Shark Bytes

Unfortunately, L&O is fairly similar to ER, in that, if you don't like a character, just wait a little while. They'll be replaced. I doubt if Anthony Andersen is long for the show -- he's too "in demand" for other projects and won't want to commit his time to one show much longer. And, hopefully, the producers will pick up on the bad vibes about him from the majority of the audience. He just isn't well-liked out here!

I'm hoping that Jeremy Sisto, on the other hand, sticks around for awhile. I like him -- he's got that natural curiosity that it takes for a detective to be successful. He needs to hang around.

Love the show, but it really hasn't been the same since Jerry Orbach left and eventually died. He was the best (RIP Jerry) Lenny had the best one liners. I think Sam is a great actor, I liked him better as the DA. I don't know about Anthony Anderson, I prefer Jesse Martin, but maybe I'll get used to AA, but he's a little abrasive. What's with the show always having the foxy ADA, like Connie Rubirosa, or whatever he name is (although I liked Angie Harmon), she's okay, but that DA is such a douchebag, what a horrible lawyer. Jeremy Sisto is okay (he's kind of cute too) but he's no Jerry Orbach, he and Jesse had great chemistry. This past season wasn't as great as past seasons, I think it's time to stick a fork in this show, as hard as it is to say. The show JTSed when Jerry Orbach died.

ps, what was that whole thing with making the blonde ada, a lesbian. There's nothing wrong with being gay, but that came out of nowhere.

I simply don't like Anthony Andersen as an actor, and I don't like his character on L&O. As an actor, he varies between being shallow and wooden, or being a goof. I never liked him on K-Ville or the Shield, and haven't really ever been impressed with any of the one-offs he's done over the years.

The Bernard character on L&O is grating to me. He is not likable at all and is a distraction to the flow of each ep. He's very much a candidate for a sniper shooting or maybe an overdose of donuts.

I agree about the whole Serena coming out situation. They shouldve did an "L Word", and showed her with her partner. the relationship, blah and such. It wouldve been realistic and shown how diverse peoeple working in the careers of law/gov't can be. Instead it seemed very fake and useless because they never continued the lesbian plotline with her.

I'm not prepared to say that Anthony Andersen was a bad casting decision just yet. He's only shot four episodes with Jeremy Sisto so I think it's a little too early to tell, but I like what I've seen so far of the chemistry between Andersen and Sisto. At any rate, Andersen certainly couldn't be any worse than Milena Govich or Benjamin Bratt, neither of whom I liked.

As for the Assistant DA's, I think most of the commenters here are a little too hard on Elisabeth Rohm. While she certainly didn't set the world on fire, I don't think she was any worse than Alana de la Garza or Annie Parisse, and she was way better than Angie Harmon, whose overacting actually made me stop watching the show for a while. I'm not overly crazy about Linus Roache either and I hope he'll be gone in the next year or so.

George Dzundza was never a favorite of mine. He is a so-so actor, at least IMHO, and I found his character Max to be annoying. However, I did enjoy his 'exit' from the show. I think the show improved after he left.

What to say about Orbach? He was incredible and I think the show will never be the same without him -- although I don't think it jumped when he left, just changed. I have to be careful sometimes to restrain myself from wishing that they could find another Lennie. The problem with that kind of thinking is that nobody else could ever play a character like Lennie Briscoe except for Jerry Orbach -- and for someone to try to imitate him would be a huge mistake. Orbach was an amazing actor and he will be sorely missed.

As I noted, however, I don't think the show jumped because he left. There are plenty of other actors who play different types of characters that can and have been successful in filling out the detective squad. I think that Jesse Martin's Ed Green and Jeremy Sisto's Cyrus Lupo are both examples of that. I hope that Sisto hangs around for awhile, but I'm afraid he's moving on to bigger and better. I don't like Anthony Andersen's character at all -- I think that was a mis-step by the producers, just as Dennis Farina was a mis-step. Hopefully, he'll move on quickly.

It jumped when Max Greevy (George Dzundza) left.

Then it jumped again when Lenny (Jerry Orbach) retired/died.

Josh, it's just the opposite...Sisto is the interesting half of the detective pair. Andersen's character is supposed to be smart, but the guy plays him like a buffoon. I can only hope that he is marked for an early departure from the show.

I'm a die hard L&O guy and like Anthony Andersens character. I could do without Sisto....he seems to just be there to brood...boring as heck.

The Serena coming out thing was not a good plot point. It was completely random and just thrown in. If they wanted to develop Serena as a strong, lesbian character, they should have done just that: shown her doing her job just as good as she usually does, but occasionally interacting with her partner. That would have actually served a purpose by proving that a lesbian can function just as well as any other woman, but happens to come home to a woman instead of a man. Instead, they chose this half-hearted attempt at being edgy, and the whole concept just rings hollow.

For me, the final blow for this show was when Lenny Briscoe left. But, looking back, I think the show really started its decline when Adam Schiff left in 2000. Steven Hill did a great job of portraying him, IMO...a character that I liked in some ways, but didn't in others. But his character was irreplaceable, IMO.

I was a fan of this show since the beginning, but haven't watched a full episode since Orbach left. I really believe the show should have ended when that occurred.

I used to love it until it changed so that every episode had to shove liberal BS down my throat.

I love the L&O franchise, but you can count on the following to happen in each and every episode.

Search for the victim's identity.
Chase down various suspects, and they always terminate the interview.
All doctors refuse to cooperate, stating Patient/Client Priviledge.
Evidence strong enough to convict will be disallowed by the judge.
Further probing is ordered by the LT/Captain.
Past misbehavior is discovered that implicates somebody and they are arrested.
The lawyers object to any questions.
Dr. Huang interviews the suspects.
A trial begins.
There is a crisis during testemony.
Finally, somebody is found guilty.
No minorities are harmed, judged, or convicted.

How can people say that L&O JTS's when Serena says she's a lesbian? Its not like the show 'Ellen' when the network broadcasted it all over the news. She didn't proclaim her gayness on every show whenever she wanted to like some political statement. She just said it and that was it.

Anyway, Law and Order still remains one of my favorite shows on tv. When Orbach left it was a downer, but it still continues on, undaunted.

FG,

So what specifically about last season makes you say that L&O jumped?