Why L&O's Sixth Season Is Worth Reliving
By Chris Kornelis in DVD
Wednesday, Dec. 10 2008 @ 2:38PM
DVD: Law & Order: The Sixth YearRelease Date: Dec. 2
Universal, $59.98
Stars: Jerry Orbach, Sam Watterson, Jill Hennessy, Benjamin Bratt, etc.
From my futon in the winter of 2008, I see three acts of Law & Order: the Chris Noth days of thick leather jackets and no female leads; the Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe)/Sam Watterson (Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy) domination; and everything after Orbach.
Season six is the sweet spot in act two, the halcyon days of the venerable series that makes today's L&O seem like it's gasping for breath compared to the yarns spun and structural liberties taken by Dick Wolf's crew in what is, rather dramatically, Jill Hennessy's (A.D.A. Claire Kincaid) swan song.
This was before the series would be spun off three efforts (you've already forgotten the canned Trial By Jury, I'm sure), and it is perhaps because the franchise has yet to stretch it legs with Criminal Intent and Special Victims that the writers and producers allow themselves to stray from the billion-dollar formula. They try campy moves like cross-over episodes with Homicide: Life on the Street, where we meet Richard Belzer (Det. John Munch, later to jump to Special Victims). And it's just harder to predict the outcome by the clock on your wall (Wait, he couldn't have done it, there's 15 minutes left!)
1996 was a different time, to be sure. And for those suffering from a bout of '90s nostalgia of late, this is the gift that won't quit. Det. Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) comments that he had to get down on his knees for a seven-percent interest rate on his home. Amanda Peet turns up as a pre- "Ripped From the Headlines" Patty Hearst; Jennifer Gardner appears as the seductive college kid that beds the married Curtis. Detectives ask their suspects if they're "online," and Briscoe muses," Did you know 100 million new words go on that thing every day?"
Ahhh, the '90s.
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Cover Story: Pipe Schemes
FridaS says:
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Posted On: Tuesday, Aug. 18 2009 @ 2:08AM