Bringing order back to ‘Law and Order’
There is finally a reason to watch
”
Law
&
amp; Order
”
again. Jesse L. Martin is out and Anthony Anderson is in.
I never liked Martin, who since 1999 played Det. Ed Green on the
long running show. The only episode that I was able to watch
completely with him was his final when he made his departure. I
could never understand him because he always mumbled. Anyway, he’s
gone and it’s time to get back to one of the best shows on TV.
Bringing order back to ‘Law and Order’
There is finally a reason to watch “Law & Order” again. Jesse L. Martin is out and Anthony Anderson is in.
I never liked Martin, who since 1999 played Det. Ed Green on the long running show. The only episode that I was able to watch completely with him was his final when he made his departure. I could never understand him because he always mumbled. Anyway, he’s gone and it’s time to get back to one of the best shows on TV.
Anthony Anderson (Det. Kevin Bernard) joins the cast as a former internal affairs officer. He’s the one who investigated Green’s shooting of a murder suspect which ultimately caused him to resign.
Anderson is primarily a comic actor. He’s given funny performances in “Barbershop,” “Big Momma’s House,” and “Me, Myself & Irene.” But he was great in “The Shield” as a menacing gang member and in 2006’s best movie, “The Departed.” He was the best thing in the short-lived FOX show “K-Ville” and I think that he is going to bring some new life to this show.
The concept of “Law and Order” is simple. In the first half hour the detectives investigate a crime. In the second half hour the prosecutors take it to trial. The format of the show hasn’t changed a bit in 18 years.
Many of the shows are “based on actual events,” the most recent being a show about a religion called systemonics that sounded suspiciously like Scientology.
Since its debut in 1990 “Law & Order” has gone through several different cast changes. There have been more than seven detectives. The best pairing was the late Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe) and Chris Noth (Det. Mike Logan) from 1991 to 1995.
Jill Hennessey (1993-1996), Angie Harmon (1998-2001) and Elisabeth Rohm (2001-2005) are a few of the many actresses who have handled the role of assistant district attorney. Alana De La Garza (A.D.A Connie Rubirosa) is the current one, and has been on the show since 2006. It seems like they shop for district attorneys at the Miss America pageant.
S. Epatha Merkerson (Lt. Anita Van Buren) and Sam Waterston (District Attorney Jack McCoy) are the two longest running cast members. Merkerson joined the show in 1991 and Waterston in 1994. Besides Anderson, two other new cast members are Jeremy Sisto as Det. Cyrus Lupo and English actor Linus Roache as Executive A.D.A Michael Cutter.
The show has struggled the last few years. It was moved from its traditional Wednesday night spot to Friday night and the ratings dropped. Friday is the least watched night of television. NBC was going to cancel the show last year, but executive producer Dick Wolf persuaded them to move it back to Wednesday and keep it on for at least two more years. It only has three more seasons to beat “Gunsmoke” (1955-1975) as the longest running show on TV.
To channel surfers, it must seem like the show is on all of the time. TNT runs repeats several times a day and it’s available on DVD.
Most of the cast changes haven’t affected the popularity of the show. I stopped watching in 1995 when Benjamin Bratt joined the cast, but I’ve watched the last three episodes with Anderson. I really like everyone on the show now. This is the best cast in years.
It’s nice to be able to turn on a quality show with great writing and acting instead of some awful reality show like “The Real Housewives Of New York City” or “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”
