re: Law and Order

[Ben Courtice <benj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here in Melbourne, Law and Order is one the most watchable and even sometimes 
likeable cop
show on air. What I like is that it is free from soap opera. The personal lives 
of the
various characters are not brought in, except occasionally when relevant to the 
plot of
the particular episode. It is strictly about the job that the characters have 
to do. And
they crack some great dry jokes about it as they go about their work. Workplace 
humour is
one of the great sustaining humanitarian activities.

Of course it's a pretty nasty job at times. They push for the death penalty on 
occasions.
So I don't end up with too much sympathy for the characters, even if they are a 
sanitised
PR version of police officers (to some extent... they still engage in 
verballing of
suspects, and other "non-standard procedure"). But it's still pretty good, at 
least in
relation to most of the wasteland that is television broadcasting. And when the 
more
liberal side manifests itself... there is a certain delight shown in some 
episodes at
bringing down the rich and powerful, or at least the overconfident.

Ben Courtice

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