Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discussion

[Starbreaker]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

And, there was absolutely no doink doink.

You may want to re-watch the episode, because I clearly recall at least two.

I actually did rewatch it to make sure I didn't miss anything exciting or important. Still boring... but, maybe they were in the Order part of the episode? I don't know how I missed it.

 

[Aragorn]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I wonder if they'll keep up the multiple "somewhat recognizable" guest stars every episode so that you don't see one of them and immediately know he or she is the perp.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I'm getting a Criminal Intent vibe to a lesser degree, like seeing them break into a house.

Yeah. That kinda bugged me. One of the things I've always liked about the original Law & Order is that you only ever see things from the perspectives of the cops & the prosecutors (except for the opening scene where the random civilians discover the body). I feel like it gives a more authentic police feel, only seeing what they see & knowing what they know. (As opposed to nearly every other murder mystery series I've ever seen--like Inspector Lewis, Matlock, Perry Mason, etc.--where the episode begins with 5 tedious minutes of seeing the soon-to-be-victim pissing off everyone in sight, thus giving motive to numerous red herrings.)

Personally, I was a huge fan of the original Law & Order. I never could get into Criminal Intent. SVU is OK. Trial by Jury & Conviction were my favorite spin-offs but they didn't last. But still, nothing could top my pure joy at seeing Jack McCoy & Michael Cutter demolish a witness on crossexamination. When the original was cancelled to make way for Los Angeles, I was devastated. My only hope was that LOLA could be nearly as good, and hopefully keep so many of my favorite trappings from the original. Sadly, there's no real opening title sequence and no "In the criminal justice system..." narration. They're not making this transition easy for me.

None of the characters really grab me yet. The bald detective has potential, though he needs a more interesting partner than Skeet Ulrich. I was less impressed with Alfred Molina as a prosecutor than I thought I would be.

The case was also pretty lame. I'm just not interested in the criminal antics of insufferable celebrities.

So what's the deal with Molina & Terrance Howard? Is Howard replacing Molina? Will Molina be Howard's boss, filling the Schiff/Lewin/Branch role? Will we be alternating between prosecutors the way Criminal Intent alternated between Goren & Logan/Nichols in Seasons 5-8?

Odd thing to do in a pilot episode.

Are we sure this was the pilot episode? I know that, on the original Law & Order, the original pilot was the 6th episode aired, not the 1st.

And, there was absolutely no doink doink.

You may want to re-watch the episode, because I clearly recall at least two.

Yeah, there were at least a couple leading into the courtroom scenes.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

^My understanding is that there will be alternating DA teams, Molina and his assistant one week, Howard and his assistant the next.

 

[caisson2delta]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

It seemed just so so to me, nothing monumental at all. I'll catch if I'm home and not doing something else. I may be nuts, but I could have sworn I saw Mira Furlan listed in the opening credits; however, I don't recall seeing her during the show? Can anyone shed any light?

 

[PsychoPere]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I may be nuts, but I could have sworn I saw Mira Furlan listed in the opening credits; however, I don't recall seeing her during the show? Can anyone shed any light?

She was the photographer interviewed by the detectives looking into the background of the burglar killed by the mom.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

That was my first L&O. Okay, that was...sorta boring. Seriously, they hire a bunch of interesting actors and then just have them stand around and recite dialogue that does nothing more than get us from Point A to Point B in a murder case about a bunch of generic people we'll never see again? That's what's driven a 20-year-old franchise? Seriously?

I guess I'm missing the appeal of cop/lawyer shows entirely here. I can see how the genre would never be entirely unwatchable, but also how it would never be particularly worth watching either. Is the ironclad promise of "no worse than mediocrity" enough to lock in an audience of millions for decades?

It's a mystery much deeper than this shallow, forgettable episode. I'll give next week another shot.

I've only seen Skeet in genre fare (Miracles, Jericho). I don't think reality is his forte.

 

[Star Wolf]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

That was my first L&O. Okay, that was...sorta boring. Seriously, they hire a bunch of interesting actors and then just have them stand around and recite dialogue that does nothing more than get us from Point A to Point B in a murder case about a bunch of generic people we'll never see again? That's what's driven a 20-year-old franchise? Seriously?

I guess I'm missing the appeal of cop/lawyer shows entirely here. I can see how the genre would never be entirely unwatchable, but also how it would never be particularly worth watching either. Is the ironclad promise of "no worse than mediocrity" enough to lock in an audience of millions for decades?

It's a mystery much deeper than this shallow, forgettable episode. I'll give next week another shot.

I've only seen Skeet in genre fare (Miracles, Jericho). I don't think reality is his forte.

Turn to TNT and give the original a shot. This show, as others have said, had more of a Criminal Intent feel then the flagship show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I've never watched Criminal Intent! Is that good or bad?

 

[Star Wolf]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I've never watched Criminal Intent! Is that good or bad?

I don't like it myself. I could only watch the Chris Noth episodes the others were more star vehicles for the lead detective and not the procedural that L&O came to represent before CSI showed up

 

[Jack Bauer]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

Kind of boring by L&O standards. No real surprises or any real drama to it. I did like Detective Mustache delivering burritos from Tito's Taco to his partner. Tito's is a real restaurant and their beef burritos are awesome.

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I've never watched Criminal Intent! Is that good or bad?

It's a wildly inconsistent show. If you want to see good actors put to good use, watch SVU.

 

[Marc]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I've never watched Criminal Intent! Is that good or bad?

It's a wildly inconsistent show. If you want to see good actors put to good use, watch SVU.

But don't bother about the reason series where stabler has become a total dick who should be bounced off the force big time.

Plus the show is now just about Meloni/Hargity as CI was about D'onofrio

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

My favorite character was Jaruszalski's 'stache.

Overall, big lawning blahfest. Complete waste of what little talent they roped into it. I'll stick with SVU, thanks.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I have to say it's a bad thing when I'm more interested in the guest stars (Shawnee Smith, Mira Furlan, Michael O'Neil) than the leads (other than Molina) or the story itself. I'll probably watch a few more episodes to see more Molina and see how Howard works out, but if the whole cast doesn't grab me soon, I'll probably stop. I'm far more interested in Law & Order: UK.

WHOA! DOUBLEOH!!!!!! Was that you....sitting at a table in the restaurant where the cops interviewed the young actor (who said he'd go back with Chelsea in a minute?)......??????????

Yep, that was me. You can also see us, I think, in a later shot in the background right before the detectives leave that location. (Red Rock on Sunset).

Whoa! I had no idea you were going to be in this, so I didn't see you. Didn't help that I was mostly bored during the episode. I'll have to go back and look for you.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

It was better than I thought it would be, let's put it that way.

Now you may wonder, given my obvious NYC bias, why I would watch this show in the first place. Two things about that: 1) It *is* a L&O show, after all. I watch every show in the L&O-verse, no matter what. 2) Los Angeles-based though it may be, at least it's honest about it. I've often said that I won't watch shows that are set in New York but not filmed there? At least this show makes no pretense - it's not even set in New York, so I have no problem with it not being filmed there. Although it would be hilarious if it were.

Hey 005, if I could stir-fry a question in your brain wok, how exactly did you come to be on the show in the first place? And are you the first among us TrekBBSers to hit the screen?

My favorite character was Jaruszalski's 'stache.

yeah, TJ's cool.

 

[doubleohfive]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

WHOA! DOUBLEOH!!!!!! Was that you....sitting at a table in the restaurant where the cops interviewed the young actor (who said he'd go back with Chelsea in a minute?)......??????????

Yep, that was me. You can also see us, I think, in a later shot in the background right before the detectives leave that location. (Red Rock on Sunset).

Whoa! I had no idea you were going to be in this, so I didn't see you. Didn't help that I was mostly bored during the episode. I'll have to go back and look for you.

Yeah. I'm the guy NOT banning Chase Masterson. But, if you're interested ... I show up around 15:21...

Hey 005, if I could stir-fry a question in your brain wok, how exactly did you come to be on the show in the first place? And are you the first among us TrekBBSers to hit the screen?

I don't think I'm the first BBSer to be on TV or film. I know for a fact at least one fellow BBSer here was an extra in the 2009 Star Trek film and can be seen there at least three or four times; I know another, different BBSer who can be seen in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and I think Desperate Housewives. I'm also pretty certain a third, separate BBSer was on a reality show about a photographer a few years ago and was hired as his assistant for the shoot and may have appeared on camera too.

As for how I got on, one of my former producer bosses and mentors knew the prop master on the show; they wanted people who had worked on actual reality shows to play the realty crew so we were all called in for the day. It was actually a mini-reunion of sorts for us because none of has had worked together since 2008.

In short - it's all about who you know.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

I don't think I'm the first BBSer to be on TV or film. I know for a fact at least one fellow BBSer here was an extra in the 2009 Star Trek film and can be seen there at least three or four times; I know another, different BBSer who can be seen in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and I think Desperate Housewives. I'm also pretty certain a third, separate BBSer was on a reality show about a photographer a few years ago and was hired as his assistant for the shoot and may have appeared on camera too.

Wow. That's pretty neat.

Closest I ever got was when this came out and, at about 36 minutes in, you can see me in the crowd at a game.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

Yep, that was me. You can also see us, I think, in a later shot in the background right before the detectives leave that location. (Red Rock on Sunset).

Whoa! I had no idea you were going to be in this, so I didn't see you. Didn't help that I was mostly bored during the episode. I'll have to go back and look for you.

Yeah. I'm the guy NOT banning Chase Masterson.

I'm never going to escape that one, am I?

But, if you're interested ... I show up around 15:21...

Yeah, I managed to spot you shortly after I made that post. Congratulations. Next time, ask them if you can play the corpse.

 

[BolianAuthor]

Re: Law & Order: Los Angeles: "Hollywood" - Sept. 29 - Grading/Discuss

This was pretty great so far... I love Criminal Intent, so I trust the writers to do some interesting stuff with this show, and I think Alfred Molina is an awesome actor, so just the fact that he's there will keep me watching.