LAW AND ORDER VS. L & O: CRIMINAL INTENT OR SEXUAL VICTIMS

Criminal Intent started last friday, so I've only seen 5 episodes but up to now I'm not too impressed.

I like LO and SVU because we get a nice balance between the cops using their smarts to find who did it, and then the ADA using their smarts to make sure the bad guys go down.

So far there hasn't been a courtroom scene, D' Onofrio's character has bluffed them into a confession each time.

I'll stick with it for a while though.

I enjoy the original L&O the most. This feeling stems from the fact that out of all in the series it devotes the most time (the second half) to the legal questions that might and do come up in some criminal cases. Admittedly these sometime just skim the surface of those real life cases "Ripped From the Headlines" but unlike a vast majority of TV shows at least this series tries to reach the goal of being somewhat cerebral. This is why I had high expectations for "Crime and Punishment" but, alas, this effort seems to have diluted the producer's overall efforts. It was just a sub-standard effort apparently designed to ride on the coat tails of the producer's finer works but was merely a "filler" for a Sunday night slot.

Regarding the cast, Ice-T's work is excellent on this show, as is his partner's who plays "Munch". His stage name escapes me but I do know and like his work as a stand-up comedian also. I love the passionate Irish idealism of Waterson's Character, but equally delicious is the strong take charge-outspoken personalities of the female DA's. Good-looking women with brains, I'd shout Uncle in a minute!

D'Onofrio's character in L&O: CI is my favorite: Like Columbo he always has one more question but his pursuit of the answer, along with his intelligence, leads him into seemingly unrelated areas constantly frustrating and amazing his more real to life partner (Professional colleague). My wife hates him for the way he seems to ensnare his victims, but when I suddenly cry out: "Look Honey! Bobby's giving him the sideways look!" She knows Bobby Goren has again caught another criminal.


It took me awhile to figure out in what role I had remembered D'Onofrio from...the bad Bug alien in the original Men In Black movie! (The part where it appears somewhat human but barely.) He needed a shave then too.

JM

Criminal Intent is my favorite L&O, but I also like SVU. I don't really like the original L&O for some reason though.

Welcome to A2K, shallowman. It just goes to show that there's a L&O for everyone! (I like 'em all...)

I think all three shows are constructed differently.

Law & Order deals with the political and moral aspects of crime and life in New York City. Any characterization takes place gradually over time-they really don't emphasize the character's reactions to the news very much. Only after several episodes do you get a chance to understand the people involved-the show doesn't emphasize it.

Incidentally, heard a radio interview with Paul Sorvino a few years ago, and he said that these actors, including himself, really don't leave to pursue other acting opportunities. "Just about everyone who left was fired", he said. And Sorvino, who has starred on Broadway and made many movies, was probably the best known actor the show ever hired.

SVU seems to deal with the horror and psychological makeup of the people involved in the crime. Not a lot of social/political focus like Law & Order the original. Of course, the nature of sexual crime itself is likely to cut across ethnic and racial barriers anyway. Although Chris Meloni is certaily tough enough, and Mariska Hargitay smart and intellectual enough, somehow the characters don't seem to be that well drawn from episode to episode. Although very good, it seems to me the least of the shows, though if the other two did not exist, I would consider it a great show. Does that make sense?

Criminal Intent is a Genius Detective series that owes it's existence to the greatest detective of all, Sherlock Holmes. Essentially, it is a New York City updating of Holmes. The female partner seems competent enough for her lines, but her role is so subordinate there is little she can do.

One thing that nags me slightly about the show, though, is how such an extreme intellectual got on the New York City police force. Even if went to college first, he still would have had to walk a beat first for several years before making it onto the Detctive Squad.

Unlike Columbo, another notable TV Genius Detective, I cannot imagine D'Onofrio walking a beat. Columbo is essentially a working class kid whose intellectualism arrived in answer to his job's necessities. D'Onofrio just doesn't seem to have any "regular cop" in him at all. It is almost impossible to imagine getting along with the other cops on the job while he worked his way up.

Regardless, it is a fascinating series.

A very perceptive, and I think correct, analysis. Still, I love the way D'Onofrio plays the role. If you look at how different he is from "Full Metal Jacket," to "The 13th Floor," to "Law and Order," it's evident that he's a very fine actor. Your idea of it being an updated Sherlock Holmes is very interesting.

I hated CI (Criminal Intent) when it first started. I couldn't stand Vincent D'Onofrio and his weird behavior. His partner was a nothing character that might as well have not been there. But now I am fascinated with this. I find he intrigues me in a way that "Colombo" used to (I'm a huge Colombo fan).

My favorite is SVU (Special Victims Unit) because I think Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni are great and I like the supporting cast and I am sorry to see the ADA Stephanie March leaving.

I didn't know until now that she was. I think that is a pity. In some ways, I think she had the best character on the series. Just when everybody is rejoicing that they found the bad guy, March's character has to tell everyone that they don't have a ghost of chance of convicting him unless they get more evidence. Plus, March herself had moral conflicts about some things she did.

I can only speculate why March is leaving. One is that she might be replaced by a minority character-remember this is supposed to be about New York. There are six main characters listed below, and all but two are white. Another is that March might have played her part so well, she got a better offer. Finally, it could be a case where her character of an intelligent, beautiful, moral, competent WASP women might be too close to Mariska's Hargitay's. You can almost imagine March and Hargitay switching roles and, providing the series can come up with a suitable explanation, there might not be too much difference in the dynamics of the series.

Here are the regular characters:

RICHARD BELZER
Det. John Munch

DANN FLOREK
Capt. Donald Cragen

MARISKA HARGITAY
Det. Olivia Benson

ICE-T
Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

STEPHANIE MARCH
A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot

CHRISTOPHER MELONI
Det. Elliot Stabler

DIANE NEAL
A.D.A. Casey Novak

B.D. WONG
Dr. George Huang

hope it works
I wrote a whole freekin' thing about L&O, only to lose the damn thing!! So pissed off, I could eat a carrot!! Sorry, HAD to get that off my chest. Shaking I'm so mad.
Anyway, I'm rather new to L&O (only have been watching the show for, oh about 1-2 yrs.) I'm like obsessed with it though! I'm like you Heeven, I used to not like CI that much and thought Det. Goren was both strange and rather annoying, but I love the show now and find Goren to be rather sexy! I've read some about Vincent D'onofrio and found out that he's really into character acting, and I think he was trying to bring some character to Goren, rather than have him be just like any other det. So, because of him, CI is my favorite.

SVU is my second favorite (and I think Christopher Meloni is rather hot too) Did anybody find the episode about shaken baby syndrome rather disturbing and unnerving? Boy, I did. I saw a rerun the other night of SVU on TNT or USA or something, Olivia's hair was longer (which by the way, I don't think suits her....I think short hair brings out her features) and it was about a young boy who was rapped and murdered in a park by like 2 teenage boys. Was that the piolet by any chance? Like I said, I haven't been watching that long.

L&O the original, although my third favorite, I still really like. I like Sam Waterson rather well. I've seen some old episodes and found the older actors to be rather boring, kind of like the guy, on SVU who I guess Ice-T replaced. That's just me. My brother hates Ice-T, but I think he's kind of cool (on the show....don't know much about him in real life). Of old L&O actors though, I do like Angie Harmon-she's pretty cool.