Post by caitlen on Oct 26, 2009 5:23:32 GMT -5
[pink](I hope this is the right board for this article, mods please move if not)[/pink]
Law & Order" producer talks about Leno and longevity
by brookecain
10/23/2009
Instead of being crowded into obscurity by an overabundance of television crime shows, "Law & Order" has entered its 20th season like gangbusters, with some of its strongest episodes in years. The show is an institution, not only building and maintaining a loyal following over the past 20 years, but doing so despite innumerable cast changes that would have killed lesser shows.
Tonight the venerable crime drama takes on a topic to which it is no stranger: abortion. More specifically, the killing of doctors who perform them. But tonight, the episode (ripped from the headlines, of course) essentially becomes a moral debate which challenges the characters closest to the arrest and prosecution of the killer to reexamine their own beliefs.
We talked to the show's executive producer and head writer Rene Balcer this week about that episode and about other things, including the Lt. Van Buren cancer storyline and NBC's decision to drown viewers with reality shows and Jay Leno in prime time. Balcer, who is also the creator of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which currently airs on the USA network, told us that tonight's episode "turns conventional wisdom on its head."
WarmTV: I know this has been discussed to death, but what do you think of NBC's decision to put Jay Leno on every night in prime time? Is this a death knell for scripted dramas?
BALCER: NBC and Universal are two separate entities with competing interests -- networks versus studios. For studios, it's better to be in the drama business than the Jay Leno business. For studios, it's about the aftermarket and building up a library. Shows like "Law & Order" or "Magnum PI" keep making money for decades after they're off the air. With reality shows and talk shows, once they're off the air, that's it, there's no real aftermarket for them. So for a studio, that's not a great business to be in. For a network, they just have to pay a license fee to make enough back in advertising for them when a show is broadcast. It's a dollars and cents business decision. Maybe "The Jay Leno Show" is in some ways more profitable. That's yet to be seen. The effect on affiliates is already being felt with huge losses of audiences going into the local news. It all depends on if NBC intends to be in the network business down the line.
WarmTV: As a producer, do you start to feel squeezed out or feel nervous about these kinds of changes?
BALCER: As a producer, I'm not really nervous. I think prime time isn't what it used to be even five years ago. As far as revenues for a producer, the pie is much smaller and you get smaller pieces of it, too. That's from a business standpoint. From a creative standpoint, as long as you're in prime time, whether you're on a network or on cable, you can still find outlets for your ideas. Ultimately it won't really matter. Something like "Southland," if it ends up on cable network, that may be better for the show.
I just read the Anthony Edwards piece about NBC not being out to destroy dramas. I don't think NBC is out to destroy the drama. They're just out to save their own skin as much as possible. It's the end of a pipeline of disastrous decisions. NBC as a whole is putting its money in the cable basket.
WarmTV: Is Law & Order safe?
BALCER: I don't think anyone is safe on NBC. Somedays we feel like the orchestra on the deck of the Titanic. We're playing our best music in ten years but no one is paying attention. But the episodes of "Law & Order" generate a lot of profit for the studio.
I don't know why [Jay Leno] wants to be on TV anyway. I guess it's his own insecurities. He could have a much more profitable career on the road, which I think he's also doing. I think it's only vanity that he stays on television. At some point you gotta think it's humiliating being the butt of jokes and having the weight of a failing network on your shoulders. When you're becoming the face on the prow of the Titanic.
WarmTV: Is it more difficult to stay relevant and visible with all the other crime shows on television now?
BALCER: When we were the only show in town, sure, it was easier. It'd be nice to have the field all to ourselves. But we have enough hardware and awards.
WarmTV: Please tell me Arthur Branch really is going to be a judge on a reality show.
BALCER: We have a scene in an upcoming episode where someone is watching a television show. We won't see it, but we'll hear and maybe he'll be a judge. Maybe we'll hear an announcement telling us to stay tuned for a judge's decision.
WarmTV: I can't remember if the show ever said what happened with Branch or why he left the DAs office. Do the writers have a reason in mind?
BALCER: No. We didn't say. It's not important.
WarmTV: Has Fred Thompson contacted you about coming back to the show?
BALCER: His agent might have, as any good agent would.
WarmTV: Is there any chance he might come back?
BALCER: No. There's no interest in bringing him back.
WarmTV: So DA Jack McCoy is safe?
BALCER: Jack McCoy is not going anywhere.
WarmTV: This season you've departed from the show's strict rule of not getting into the personal lives of characters, by showing Lt Van Buren's battle with cancer. What made you decide to do that? Have fans reacted positively, or are purists crying foul?
BALCER: I think the fans are responding very well. She's a beloved character who has been on the show at this point longer than anyone else. Our writing evolves and our thinking on the show evolves. As writers, we want to keep ourselves interested. That role, which you find in a lot of cop shows or medical shows -- a character who is a pivot where other characters go to exchange information -- is usually a thankless job. Like the James McDaniel role on "NYPD Blue." The police captain or lieutenant, it's kind of thankless part on a show, so at some point the writers sort of run into a wall writing for that character, and you want to do more for that character. And the actor gets a little bored. So, a: We wanted to do something more with that character, and b: the actor wanted to do more and welcomed the chance to do something interesting.
And Epatha (Merkerson) is just a terrific actor, so it was a resource we weren't really using to its full potential. Then, we said, it's the 20th season, let's do something a little different. Keep the audience on their toes.
WarmTV: Are you working on any other non-L&O projects right now?
BALCER: I'm working on a miniseries for A&E about the Los Angeles police department in the 1960s.
WarmTV: Tell us a little about tonight's controversial abortion episode.
BALCER: If people thought they had us pegged -- the Sean Hannities and Bill O'Reillys of the world -- this one may confuse them. It's about the shooting of an abortion doctor specializing in late term abortions. And a reexamination of Roe v. Wade 36 years down the road, considering advances in medical science and the changing attitudes of Americans. We'll see how all that impacts our characters. We take conventional widsom and turn it on its head. It will engender a lot of discussion and a lot of anger from some corners, but so be it. I think the pro-choice people will l find issue with it.
****
"Law & Order" airs on Friday nights at 8pm on NBC.
blogs.newsobserver.com/tv/law-order-producer-talks-about-leno-and-longevity
Law & Order" producer talks about Leno and longevity
by brookecain
10/23/2009
Instead of being crowded into obscurity by an overabundance of television crime shows, "Law & Order" has entered its 20th season like gangbusters, with some of its strongest episodes in years. The show is an institution, not only building and maintaining a loyal following over the past 20 years, but doing so despite innumerable cast changes that would have killed lesser shows.
Tonight the venerable crime drama takes on a topic to which it is no stranger: abortion. More specifically, the killing of doctors who perform them. But tonight, the episode (ripped from the headlines, of course) essentially becomes a moral debate which challenges the characters closest to the arrest and prosecution of the killer to reexamine their own beliefs.
We talked to the show's executive producer and head writer Rene Balcer this week about that episode and about other things, including the Lt. Van Buren cancer storyline and NBC's decision to drown viewers with reality shows and Jay Leno in prime time. Balcer, who is also the creator of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which currently airs on the USA network, told us that tonight's episode "turns conventional wisdom on its head."
WarmTV: I know this has been discussed to death, but what do you think of NBC's decision to put Jay Leno on every night in prime time? Is this a death knell for scripted dramas?
BALCER: NBC and Universal are two separate entities with competing interests -- networks versus studios. For studios, it's better to be in the drama business than the Jay Leno business. For studios, it's about the aftermarket and building up a library. Shows like "Law & Order" or "Magnum PI" keep making money for decades after they're off the air. With reality shows and talk shows, once they're off the air, that's it, there's no real aftermarket for them. So for a studio, that's not a great business to be in. For a network, they just have to pay a license fee to make enough back in advertising for them when a show is broadcast. It's a dollars and cents business decision. Maybe "The Jay Leno Show" is in some ways more profitable. That's yet to be seen. The effect on affiliates is already being felt with huge losses of audiences going into the local news. It all depends on if NBC intends to be in the network business down the line.
WarmTV: As a producer, do you start to feel squeezed out or feel nervous about these kinds of changes?
BALCER: As a producer, I'm not really nervous. I think prime time isn't what it used to be even five years ago. As far as revenues for a producer, the pie is much smaller and you get smaller pieces of it, too. That's from a business standpoint. From a creative standpoint, as long as you're in prime time, whether you're on a network or on cable, you can still find outlets for your ideas. Ultimately it won't really matter. Something like "Southland," if it ends up on cable network, that may be better for the show.
I just read the Anthony Edwards piece about NBC not being out to destroy dramas. I don't think NBC is out to destroy the drama. They're just out to save their own skin as much as possible. It's the end of a pipeline of disastrous decisions. NBC as a whole is putting its money in the cable basket.
WarmTV: Is Law & Order safe?
BALCER: I don't think anyone is safe on NBC. Somedays we feel like the orchestra on the deck of the Titanic. We're playing our best music in ten years but no one is paying attention. But the episodes of "Law & Order" generate a lot of profit for the studio.
I don't know why [Jay Leno] wants to be on TV anyway. I guess it's his own insecurities. He could have a much more profitable career on the road, which I think he's also doing. I think it's only vanity that he stays on television. At some point you gotta think it's humiliating being the butt of jokes and having the weight of a failing network on your shoulders. When you're becoming the face on the prow of the Titanic.
WarmTV: Is it more difficult to stay relevant and visible with all the other crime shows on television now?
BALCER: When we were the only show in town, sure, it was easier. It'd be nice to have the field all to ourselves. But we have enough hardware and awards.
WarmTV: Please tell me Arthur Branch really is going to be a judge on a reality show.
BALCER: We have a scene in an upcoming episode where someone is watching a television show. We won't see it, but we'll hear and maybe he'll be a judge. Maybe we'll hear an announcement telling us to stay tuned for a judge's decision.
WarmTV: I can't remember if the show ever said what happened with Branch or why he left the DAs office. Do the writers have a reason in mind?
BALCER: No. We didn't say. It's not important.
WarmTV: Has Fred Thompson contacted you about coming back to the show?
BALCER: His agent might have, as any good agent would.
WarmTV: Is there any chance he might come back?
BALCER: No. There's no interest in bringing him back.
WarmTV: So DA Jack McCoy is safe?
BALCER: Jack McCoy is not going anywhere.
WarmTV: This season you've departed from the show's strict rule of not getting into the personal lives of characters, by showing Lt Van Buren's battle with cancer. What made you decide to do that? Have fans reacted positively, or are purists crying foul?
BALCER: I think the fans are responding very well. She's a beloved character who has been on the show at this point longer than anyone else. Our writing evolves and our thinking on the show evolves. As writers, we want to keep ourselves interested. That role, which you find in a lot of cop shows or medical shows -- a character who is a pivot where other characters go to exchange information -- is usually a thankless job. Like the James McDaniel role on "NYPD Blue." The police captain or lieutenant, it's kind of thankless part on a show, so at some point the writers sort of run into a wall writing for that character, and you want to do more for that character. And the actor gets a little bored. So, a: We wanted to do something more with that character, and b: the actor wanted to do more and welcomed the chance to do something interesting.
And Epatha (Merkerson) is just a terrific actor, so it was a resource we weren't really using to its full potential. Then, we said, it's the 20th season, let's do something a little different. Keep the audience on their toes.
WarmTV: Are you working on any other non-L&O projects right now?
BALCER: I'm working on a miniseries for A&E about the Los Angeles police department in the 1960s.
WarmTV: Tell us a little about tonight's controversial abortion episode.
BALCER: If people thought they had us pegged -- the Sean Hannities and Bill O'Reillys of the world -- this one may confuse them. It's about the shooting of an abortion doctor specializing in late term abortions. And a reexamination of Roe v. Wade 36 years down the road, considering advances in medical science and the changing attitudes of Americans. We'll see how all that impacts our characters. We take conventional widsom and turn it on its head. It will engender a lot of discussion and a lot of anger from some corners, but so be it. I think the pro-choice people will l find issue with it.
****
"Law & Order" airs on Friday nights at 8pm on NBC.
blogs.newsobserver.com/tv/law-order-producer-talks-about-leno-and-longevity