Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Monday, November 20, 2023

NBC Releases Midseason Lineup, Law & Orders Return January 18, 2024



NEW SERIES PREMIERE AND FAVORITES RETURN AS NBC MIDSEASON LINEUP FEATURES EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT UNSCRIPTED FARE, HILARIOUS STAR-DRIVEN COMEDY AND DRAMAS THAT INSPIRE 

NBC Press release | November 20, 2023




Judges Go Head-to-Head in “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” Starting on New Year’s Day 
Fortunes Are Won and Lost on “Deal or No Deal Island” 
“Night Court” and New Jon Cryer Comedy “Extended Family” Call Tuesdays Home 
#OneChicago and “Law & Order” Franchise Return Jan. 17 and 18 
“The Voice” Begins Its New Season with First-Time Coaches Dan + Shay Joining Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper 
All Series Stream Next Day on Peacock 


 UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – Nov. 20, 2023 – Following another Premiere Week win and a top-rated fall, NBC heads into 2024 with the launch of new comedy “Extended Family,” the premieres of unscripted series “Deal or No Deal Island” and “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” and the highly awaited return of the immensely popular Dick Wolf universe – “Chicago Med,” Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” 

 Coming off a fall in which NBC had more original scripted programming than any other major broadcaster, the network heads into midseason #1 in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo in overall programming as well as being #1 in total viewers in entertainment-only programming.  

 “Saturday Night Live” continues its reign as the #1 entertainment program in the demo (L3). Among all programming, NBC has six of the 10 top shows this season in total viewers as well as the top three dramas – “Found,” “The Irrational” and “Quantum Leap.” 

 “Building off the momentum of a strong fall, we’re entering midseason with a powerhouse schedule that leans into the strength of both beloved titles and new shows while also growing our audience across NBC and Peacock,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment. “This season brings fresh takes on favorites from the first double-chair on ‘The Voice,’ a new spin on ‘America’s Got Talent’ and a tropical setting for ‘Deal or No Deal Island,’ as well as the return of last season’s top comedy ‘Night Court,’ Jon Cryer’s return to network television with ‘Extended Family’ and the much-anticipated return of #OneChicago and the ‘Law & Order’ franchise – all of which continue to establish NBC as a destination for our loyal fans.” 

 Before flipping the calendar to 2024, NBC will premiere its new Jon Cryer comedy “Extended Family” on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m., immediately after the highly contested NFL game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Following “Extended Family,” court returns to session with a special holiday episode of “Night Court” at 8:30 p.m. “Night Court,” which stars Melissa Rauch and multi-Emmy Award winner John Larroquette, was the #1 new comedy of the 2022-23 season. 

 New Year’s Day marks the premiere of the new unscripted series “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.” In this latest iteration of the hit franchise, similar to a fantasy sports draft, the judges will each choose a roster of their favorite acts picking from winners, finalists, viral sensations and fan favorites from “America’s Got Talent” and “Got Talent” franchises around the world. 

 The next day, Tuesday, Jan. 2, both “Night Court” and “Extended Family” will settle into their normal 8 and 8:30 p.m. timeslots, respectively. 

 Season three of “La Brea” goes back to the prehistoric age on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. and serves as a lead-in to the season’s final two episodes of the hit fall drama “Found.” 

 Briefcases are opened and lives are changed as the iconic game show “Deal or No Deal” goes tropical. Hosted by “Magic Mike” and “True Blood” star Joe Manganiello, “Deal or No Deal Island” features 13 players competing for huge amounts of cash in a season-long, fully immersive competition. The series will premiere with a 90-minute special at 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26 before moving to its regularly scheduled timeslot on Monday, March 4 at 10 p.m. 

 To the excitement of its immense fan base, #OneChicago, TV’s highest-rated drama franchise, returns Wednesday, Jan. 17. “Chicago Med” will lead off at 8 p.m., followed by “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.,” last season’s #1 drama in the 18-49 demo. 

 The following night on Thursday, Jan. 18, Dick’s Wolf’s other powerhouse franchise is back as well. “Law & Order” starts it off at 8 p.m., following by the 25th season of “Law & Order: SVU” and concluding with “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” 

 “The Irrational,” which is this season’s #1 drama in total viewers (L7), will resume with the final four episodes of its first season beginning Monday, Jan. 29 at 10 p.m. 

 The Voice” returns Monday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. for its season premiere featuring three-time Grammy Award winner Dan + Shay as the show’s first-ever coaching duo. Also returning to the swiveling red chairs are Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper. 

 In addition to their curated linear timeslots, all shows will be available to stream next day on Peacock.   

 Previously announced shows that have yet to be dated include the remaining episodes of this season’s “Quantum Leap,” “Lopez vs. Lopez,” “The Weakest Link,” “Password,” “That’s My Jam” and “The Wall.”  


NBC MIDSEASON 2023-24 SCHEDULE  

(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET/PT)   

 

SATURDAY, DEC. 23 

8 – EXTENDED FAMILY (Series premiere) 
8:30 – Night Court (Special holiday episode) 

MONDAY, JAN. 1 

8 – AMERICA’S GOT TALENT: FANTASY LEAGUE (Series premiere) 

 TUESDAY, JAN. 2 

8 – Night Court (Time period premiere) 
8:30 – EXTENDED FAMILY (Time period premiere) 

TUESDAY, JAN. 9 

9 – La Brea (Season premiere) 
10 – Found (Final two episodes of season) 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 17 

8 – Chicago Med (Season premiere) 
9 – Chicago Fire (Season premiere) 
10 – Chicago P.D. (Season premiere) 

 THURSDAY, JAN. 18 

8 – Law & Order (Season premiere) 
9 – Law & Order: SVU (Season premiere) 
10 – Law & Order: Organized Crime (Season premiere) 

FRIDAY, JAN. 19 

8 – Transplant (Time period premiere) 

 MONDAY, JAN. 29 

10 – The Irrational (Final four episodes of season) 

 MONDAY, FEB. 26 

8 – The Voice (Season premiere, part 1) 
9:30 – DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND (Season premiere) 

 TUESDAY, FEB. 27 

8 – The Voice (Season premiere, part 2) 

MONDAY, MARCH 4 

10 -  DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND (Time period premiere) 

 

NEW COMEDY SERIES 

EXTENDED FAMILY 

Jim and Julia, after an amicable divorce, decide to continue to raise their kids at the family home while taking turns on who gets to stay with them. Navigating the waters of divorce and child-sharing gets more complicated for Jim when Trey, the owner of his favorite sports team, enters the picture and wins Julia’s heart. 

The cast includes Jon Cryer, Donald Faison, Abigail Spencer, Sofia Capanna and Finn Sweeney. 

Creator Mike O’Malley serves as showrunner and executive producer. Tom Werner, Jon Cryer, Wyc Grousbeck, Emilia Fazzalari, George Geyer, Victor Levin, Victoria Morrow, and James Widdoes also executive produce. 

Lionsgate produces in association with Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. 


NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES 


AMERICA’S GOT TALENT: FANTASY LEAGUE 

Based on the popularity of “AGT: All-Stars” and “AGT: The Champions,” NBC puts a fresh spin on the hit “America’s Got Talent” franchise with new iteration “AGT: Fantasy League,” premiering in January 2024. Singer and songwriter Mel B returns to the “AGT” judges’ desk alongside executive producer Simon Cowell, global fashion icon Heidi Klum and renowned comedian Howie Mandel. The dynamic Terry Crews returns as host.  

In “AGT: Fantasy League,” similar to a fantasy sports draft, the judges will each choose a roster of their favorite acts picking from winners, finalists, viral sensations and fan favorites from “America’s Got Talent” and “Got Talent” franchises around the world, all nominated by America to participate. For the first time in show history, the judges will be competing alongside the contestants and will guide the acts throughout the competition with the hopes of earning bragging rights and seeing an act from their team crowned the champion of “AGT: Fantasy League.” The judges will fill their fantasy teams with 10 showstopping acts compiled from singers, dancers, ventriloquists, comedians, aerialists, magicians and more. The Golden Buzzer will be back sending acts straight to the finals, but with a twist, as each judge can use their coveted Golden Buzzer for their own act or to take an act from another judges’ team. The audience will vote each week to determine which acts will advance to the finals and which judge will earn bragging rights as their act is crowned the “AGT: Fantasy League” champion. 

“AGT: Fantasy League” is co-produced by Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff and Natasha Brugler executive produce. 

 

 DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND  

The iconic game of “Deal or No Deal” is back and unlike anything you have ever seen before! This new format transports 13 players to the elusive Banker’s private island where he makes the rules and there are twists behind every palm tree. Hidden on the island are over 100 briefcases with millions of dollars split between them, which players must compete to retrieve in thrilling challenges and mind-bending dilemmas. In each episode, the player up for elimination must play a high-stakes game of “Deal or No Deal.” At the end of the season, the last player standing will face the Banker to potentially win the biggest prize in “Deal or No Deal” history.   

Joe Manganiello serves as host.  

 Produced by Endemol Shine North America “Deal or No Deal Island” is an exciting new competition format that has been reimagined from the original Banijay format, “Deal or No Deal.”   

 Executive producers are Matt Kunitz, Matt Apps, Sarah Happel Jackson, Howie Mandel and Endemol Shine North America’s Sharon Levy, DJ Nurre and Sean Loughlin.   


Thursday, November 16, 2023

Jeffrey Donovan Exits Law & Order



Jeffrey Donovan, who starred as Detective Frank Cosgrove on Law & Order, has exited the series. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

All Things Law And Order on Social Media – Update!

With continued changes at X, formerly known as Twitter, I’m not sure how long I will be posting there or how often. If X, formerly known as Twitter, begins to charge for the use of their service, I don’t see myself staying and paying. To that end, I thought I’d post the links to the other social media sites where I currently, and will continue to, post updates. 

First and foremost, I can always be found right here at allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com!


Here are the other sites where you will find my updates:

Facebook: All Things Law And Order on Facebook

Instagram and Threads
My personal Instagram and Threads account will include coverage from all the Law & Order shows as applicable.

Tumblr: All Things Law And Order on Tumblr

Mastodon:


See you there!

Monday, October 16, 2023

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Announces Cast




Variety reports that the cast has been announced for the new “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent”. They report the all-Canadian cast is as follows:




 
Aden Young as Det. Sgt. Henry Graff 
Kathleen Munroe as Det. Sgt. Frankie Bateman 
Karen Robinson as Inspector Vivienne Holness 
K.C. Collins as Deputy Crown Attorney Theo Forrester 
Nicola Correia-Damude as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Lucy Da Silva 
Araya Mengesha as tech expert Mark Yohannes.

Read the full story on Variety: ‘Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent’ Announces Cast on First Original International Franchise Adaptation (EXCLUSIVE)

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

NBC Announces Updated 2023-2024 Fall Premiere Dates



NBC ANNOUNCES 2023-24 FALL PREMIERE DATES

Breaking news | July 19, 2023

New Season Kicks Off Monday, Sept. 25 With Emmy Award-Nominated “The Voice” Featuring New Coach Reba McEntire
 
Freshman Scripted Series “The Irrational” and “Found” Make Their Debuts While “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum P.I.” Return with All-New Episodes
 
“America’s Got Talent” Season Finale Moves to Premiere Week
 
First Annual People’s Choice Country Awards, Hosted by Little Big Town, Airs
Live from Nashville on Sept. 28 on NBC and Peacock
 
All New Episodes Stream Next Day on Peacock

 

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – July 19, 2023 – NBC kicks off its 2023-24 fall schedule on Sept. 25 with a new season of the Emmy Award-nominated competition series “The Voice,” followed by a strong lineup of original programming that includes the premiere of new dramas “The Irrational,” starring Jesse L. Martin and “Found,” starring Shanola Hampton, as well as new episodes of returning dramas “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum, P.I.” all of which will stream next day on Peacock.
 
“The Irrational” will launch Premiere Week on Monday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. following the two-hour season premiere of the four-time Emmy Award-winning competition series “The Voice,” which features new coach and country music legend Reba McEntire along with returning coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani and Niall Horan, who’s back as the defending champ after taking the crown last season.
On Sept. 26 and 27, the “America’s Got Talent” penultimate episode and season finale will air during Premiere Week, anchoring the first Wednesday night of the new season with a live two-hour telecast during whch a new champion will be named.
 
In addition, a two-hour live telecast of the first-ever People’s Choice Country Awards, an extension of the successful fan-favorite People’s Choice Awards brand that features some of the finest acts in country music today, will be simulcast on Sept. 28 across NBC and Peacock. The special will be hosted by country superstars Little Big Town.
 
Tuesday Oct. 3 will feature a two-hour edition of “The Voice,” serving as a formidable lead-in to the premiere of the new original drama series “Found,” starring Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. (Beginning Oct. 10, the first hour of “The Voice” will be a recap of the previous night.)
Beginning Oct. 4, Wednesdays feature an all-original drama lineup with new seasons of “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum, P.I.” airing at 9 and 10 p.m., respectively.
The third season of hospital-set drama “Transplant” will make its return to NBC with new episodes starting on Thursday, Oct. 5. Airing just after Transplant” on Thursdays will be “Dateline NBC” at 10 p.m.

Friday’s lineup includes new episodes of “Dateline NBC,” which begin Sept. 29 at 9 p.m., before “The Wall” returns to the NBC lineup on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.
Premieres for all previously announced fall series – “Night Court,” “Extended Family,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU” – will be announced at a later date.

Midseason and/or summer shows previously announced include “Untitled America’s Got Talent Series,” “Deal or No Deal Island,” “Password,” “The America’s,” “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” “Lopez vs Lopez” and “La Brea.”


NBC’s fall season premiere dates:


Monday, Sept. 25
8-10 p.m. – The Voice (Original)
10-11 p.m. – The Irrational (Original)

Tuesday, Sept. 26
8-9 p.m. – The Voice (Original)
9-11 p.m. – America’s Got Talent (Performance finale)

Wednesday, Sept. 27
8-9 p.m. – America’s Got Talent (R)
9-11 p.m. – America’s Got Talent (Season finale)

Thursday, Sept. 28
8-10 p.m. – People’s Choice Country Awards
10-11 p.m. – The Irrational (R)

Friday, Sept. 29
9-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC (Original)

Tuesday, Oct. 3
8-10 p.m. – The Voice (Original)
10-11 p.m. – Found (Original)

Wednesday, Oct. 4
8-9 p.m. – Chicago dramas (R)
9-10 p.m. – Quantum Leap (Original)
10-11 p.m. – Magnum, P.I. (Original)

Thursday, Oct. 5
8-9 p.m. – Law & Order dramas (R)
9-10 p.m. – Transplant (Original)
10-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC (R)

 Friday, Nov. 3
8-9 p.m. – The Wall (Original)


 


NEW DRAMA SERIES

“FOUND”

In any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. A public relations specialist, who was once herself one of those forgotten ones, and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people. But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own.

The cast includes Shanola Hampton, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kelli Williams, Brett Dalton, Gabrielle Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta and Karan Oberoi.

Nkechi Okoro Carroll will write and executive produce. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Sonay Hoffman, Lindsay Dunn and Leigh Redman also executive produce.

Berlanti Productions and Rock My Soul Productions produces in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

“THE IRRATIONAL”

“The Irrational” follows world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) as he lends his unique expertise on an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations. His insight and unconventional approach to understanding human behavior lead him and the team on a series of intense, unexpected journeys to solve illogical puzzles and perplexing mysteries. The show is based on best-selling author Dan Ariely’s book, “Predictably Irrational.”

The cast also includes Maahra Hill, Travina Springer, Molly Kunz, and Arash DeMaxi. Arika Lisanne Mittman, Mark Goffman, Sam Baum and David Frankel executive produce.

he show is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.



NEW SPECIAL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE COUNTRY AWARDS

The inaugural two-hour “People’s Choice Country Awards” will air live on Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT across NBC and Peacock, from the world-famous Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville.  


The two-hour telecast will lean into the rich connection between country music and the Opry through chart-topping musical performances, genre-bending collaborations, legendary tributes and surprise moments that regularly happen from the iconic venue.   


The only award show for the people and by the people, the “People’s Choice Country Awards” will recognize the biggest and best country music has to offer chosen entirely by the fans across various categories. Several honorary awards will also be bestowed during the awards ceremony.    


The “People’s Choice Country Awards” will extend to social platforms with All-Access Live bringing fans at home behind the scenes as well as interactively connecting country’s most popular stars with their biggest fans.  


The telecast is produced by Den of Thieves with Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski serving as executive producers.



© 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC


Monday, June 5, 2023

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Law & Order Organized Crime “With Many Names” Discussion Topic - Season Finale




Here is the discussion topic for the season 3 finale of Law & Order Organized Crime, “With Many Names” which aired on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Please feel free to add any feedback you have about this episode in the comments!


My comments:

I’m not sure where to start on this one.  This half of the crossover with SVU moved very quickly and a lot happened, but some of this episode annoyed me greatly.  Despite my numerous annoyances, I think they actually put a cohesive crossover story together where most everyone was used at some point in both episodes.  

Annoyance #1: The Feds, SVU, and OC all were focused on catching the Shadowerk perp, which they’ve traced back to Dublin, Ohio. Why did they need to send Benson, Stabler, and so many people from their respective teams (Rollins too) to Ohio to chase this perp down?  If the Feds were involved, couldn’t the Feds get their own team of locals to do the legwork? I mean, we DO have Federal agents and police in Ohio.  I wonder how much that would cost to bring all those detectives from New York to Ohio? I’d be interested to hear what the standard procedure would be for either the Feds or the New York City police department on working a case where the perp is out of state. It felt unrealistic they would transport so many people from New York City to Ohio. 

Annoyance #2  Stereotypical perp: Kyle turned out to be the stereotypical mid-twenties guy living in Ohio in his mom’s attic (not the basement this time).  His mom was clueless that her own son had invaded her workplace’s network to run part of his hit list website.  Of course his mother, when confronted with the truth about him, still defended and protected him. This was all too cookie-cutter for me. Oh, I forgot, he tried to kill himself but lucky for him he got a nibble on his website,  and he managed to save his own life just in the nick of time!  

Annoyance #3: Benson and Stabler, on the hit list, decide to throw caution to the wind and go out in public for some food. *Amazingly* someone easily finds them and disables the Feds in their car and the whole restaurant with an irritating spray EXCEPT BENSON who equally *amazingly* sees the blinding mist coming at them and protects herself. But she gets shot in the left hip with shotgun pellets and falls to the ground along with Stabler.  He can’t see but she can and she *amazingly* uses the gun, while a blind Stabler holds it,  to shoot the attacker in the head.  Now how exactly did Benson get hit in the left hip with pellets and no one else – including Stabler who was right next to her – got hit with any pellets?  I thought they had a spray pattern and at that distance I can’t believe they would have only hit Benson. Any experts out there who can provide some technical insight would be appreciated.  

Annoyance # 4:  Horrible preparation for the takedown. Kyle’s mom eventually gives him up and they trace him to a cabin they have in the woods.  They all charge in, apparently without any  prior surveillance of the house or area to see if he’s even IN the house.  They also don’t realize the area is covered with trail cameras, which they may have noticed had they done advance scouting.  As they have no  idea where he is at, they are sitting ducks and  he shoots,  and Whelan is hit in the neck. They also have this huge team of agents on site but only one medic, and as Whelan lies bleeding and incapacitated,  he urges them to go to assist Kyle - who stabbed himself with a sword (!) – as they need him alive.  With the number of agents they had on site, they should have had a waiting ambulance with more than one medic.   If they would have prepped better, they could have nabbed Kyle without any loss of life. 

Annoyance #5 – Predictable:   Whelan asks Reyes to help him to die as he doesn’t want to live paralyzed.  Later, Whelan dies, and Reyes seems devastated but Whelan’s dad, who also arrived at the hospital, seemed stoic.  Yes, someone turned off the machine (probably his dad?) but it doesn’t matter who, we knew it was going to happen once Whelan begged for it. 

Annoyance #6 – Kyle caves in to Carisi – as long as they leave his mother alone.  That’s because men that age living in their mom’s attic always put  mom first. 

Annoyance #6: Corny:  The red box with the “Live, Love, Laugh” thing that Stabler removes the “e” so it says  “Liv, Love, Laugh”.  I also suppose we will see a lot of Benson’s  compass necklace from Stabler next season so it can “lead [her] to happiness”.  Note: Stabler says he will be on a new case and will be “gone for a while”; this is so we all understand why he won’t likely be visible at SVU or OC until the mid-season shows start.

Annoyance # 7 – with a question:    Were Whelan and Kyle in hospitals in Ohio or New York?  I can’t imagine they would transport them to New York in the shape they were in, but then suddenly Kyle is in the SVU precinct to shut down the web sites.  Which brings me to the annoyance – why did he have to come to New York and to SVU to shut down the web sites? If they were in such a hurry to get them taken down, I suspect he could have taken them down ANYWHERE.  Come to think of it, with all the computer experts out there, couldn’t someone have figured out how to block the sites? If Jet could add a virus to them to slow them down, why couldn’t she just find a way to SHUT them down? 

My wish for next season is they go back to the multi-story arcs.  The show works better for me when the investigation covers more than one or two episodes.  



Law & Order SVU “All Pain Is One Malady” Discussion Topic – Season Finale




Here is the discussion topic for the season 24 finale of Law & Order SVU “All Pain Is One Malady” which aired on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Please feel free to add any feedback you have about this episode in the comments!

My comments:  

As far as season finales go, this was a decent episode and a good set-up for the other half of the crossover with the Law & Order Organized Crime episode “With Many Names.”  While the SVU “crime of the week” was a bit thin, it did provide a good setup for the OC segment. 

It looks like many fans get their wish as Muncy was offered a job with the DEA – and at the end of the crossover OC episode, she’s leaving the SVU office with her belongings. (I was cheering inside.)  Hopefully this really is the last we see of her. (Note: several entertainment news sources later confirmed Molly Burnett has left the series.)  “Professor” Rollins (that still makes me laugh a bit) provided her expertise in this episode and also in the following OC episode.  We know Amanda is not really happy in the new job – she hasn’t shared her feelings with Carisi – and many wonder if this is just a tease for Kelli Giddish’s return to the show.   Is it a case of  regret that they dropped Kelli and now want her back?  Unless she comes cheap, I don’t see it happening.  It seems the Law & Order brand - along with a lot of other TV shows these days - is more about cutting costs rather than quality.   Maybe if we are lucky they will keep Detective Bruno, and Detective Churlish too (even though fans appear split on the latter). 

In the middle of the SVU and the Feds chasing down the “Shadowerk” website perp, there was an overlapping case of a man who was sexually assaulting various people, including a previous rape victim, and  a young man. This perp did not relate to the Shadowerk website and the case was solved quickly – maybe too quickly for the real world. 

Chief McGrath continues to be the stereotypical cartoonish hot-head “just get it done” boss. Of course this means he will eventually look like a fool and will be bested by the more cautious Benson.    The problem with McGrath is that he is too focused on the short-term win of nabbing the people using Shadowerk and not so much on the person running the site.  He seems like the kind of guy who is more worried about his own job and his standing in the One PP pecking order than in the actual crimes or their victims.   Benson, working steadily with the Feds, finally manage to nab someone that they think is running the site…but they’ll soon find he’s only a cog in the machine.  

There was a lot of Benson/Stabler interaction in this episode, making way for the faster paced Organized Crime finale which followed.  The reason: they're doubly motivated as both Benson and Stabler are now on the Shadowerk website hit list and now there is extra motivation to shut down the site.  

The one thing about Benson and Stabler: there’s no denying that these two continue to have a chemistry together that is missing from their individual shows.  I wish there was a way to bring them back together.  As Organized Crime is a mid-season, short-order series next season, we may have to wait a while to see them together again. 

Law & Order “Open Wounds” Discussion Topic – Season Finale




Here is the discussion topic for the season 22 finale of Law & Order “Open Wounds” which aired on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Please feel free to add any feedback you have about this episode in the comments!


My comments: A solid episode which not only featured a conflict for Nolan Price, but also a conflict between Jack and his daughter Rebecca (played by Sam Waterston’s daughter Elisabeth Waterston). 

Nolan, likely not realizing he was suffering from PTSD from the subway shooting incident (from the episode  “Camouflage”), struggles with trying a murder case against a man who was also a victim – and a hero – in another  mass shooting incident.   Complicating matters is the attorney for the defendant is Jack McCoy’s daughter.  McCoy does his best to distance himself to avoid any appearances of being partial to his daughter, but in doing so he puts Price in the thick of it, and Price is obviously struggling with trying the man for murder.  Eventually Jack gives Price some leeway to negotiate with Rebecca,  but Rebecca, just as bullheaded and driven as her father, refuses to budge, thinking she can get her client cleared.   When he’s found guilty, she’s clearly not happy with her father and likely there will continue to be a rift between the two.  In this case, I think Jack did the right thing – there really is no excuse for murder, and even heroes have to pay the price (no pun intended). 



Law & Order SVU “All Pain Is One Malady” Photos – Season Finale

Here are advance photos for the season 24 finale of Law & Order SVU “All Pain Is One Malady” which will air on Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 9 PM ET on NBC. (This is a crossover event with Law & Order Organized Crime.)

The photos feature Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Peter Scanavino, Octavio Pisano, Molly Burnett, Chris Meloni, Kelli Giddish, Ainsley Seiger, Brent Antonello, Rick Gonzalez, Terry Serpico as Chief McGrath, Jasmine Batchelor as Officer Tonie Churlish, Francois Battiste as Agent McCrary, Kadia Saraf as U.S. Attorney Anya Avital, Cisco Lopez as Manny Lopez, Mariel Suarez as Martina Lopez, and Kevin Kane as Det. Terry Bruno.
































Photos by: Peter Kramer/NBC and Ralph Bavaro/NBC 
2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Law & Order Organized Crime “With Many Names” Photos Season Finale

Here are advance photos for the season 3 finale of Law & Order Organized Crime, “With Many Names” which will air on Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 10 PM ET on NBC. (This is a crossover event with Law & Order SVU.)

The photos feature Chris Meloni, Danielle Moné Truitt, Ainsley Seiger, Brent Antonello, Rick Gonzalez, Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Octavio Pisano, Molly Burnett, Kelli Giddish, Jasmine Batchelor as Officer Tonie Churlish, Terry Serpico as Chief McGrath, Francois Battiste as Agent McCrary, and Jacob Saxton as FBI Field Supervisor.




























Photos by: Peter Kramer/NBC 
2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC