Waterston moves up to D.A. post, but we need him in court
January 2, 2008
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
"Fred Thompson Fears Presidential Run Will Typecast Him As Politician" - Headline in the Onion
Now that Thompson is catching flack for running a lazy campaign for president, his ex-show is following suit in a way. In tonight's season debut of "Law & Order," lawyers joke that his character, D.A. Arthur Branch, was a shallow politician.
"Branch used to fill these shelves with knickknacks and awards," a lawyer says in Branch's old office.
"It's a working office now, not a showroom," Jack McCoy grouses.
It's doubtful producer Dick Wolf is taking a crack at Thompson. Wolf told me last summer he was thrilled Thompson was walking onto campaign stages to the "Law & Order" theme song.
But in retrospect, the parallel between real Thompson and fictional Branch seems almost dead-on. They're both aw-shucks conservatives from the sticks. Both seem kinda stupid. At least Branch worked hard and spoke clearly.
The 18th season of "Law & Order" doesn't suffer from his absence. Branch was never as iconic in the D.A. role as Adam Schiff, the tortured genius played by Steven Hill.
McCoy (Sam Waterston) now moves up to D.A., which is good and bad. Waterston is "Law & Order," and he returns brains and heart to the post.
But this means Waterston isn't in the show nearly as much, and that's as awful as many fans feared. Over the years, no matter which other actors filled the cast, you always could count on Jack McCoy, the greatest lawyer in TV history, to carry you through the last half of an episode with his wise and wiseass posturing.
The creative people behind the show shake things up a bit to compensate. The first few episodes are a little more personality-driven than ever. And there's a smidgeon more "CSI" stuff at crime scenes (a pathologist, a PC geek).
McCoy's replacement as executive assistant D.A. is the strong-willed yet softer Michael Cutter, played by relative unknown Linus Roache. He seems passable, but remember Waterston took time to distinguish McCoy, so Roache deserves time to establish Cutter.
The new detective is Cyrus Lupo, played by Jeremy Sisto (he was Brenda's crazy brother on "Six Feet Under" and Roache's co-star on "Kidnapped"). The two strengths on the cop beat remain: Jesse L. Martin as Ed and S. Epatha Merkerson, who doesn't even need dialogue to steal a scene as Anita van Buren, with her slight, judgmental glares.
Don't get the impression "Law & Order" is changing a lot. There's an episode-long caper, which starts with a crime, moves onto the detective work and ends with prosecutorial twists and suspects bearing righteous delusions.
But it's bizarre to see the first episode spend so much time exploring Sisto's detective's background. "Law & Order" has steered clear of personalities for 17 years. Wolf has said repeatedly his least-favorite episode was when Lenny's daughter died, an emotional development that only ate up something like six minutes.
But I'm a "Law & Order" enthusiast in good standing, so while I'm disappointed in seeing less of McCoy, like any good fanboy I'll keep tuning in and taking what I can get.
As for Thompson, I agree with Rudy Giuliani, who joked, "I think he's done a pretty good job of playing my part on 'Law & Order.' " Pretty good was rarely good enough for "Law & Order." It hardly seems good enough for president, either.
delfman@suntimes.com
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
"Fred Thompson Fears Presidential Run Will Typecast Him As Politician" - Headline in the Onion
Now that Thompson is catching flack for running a lazy campaign for president, his ex-show is following suit in a way. In tonight's season debut of "Law & Order," lawyers joke that his character, D.A. Arthur Branch, was a shallow politician.
"Branch used to fill these shelves with knickknacks and awards," a lawyer says in Branch's old office.
"It's a working office now, not a showroom," Jack McCoy grouses.
It's doubtful producer Dick Wolf is taking a crack at Thompson. Wolf told me last summer he was thrilled Thompson was walking onto campaign stages to the "Law & Order" theme song.
But in retrospect, the parallel between real Thompson and fictional Branch seems almost dead-on. They're both aw-shucks conservatives from the sticks. Both seem kinda stupid. At least Branch worked hard and spoke clearly.
The 18th season of "Law & Order" doesn't suffer from his absence. Branch was never as iconic in the D.A. role as Adam Schiff, the tortured genius played by Steven Hill.
McCoy (Sam Waterston) now moves up to D.A., which is good and bad. Waterston is "Law & Order," and he returns brains and heart to the post.
But this means Waterston isn't in the show nearly as much, and that's as awful as many fans feared. Over the years, no matter which other actors filled the cast, you always could count on Jack McCoy, the greatest lawyer in TV history, to carry you through the last half of an episode with his wise and wiseass posturing.
The creative people behind the show shake things up a bit to compensate. The first few episodes are a little more personality-driven than ever. And there's a smidgeon more "CSI" stuff at crime scenes (a pathologist, a PC geek).
McCoy's replacement as executive assistant D.A. is the strong-willed yet softer Michael Cutter, played by relative unknown Linus Roache. He seems passable, but remember Waterston took time to distinguish McCoy, so Roache deserves time to establish Cutter.
The new detective is Cyrus Lupo, played by Jeremy Sisto (he was Brenda's crazy brother on "Six Feet Under" and Roache's co-star on "Kidnapped"). The two strengths on the cop beat remain: Jesse L. Martin as Ed and S. Epatha Merkerson, who doesn't even need dialogue to steal a scene as Anita van Buren, with her slight, judgmental glares.
Don't get the impression "Law & Order" is changing a lot. There's an episode-long caper, which starts with a crime, moves onto the detective work and ends with prosecutorial twists and suspects bearing righteous delusions.
But it's bizarre to see the first episode spend so much time exploring Sisto's detective's background. "Law & Order" has steered clear of personalities for 17 years. Wolf has said repeatedly his least-favorite episode was when Lenny's daughter died, an emotional development that only ate up something like six minutes.
But I'm a "Law & Order" enthusiast in good standing, so while I'm disappointed in seeing less of McCoy, like any good fanboy I'll keep tuning in and taking what I can get.
As for Thompson, I agree with Rudy Giuliani, who joked, "I think he's done a pretty good job of playing my part on 'Law & Order.' " Pretty good was rarely good enough for "Law & Order." It hardly seems good enough for president, either.
delfman@suntimes.com
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