somewhat when the story called for it. You may have to research massively about medical stuff, or research a branch of the service. Wolf tookthe pilot to NBC, where then-president Brandon Tartikoff expressed a likingfor the premise but uncertainty whether it could be done every week.Tartikoff therefore asked to see six scripts, and based on that, he orderedthirteen episodes. The two were replacedby Jill Hennessey and S. 5).The show thus has legal advisers who truly use their expertise to make surethe scripts match reality as much as possible. The turnover on the show has been high, much higher than for mostnetwork shows, and cast members have left for different reasons. As noted above, when DickWolf first thought of Law & Order, he was afraid the public would not beinterested in a show about the law. We must do a lot of research, and be as accurate as we can. 1998.Justin, Neal. The first ADA was played by Richard Brookes, and the first Captain ofDetectives was played by Dann Florek. In truth, this is not the first timethis format has been used on television, for there was a 9 -minute ABCseries called Arrest and Trial on for one season in 1963-1964. However, it alsocontributed to the loss of Dzundza and his replacement the next year, PaulSorvino. Court TV was another beneficiary of the simpson case and the growinginterest in the law and has further fed that interest by taking viewersdirectly into real courtrooms. . Many in the cast wish the show would focus more on their personallives at times "since that would give them more opportunities to emote"(Kennedy 33). 5).Kathy McCormick, another writer on the show, agrees and notes, There are shows that require some research, while for others it doesn't matter . The program is produced by Wolf through an association with UniversalTelevision. Epatha Merkerson. two detectives working under a lieutenant--as through interviews and forensics they center upon their perp. Both were replaced at the beginningof the fourth season under pressure from NBC to break up what was then anall male cast and to bring some women into the show. He says he regrets saying this because it upset thecast. This endless discussion of one case createdinterest on the part of the public that continued after the two Simpsontrials were over, and the Simpson case left in its wake a number of legaldiscussion shows which continue to this day--Burden of Proof on CNN, forinstance, or the Geraldo Rivera Show on CNBC. "Law and Order." Commonweal (November 4, 1994), 19-2 .----------------------- 11 The second half-hour follows the prosecutors--two assistant DA's working under a DA-- as they bargain with the defendant's lawyers and consider among themselves precisely what charges, and what penalty, they can reasonably propose (McConnell 19).The job is the source and subject of the stories, and the private lives ofthe principals are at most throwaway elements in their conversation. . They will be able to see into the workings of ourcriminal justice system and will also be privy to the kinds of personal,social, and legal problems that both define and test us. "Bacl Stage Salutes Law & Order." Back Stage (December 19, 1997), A1-A13."Current International Listings." http://www.wolffilms.com/ export.html. Paul Sorvino quit in the middle of the third season because heconsidered the weather too cold and was concerned about it damaging hisvoice--he was pursuing an opera career as well. This is notmerely a question of syndicating the existing show, which is already insome 4 countries to date, with more to come. Theshows often hinge not on tricks or confrontation as in most shows but onlegal niceties based on the law as it exists and is administered in thestate of New York. With Law & Order, though, such shifts often seem strained. Wolf says that the network sales department hated theshow the first year and that the show was proving to be a financialdisaster, without enough advertising to pay for production. From thefirst, there have been six primary characters, three on the police side,three on the district attorney's side. One writer for the show, Renee Balcer, who is also theexecutive producer, notes, In the beginning I found all those legal elements intimidating. 1998."FAQ." http://members.aol.com/mlovato81 /law/lawm.htm. The first season, actor George Dzundza quit at the end of the firstseason, giving as his reason that he wanted to be in Los Angeles with hisfamily instead of in New York where the show was filmed. Now, the plan is to localizethe series using an Interpol setting common to each episode. Law & Order shows what television drama can be in an age ofsuperficiality, and it proves that there is an audience for something moresubstantial. The police side consists of two detectives and the Captainof Detectives in their local precinct, and the district attorney's sideconsists of the DA and two assistant DA's, one of who is the primary andthe other of whom is known as the "second chair," a legal reference to thesecond attorney in court. Some have argued that Dzundza actually quit because he wasunhappy with the ensemble nature of the show and so with the fact that hewas not getting enough screen time and was sharing the show too much withco-star Michael Moriarty, the primary assistant DA for the first fourseasons. The show is high quality, well-written and well-acted, yet itssuccess has also been in part the result of a series of unforeseencircumstances. . Court TV simplyextends this principle to a wider audience for any given trial. Another element that stands out is the way the law is presented. "Law and Disorder." Entertainment Weekly (April 14, 1995), 32-35.McConnell, Frank. It was originally sold to the FoxTelevision Network, but Fox had no faith in it and backed away. This pattern is occasionally given a slightly differenttreatment, as in one case which covered three episodes instead of one, oras in a case where an investigation was conducted into a decade-oldhomicide because of new evidence. A viewer is given a goodworking view of how lawyers and prosecutors interact and how the law isapplied. "Judgment Days." Star Tribune (April 16, 1997), 1E.Kennedy, Dana. It was the 1997 Emmy Award winner for Best Drama Series,and the show was gaining success by network standards as well. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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