Law & Order, "Knock Off": Starbuck vs. Capt. Hadley

There are TV shows that get my full attention, and then there are shows I put on as background noise while I'm doing five other things. More often than not, "Law & Order" falls into the latter category, but as I put the latest episode on this morning to keep me occupied while I did some TV critic scut work, I found myself getting more and more drawn into it. Don't know how many fans of the mothership we have around these parts, but some thoughts coming up just as soon as I order the turkey chili...

Scheduling issues prevented me from writing a column about the season premiere, but I've now seen at least four or five of this season's episodes and have to say that I really like the current cast. Linus Roache provides a nice change of pace from Sam Waterston while still providing Waterston plenty of opportunities for righteous indignation, Alana De La Garza may be the most likable token hottie ADA since Jill Hennessy, and Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson have developed nice chemistry as the cops. It's a good group.

Still, my TV-watching time is precious, and I usually cut standalone procedurals out of the mix as triage. I recorded last night's episode mainly to watch Katee Sackhoff, but even as her character (a violent woman with shades of Starbuck and The Other Bionic Woman, but not so much so that it was just Sackhoff going through the motions) was elbowed off-stage as the first act red herring, I found myself drawn into this weird story with the upstate cops, the judge straight out of "Doc Hollywood," Tom Everett Scott as the shady Eliot Spitzer-type governor, etc. It says something that almost 20 years into this franchise, it can still engage and surprise me from time to time, can still make me anxious to find out whodunit and whether McCoy and company can get a conviction.

And Jack's political career, along with the rivalry with the governor, provides an entertaining ongoing personal thread that doesn't really work against the show's core mission.

Don't know that the show's going back in the regular rotation, but I've enjoyed a lot of what I've seen lately, and wanted to make note of that.

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All TV: Leaving 'Law & Order': Memorable exits

Today's column, noting the imminent "Law & Order" departure of Jesse Martin, looks back at some of the best and worst departures from seasons past. There's also news on "Sarah Connor Chronicles" getting renewed and "Scrubs" and "30 Rock" swapping timeslots. Click here to read the full post

Sepinwall on TV: 'Law & Order' returns

And yet another column from today, reviewing the bright, shiny but still fundamentally familiar new season of "Law & Order":

There was a period late in the lifespan of GM's now-defunct Oldsmobile line when the dependability that had made the line so successful for so long began to be viewed as a drawback, not an asset in a youth-driven marketplace. "Not your father's Oldsmobile" became the new tagline, but it didn't help, as it alienated the people who actually liked their father's cars. GM added different bells and whistles, tweaked the basic concept as much as they could, but eventually phased out the line.

The original "Law & Order" was nearly at that stage last May. NBC was putting together its fall schedule, and suddenly all those familiar, reliable qualities that had made the show one of the most ubiquitous brands in primetime seemed like a hindrance. Why bother tuning in to new episodes of the old warhorse when reruns and the spin-offs were on virtually 24-7 around the channel guide? They tried adding younger, prettier female sidekicks on both the cop and lawyer side without halting the ratings slide. (The move to Fridays didn't help, admittedly, but the show had been trending downward on Wednesdays, too.)

At the last minute, NBC cut a deal with franchise overlord Dick Wolf to bring the original back at mid-season, which has turned into a stroke of luck. When it returns tonight, it'll be one of the few well-known scripted shows with a lot of episodes left, and much of the competition will be repeats due to the writers' strike.

But the first five episodes of season 18 couldn't help reminding me of the "Not your father's Oldsmobile" campaign.

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