Noonan

Anyone who watches a show like L&O and thinks it either mirrors real life or is being used as cop propaganda is hilariously misinformed.

Count Dooku

Yeah, it's pretty much borne out after 8 years that the people working at LWTwJO are "hilariously misinformed."

cultshock

Oh yeah, they don't know what they're talking about, do they even do any research?

Eric F

It’s on TV, it has to be true.

Red Dog

Great posts, Count.

I admit I enjoyed the original L&O for pure entertainment value in the Jerry Orbach days. But while I respected their legal precedents cited, I never thought it was an accurate reflection of the police and prosecutors. They don't care about truth and justice. They care about arrests and convictions - as a bottom line.

And that CSI effect is so true - that show is so much worse to warping the minds of people.

Always thought SVU was total garbage and CI was really bad. Then we have the new Stabler show which is basically a cartoon.

Paff

Having had a day or two to mull all this over, maybe Oliver's point is that the L&O franchise purports to be more "realistic" in its depiction of police, when it obviously isn't. And sure, I know that, I watch it for entertainment value. Like if there's a noted guest star (not the before-they-were-famous appearances, like Samuel L. Jackson or Philip Seymour Hoffman) in a very small role early on, you already know they did the crime and will be prominent in both halves of the ep. But maybe a lot of Lionel Hutzes in the world watch L&O in a bar with the sound turned down and think they're qualified to try a case.

One thing I've thought about, is that Oliver only mentioned two shows for the most part: Dragnet and L&O. But there were definitely cop shows in between, hundreds of them. He didn't mention them, because people already know that California Highway Patrol officers do not spend their time in roller discos (like I sarcastically referred to earlier), or that vice cops in Miami don't tool around in jet boats wearing pastel suits. Cop shows in general are ridiculous, featuring car chases, shootouts (that no one ever gets shot in, except maybe the leg or shoulder), last second rescues, etc. You know, generally obvious escapist fare. Law and Order always does the "ripped from the headlines" cases, then throws in the disclaimer "even though this is similar to a real case, the details in this show were fictitious" for half a second after the credits.

And again, I want to emphasize that I'm not that familiar with SVU or the other shows in the franchise, just the "classic", so if those are more over the top and yet pretend to be realistic, I'm not aware of it. I guess I just got a little miffed at JO taking the wind out of the sails of a good Sunday Law and Order rerun marathon where they air some of my favorites, and a couple I haven't seen before (and also, I just saw one for the first time, where a high school kid got shot in a drug deal gone wrong, but then it turns out he was a snitch for a dirty narc so they tried the narc for manslaughter since he put the kid in the position to be killed. Realistic? Of course not. Entertaining? Hell yes!).

Count Dooku

Like I said before, I watched about 250 episodes of LO:SVU this year in about 6-7 months, so more than an episode a day. When you watch A LOT of a show in a concentrated period of time, you notice its tendencies, and Oliver's observations are correct from my point of view.

Cellar Door

Pretty good episode on bail reform this week (Oct. 30th episode). Those stories about lengthy prison stays (sometimes years) before even having a trial are infuriating.

Paff

Especially when they spend more time in jail awaiting trial than if they'd had the trial, were found guilty, and sentenced to the maximum. Isn't there some document somewhere that talks about a "speedy trial"?

Count Dooku

Meanwhile, if you are rich and (usually) white, you can essentially dictate the terms under which you will appear in court, turn over evidence, and submit to questioning --all while living free as a bird in the lap of luxury.


Another thing that affects this situation is lack of state funding for public defenders. Since these accused criminals typically rely on free legal aid, when there are a severe lack of public defenders available to provide that service, the trial dates get put off.
I heard an NPR story that Oregon had one-third of the public defender staff that it was supposed to have, but when the subject of increasing funding comes up, it gets connected to being soft on crime. And the general public does not care because having a free lawyer available to accused criminals is something they don't expect will ever impact them personally.

JTH182

But but but... Darren Bailey's commercials here in IL say cashless bail is the "Purge Law!" There's no way that's just rhetoric to scare the white suburbanites and southern Illinoisans, right?

JeffTheAlpaca

I assume he has a beef with Colbert if he goes on Fallon to plug the new season

Jay G.

John Oliver always does the rounds to all the late night shows to plug his show.

Here's all his other Fallon appearances:
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r+jimmy+fallon

John Oliver was on Colbert about 2 months ago:

He was also on Amber Ruffin's show right before Christmas:

And on Late Night with Seth Meyers 4 months ago: