“Law & Order” might find Grace.
“The patient is not dead. It is in a medically induced coma, and we are hoping for a cure.” Likely translation: “Law & Order” won’t be back on NBC in the fall, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be back somewhere. So implies the shows creator, Dick Wolf.
Two weeks ago, NBC announced that it was canceling the “flagship” of the popular “Law & Order” series after 20 years of production. When the shows creator and producer heard the news he stated, “Never complain, never explain”
“Law & Order” has become an American classic. It is just as popular in reruns and DVD set sales as the new releases. Many cable/satellite networks run “Law & Order” marathons showing whole seasons of the series back to back over several days.
The one enduring factor about the original and very basic “Law & Order” series has always seemed to be its no filler, no pesky nuances and almost no background about the series’ characters — just the hard nuts and bolts of pure storytelling. Only on rare occasions did the show delve into the family lives of its characters. When that happened, it was never the plot of the show, or the central theme of that edition’s showing. It was done so to reveal that the characters had real lives.
Whenever the screen presented a disclaimer stating the week’s edition had nothing in common with a current real life news event, you knew what was coming next. The main, story line seemed to be one of those ripped-from-the-headlines stories throughout the show’s long run, especially in more recent years. “Only the names are changed to protect the innocent.”
“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorney, who prosecutes the offenders.”
For now, that will continue to resonate through the speakers of TVs around the globe – as all the cast from past seasons to the current season are shown in reruns. But I think that all “Law & Order” fans will long for the day they will once again hear that famous two note sound, “bumpt-bumpt” and know that it’s the beginning of a new year in the halls of New York justice.
Even, if it’s on another network. Sorry NBC. It’s your loss.