Law & Order - Il verdetto

I'm a long time fan of Jerry Orbach, and all the Law & Order series, and couldn't wait for this to start, even tho Jerry had died before it was aired. Based on the second half of the title "Trial by Jury", I was expecting to see jury involvement as they deliberated to reach their verdict. That never happened. I watched the entire run and what I saw was disappointing. Outside of Jerry, and Amy Carlson there were no likable characters. The BIGGEST problem was the lead actress Bebe Neuwirth. While she was great on Cheers and Fraiser, she looked, and came across, cold and hard and unlikeable - and this show needed "likeable" after it lost Jerry. Her wardrobe, makeup, and hair style didn't help either, she just appeared as a cold hard Bitch. What this show needed was Angie Harmon, or Carey Lowell to keep your interest and hold the show together. For me it just came across as a watered down copy of the original, and I wasn't surprised when it died.

The original Law & Order was 50-50 a cop/lawyer show. SVU is 90% cops. This one is 90% lawyers. The biggest innovation is that we get to be a fly on the wall as the defense attorney plots his/her defense, which has absolutely nothing to do with truth or guilt. It's all playing the system. Tony Bill, in the premiere, calmly describes how he killed the victim and the attorney, Annabella Sciorra simply listens as if this is background information that might come up in the trial and have to be dealt with.

I'm a big Perry Mason fan, where the hero is obsessed with truth and guilt and all his clients are innocent, so this is quite a change. Mason represents what we'd like our justice system to be about. However Sciorra represents who we would want to hire if we committed a crime. She clearly sees her job as getting her clients off: that's what she's paid to do.

Frankly, I think the accused has a right to an aggressive defense that forces the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a shadow of doubt. But if the lawyer knows the client is guilty, responsibility should shift to dealing with extenuating circumstances that might lead to a self-defense or insanity plea or a reduced sentence. That might be better for the client than insisting on a not guilty verdict. And what must the feeling be for a lawyer who knows he/she got a guilty man off. If it's one of satisfaction, there is something wrong.

As to the show, it's promising. I'm hoping that not all defendants turn out to be guilty, (even though all of Perry's clients were innocent), as it kind of sends the wrong message. One of the things I liked about the original show is that they weren't always right and they didn't always win.

I have watched almost every episode of TBJ that has aired since it came on and I believe that has given me enough time to make a fair judgement on this show. I've liked it from the very first episode and one of the major reasons why I've liked it is because it focuses entirely on the order side of things. Now I know with a name Trial By Jury that is expected but it not only looks from the prosecutors point of view (which is all wee see on the other 3 L&O installments) but we also see it from the defence side of view too. Defence lawyers meeting with their clients, counseling them on their trials. It is very interesting. I give it 7/10 so far. It has held my interest and I look forward to seeing what else it can offer.

Law And Order: Trial By Jury is the spin off that didn't sell. Sad it only lasted for not even one season.

It seemed to have everything going for it, a good team of ADAs with Bebe Neuwirth and Amy Carlson as her second chair. Above all it had as an original team of investigators of Kirk Acevedo and the most popular of all the Law And Order characters, Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe.

I don't know if Orbach was sick or even knew how sick he was with the cancer that killed him when he signed for the spin off. In Law And Order prime, his character Lennie Briscoe said he was putting his papers in and was thinking of joining the District Attorney's own squad of investigators.

Orbach only completed two episodes and it was painful to look at him in these episodes that aired after he passed away. It's possible that people who wanted more of Lennie Briscoe just were turned off by the sight of him and no one could really take his place. And he certainly wasn't going to be making return appearances like Carey Lowell and Richard Brooks who were former second chair ADAs.

Such a pity this show didn't take or people rejected it after Orbach died. The team of Neuwirth and Carlson were good, I'm surprised that neither was picked up and made appearances on SVU, Criminal Intent or Law And Order prime.

I cannot say enough about Jerry Orbach; I loved the guy and the way he delivered his lines, always believable of his character even if they weren't always great lines. I looked forward to seeing him on Trial by Jury, still pending at this moment. Also if only once or for a season, if Trial by Jury brings back Carey Lowell who has such natural beauty and who always delivered her lines as Jamie Ross as if it were all real and not acting, without chewing the scenery, talking out of the side of her mouth (Joisy?) or "reciting" woodenly, it's worth the viewing. I just wish Jerry O. had had that prostate exam; I could have watched him work forever. Maybe he could have even been allowed to sing "Try to Remember". I can dream, can't I?