THE TV COLUMN : Law & Order: SVU is back with an arresting tale
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Slowly, but surely, your favorite shows are making their way back onto the schedule following the writers’ strike.
Tonight sees the return of Law & Order: SVU to NBC. The action kicks off at 9 p. m.
This is the first new episode since Jan. 22 and the first of five remaining episodes before the season shuts down for the summer. The series has been renewed for the fall.
In tonight’s episode, “Undercover,” Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay ) poses as a junkie and goes undercover in the state pen. If that’s not bad enough, there’s an evil, evil guard (Johnny Messner ) who is raping female prisoners.
Also undercover at the prison are Fin Tutuola (Ice-T ) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni ), but that doesn’t guarantee that Olivia will be safe.
Hopefully the episode will be a good one. Many of the early episodes of returning series have shown how rusty the writers got during their strike. Or it might be that many of the show-runners (those hired to actually oversee the day-to-day production ) were fired by the networks for refusing to cross picket lines. Start sweating. Usually, this is the time of year when TV’s pilot season is in full swing. The writers’ strike has things all scrambled and it may be harder to get a handle on which shows are safe for the fall and which are doomed.
I stumbled upon an article by fellow TV critic Rick Kushman of the Sacramento (Calif. ) Bee that dealt with the early prognostications and I’ll pass along his observations along with mine.
Many of you ask to whom you can weep and wail and plead to save your favorite program. Most network Web sites have a “contact us” link, but the best thing is to write a letter, use a stamp and make your case. Honcho addresses are included.
Be polite. A vitriolic screed gets your letter chunked.
ABC programs.
Returning for certain: Brothers & Sisters, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, Samantha Who ?
No word yet: Men in Trees, Boston Legal, Cashmere Mafia, October Road, Women’s Murder Club, Eli Stone. (I’d be surprised if all but Eli Stone didn’t come back. )
Already canceled: Big Shots, Carpoolers, Cavemen.
Head ABC honcho: Stephen McPherson, Entertainment president, 2300 Riverside Drive, Burbank, Calif. 91521.
CBS programs.
Returning for certain: The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, all three CSIs, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb 3 rs, Survivor, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace.
No word yet: Moonlight, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, How I Met Your Mother, Shark, The Unit. (Of these, Moonlight has the most rabid fans. If they start a save-our-show drive, it could get bloody. )
Already canceled: Cane, Jericho, Welcome to the Captain.
Head CBS honcho: Nina Tassler, Entertainment president, 4024 Radford Ave., Studio City, Calif. 91604.
The CW programs.
Returning for certain: Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Everybody Hates Chris, America’s Next Top Model.
No word yet: Aliens in America, Reaper both look especially doomed ).
Already canceled: Girlfriends, Life Is Wild.
Head CW honcho: Dawn Ostroff, Entertainment president, 3300 W. Olive Ave., third floor, Burbank, Calif. 91505.
Fox programs.
Returning for certain: American Dad, American Idol, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader ? Bones, Family Guy, House, King of the Hill, Prison Break, The Simpsons. 24 returns in January.
No word yet: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Back to You, New Amsterdam, ’Til Death, Unhitched (I’ve warmed up to New Amsterdam and love Sarah Connor, so here’s hoping ).
Already canceled: Canterbury’s Law, K-Ville.
Head Fox honcho: Kevin Reilly, Entertainment president, P. O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, Calif. 90213.
NBC programs.
Fourth-place NBC has already announced its schedule for the next year. Yes, that’s new and different, but it is what it is. Returning for certain: 30 Rock, Chuck, Deal or No Deal, ER, Heroes, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Life, Lipstick Jungle, Medium, My Name Is Earl, The Office. Friday Night Lights returns in January. Already canceled: Journeyman, Bionic Woman, Las Vegas, quarterlife, Scrubs (there’s a possibility ABC will pick up Scrubs for another season ). Head NBC honcho: Ben Silverman, NBC Entertainment co-chairman, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, Calif. 91523. Loud commercials. Several readers have complained about inordinately loud local commercials on Comcast recently. They say it’s bad enough to have car salesmen screaming at them, but when you can hear them out in the yard, something’s wrong. Despite what your ears tell you, networks strenuously deny cranking up the volume on commercials. In this case, the viewers were right. Comcast spokesman Mike Wilson says, “We have recently converted the playback of our local advertising spots from an analog to a digital format. During this transition we did encounter audio issues with some spots being loud and others being soft.” He said Comcast is in the process of re-encoding the audio levels to even things out. “There still may be some that we missed but we will continue to closely monitor the situation,” he said. The TV column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
mstorey@arkansasonline. com
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