55.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Dear Miss Kitty, I will never forget you
Crude oil pours into the Louisiana wetlands, Taliban operatives target Times Square, the stock market swoons into a dead faint and Tea Party favorite Rand Paul says on national TV that he’s not so crazy about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
But is this what people are talking about? Apparently not. While we’re getting slammed left and right and feeling terribly vulnerable, the TV viewing public is agonizing over the cancellation of “Law & Order.”
I get it.
The show, which has run for some 20 seasons on multiple channels at different times of the day and with an ever-changing cast of actors, is the one thing we New Yorkers can count on. If you can’t sleep at 4 a.m., you can find an episode of L&O “ripped from the headlines.” If you’re flying JetBlue and you turn on the TV, there are Jerry Orbach and L. Epatha Merkerson. I’ve even watched the show in foreign languages when circumstances dictated.
Let’s have a little respect here. The show isn’t just TV entertainment; it has been a friend, a familiar comfort during bouts of flu or insomnia. Jobs may be lost, spouses may come and go, but “Law & Order” has always been there. In truth, I may not be able to live without it. So please don’t try to mollify me with the proposed “Law & Order” to be set in Los Angeles. Ice-T dashing around Rodeo Drive just doesn’t do it for me.
Consider how fertile L&O has been. The original program starred Orbach as the lead detective and Merkerson as chief of the unit. Five actors have filled the D.A.’s role, most recently Sam Waterston, who replaced Fred Thompson, who left the show to serve in the Senate. Then the show gave birth to “Law & Order Special Victims Unit,” with Christopher Meloni as Elliot and Mariska Hargitay as Olivia, followed by “Law & Order Criminal Intent,” originally with Vincent D’Onofrio.
The plots have always been fresh because they’re based on current events and high-profile crimes. From 9/11 to Bernie Madoff, the real news has been grist for the fiction mill that churns out weekly episodes.
