"Law & Order" Return Might Restore Respect to Reboots

New episodes of Law ampamp Order begin on February 24 Let39s call it a quotreturnquot like those of ABC39s Roseanne CBS39 Murphy Brown TNT39s Dallas Peacock39s Saved by the Bell and others too numerous to mention rather than a quotremakequot a quotrevivalquot a quotrebootquot or whatever quotrquot word might be applied in this era of content quotregurgitationquot which is what so much of it ends up being like I would argue that unlike most of the others this particular quotreturnquot makes perfect sense from both the creative and business perspective The history of the franchise has shown us that it could be and should be an evergreen There is a proven renewable audience for it that extends beyond our insatiable allAmerican lust for crime showsWolf couldn39t have set it better had he said it to us himself Thirtytwo years after its 1990 premiere the LampampO franchise is as popular as ever There are old and new fans to serve a franchise to be fortified and much money to be made There is also a cultural archive to maintain I doubt anyone will ever do this but a comprehensive review of every LampampO episode ever filmed a whopping 456 and counting according to NBC along with most episodes of spinoff LampampO SVU will prove that they are an invaluable collective time capsule that reflects the turmoil tone and trouble within our society in any given year Everyone involved with the show has asserted from the very beginning that much of its storytelling is quotripped from the headlinesquot Of course way back in 1990 headlines still mattered as everyone was still reading one or more responsibly reported daily newspapers as a primary source of reliable information What a resource it is for sociologists On top of that and as an added value Law ampamp Order has documented the beginning middle and sadly sometimes the end of many an acting career providing as it always has a showcase for all of New York39s finest actors many of them Broadway39s best In tandem with SVU it has also been an invaluable first credit for hundreds of actors who were just starting outIt may make all the sense in the world for LampampO to return but by contrast I would argue that most of the other quotrquot shows didn39t need to be brought back at all Listing and remarking on each of them would fill multiple columns and that fact alone indicates Hollywood is indeed scraping for ideas choosing to increasingly and lazily rely on existing IP rather than strive to provide something new I might be thinking differently about this had there been any quotrquot shows that in any way enhanced beloved franchises rather than break them downIndeed the only quotrquot show I can think of that has engaged me all over again in the way that it reflects the reality of its time is ABC39s The Conners The original show Roseanne was an undisputed powerhouse at least until its final season a stinker by any account and one dismissed at the last as an extended fantasy Few American television comedies have so accurately reflected the lives of the working poor with more selfdeprecating humor and punishing insight I would put The Honeymooners and Good Times on that very short listRoseanne was a show for the lateEighties and earlyNineties when the American economy was once again circling the drain and another quotrquot word quotrecessionquot was tearing the country apart When the cast returned intact 22 years later Roseanne had lost none of its power to make people laugh while reflecting the problems of everyday American life Then leading lady Roseanne Barr did what she did on Twitter one night and the show which was once again a hit was hastily cancelled only to be immediately revived as The Conners with its former title character eliminated The unthinkable happened Roseanne Conner was killed off and though it lost its center the extended Conner family has continued to deliver Plus it has provided Katey Sagal and Candice Bergen with recurring roles so how can it not deserve praiseIf The Conners is a fine example of an quotrquot show exceeding expectations then the recent continuation of HBO39s Sex and the City as HBO Max39s And Just Like That is the opposite It proved my point that most of them should have remained where they were in the distant past In a previous column the quotrquot word I chose to define AJLT with was quotrefluxquot It seemed as if virtually everything about that show turned out wrong but to end on a positive note the one element of the narrative that felt right rather than forced or just plain stupid was Carrie39s budding friendship with Lisette the young woman who lives in the apartment below her studio who was clearly going through all the same dating drama that Carrie and her friends endured when they were her age decades agoIf And Just Like That has a second season that39s what it should be about amp8230 the old befriending and supporting the young and learning even more about themselves in the process That39s how life goes right It39s all about growing up while growing old and it39s the storytelling path all quotrquot shows should follow I trust Wolf and his team are already on itLaw ampamp Order will be telecast Thursday at 8 pm on NBCClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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"Law & Order" Return Might Restore Respect to Reboots

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Ed Martin

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