L&o: Svu 10/14/2003

[movieking]

Caught the early version of this on CTV, and for those of you that can't wait, here is what happens. Major spoilers ahead:

Spoiler:

ADA Alex Cabot gets shot dead towards the end of the episode after a CI gets blown up in a car bomb (which the commercials made us think she dies). We see a newspaper cover saying that her murder has no leads.

Spoiler:

However, just before the episode ends, we find out that she has survived the attack and has decided to go into Witness Protection. She's not dead after all!

[mikehunt]

Spoiler:

that was definitely a twist. for once the preview didn't actually give it away.
when they got the note to meet with assistant director skinner, I mean the dea guy (they should have made him fbi in this ) I figured it was either her or the car bomb guy that was still alive

[Goldberg74]

Fooled me. Good episode...

I always like the candor in which Fred Thompson carries his character... he always seems to have the same "I-don't-give-a-rat's-a$$" attitude with all of his DAs and ADAs.

[MrX]

Fooled me also. At least she has a window to come back if she wants.

I thought it was a pretty good episode.

I wonder if we'll get to meet the new ADA next week.

[Rogue588]

Good ep

I've been favouring this show & CI over the original.

I am SO glad that Alex isn't dead. Of course, that doesn't mean she'll come back...but at least it's an option..

[MrX]

Originally posted by Rogue588
I've been favouring this show & CI over the original.

Me too.

I don't even bother wactching or recording the other two anymore. I just catch them during reruns.

[movieking]

I liked the resolution as well. It was pretty surprising. First I thought that the whole thing was set up, but since her arm was in a sling, I guess not. To set the whole thing up would have been a bit extreme.

[lisadoris]

I liked the episode. Originally I was pissed because I thought they gave away Alex's departure in the preview. Fooled me! Nice twist at the end and always good to see Skinner walking around (can you say typecast anyone?).

[tofu]

It's sad to see her go. She was always my favorite ADA. Loved the glasses.

The ending was good. When they played the previews, I thought too that they had given it away but then after watching it last nite, the firs thing I thought was, "Hey, she got shot in the good guy arm!!"

[Jray]

So she is leaving then? I had no idea this was coming. I hadn't seen previews for the episode or anything. As soon as she got shot I was like "she's leaving the show?!?!"

I hope it's to do something better than her role in "Head of State".

What's up with these L&O shows always having so much cast turnover? And "ensemble" shows in general? Sorry to stray off-topic...

I liked the episode and my wife did too. Maybe the best episode ever. I hope they tie up loose ends later and maybe have a continuing story arc about the DEA and the bad guys.

[retihsuhnt]

Last night's show is why SVU is giving its "big brother" a run for its money. I only recently found CI and have since decided its too far fetched, but I have fallen "in love" with SVU.

After taking a minute to go, "wow." After the episode's conclusion I was thinking how can

Spoiler:

she have been shot in the right shouldblade, bled out and died from that? But as they approached they car I was thinking it was going to be the DEA agent.

Like many have said

Spoiler:

she will be missed, I just hope we dont see her in a couple of weeks as another character.

[Deftones]

wow, just got around to watching this. i never would've guessed. i thought for sure she was dead. i should've known something was up, though, when i read an interview she gave stating that her departure was unlike any other's seen on the show. shows like this one are what make L&O, particularly SVU, one of the best dramas on TV.

[kantonburg]

Good epsiode. Just watched this also. Fooled me who was in car at the end.

[rkndkn]

Great episode! Have loved "SVU' from the beginning, and like it better than the original. The Meloni/Hargitay combo is excellent.

Was it Stephanie March's desire to leave, or another revolving door tactic on Wolf's part?

[Red Dog]

Originally posted by rkndkn

Was it Stephanie March's desire to leave

Yes. She wanted to go back to the theater.

[vallerie]

I'm telling you this series over powers the original. I don't watch the originals as often as I do with this show. And this episode one more reason why the show is the best of all the franchises IMO.

[Red Dog]

Originally posted by vallerie
I'm telling you this series over powers the original. I don't watch the originals as often as I do with this show. And this episode one more reason why the show is the best of all the franchises IMO.

I agree as it currently stands and this is coming from someone who thinks the original is the greatest drama of all time (because of seasons 4-10).

[movieking]

I tend to agree. I am starting to like this better than the original.

BTW, they ran this episode again last night in the place of Boomtown.

[vallerie]

Originally posted by movieking
BTW, they ran this episode again last night in the place of Boomtown.

I know. I caught it. And taped it!

I thinking when the original ends it run, will SVU take its Wednesday, 10PM time slot. LOL. Just a thought. And imagine what the ratings wil be.

[movieking]

It wouldn't shock me if the original outlasted all of the spinoffs. Wasn't there another spinoff considered for last year or this year?

I loved the SNL skit where they created a new spinoff: "Law & Order: Parking Ticket Division".

[MrX]

Originally posted by movieking
Wasn't there another spinoff considered for last year or this year?

It was mentioned by Wolf when the contract with NBC was up. I think he mentioned he'd like to do it next season.

[Red Dog]

The new L&Os aren't really spinoffs in the traditonal sense. I think Dick Wolf's Dragnet is essentially another version of Law & Order.

[MrX]

Here's the story from June

Law & Order" to NBC: Pay Up!

by Bridget Byrne
Jun 2, 2003, 6:10 PM PT

The cost of Law & Order is rising to new heights.

NBC may be held up for a stunning $550 million a year if the network wants to keep airing the three hit L&Oseries, according to the New York Times. The three-season renewal deal sought by series production company Universal Television would make every episode worth about $8 million and cost the Peacock more than $1.6 billion overall.

Universal is reportedly wrapping the trio of hour dramas, created by überproducer Dick Wolf, into one negotiation package, although only one series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is actually up for renewal at the end of the coming season. The original Law & Order and the other spinoff, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, have two seasons left on their current contracts. (Wolf's Law & Order-branded reality series Crime & Punishment, which is running this summer on NBC, is not part of these negotiations.)

If NBC bows to Universal's demand, it would make for the most lucrative entertainment deal in television history. (Sports franchise deals are in another league.) Wolf and Universal's clout comes not only from the series' consistently high ratings--each handily wins its time slot--and their success in reruns, but also because Wolf & Co. are developing a fourth drama in the franchise for the 2004-05 season, which, unlike the other two spin-offs, will play up the legal angle more than the cop angle.

If NBC doesn't cough up, that potentially successful show could be sold to a rival network, minus its Law & Order title, but not its distinctive New York based ripped-from-the-headlines content.

Currently the new show is dubbed Four and is designed for a repertory cast. "Some of the biggest actors in New York are interested because they would not have to appear every week," Universal Television Production president David Kissinger tells the Times.

The newspaper also refers to several other unnamed Universal executives spinning out the information that development on the new show will not proceed further until the future of the established series is known. "The real negotiation has not started," David Goldhill, president of Universal Television, tells the Times, insisting his company didn't intend "getting into a fight" with our "great" broadcast partner NBC, "but clearly, we will do what's best for the franchise and the shows."

Universal, Wolf and NBC refused to comment on the negotiations Monday.

Universal, which would like the deal inked by December, is reportedly willing to play hardball with NBC and shop SVU to another network once its contract expires.

In the past, NBC has given in to costly demands from the producers of its hit series, notably shelling out the big bucks to Warner Bros. to keep Friends and ER. Although the overall L&O price tag is much bigger than the $280 million the network paid in 1998 to hold on to the hospital drama, the price per episode is not quite as much. ER once cost as much as $13 million per episode, but that has been sliced back now to between $8 and $10 million. The medical series rates higher than Law & Order with the 18-49 demographic favored by advertisers, but doesn't repeat nearly as well.

The three L&O series provide NBC with 70 to 72 episodes of original programming each season and endless opportunities to plug scheduling holes with successful reruns. During the recent May sweeps, the programs filled almost 30 hours of air time. Law & Order, which aired its 300th episode last month, is 13 seasons old, but still the number one show in its Wednesday, 10 p.m. slot, providing a profitable lead in to local news and the Tonight show. SVU has been a hit on Fridays for four seasons and this fall is moving to Tuesdays, where it should attract even higher ratings and more advertising dollars for the network. Criminal Intent, only two years old, scores big numbers on Sundays, where it also boosts local late news ratings.

Universal won't reveal the current per-episode price, but the company claims lower-rated series are paid more. "NBC has it at a fantastic bargain," says Kissinger.

According to the Times, one of Universal's negotiating tools is a report Primetime Programming Cost Analysis by Richard A. Bilotti, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, that estimates that during 2001-02 Law & Order was the most profitable scripted show on NBC, contributing $160.7 million in gross profit, 15 percent of gross profit from regular series for the network, where overall prime-time profitability was $681.5 million.

While NBC is considered vulnerable because it has only one more season of Friends, is likely to soon say bye-bye to Frasier and has split with The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, the Peacock is not completely handcuffed. Universal is owned by deeply in debt Vivendi, which has the studio up for sale. NBC is among the major companies that have expressed interest in owning at least the production arm of the studio (which, of course, includes the Law & Order franchise) and its cable channels, USA Network and the Sci-Fi Channel.

"There is a certain irony that NBC is a potential buyer," an unnamed executive involved in the L&O negotiations tells the Times.

If NBC has its way, it would also be a certain, pardon the pun, poetic justice.

[mikehunt]

a 4th?
are they crazy. get too many and all will be watered down

[Deftones]

I hope Wolf gets mad cash to renew the shows. NBC is stuck because L&O (original) is always in the top 10 for Nielsens. L&O:SVU is usually in the top 15, and sometimes cracks the top 10. Not sure about CI, but I'm sure it's a top 30 or so. NBC would be insane to not to renew them.