Post by DNA on Oct 6, 2006 16:38:32 GMT -5
NYPost.com
'LAW & ORDER' TACKLES A MEL OF A CASE
By DON KAPLAN
October 6, 2006 -- MEL Gibson's drunken, anti-Semitic rant last summer doesn't hold a candle to the one Chevy Chase dishes out on an upcoming edition of "Law & Order."
Then again, Mel wasn't being arrested for murder.
On the show, Chase plays a washed-up TV star who, after being pulled over for driving drunk, is found to be wearing blood-soaked clothes.
"The episode delves into an issue that is still nearly unacknowledged in this country but remains remarkably prevalent," "L&O" creator Dick Wolf tells The Post. "Bias is part-and-parcel of the American experience."
The episode, called "In Vino Veritas," airs next month and has drawn a great deal of attention.
Wolf is quick to note that the episode is "a work of fiction."
But he concedes the story was inspired by Gibson's arrest last summer and his tirade at the arresting officer, complaining that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
"In America," says Wolf, "we've managed to hide it better than a lot of other countries, but anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim sentiments and racism in general is the dark soul of the American underbelly."
Tackling issues ripped from the headlines has been at the heart of "L&O" for 17 years.
That simple idea has given Wolf the chance to talk about more hot-button topics than a drama formatted like, say, "ER."
"The beauty of it ['Law & Order'] is, when it's ripped from the headlines, it's not about any specific story, it's about the underlying ideas behind those stories," says Wolf.
"That's when the show becomes something more than television."
'LAW & ORDER' TACKLES A MEL OF A CASE
By DON KAPLAN
October 6, 2006 -- MEL Gibson's drunken, anti-Semitic rant last summer doesn't hold a candle to the one Chevy Chase dishes out on an upcoming edition of "Law & Order."
Then again, Mel wasn't being arrested for murder.
On the show, Chase plays a washed-up TV star who, after being pulled over for driving drunk, is found to be wearing blood-soaked clothes.
"The episode delves into an issue that is still nearly unacknowledged in this country but remains remarkably prevalent," "L&O" creator Dick Wolf tells The Post. "Bias is part-and-parcel of the American experience."
The episode, called "In Vino Veritas," airs next month and has drawn a great deal of attention.
Wolf is quick to note that the episode is "a work of fiction."
But he concedes the story was inspired by Gibson's arrest last summer and his tirade at the arresting officer, complaining that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
"In America," says Wolf, "we've managed to hide it better than a lot of other countries, but anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim sentiments and racism in general is the dark soul of the American underbelly."
Tackling issues ripped from the headlines has been at the heart of "L&O" for 17 years.
That simple idea has given Wolf the chance to talk about more hot-button topics than a drama formatted like, say, "ER."
"The beauty of it ['Law & Order'] is, when it's ripped from the headlines, it's not about any specific story, it's about the underlying ideas behind those stories," says Wolf.
"That's when the show becomes something more than television."