Law & Order,’ ‘24’ and ‘Lost’: Three defining dramas bow out
By AARON BARNHART
The Kansas City Star
With the surprise announcement late last week that “Law & Order” would not be renewed for a 21st season, a third heavyweight of televised network drama joined “Lost” and “24” on their farewell tours.
All three will wrap up their runs within 24 hours of one another Sunday and Monday.
When have three such significant TV programs left the air so suddenly? Perhaps early 2004 comes closest, when “Sex and the City,” “Frasier” and “Friends” all signed off.
Even so, it’s hard to think of any TV event in my generation that matches the departure of “Law & Order.”
The show leaves behind three offspring, including the new Los Angeles-based version NBC picked up for the fall. But the demise of mother “L&O” closes the book on a certain kind of story-centric crime drama that flourished in the 1990s before being overtaken by shows with more emphasis on personalities. That would include two surviving “L&Os” and a story-driven spin-off, “Trial by Jury,” that tanked in 2005.
“Law & Order” cranked out 456 one-hour episodes, a mark exceeded among scripted shows only by “Gunsmoke.” Creator Dick Wolf refused to comment on his disappointment last week, issuing a statement that quoted Benjamin Disraeli — “Never complain, never explain” — but everyone in the TV industry knew full well that Wolf had spent years looking forward to the day when NBC would give him the order for season No. 21 and allow him to pass “Gunsmoke’s” 20 years.
There will be a wave of nostalgia in the days ahead as Americans count down to the last “L&O,” which, other than ushering Lt. Van Buren out the door (S. Epatha Merkerson told NBC before the cancellation that she was quitting), is unfortunately an all too typical late-model episode. Yes, Olympic gold medal skier and “L&O” addict Lindsay Vonn is in it, making her “acting debut” in glasses. And yes, the timing of a story about a bomb plot in New York City does carry a bit more sizzle in the aftermath of the Times Square escapade.
The problem is that “L&O” can no longer create dialogue and evidence worthy of its high-stakes narratives. Cybercrime has never been its strong suit, and the finale’s first minutes of Web surfing just might wrest this year’s Explain It to Grandma Media Award from the clammy hands of Lesley Stahl.
As a result, when D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) finally appears for one of his signature volcanic eruptions, it just doesn’t sell.
The impact of ‘24’
We turn now to “24” and the last hurrah of Kiefer Sutherland’s brutally efficient hero, Jack Bauer (on TV at least — a motion-picture sequel may be on the way in 2012).
A potboiler for the high-definition age, “24” was sort of old-fashioned. It reminded me of watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time. Every 10 minutes or so, with the commercial break impending, “24’s” writers seemed always to find just the right instant to cut out: a tense bit of dialogue, someone getting worked over, someone getting away. Then we would cut to the digital readout clock, the high-pitched tick-tock that was its version of “L&O’s” chung-chung (or however you choose to spell it).
“24’s” producers had one of TV’s deepest gimmick bags. They’d kill off beloved characters, bring back long-disappeared characters, turn heroes into villains, drop a nuke and turn America into a banana republic with presidential coups galore.
Of course, what really thrust “24” into the national consciousness was the fact that it debuted less than two months after the Sept. 11 attacks with a passenger jet blowing up in midair. Remarkably, that jaw-dropping scene aired with only a minor alteration to the pre-9/11 version.
The election of Barack Obama gave the producers reason to crow; “24’s” first episode had also introduced the world to Sen. David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American seeking higher office.
On the whole, however, “24’s” cultural impact was not widely appreciated on the Democratic side of the aisle, unless you count the fans of Mary Lynn Rajskub and Janeane Garofalo.
The show’s co-creator, Joel Surnow, palled around with Rush Limbaugh and produced a show on the Fox News Channel. After war broke out in Iraq, you’d hear reports about troops watching DVDs of “24” in the field to see how Jack dealt with being tortured — and to see how he dished it out. (Hopefully last week’s episode, in which Jack surgically removed a SIM card from a bad guy’s intestine without anesthesia, won’t give anyone any ideas.)
Whether those were apocryphal or not, it’s hard to think of a TV show in the post-9/11 era that has resonated politically more than “24” — not “West Wing,” not even (I hate to say this) “60 Minutes.”
A ‘Lost’ legacy?
If we were to do a poll on which of the three retiring shows will have the longest and strongest afterlife, I’d bet the winner would be “Lost.” Of course, the poll would be conducted on the Internet, which is sagging under the load of commentary, videos and podcasts from viewers dissecting each broadcast of the show’s sixth and final season.
Last week, online reaction was especially intense, thanks to a less-than-satisfying episode that lots of fans felt was wasted with way too much information about characters and “Lost” myths that were unimportant to viewers, while other big questions were left strangely unanswered.
There’s still the equivalent of a month’s worth of “Lost” left — an hour tonight and a 2 1/2 -hour overtime finale Sunday — and it is possible that the revelations to come will make amends with fans. That would go a long way toward ensuring that “Lost” has a prosperous future on DVDs and downloads and all those other merchandise possibilities that the people at Walt Disney Co. have a talent for turning out.
Somehow, though, I doubt it.
Serial dramas are a major commitment for a viewer, and unless TV networks stop making them, there will always be too many to watch. “The Wire” has enjoyed fantastic word of mouth since signing off HBO, but since almost nobody saw it the first time around, it’s the exception that proves the rule. Come to think of it, “Battlestar Galactica” didn’t have many more viewers than “The Wire,” and is anybody dying to hit rewind on that?
Like it or not, then, the show that will endure is TV’s defining procedural, the one that requires no previous knowledge or experience the moment you dial it up on your DVR or computer or wristwatch.
Chung-chung.
WE’RE STILL A LITTLE ‘LOST’
Either we’re dense or just too into “Lost,” but we’re hoping some of these questions get cleared up in the final two episodes:
•What the heck was the Dharma Initiative anyway?
•How did Dharma leaders choose the island?
•Or did the island find them?
•So … is the island a cork to keep evil out of the world or a source of goodness to be kept from evil people?
•How does the island move?
•Is it moving through time … or space?
•How did Jacob leave and return to the island?
•Why were the Dharma people making food drops after Dharma was wiped out?
•Why was Walt so special?
•What did Juliet mean when she said, “It worked”?
•Will the island universe and the sideways universe merge?
•Will Kate choose Sawyer or Jack?
•How does Kate always end up wet in each episode?
•Will Claire wash her ridiculous hair?
•Who built the temple?
•Who built the four-toed statue?
•Who has four toes?
•Why are Ben Linus and Charles Widmore warring against one another?
•Why can’t most women make babies on the island?
•Who was Henry Gale?
•Why is Desmond trying to get the gang back together in the sideways universe?
•Where’s Jack’s dad’s coffin in the sideways universe?
•Why does ash stop the Smoke Monster?
•Why is Desmond immune to electromagnetic bursts?
•Who are the good guys?
•Or, for that matter, the bad guys?
•And, most important, where is Vincent?
By AARON BARNHART
The Kansas City Star
With the surprise announcement late last week that “Law & Order” would not be renewed for a 21st season, a third heavyweight of televised network drama joined “Lost” and “24” on their farewell tours.
All three will wrap up their runs within 24 hours of one another Sunday and Monday.
When have three such significant TV programs left the air so suddenly? Perhaps early 2004 comes closest, when “Sex and the City,” “Frasier” and “Friends” all signed off.
Even so, it’s hard to think of any TV event in my generation that matches the departure of “Law & Order.”
The show leaves behind three offspring, including the new Los Angeles-based version NBC picked up for the fall. But the demise of mother “L&O” closes the book on a certain kind of story-centric crime drama that flourished in the 1990s before being overtaken by shows with more emphasis on personalities. That would include two surviving “L&Os” and a story-driven spin-off, “Trial by Jury,” that tanked in 2005.
“Law & Order” cranked out 456 one-hour episodes, a mark exceeded among scripted shows only by “Gunsmoke.” Creator Dick Wolf refused to comment on his disappointment last week, issuing a statement that quoted Benjamin Disraeli — “Never complain, never explain” — but everyone in the TV industry knew full well that Wolf had spent years looking forward to the day when NBC would give him the order for season No. 21 and allow him to pass “Gunsmoke’s” 20 years.
There will be a wave of nostalgia in the days ahead as Americans count down to the last “L&O,” which, other than ushering Lt. Van Buren out the door (S. Epatha Merkerson told NBC before the cancellation that she was quitting), is unfortunately an all too typical late-model episode. Yes, Olympic gold medal skier and “L&O” addict Lindsay Vonn is in it, making her “acting debut” in glasses. And yes, the timing of a story about a bomb plot in New York City does carry a bit more sizzle in the aftermath of the Times Square escapade.
The problem is that “L&O” can no longer create dialogue and evidence worthy of its high-stakes narratives. Cybercrime has never been its strong suit, and the finale’s first minutes of Web surfing just might wrest this year’s Explain It to Grandma Media Award from the clammy hands of Lesley Stahl.
As a result, when D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) finally appears for one of his signature volcanic eruptions, it just doesn’t sell.
The impact of ‘24’
We turn now to “24” and the last hurrah of Kiefer Sutherland’s brutally efficient hero, Jack Bauer (on TV at least — a motion-picture sequel may be on the way in 2012).
A potboiler for the high-definition age, “24” was sort of old-fashioned. It reminded me of watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time. Every 10 minutes or so, with the commercial break impending, “24’s” writers seemed always to find just the right instant to cut out: a tense bit of dialogue, someone getting worked over, someone getting away. Then we would cut to the digital readout clock, the high-pitched tick-tock that was its version of “L&O’s” chung-chung (or however you choose to spell it).
“24’s” producers had one of TV’s deepest gimmick bags. They’d kill off beloved characters, bring back long-disappeared characters, turn heroes into villains, drop a nuke and turn America into a banana republic with presidential coups galore.
Of course, what really thrust “24” into the national consciousness was the fact that it debuted less than two months after the Sept. 11 attacks with a passenger jet blowing up in midair. Remarkably, that jaw-dropping scene aired with only a minor alteration to the pre-9/11 version.
The election of Barack Obama gave the producers reason to crow; “24’s” first episode had also introduced the world to Sen. David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American seeking higher office.
On the whole, however, “24’s” cultural impact was not widely appreciated on the Democratic side of the aisle, unless you count the fans of Mary Lynn Rajskub and Janeane Garofalo.
The show’s co-creator, Joel Surnow, palled around with Rush Limbaugh and produced a show on the Fox News Channel. After war broke out in Iraq, you’d hear reports about troops watching DVDs of “24” in the field to see how Jack dealt with being tortured — and to see how he dished it out. (Hopefully last week’s episode, in which Jack surgically removed a SIM card from a bad guy’s intestine without anesthesia, won’t give anyone any ideas.)
Whether those were apocryphal or not, it’s hard to think of a TV show in the post-9/11 era that has resonated politically more than “24” — not “West Wing,” not even (I hate to say this) “60 Minutes.”
A ‘Lost’ legacy?
If we were to do a poll on which of the three retiring shows will have the longest and strongest afterlife, I’d bet the winner would be “Lost.” Of course, the poll would be conducted on the Internet, which is sagging under the load of commentary, videos and podcasts from viewers dissecting each broadcast of the show’s sixth and final season.
Last week, online reaction was especially intense, thanks to a less-than-satisfying episode that lots of fans felt was wasted with way too much information about characters and “Lost” myths that were unimportant to viewers, while other big questions were left strangely unanswered.
There’s still the equivalent of a month’s worth of “Lost” left — an hour tonight and a 2 1/2 -hour overtime finale Sunday — and it is possible that the revelations to come will make amends with fans. That would go a long way toward ensuring that “Lost” has a prosperous future on DVDs and downloads and all those other merchandise possibilities that the people at Walt Disney Co. have a talent for turning out.
Somehow, though, I doubt it.
Serial dramas are a major commitment for a viewer, and unless TV networks stop making them, there will always be too many to watch. “The Wire” has enjoyed fantastic word of mouth since signing off HBO, but since almost nobody saw it the first time around, it’s the exception that proves the rule. Come to think of it, “Battlestar Galactica” didn’t have many more viewers than “The Wire,” and is anybody dying to hit rewind on that?
Like it or not, then, the show that will endure is TV’s defining procedural, the one that requires no previous knowledge or experience the moment you dial it up on your DVR or computer or wristwatch.
Chung-chung.
WE’RE STILL A LITTLE ‘LOST’
Either we’re dense or just too into “Lost,” but we’re hoping some of these questions get cleared up in the final two episodes:
•What the heck was the Dharma Initiative anyway?
•How did Dharma leaders choose the island?
•Or did the island find them?
•So … is the island a cork to keep evil out of the world or a source of goodness to be kept from evil people?
•How does the island move?
•Is it moving through time … or space?
•How did Jacob leave and return to the island?
•Why were the Dharma people making food drops after Dharma was wiped out?
•Why was Walt so special?
•What did Juliet mean when she said, “It worked”?
•Will the island universe and the sideways universe merge?
•Will Kate choose Sawyer or Jack?
•How does Kate always end up wet in each episode?
•Will Claire wash her ridiculous hair?
•Who built the temple?
•Who built the four-toed statue?
•Who has four toes?
•Why are Ben Linus and Charles Widmore warring against one another?
•Why can’t most women make babies on the island?
•Who was Henry Gale?
•Why is Desmond trying to get the gang back together in the sideways universe?
•Where’s Jack’s dad’s coffin in the sideways universe?
•Why does ash stop the Smoke Monster?
•Why is Desmond immune to electromagnetic bursts?
•Who are the good guys?
•Or, for that matter, the bad guys?
•And, most important, where is Vincent?
