Burstyn as Stabler's mother

[deathroe]

Burstyn to play Stabler's bipolar mom

Before we all jump on this for being derivative of CI ... this worries me because I no longer trust the writers to be at all sensitive about such issues. On all three surviving shows, tbph. At the artistic level, meanwhile, we've already got Olivia with a difficult mother (who chases her with a bottle. Oh, those English professors ... they are not to be trusted ;-P)

[Techguy]

When it rains angst on SVU, it pours. As a non-fan of this show, I hope all the melodramatic angst left over from CI deluges and drowns SVU, never to be seen or heard from again on CI. I wish.

[deathroe]

It's always pouring, these days. And the last 2 CI eps have been as SVU-like as possible, I'm afraid :/ I'm not sure I get why they'd want to make the franchise shows as indistinguishable as possible (JMO) *s*

[Patcat]

I read this and immediately saw it as a ripoff of the Goren's mother storyline. And I can almost read the reviews about how this is a bold new step for SVU and see the Emmy nomination flooding in.

I'm not entirely happy with the personal angst story lines on LOCI--although I think I probably like it better than a lot of people--but I believe some of the episodes--ENDGAME--have been very good. And the LOCI actors are always terrific. But they never get the credit and acclaim they deserve, while other shows--not nearly as good, IMHO--are critics' darlings.

Hmph!

Patcat (who's grumpy this morning)

[nosee]

Why do all the mother's have to have a mental disease on L&O?

If we have to know the character's backstories, then why can't one of them have a well-intentioned, but overly pushy mother for a change??

Just a thought...

[diablodeblanco]

The mother on Burn Notice is a joy to watch. Chain smoking and meddling but interesting. I agree a little more of that type and less of the mental problems.

[deathroe]

Have you seen Lesley-Anne Warren as Mary M's mother on In Plain Sight? She's gotten kind of mean toward the season's end, but she's kind of interesting. It's a lot of fun to see her on tv again, too. I remember her as the little girl in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (they reran that a bit on the Disney Channel in the '80s, I think)

[Patcat]

Screwed up parents equal screwed up kids equal troubled leading characters.

What bothers me about the character of Stabler is that this emotional baggage has been thrown on him in recent seasons. The characters of Benson and Goren had difficult parents as part of their backstory from the start of SVU and LOCI. But Stabler, who was far more interesting to me when he was trying to reconcile his roles as a father and husband and a cop who dealt with terrible crimes, has suddenly gotten an abusive father and now an ill mother. It doesn't make sense.

But I'm not fond of Stabler. The character mind you, not Christopher Meloni the actor. He's a good actor, and he seems to be a good man. But I do not like Stabler.

Patcat

[annabelleleigh]

Aug 13, 2008 22:18:35 GMT -5 Techguy said:

When it rains angst on SVU, it pours. As a non-fan of this show, I hope all the melodramatic angst left over from CI deluges and drowns SVU, never to be seen or heard from again on CI. I wish.

Then it may interest you, TG, that Robert Nathan, the new Goldblum/Nicholson showrunner, was a co-EP on SVU for 70 episodes (from 2003 to 2006) and wrote four teleplays. One was "Strain" in which an AIDS victim is investigated for murdering a gay couple and Tutuola's son reveals he is gay. It's pretty sudsy stuff.

Nathan was also co-EP on "ER" for a couple of years in the mid-1990s. That series was/is all personal backstory.

AL

[deathroe]

Patcat, I think that's really insightful about Stabler. His struggles as a family man really added something to the show. All this angst is ... yeah. I do like the actor and the character, mind you.

If any of you ever get the chance, there is a fantastic late-model episode (might have been last season) where Stabler goes to the Czechoslavakia {<---Sorry. I'm a '70s baby who forgets these things sometimes :/] and finds this little girl. SVU can be really good when it's good. It's just the craziness of having to come up with all these lurid plots all the time. I guess they do try to educate, at times. For myself, I like all the franchise shows best when they do that. What made TOS so, so good when it started was its concern to entertain and inform, not its concern to shock and out-sud.

[deathroe]

You know, on reflection, I think one of the things that made Stabler such an identifiable character in a way that Goren might not be for everybody (JMO ... don't hit me ) was that he was so conventional. Many fathers (regardless of their profession) feel this way about their families, many parents would have Stabler's reaction to the situations that he encounters. As a very casual SVU watcher, I hope that Burstyn's appearance won't mess further with this formula.

[Techguy]

Aug 14, 2008 8:49:10 GMT -5 Patcat said:

I believe some of the episodes--ENDGAME--have been very good.

"Endgame" is a rare example where the undertones of angst in Goren's backstory actually enhanced the story and helped create an extraordinarily riveting episode.

Annabelleleigh, thanks for the information about Robert Nathan. I'll be keeping a close eye on what he does with the Jeff Goldblum episodes next season.

[NikkiGreen]

I hadn't read this thread or clicked on the link posted by deathroe...

So, Stabler's dad was a cop and his mother is bi-polar.

Swing was a fairly well done episode. And Mr. Meloni and Ms. Burstyn were wonderful. As was the girl who plays Kathleen.