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Before the 2026-27 Season – ‘Law & Order’ Franchise in Need of Retooling
▲ 39 r/LawAndOrder+1 crossposts

Before the 2026-27 Season – ‘Law & Order’ Franchise in Need of Retooling

Diehards have weighed in and I mean, honestly valid points, I'd have gone into more detail myself especially as it concerns L&O's episodic formula under Rick Eid, the lack of character development with Nolan Price, and the seemingly sainthood status that Olivia Benson now possess.

I mean I'm so sick of Olivia Benson now and I love Mariska, but Benson and this "hero complex" is too much. Like I thought that Tynan was coming in to stop her too? "I really don't want to take you down Chief." Like WHAT?! And then we STILL don't know what Tynan's true motives were to go after Benson to start! A poorly crafted storyline.

And then if Law & Order thinks it'll go past 26 in the 10pm slot with the MESS that passes for episodes today, they might as well pack up L&O now, because it looks like SVU is going to be soloing again. I still say move Tony Goldwyn into the lead ADA spot and put someone else as DA. Because I don't see Rick Eid fixing the writing anymore if he is still showrunner in season 26.

I think fans across the brand are tired or going numb and are tired of everything being blamed on budgeting. It's time to end the franchise if they aren't even going to try to do better. It's like Dick Wolf, NBC, et all don't care: the check is clearing, so why bother?

Dun dun.

lawandorderdiehards.wordpress.com
u/KASAdept1412 — 6 days ago
▲ 101 r/LawAndOrder

Law & Order - Robert Sean Leonard's ADA O'Dwyer Replace Hugh Dancy?

First off let me say that I do not want Hugh Dancy off the series - he's a fabulous actor folks! - but can we all be honest here? After 5 seasons of the reboot being on the air, the producers and writers are NOT doing this actor any justice (no pun intended).

Rick Eid nor his obviously untrained, inexperienced, and "digitally influenced" writing staff does not do character development well at all, they are either stereotypes or caricatures and either way, it doesn't make for complex characters to where actors can give compelling performances (unless it's personally driven via soap opera style melodrama) and thus the audience can't/won't connect with them.

That been said, I don't want Dancy out. But I feel like 5 years later, there is a lot of damage done that just might not be reversible at this point, even with a new head writer and team with a different vision (that the reboot desperately needs. S25 is better than the rest, but man it's bad in comparison to S1-20). And with budget cuts across broadcast TV I don't see the issue getting better unless the network forces Dick Wolf and his company to make changes.

IF Dancy was to go, outside of Elisabeth Rohm, Raul Esparza, or Angie Harmon, I can't see anyone else filling that role other than perhaps Robert Sean Leonard who played ADA O'Dwyer in seasons 16 and 17 of SVU (I feel like they were going to making room for RSL to come in if Raul was going to Broadway back in 2015-16). I feel like he'd be like the only lower ranged paid actor they could get w/o blowing the budget on an even bigger name.​

But ALL of that is moot if they don't part ways with this writing staff. And I'd bet my paycheck that this time next year (if they don't make some drastic changes), we'll likely be saying goodbye to the reboot as well.

u/KASAdept1412 — 12 days ago
▲ 119 r/LawAndOrder+1 crossposts

Well folks, we might better be getting ready to say goodbye.

But if NBC does decide to renew, for season 26 to be successful and not be the last one, I feel while it's on hiatus that Wolf Entertainment and NBC need to step in and make the decision to retool the show.

  • Step 1: Dismiss the writing staff from showrunner/executive producer Rick Eid on down. Appoint someone who wrote the play book (Rene Balcer, Michael Chernuchin, Roz Wineman) or under those that did (Richard Sweren, Ed Zuckerman, Julie Martin, John Shiban)

The writing truly is the weakest point of the series since it's return. S25 has been better than the rest, but that's not saying much as it's still inconsistent and at times incoherent.

The personal stories is more popular on SVU. For L&O the stories used to drive the personal instead. But when you can't write depth, nuance, and subtle understanding.

  • Step 2: While this one partly is an issue with Step 1 (the current writing staff), reevaluate Hugh Dancy, Odelya Halevi, and Tony Goldwyn.

Yup. The court side of the show is an inconsistent shamble mess. Period. If new writers and researchers can fix the dialogue and storylines on the legal side, it MIGHT help Dancy and Halevi's characters Price and Maroun. Otherwise I say move Tony Goldwyn to the Sr. ADA role, move Odelya to recurring for the defense and honestly either make Price DA or part ways with the character/actor. This is a tough one to write, but it's truly made me look at Hugh Dancy's career in a different light. Nolan Price might be this man's worse role.

  • Step 3: Invest in the history of the show/franchise.

Why the hell haven't we seen anyone other than the occasional defense attorney show up on this reboot aside from Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell) in the first episode back?! But that speaks volumes too. Plus with this writing staff, I don't trust them to botch the characters. Look at what they did to Bernard (Anthony Anderson), he was too preachy and was reduced to the token black cop, a role that then passed to Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks).

Meanwhile both Munch (Richard Belzer) and Cragen are deceased and there hasn't been a single mention on L&O. Even if one of their cases came across Riley/Walker's and/or Price/Maroun's desks.

  • Step 4: Consistency in the crossovers!

When you crossover with SVU, STOP making Olivia Benson the center! Let them do that on SVU. Like the point is for collaboration, they're writing Benson taking over like she's commanding officer of the 2-7 too! Seeing Tony, Hugh, and Peter Scanavino (Carisi) together are probably the better parts of the crossovers, but there is no jelly there, only peanut butter.

And then DO RESEARCH, its like they just pretend events didnt happen or they rewrite history to tell the story and fans can spot it like a hairless dog! And then mercilessly killing off/harming characters and then 2 episodes later pretending it didn't happen. Bruno healed fast!

I think it's about to wrap up again everybody. And it's sad because history is literally repeating itself. Dick Wolf let this show go down hill in 2006-07 and BARELY got a renewal then. Had Criminal Intent not got shipped to cable...

primetimer.com
u/KASAdept1412 — 20 days ago