The television show Law & Order depicts a police officer telling colleagues to be on the lookout for "somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt" after a federal judge gets murdered. Politicizing entertainment is nothing new for Law & Order. A few years back, the NBC series suggested that the police set up convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal. A district attorney tells Lennie Briscoe that she can’t talk because she has to attend a fundraiser for Mumia Abu-Jamal. "You mean the Philadelphia cop-killer?" Briscoe responds. "I mean the Philadelphia journalist," she defiantly retorts. "He was framed for the murder, you know." The remainder of the episode provides a general vindication of the views of the supposedly enlightened D.A.

I'll let others complain about prime-time entertainment degenerating into heavy-handed political rants. My gripe with Law & Order is that the manner in which it presents political points makes for bad fiction. Are there many district attorneys who lionize convicted cop killers? Is the first thing that comes to the mind of a homicide detective, "Damn that Tom DeLay"?

What's Law & Order going to do next? Have his fictional detectives wear NARAL buttons next to their badges? I want my TV cops to resembe cops, not aerobics instructors, sociology professors, or Starbucks cashiers. Fiction, too, has limits.

Rather than stepping outside of their own shoes and presenting law enforcement with a degree of reality, writers for Law & Order often depict law enforcement officials as carbon copies of the typical Hollywood writer. This is egotistical, lacking in imagination, and more fantastical than Star Wars. Understanding that cops and D.A.s view the world from a variety of perspectives doesn't negate the reality that cops and prosecutors are more likely to hold a higher opinion of Tom DeLay than Mumia Abu-Jamal. But not the cops and prosecutors you see on NBC every Wednesday night.

The most realistic cop show on tv, complete with the best writing, is RENO 911.

"I want my TV cops to resembe cops, not aerobics instructors, sociology professors, or Starbucks cashiers."

Homerun, Mr. Flynn.

Great post, Dan.

Sarge -- I love that show. The dialogue is actually all improvised.

I used to like that show. Now, I miss Hong Kong Fooey, Barney Fife and Andy, and most of all, Roscoe P. Coletrane.

The most realistic cop show on tv, complete with the best writing, is RENO 911.
Posted by Sarge at May 27, 2005 01:43 PM

I agree, though I heard it got cancelled? Hope not! =(

The Shield. Edgy cop show with characters you can believe. Glenn Close is great as the new captain.

Can be a bit too nasty somtimes which has it bordering on fiction but still more realistic than other offeings.

I don't know what irritates me more about such simple-minded drivel. The gratuitous moralizing, the uncop-like cops, or the misdirected barb at DeLay. DeLay isn't responsible for dead judges, and the person saying he is is a boob. Tendentious writing is awkward, bad, and condescending. Ugggghh. Political messages out of context like this are unwelcome even when I agree with the message.

Dan, not to quible with you, but the person who makes the Mumia comment isn't a D.A. It's a New York "Socialite" who is planning a Dinner Party fundraiser.

I am an avid L & O watcher, and I seen the episode in question at least 5 times (I know, but with TNT becoming the L & O network now..)

You made this mistake once before, and I thought it was accidental, but it's definately not a D.A.

Cheers

I find it odd that conservatives who always complain about the gratuitous sex and violence and overt liberalism of mainstream television spend so many hours watching it. I first heard of the controversy on the Rush Limbaugh show and thought it was kind of funny. If people have an agenda I prefer it be blunt, obvious and in your face. Besides Tom Delay is just another low life political cretin who has done anything to advance any conservative cause, so why shed tears over him, when you can get in a few laughs?

Eric,
I am sure you also find it odd that leftwinged ones who abhor gratuitous violence do watch it avidly. Sadly, in my peculiar life, I do not have time to watch many hours of bad TV. I am aware of its nature even so.
If a fiction writer has an agenda that is extrinsic to his story, I prefer not to read him at all. It is an aesthetic choice, not political. I shed no tears for TD, but I do find harebrained ideas (e.g., DeLay the judge killer) annoying. I would feel the same if someone accused Ted Kennedy, whom I abhor, of bestiality.

ALERT:

Sorry for the interruption.

However this is important. Abu Musab Al Zarqawi is dead.

www.hammorabi.blogspot.com

"However this is important. Abu Musab Al Zarqawi is dead."

Again?

And Generalissimo Francisco Franco?

Hi Paul,

Actually the character is ADA Sutherland who made the comment about Mumia.

So you are correct, she is not the DA, but she is an ADA.

Jason

Jason,

Are we talking about the same episode? I'm thinking of the late 90's with "Ray Curtis and Lenny Brisco" as the detectives. The investigating a 1960's murder of a college student who turns out to have been an undercover Cop trying to infiltrate the Campus Left of the 60's.

The Comment is made by an old friend of the cop, who is now a Limosine Liberal, and is hosting a dinner party for Mumia.

The ADA is still "Claire Kincaid" played by Jill Hennessy, not the Sutherland Character.

If there is Another episode I have somehow missed, I would be happy to be wrong. Which Episode was this in? What was the basic plot line?

Otherwise, I stand by my assertion that it wasn't an ADA.

Cheers,

Paul