The Eighth season only just came out, and the Ninth soon will be (May 25). That means almost the whole thing will be out on DVD (they are in Season 10 now). I wonder why SVU is coming to DVD so quick where all the other L&O series are so gaddam slow in being released. The Mothership is only up to season SIX on DVD (it was several months, if not at least a year, since that was released), while the show itself is in Season *19* on broadcast...at this rate we'll all be grandparents before they finish the fuckin' thing. As for Criminal Intent? They almost seem to have forgotten about that one even on broadcast TV (anybody out there remember that Jeff Goldblum is supposed to be joining? ), so I'm not holding out hope for any more DVDs...
I believe that of the three L&O series, SVU is the only one which is still actually successful - the mothership seems to potter along, seemingly only surviving on it's name, and probably a desire to get it to 20 seasons, while were it not for the move to (IIRC) the USA network CI would probably be gone by now. Still, maybe after rushing out SVU they might be more willing to speed up the original L&O DVDs, or even get some more CI out... Although am I the only person anal enough to be annoyed by the latest (well in the last year) change in packaging? There's something nice about having uniform shelves, and right now I think there have been 3 or 4 changes in packaging - the original one for L&O S1/2, the modified one for SVU and CI S1, then they found a thinner style for all of them which lasted quite a while, and now they've changed it again for L&O S6 and SVU S6-8...
Law & Order season 6 doesn't match anything else either. It was almost 2 years between L&O season 5 and 6 releases. I guess they don't sell that well. I'm still going to buy S7 if it ever comes out!
Criminal Intent was supposed to return last fall, but it keeps getting delayed because production on its current season has been a comedy of errors. Robert Nathan, who was brought in to produce the Goldblum episodes, was sacked after the first two, because they were terrible. They were thrown in the garbage, re-written and re-shot. I think CI returns on April 19.
I just saw a listing in my DVR for a new CI episode next Wednesday - on NBC. It's called "Bailout". However I checked NBC's website and it's actually a 'mothership' episode. Looks like whoever supplies channel guide information to DVRs, cableboxes, etc. got the show wrong.
SVU is the only one with a storyline. The first one you can watch whatever story, there is no storyline or arcs. CI is garbage and is as good as dead, and then SVU is a "hit" for NBC and has storylines thta seem to continue a little week to week.
I'm sure it has something to do with the fact SVU is the only one that mainstream America still seems to like. Even high school and college students my age like to watch it. I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen but I have no desire to tune in every week personally.
I'd love to buy this series in the UK, I think we're up to season 5 now, maybe 6. I have seasons 1 to 3, but the current price of the rest is ~£45/season. Even with the credit crunch discounts, that's too rich for me. It's got to be one of the most expensive shows currently out on DVD in the UK. (For comparison, a much newer season of House costs around the £25 mark)
I agree. What's the friggin holdup on the original?! I want my Jack McCoy, dammit! I hope you're right that they'll speed things up on the other series once they're all caught up with SVU. One thing I do like about Law & Order DVDs is that they contain crossover episodes from other series as well, such as the Homicide: Life on the Street crossover on the Season 6 set or the SVU episode with Alfred Molina & Angela Lansbury on the Trial by Jury box set.
Although it's a shame they didn't include the corresponding episode of Law & Order where Ed got shot on the same set...
Yeah, the earlier packaging for the L&O discs was a major pain in the ass. All those fold-out sleeves... Maybe Universal will finally cure its own rectal-cranial insertion and actually start releasing L&O on Blu-Ray. Then they'll pretty much have to fix the packaging. (Although Universal's track record vis-a-vis BR does not appear to be solid, so I'm not holding out hope for that... )
Yeah. But I think those were released earlier, back when the rights issues were a little hairier, before NBC & Universal were part of the same company. True. But IIRC, the Law & Order episode where Ed Greene got shot and the following Trial by Jury episode were only tangentially related. Whereas the SVU/Trial by Jury crossover is very much one long story. The SVU episode lacks any satisfying conclusion without the Trial by Jury episode. The Trial by Jury episode lacks any coherent backstory without the SVU episode. (In fact, when viewed back to back, with the combination police investigation/trial, it kinda feels like just a really long episode of the original Law & Order.)