TV will always be regarded historically for its signature contribution to 20th century life: the sitcom. But TV will hopefully be remembered for its legacy in the drama that underscores our national theme: good guys and bad guys. Whether it be Bush or Obama ranting about Iran's leader, or Teabaggers ranting about almost anything that spouts an us vs. them mindset, all of it comes from America's obsession with good guys and bad. It started for many of us with the cowboy with the white hat. The bad guy always had the black or dark hat - symbolizing and reinforcing not only racial stereotypes surrounding perceived morality, but also of racial demonizations based on good and bad. This symbol represented the basic moral values - in the form of westerns - that sprayed over the silver screen of the 1930s and 40s, and transported itself to the boob tubes of the 50s and early 60s.
But, around 1960, a new concept was forming - one of law and order. The country was facing a dangerous threat in the form of a nuclear-armed and space-bound Soviet Union. Domestically, political unrest was percolating, first with the civil rights movement, then with the anti-war and later student peace movement of the mid-60s. Television was taking it in, while at the same time proposing a defense - super-sleuth lawyers like Perry Mason, always-get-their-man cops like Steve McGarrett. To cap the Soviet threat, spy shows of all sorts from I-Spy to Get Smart to It Takes a Theif took law and order to the international stage. The name's Bond . . . James Bond.
But nowadays the name is McCoy - Jack McCoy. The evolution of crime shows, starting with the infamous Perry Mason (whose actor ironically went on the play the cop side of the story in the 70s show Ironside), evolving further with the endless list of detective shows in the 70s (we still call the cops 5-0), and maturing into the ultimate disco-era/greed is good era shows Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue of 25 years ago, they nurtured perhaps the greatest crime TV show of our time, Law & Order. Unique, and taking the best of what all these shows had to offer, we have both the accuracy and reality of a police crime-solving drama and the legal procedure of criminal prosecution and court adjudication in one bowl of soup. Add to that perhaps the best and most seasoned and professional actors on TV today, and it's no wonder that this show ran like its moral and quality equivalent of the western genre, Gunsmoke.
But new shows for this franchise will be no more. NBC, in its infinite wisdom, has cancelled the show after 20 years, tying it with Gunsmoke as the longest-running TV show ever. Both deserve it. But I think most would agree that Law & Order, the masterpiece of a lot of ingredients to an already-improving recipe, deserved the gold on this one. From here, TV goes downward to a spiral - the end of TV as we or our parents knew it. On-demand, internet, TIVO, Netflix programming will become the norm going forward. A technological advancement. But a production and content loss we will soon regret.
Rest in peace, L&O. You were the best of the best in network television.
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