Would you call "Law and Order" a liberal TV show?

[bluestateguy]

The producer, Dick Wolf, is a liberal, as is most of the cast, save for Fred Thompson, but he was a late addition and his part is a small one anyway.

It seems to me that the show does a good job at emphasizing the importance of due process, the rights of the accused, the importance of police and prosecutors following all of the rules of evidence gathering, and that crime mysteries do not always point to an obvious perpetrator. That is top say, that we should not jump to conclusions with crime cases. The show manages to do this without depicting the truly guilty as sympathetic figures.

[vi5]

1. I don't know....

I mean he has characters on there who represent both liberals and democrats, but neither one are particularly presented in a harsh light. But he's definitely way over the top pro-prosecution in every episode. Do you know that he's definitely a liberal (Dick Wolf that is).

[GOPisEvil]

2. Certain characters are, for sure.

McCoy is, although he wrestles with it a lot at times. I think Ed is. To me that's one of the underlying conflicts within the show: traditional liberalism vs. crime and punishment.

[xmas74]

3. Didn't they make a comment about Delay once on that show?

I don't remember which of the L&A's it was but I thought that it was one of them.

[Liberalynn]

4. On the Subject of Thompson

I really got ticked off that NBC and Wolfe gave into right wing pressure and fired Weist and hired Thompson just to appease the Freepers.

It be one thing if he could even act but he can't. Heck Angie Harmon from what I understand is a Freeper but at least she could act, so I could live with that. In fact I did like her character. Even though Thompson's part is small he still ruins the show as a whole, because between him and Elisabeth Rohm who also couldn't act, I had to quit watching. So glad they finally fired Rohm but unless they get rid of Thompson too, I'm not coming back. He and Rohm just lowered the quality level beyond redemption.

I felt so sorry for Waterston being stuck with those two loosers. I do still like S. Eptha Mcpherson though and Sam. Jack McCoy was my hero for a long time. I don't really care for Farina because he looks like my ex-boss who I still loathe to this day. Whoever did the latest casting should be fired, IMHO.

Also I think Trial by Jury would have stood a better chance if Thompson weren't involved. Thank heaven he is not on SVU or Criminal Intent.

But back on topic over all I do think the show as a whole is often Liberal! I still check out the repeats from time to time cause I loved Mike, Lenny, Ray, Claire, Abby, Jamie, the Lieutenants, both the psychiatrists, and Jack.

P.S. I still really miss Lenny. RIP Jerry!

[vogonjiltz]

9. Dennis Farina ain't that bad.

Remember him on Chicago Story? He does a good crooked cop, of course, he was an actual Chicago cop once.

[Liberalynn]

11. I never knew

he was an actual cop once. That's pretty cool.

With Farina I think it's just the personal thing for me. He really has the same coloring and characteristics of my ex-boss who was an extreme jerk to me. So he just gives me bad vibes.

Thompson though just reads his scripts without even attempting to "act" and he isn't even very successful at reading.

Rohm, could have been replaced by a card board cut out, and no one could have told the difference.

It's just hard to believe for me that this is the same show that gave Chris Noth, Benjamin Bratt, and Jill Henessy their big breaks.

[Wapsie B]

10. Yeah I remember reading how putting Thompson on the show

was supposed to be a show of strength to the world after 9/11. Like little freddy on the tube was gonna scare those bad terrorists away. :puke:

[Liberalynn]

12. Like that was going to help!

:rofl:

I remember reading something at the time about their wanting to provide a better balance of view points.

Between what was my question? Those who can act and those who can't.

Also someone needs to clue in the Rethugs that a fictional program is just that fiction.

It's like the whole Dan Quayle-Murphy Brown thing all over again.

Okay little Dumbya, here's a clue, Mr. Ed couldn't really talk.

[khashka]

5. In some ways....

but not in others. It's take on alternate sexualities is usually pretty harsh. And as a feminist I have some problems with it's depiction of women...

Don't get me wrong, I love the show... but it suffers the same faults all mainstream TV does.

Khash.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. I think the show is fairly even-handed

but its choice of stories rarely depicts situations in which defendants are falsely accused. I like the aspects on Law And Order that show the politization of the office of the District Attorney, where some decisions to prosecute or seek to cut a deal are driven by the media and by the D.A.s need to get re-elected. I saw more of those stories when the actor Steven Hill was the D.A. What I note is that there are virtually no shows anymore on American television that show the other perspective, that of the defense attorney as the protagonist. In America there used to be many such shows up until the 1970s. I recall The Defenders with E.G. Marshall as being a very popular show in which the abuses of the legal system against the individual were often the subject of the story. Even Perry Mason typically portrayed the prosecutor as an individual seeking to enhance his reputation and stubbornly resisting the true facts. In my experience, the D.A.s office is as much driven by politics as by the search for the truth.

[Liberalynn]

7. Remember The Epsiode

where Jack took on the gun manufacturer's after a mass shooting? Though I realize many liberals have different views on the gun issue as well, gun control does tend to be more publicly perceived as a "liberal" issue. That was a powerful episode and my personal favorite.

[starroute]

8. I have arguments about this with my husband

I tell him the show is inexorably pro-authority. He points out that the main characters sometimes have qualms of conscience about how badly they treat people. I tell him that it doesn't matter because they do it anyway. Qualms of conscience are the way those with power defuse their nagging awareness that they're regularly screwing over those without power. If it doesn't lead to action, it doesn't mean shit.

Once upon a time, our popular culture glorified rebels, outcasts, and loners. But since the 80's, it's been getting more and more heavily into authority figures, like cops and lawyers. There are still a few notable exceptions (**Firefly**), but not many. When you're the cops of the world, you can't afford to get too sympathetic with the underdog.