Slog - Comments on Law & Order: SVU Is the Most Gratuitous Show on Television

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:17:37 -0800

the worst part is, this episode has already been aired on 3 separate occasion I can recount actually seeing.

Comment by JasonC

JasonC — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:24:58 -0800

i feel dumber for even having read all that, much less watched it. christ.

Comment by poppy

poppy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:25:37 -0800

What annoyed me about that episode is that there were no special victims!! Why did the special victims unit get the case?! I watch SVU for the special victims only and I want my hour back!

Comment by flamingbanjo

flamingbanjo — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:27:34 -0800

This Onion article is essential reading. It pretty much covers all the bases.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:28:48 -0800

That show is utter crap and gives L&O a bad name.

Comment by laterite

laterite — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:29:26 -0800

I would hatefuck SVU so hard.

Comment by Spalding

Spalding — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:33:49 -0800

But, but, but... Its got Christopher Meloni!!!

I'll watch it just for him.

Comment by Hernandez

Hernandez — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:37:08 -0800

I watch it for Diane Neal (sexy lawyer) and Ice-T (because Bodycount is an awesome band).

But I agree, last night's episode was waaaaay too over the top...even for SVU.

Comment by Reverse Polarity

Reverse Polarity — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:37:16 -0800

Christ I'm glad I stopped watching TV. That hurt my brain just to read, never mind watch.

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:41:56 -0800

I've never watched even a single episode. Now I don't feel so bad.

Comment by leek

leek — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:49:03 -0800

Christopher Meloni? You mean FREAKSHOW??

Comment by Gurldoggie

Gurldoggie — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:55:36 -0800

You think that's bad? I saw this totally f'ed up show on KCTS where this naked psychotic dude, covered in fur, eats nothing but cookies, and screams his freakin' head off. "Cookies cookies cookies!" he roars in this lunatic voice, foaming at the mouth, while his eyes are pointing in every direction. Seriously gratuitous messed up sh-t. I just hope my kids never see it.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:13:50 -0800

L&O: SVU is just plain sick.

Actually, about the only one I can stomach in the L&O series is ... no, forget it, I can't. I can't stand CSI or CSI: LV (but love CSI: Miami and CSI: NY) for the same basic reason.

And don't get me started about the torture pr0n on 24 ...

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:14:50 -0800

mmmmmm....meloni....

Comment by ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:20:36 -0800

L&O SVU is probably the most spectacular show on television. Thank you, Florek, for your awesome delivery of dialogue.

What I'm trying to say here is that all y'all is idiots.

Comment by Matty Worth

Matty Worth — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:40:24 -0800

Congrats, Ari, on noticing something that the rest of the country figured out about 9 years ago.

Comment by Kristin Bell

Kristin Bell — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:44:57 -0800

I missed last night's episode, but I love Law & Order, Law & Order SVU and Criminal Intent. Maybe the stories a bit contrived, but you have to give them some props for coming up with some new material after what? 20 years of being on TV? Anyway, did you see the episode with Cynthia Nixon as a psychopath/multiple personality? Suuuweeet! :) I heart law & order! I used to like ER, but it bores me anymore. I guess the end really came when they killed that one doctor with the helicopter!

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:59:56 -0800

Why don't they do an episode about a skeezy homeless dude who just ups and murders a random stranger for no reason one day, and they catch him right away, and he confesses immediately? What is it about the fetishization of extreme cartoon evil over the real, banal kind?

Oh, wait. It's network TV. It's supposed to suck.

I kind of miss "Adam-12" and all those old-time cop shows, where the most dramatic thing that would happen was a guy with a flat tire on the freeway. Will the pregnant lady make it to the hospital in time? Yes. Yes, she will.

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:21:22 -0800

Fnarf, I hate to break it to you, but most of these kids are too young to remember those shows. But for me, yeah, I'd take Dragnet or Highway Patrol over most of this crap.

Comment by Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:38:26 -0800

COMIC BOOKS ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE GAYS OR AL QAEDA!!!!!!

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:02:55 -0800

1-ADAM-12!

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:06:10 -0800

Old episodes of Dragnet, especially ones features the hijinks of hippies (shoplifting! breaking off car aerials! littering!) have never been equalled as stoner entertainment.

Comment by Victim

Victim — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:36:12 -0800

Sexy Victims Unit (all the crimes are sexual, right?)

My mini-rant about this show is that it sums up everything that the American public seems to want during prime time.

Me, I just want the sexy lawyer. No guns or cops or car chases or murders. Why can't they just do softcore on primetime?

Comment by PopTart

PopTart — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:25:22 -0800

@19, Thanks to DVD box sets and the power of cable television everybody can enjoy Adam-12 and Dragnet. And don't forget the 3rd spin-off Emergency! which followed two plucky firemen as they pioneered the job of paramedic in LA county. The pilot of Emergency! even features the guys from Adam-12...

Comment by Paulus

Paulus — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:49:15 -0800

Randolph Mantooth

Comment by Kristin Bell

Kristin Bell — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:07:58 -0800

I love Emergency, but I haven't looked for it in DVD or run across it. I did download Chips from iTunes and let me just say that when I was younger I was too young to fully appreciate Jon and Paunch in their tight-fitting uniforms! I know this is bad, but Eric Estrada is and has always been damn sexy! I love watching Chips though...it is quite relaxing and it brings me back in time!

Comment by Sir Vic

Sir Vic — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:48:50 -0800

With shows like SVU, CSI & L&O at the top of the ratings, how can we continue to claim that "all life is sacred"? These are just teleplays of slasher movies, with the single intent of fueling the blood lust in the human heart. Our art reflects our true belief that life is very cheap. Ask yourself a simple question: "If humans were so kind & sweet, and truly wanted everyone to live happily everafter, would these shows have such great ratings?" We know the answer, don't we?

And don't give me the BS about "great writing". The whole premise of the SLOG entry was that this story gets recycled 5 times a month! There may only be 32 truly unique sitcom plots, but at least the intent there is to make us laugh. We can't we appeal to our "better angels"? Or at least the funny bone?

Comment by Spoogie

Spoogie — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:53:32 -0800

Ari, this is the BEST TV cop show review I've ever read.

Oh, wait. It's the BEST TV cop show review ever written in the history of the entire world! Including the Amazon and Antarctica!